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Abstract Background Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a multifaceted condition characterized by heterogeneity, wherein the balance between catabolism and anabolism in the extracellular matrix of nucleus pulposus (NP) cells plays a central role. Presently, the available treatments primarily focus on relieving symptoms associated with IVDD without offering an effective cure targeting its underlying pathophysiological processes. D-mannose (referred to as mannose) has demonstrated anti-catabolic properties in various diseases. Nevertheless, its therapeutic potential in IVDD has yet to be explored. Methods The study began with optimizing the mannose concentration for restoring NP cells. Transcriptomic analyses were employed to identify the mediators influenced by mannose, with the thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip) gene showing the most significant differences. Subsequently, small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology was used to demonstrate that Txnip is the key gene through which mannose exerts its effects. Techniques such as colocalization analysis, molecular docking, and overexpression assays further confirmed the direct regulatory relationship between mannose and TXNIP. To elucidate the mechanism of action of mannose, metabolomics techniques were employed to pinpoint glutamine as a core metabolite affected by mannose. Next, various methods, including integrated omics data and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, were used to validate the one-way pathway through which TXNIP regulates glutamine. Finally, the therapeutic effect of mannose on IVDD was validated, elucidating the mechanistic role of TXNIP in glutamine metabolism in both intradiscal and orally treated rats. Results In both in vivo and in vitro experiments, it was discovered that mannose has potent efficacy in alleviating IVDD by inhibiting catabolism. From a mechanistic standpoint, it was shown that mannose exerts its anti-catabolic effects by directly targeting the transcription factor max-like protein X-interacting protein (MondoA), resulting in the upregulation of TXNIP. This upregulation, in turn, inhibits glutamine metabolism, ultimately accomplishing its anti-catabolic effects by suppressing the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. More importantly, in vivo experiments have further demonstrated that compared with intradiscal injections, oral administration of mannose at safe concentrations can achieve effective therapeutic outcomes. Conclusions In summary, through integrated multiomics analysis, including both in vivo and in vitro experiments, this study demonstrated that mannose primarily exerts its anti-catabolic effects on IVDD through the TXNIP-glutamine axis. These findings provide strong evidence supporting the potential of the use of mannose in clinical applications for alleviating IVDD. Compared to existing clinically invasive or pain-relieving therapies for IVDD, the oral administration of mannose has characteristics that are more advantageous for clinical IVDD treatment.

In order to further improve the utility of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote-sensing for quickly and accurately monitoring the growth of winter wheat under film mulching, this study examined the treatments of ridge mulching, ridge–furrow full mulching, and flat cropping full mulching in winter wheat. Based on the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) method, four agronomic parameters (leaf area index, above-ground biomass, plant height, and leaf chlorophyll content) were used to calculate the comprehensive growth evaluation index (CGEI) of the winter wheat, and 14 visible and near-infrared spectral indices were calculated using spectral purification technology to process the remote-sensing image data of winter wheat obtained by multispectral UAV. Four machine learning algorithms, partial least squares, support vector machines, random forests, and artificial neural network networks (ANN), were used to build the winter wheat growth monitoring model under film mulching, and accuracy evaluation and mapping of the spatial and temporal distribution of winter wheat growth status were carried out. The results showed that the CGEI of winter wheat under film mulching constructed using the FCE method could objectively and comprehensively evaluate the crop growth status. The accuracy of remote-sensing inversion of the CGEI based on the ANN model was higher than for the individual agronomic parameters, with a coefficient of determination of 0.75, a root mean square error of 8.40, and a mean absolute value error of 6.53. Spectral purification could eliminate the interference of background effects caused by mulching and soil, effectively improving the accuracy of the remote-sensing inversion of winter wheat under film mulching, with the best inversion effect achieved on the ridge–furrow full mulching area after spectral purification. The results of this study provide a theoretical reference for the use of UAV remote-sensing to monitor the growth status of winter wheat with film mulching.

Reducing fertilizer pollution is an important direction for modern ecological agriculture. Commonly, excessive nitrogen is applied to pepper. Capsaicin is one of the most important economic qualities of spicy peppers, but the effect of nitrogen on capsaicin is still inconsistent. This study aims to elucidate the impact of nitrogen fertilizer on capsaicin accumulation and to provide guidance on fertilizer application on highly spicy chili peppers. The experiment was conducted with five nitrogen fertilizer concentrations: N1 (urea 750 kg ha−1), N2 (urea 562.5 kg ha−1), N3 (urea 375 kg ha−1), N4 (urea 187.5 kg ha−1), and N0 (no nitrogen fertilizer). Nitrogen treatment was applied to two varieties with different spiciness levels from the seedling stage. The fruits in different layers of pepper plants were sampled on the 20th, 35th, and 50th day after anthesis, and the fruits’ size, content of capsaicin, capsaicin precursors, capsaicin competitors, as well as capsaicin-related enzyme activities and gene expression level were analyzed. The results indicate that, when applying N2 and N3, both chili pepper varieties exhibited higher fruit length, diameter, weight, and yield values. There were increased contents of total phenol, flavonoids, and tannins in both fruit varieties with N2 application. Moreover, the placenta weights of the bottom, middle, and top layers of the fruits on the 35th day were improved by 40.14%, 26.80%, and 55.91% for ‘Honglong 23’ and 55.10%, 37.04%, and 75.56% for ‘Hongxi’ compared with N0. At the same time, under N2 treatment, the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) enzyme activity of capsaicin synthase significantly increased. In contrast, the capsaicin-degrading enzyme activities of peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) decreased notably. The expression levels of capsaicin-synthetic genes such as phenylalanine cleavage enzyme gene (PAL), acyltransferase gene (AT3), 4-Coumaroyl coenzyme A ligase gene (4CL), cinnamate 4-hydroxylase gene (C4H), caffeoyl coenzyme A-3-oxo-methyltransferase gene (COMT), paminotransferase gene (PAMT), and hydroxycinnamyltransferase gene (HCT) were up-regulated in N2 fruits, which led to a significant increase in capsaicin content compared with the other four nitrogen amounts. A further reduction in nitrogen application to N3 and N4 resulted in a decrease in the precursor substance’s total phenol content and PAL activity and an increase in the competitive substance’s flavonoid, lignin, POD, and PPO enzyme activities. At the same time, the expression levels of capsaicinoid synthetic genes were downregulated in the N3 and N4 treatments, leading to a low content of total capsaicinoids. The capsaicinoid content showed a trend of 35th day > 50th day > 20th day for both varieties. Additionally, the contents of total capsaicinoids, total phenols, flavonoids, and lignins, as well as PAL enzyme activity, and the expression levels of PAL, AT3, 4CL, C4H, COMT, PAMT, and HCT exhibited characteristics of bottom layers > middle layers > top layers. The activities of POD and PPO gradually increased from the bottom to the top layers. The N2 (562.5 kg ha−1) treatment resulted in increases in placenta mass, maximum capsaicinoid precursor substance of total phenol content, and synthase enzyme activity, as well as decreases in capsaicinoid competing substances and degradative enzyme activity, so there were more substances available for capsaicin synthesis. Combined with the higher fruit weight and capsaicinoid content in the N2 treatment, N2 was considered a suitable nitrogen fertilizer dosage for highly spicy chili pepper cultivation.

Food security is closely related to the development of human society, and the root of food production lies in cultivated land, with water conservancy as its lifeline. This study estimates the ecological water consumption of located in the arid region of Northwest China (the Karamay region and Muzat River basin) from 1990 to 2020 based on the optimized Land Surface Energy Balance Algorithm. The verification accuracy of SEBAL energy balance model is greatly improved after optimization. It was showed an increasing trend in the Karamay region and Muzat River basin, increasing at the rates of 2.84 mm/year and 2.86 mm/year respectively. The suitability of cultivated land was evaluated by combining four periods of 30 m spatial resolution land use/land cover data from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, as well as the Hydrological Statistical Yearbook and Xinjiang Statistical Yearbook. Through the analysis of spatial optimization for cultivated land, it can be inferred that the primary limiting factors affecting cultivated land suitability in the Karamay region are irrigation guarantee rate (54.03%) and soil salinity (11.98%). Muzat River region are irrigation guarantee rate (32.19%) and soil salinity (18.62%). By comparing the scenarios of setting ecological priority and cultivated land priority, it is concluded that under the conditions of water resource constraints and 50%, 75% and 90% design irrigation assurance rates, Karamay still has cultivated land expansion potential, which can be used as the main preparatory reclamation area. In addition to the traditional agriculture irrigation area, the Muzat River basin still has development potential under the condition of ecological priority and no more than 75% irrigation design assurance rate. The study on the cultivated land suitability under the condition of water resource constraints can provide new ideas for food security.

Abstract Wilkes Land and Totten Glacier (TG) in East Antarctica (EA) have been losing ice mass significantly since 1989. There is a lack of knowledge of long-term mass balance in the region which hinders the estimation of its contribution to global sea level rise. Here we show that this acceleration trend in TG has occurred since the 1960s. We reconstruct ice flow velocity fields of 1963–1989 in TG from the first-generation satellite images of ARGON and Landsat-1&4, and build a five decade-long record of ice dynamics. We find a persistent long-term ice discharge rate of 68 ± 1 Gt/y and an acceleration of 0.17 ± 0.02 Gt/y2 from 1963 to 2018, making TG the greatest contributor to global sea level rise in EA. We attribute the long-term acceleration near grounding line from 1963 to 2018 to basal melting likely induced by warm modified Circumpolar Deep Water. The speed up in shelf front during 1973–1989 was caused by a large calving front retreat. As the current trend continues, intensified monitoring in the TG region is recommended in the next decades.

Emerging media technologies, epitomized by short video intelligent recommendation algorithms, are catalyzing substantial transformations within the realm of film and television culture. This study delves into the secondary creation of film and television works facilitated by algorithmic recommendation technologies. Specifically, it introduces a novel short video intelligent recommendation algorithm founded on deep learning principles. This algorithm harnesses joint features derived from the scene and behavioral attributes of target short videos, employing a graph convolutional neural network to model the long-term and short-term preferences, thereby enabling intelligent recommendations for the secondary creation of film and television works. Further, this research designs and implements questionnaires to formulate research hypotheses and conducts surveys targeting both general film and television audiences and industry professionals. The objective is to scrutinize the profound alterations instigated by emerging algorithmic recommendation technologies in film and television culture and to assess the adaptability and acceptance of these changes among media practitioners. The findings reveal that both explicit personalization (t=9.26, P

Abstract Background The prevalence of prediabetes is increasing in young adults and patients undergoing coronary angiography. However, whether prediabetes is a considerable risk factor for all-cause mortality remains undetermined in young patients undergoing coronary angiography. Methods In this study, we retrospectively included 8868 young patients (men aged

This study investigates the relationship between nitrogen fertilization and pepper fruit color by employing five different nitrogen treatments (N1: 750 kg/hm2, N2: 562.5 kg/hm2, N3: 375 kg/hm2, N4: 187.5, and N0: 0 kg/hm2). Fruits were harvested at 30 (S1: green ripening stage), 45 (S2: color transition stage), and 60 days (S3: red ripening stage) after flowering. Subsequently, pigment content, carotenoid component content, carotenoid enzyme activity, and transcriptome sequence were analyzed, and CA12g04950 function was validated through virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). The results indicate that a reduction in nitrogen application led to an earlier onset of fruit color breakdown, and increased the contents of total carotenoid, capsanthin, phytoene and PSY (phytoene synthase) activity, LCYB (lycopene β-cyclase) activity and CCS (capsanthin/capsorubin synthase) activity. The analysis of different expression genes indicated that the most differently expressed genes were enriched in the N1 vs. N4 comparison, with 18 genes involved in carotenoid metabolism and 16 genes involved in nitrogen metabolism. Most DE genes were enriched in the pathways of photosynthesis, porphyrin, carotenoid biosynthesis, seleno-compounds, and nitrogen metabolism. There were numerous differential transcription factor families, including ERF, bHLH, MYB, C2H2, and NAC. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between CA12g04950 expression and 11 carotenoid genes in the N4 treatment. Subsequent silencing of CA12g04950 using VIGS resulted in delayed color ripening while a significant decrease in total carotenoid content and the expression levels of carotenoid genes. In conclusion, nitrogen reduction led to an increase in carotenoid content in pigment pepper fruits. Furthermore, under nitrogen reduction, CA12g04950 positively influenced the redness of the fruits.

In semi-arid regions of northwest China, the planting pattern of double ridge-furrow with full film mulching (DRFM) is widely used to improve maize productivity. However, little is known about reasonable application amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilizers for maize under this planting pattern, and local farmers applying unreasonably large fertilizer amounts results in wasted resources and environmental pollution. Therefore, the effects of N, P, and K fertilizer application amounts on the leaf area index (LAI), aboveground dry matter accumulation and translocation, grain yield and water productivity (WP), and nutrient uptake and utilization by maize under DRFM were studied in 2018 and 2019. A field experiment was conducted with five fertilization levels under DRFM, and the treatments of which were: M1: 60 kg N ha–1, 60 kg P2O5 ha–1, 45 kg K2O ha–1; M2–5 each increased N, P2O5, and K2O by 60 kg ha–1, 30 kg ha–1 and 45 kg ha–1, respectively, compared to the previous treatment. No fertilizer under flat planting with non-film mulching was included as the control. The results showed that the logistic model better described the dynamic accumulation process for aboveground dry matter. The LAI, maximum aboveground dry matter accumulation rate, average accumulation rate for aboveground dry matter, and N, P, and K uptake initially increased, but then declined as fertilizer applications increased, and all factors reached their maximum values under M3. Dry matter translocation and accumulation after silking were positively correlated with grain yield. Grain yield and WP were greatest under M3 with an average of 10.77 t ha–1 and 29.12 kg m–3 across the two years, which were 4.46–138.19% and 1.29–153.15% greater than the other treatments, respectively. Although N, P, and K fertilizer use efficiency was lower under M3 than M1 and M2, it produced a much higher yield and WP. In summary, 180 kg N ha–1, 120 kg P2O5 ha–1, and 135 kg K2O ha–1 is recommended as the optimal N, P, and K fertilizer application scheme for maize under DRFM to achieve the great yield, and water and fertilizer use efficiencies in northwest China.

Temporal logic can ensure the accurate description and execution of task specifications by providing a rich specification language. This paper uses relevant robust semantics to consider continuous-time systems under signal temporal logic specification fragments and uses a funnel-based feedback control law to realize collaborative design of path planning and control of wheeled mobile robot. This design not only introduces a strict and effective formal verification method, but also provides a computationally-efficient funnel-based feedback control law. Firstly, it describes the mission by signal temporal logic. Then, it transforms the description into robust formula. Finally, using the funnel-based feedback control law, it makes the robust semantics of the robust formula maximum to realize the collaborative design of path planning and control. Simulation is based on the wheeled mobile robot kinematics model, and the results show that the collaborative design method proposed in this paper is effective. When the specification is physically met, the system can achieve the goal with user-defined robustness. When the specification is not satisfied, the minimum violation solution can be found. The proposed path planning and funnel control algorithm can realize the collaborative design of the path planning and control of the wheeled mobile robot, which effectively improve computing efficiency and simplify computational complexity. The study can expand the application range of signal temporal logic in mobile robot path planning, and increase the system robustness.

Abstract The di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) degrading strain LMB-7 was isolated from electronic waste soil. According to its biophysical/biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA gene analysis, the strain was identified as Nocardia asteroides. Optimal pH and temperature for DEHP degradation were 8.0 and 30 °C, respectively, and DEHP removal reached 97.11% after cultivation for 24 h at an initial concentration of 400 mg/L. As degradation intermediates, di-butyl phthalates, mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate and 2-ethylhexanol could be identified, and it could be confirmed that DEHP was completely degraded by strain LMB-7. To our knowledge, this is a new report of DEHP degradation by a strain of Nocardia asteroides, at rates higher than those reported to date. This finding provides a new way for DEHP elimination from environment.

Background: Hyperglycemia has been associated with an adverse prognosis in patients with premature coronary artery disease (CAD). However, whether the intermediate hyperglycemia status affects the risk of mortality in premature CAD patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), remains unclear. Methods: We retrospectively included 14,585 premature CAD patients undergoing PCI from 2007 to 2020. Patients were divided into normal glycemia (

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of AngioJet rheolytic thrombectomy among patients with high thrombus burden. Routine manual thrombus aspiration in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) does not improve clinical outcomes and was associated with an increased rate of stroke. However, the safety of mechanical thrombus aspiration is still unknown. This was a retrospective, single-center study involving 621 patients with Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction thrombus grade 5. The primary outcome was the composite of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) within 12 months. The safety outcome was stroke within 1-year. Propensity matching score was calculated due to the significant baseline differences between the AngioJet rhelytic thrombectomy group and the routine treatment group. AngioJet rheolytic thrombectomy was performed in 117 patients. After propensity-score matching, there was no significant difference both in the incidence of MACE (11.1% vs 17.9%, hazard ratio, 1.641; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.822 to 3.277, p = 0.161) and the incidences of stroke (1.7% vs 2.6%, hazard ratio 1.522; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.254 to 9.107, p = 0.646) between two groups at 1-year follow-up. In patients with Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction thrombus grade 5, AngioJet rheolytic thrombectomy did not improve clinical outcomes at 1 year. However, AngioJet rheolytic thrombectomy did not increase the risk of stroke in patients with high thrombus burden.

Background: Patients with secondary mitral regurgitation (sMR) often present with greater mortality and comorbidity, which may be predicted by some risk factors. This study was designed to investigate the prognostic meaning of the echocardiographically detected wall motion score index (WMSI) in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with moderate or severe baseline sMR who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) therapy. Methods: The present study was a multi-center and prospective cohort of consecutive CAD patients with baseline moderate or severe sMR who underwent PCI. All underwent echocardiography at baseline and at follow-up after PCI to assess sMR and WMSI. The primary endpoint was the persistence of moderate or severe sMR after the second echocardiographic measurement. Logistic and Cox proportional hazards models were constructed for the primary (persistent moderate or severe sMR) and secondary (worsening heart failure [HF]; all-cause mortality; cardiovascular-specific mortality; and major adverse cardiovascular events [MACE]) endpoints. Results: Among 920 participants, 483 had WMSI values of ≥1.47, and 437 were less. Of all the participants, 366 (39.8%) continued to have moderate or severe sMR after the second echocardiogram measurement. After full adjustment for confounders, elevated WMSI after PCI was independently associated with the primary endpoint during 3–12 month follow-up. Similarly, elevated WMSI was associated with increased risk of worsening HF, all-cause mortality, cardiovascular-specific mortality, and MACE. Conclusions: Persistent moderate or severe sMR is common (approximately 40%) in PCI patients. Elevated WMSI in CAD patients after PCI is a predictor of persistent moderate or severe sMR and has independent negative prognostic value. Patients with CAD and sMR should be monitored for WMSI to identify those at higher risk of mortality and comorbidity.

Abstract Background Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the deadliest tumours due to its ability to metastasize. The Epithelial–to-mesenchymal transition plays a crucial role in promoting the GC metastasis, which increases the migration and metastasis of tumour cells. Peptidyl arginine deiminase IV (PADI4) is a susceptibility gene for gastric carcinoma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the functional roles of PADI4 in gastric cancer. Methods The expression of PADI4 was examined by qRT-PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. In addition, the functional roles of PADI4 were explored by over-expression PADI4 plasmids in gastric cancer cells. Results We found that the expression of PADI4 was up-regulated in GC. PADI4 overexpression in GC cells increased the proliferation, migration, metastasis, clone forming ability, and tumorigenic ability, but reduced the apoptosis ability. The Multi-Analyte ELISArray Kit results showed that interleukin 8 (IL-8) is upregulated in PADI4-overexpressing gastric cells. Using short interfering RNA (siRNA) to silence the expression of IL-8, we demonstrated that IL-8 silencing significantly inhibited the increased migratory capacity in PADI4-overexpressing GC cells. Conclusions Our data suggest that PADI4 accelerate metastasis by promoting IL-8 expression in gastric cancer cells, indicating that it is a new PADI4/IL-8 signalling pathway in metastatic GC.

Soil moisture (SM) is one of the key measures to understand the land-atmosphere interaction and permafrost dynamics in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). ERA5-Land is a new reanalysis product with high spatial resolution (9 km), which can provide long-term SM data with a large spatial coverage as well as at multilayer soil depths. However, preliminary comparisons with in-situ data show that the ERA5-Land SM product generally underestimates the seasonal variability and demonstrate a positive bias on the QTP. In this article, we proposed to utilize the mode decomposition method to correct such bias. Specifically, through using the variational mode decomposition, we decomposed the long time-series of ERA5-Land SM data into a series of intrinsic mode functions, and found that the SM seasonal variation can be well represented by the low-frequency modes, which were then selected to feed a regression model for the bias correction. The single-site bias correction results show that our method significantly improves the accuracy of ERA5-Land SM product with bias reduced by 0.22 m3/m3, 0.3 m3/m3, and 0.15 m3/m3 for alpine meadow, alpine steppe, and alpine desert sites, respectively. Together with the slightly reduced accuracy but still acceptable results for the cross-site bias correction, we successfully demonstrate the potential of the mode decomposition method for the bias correction of the ERA5-Land SM product at regional scale. Our method is of great use to study climate impact on regional ecohydrological processes and the permafrost changes in the QTP region.

Synthetic hormones in wastewater effluents released into the aquatic environments may interfere with the normal endocrine systems of fish in receiving streams. Norgestrel (NGT) is a synthetic progestin widely used in oral contraceptives and frequently detected in wastewater effluents. In this study, adult female mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) were exposed to three environmentally relevant concentrations of norgestrel (NGT) (i.e., 3.6, 35.8, and 368.0 ng L-1) for 42 d, fin morphology, histology of the ovary, and reproductive behaviors were evaluated. The results showed that NGT at all three concentrations caused an increased frequency of atretic follicular cells in ovaries and impaired mating behaviors exhibited by males toward the NGT-exposed females. In mosquitofish exposed to NGT at 35.8 and 368 ng L-1, the anal fin of females had an increased length ratio of ray4/ray 6, an increased width of ray 3, and increased number of segments in ray 3. The histopathological analysis showed that exposure to NGT increased the incidence of spermatogenesis in ovaries. Mating behavior was impaired 58.4%, 65.7%, and 76.4% (P

Objectives: This study aimed to critically review the results of recent studies that investigated the epidemiology of noncombat-related musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs) in the Navy.Methods: A systematic search was conducted of three major databases (Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane) to identify epidemiological studies on MSIs in the Navy. Study selection and risk of bias assessment were conducted.Results: The overall prevalence of MSIs ranged from 12.69% to 48.81%. And the prevalence of head and face injuries, upper extremity injuries, spine injuries, chest injuries, and lower extremity injuries were 0.11%–0.66%, 0.53%–11.47%, 0.75%–12.09%, 0.43%–0.95%, and 0.4%–21.17%, respectively. For the specific MSIs, the incidence ranged from 0.03/1000 person-years to 32.3/1000 person-years in the Navy and Marines. The ankle-foot, lumbopelvic, knee and lower leg, and shoulder were identified as the most frequent location for MSIs.Conclusion: This systematic review summarized that the Navy population had a high prevalence of MSIs. And different risk factors for MSIs varied from different anatomic locations. This systematic review also provided valuable information on MSIs for sports medicine specialists.