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The in vitro research found that Auricularia auricula-judae (A. auricula) crude polysaccharides showed hypoglycemic and antioxidant properties, whereas purified polysaccharides were more effective. A. auricula polysaccharide was identified as a typical heteropolysaccharide, with a pyran-type sugar ring coupled via α- and β-type glycosidic linkage. The monosaccharide composition includes Man, Xyl, Ara, Glc, Rha, and galactose (Gal), at a molar ratio of 61.36:37.92:36.27:25.79:24.30:20.38, while also containing a small amount of galacturonic and glucuronic acid. A. auricula polysaccharide showed smooth, flaky structures, with a small portion exhibiting a filamentous and spherical morphology. A. auricula polysaccharides activate glycogen synthetase kinase 3β (GSK3β) phosphorylation, leading to increased hepatic glycogen production, and they reduce glucose synthesis and lower blood sugar levels by decreasing phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) enzyme activity, and enhancing FOXO1 phosphorylation. The findings suggested that A. auricula polysaccharides could be used as natural hypoglycemic agents.

Abstract Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignant tumor, and its occurrence and development are closely related to dysbiosis of gut microbes. Previously, we found calorie restriction altered the composition of the microbial community in a colorectal cancer mouse model and inhibited in vivo growth of CRC cells. Here, we aim to further investigate alteration in the intestinal metabolites and explore the interplay between gut microbiota and intestinal metabolites upon calorie restriction. Methods Human colorectal cancer HCT116 cells were used to establish a colorectal cancer xenograft mouse model. The changes of intestinal metabolites in the ad libitum group and calorie restriction group were investigated through untargeted metabolomics analysis. The integrative analysis of gut microbiota and metabolites to elucidate the associations between gut microbiota and intestinal metabolites. Results Compared with the mice in the ad libitum group, mice upon calorie restriction exhibited downregulation of Isoleucyl-Valine, and upregulation of D-Proline, 1-Palmitoylphosphatidylcholine, and 4-Trimethylammoniobutanoic acid. Additionally, an integrative analysis of gut microbiota and metabolites revealed that Lactobacillus, Parabacteroides and rC4-4 genus were upregulated in the calorie restriction group and positively correlated with D-Proline, 4-Trimethylammoniobutanoic acid or 1-Palmitoylphosphatidylcholine, while negatively correlated with Isoleucyl-Valine. In contrast, the Nitrospirae and Deferribacteres phylum exhibited opposite trends. Conclusion Calorie restriction affects the abundance of gut microbes such as Nitrospirae phylum and Lactobacillus genus in mouse model of colorectal cancer, leading to changes in the metabolites such as D-Proline、Isoleucyl-Valine, which contributes to the suppression of in vivo growth of CRC by calorie restriction.

Abstract Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is a common malignant tumor, and the role of the protein PFKFB4 in glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathways is crucial. Researchers investigated the clinical significance of PFKFB4 in COAD by studying its expression in 79 tissue samples using immunohistochemistry. We found that PFKFB4 expression was significantly higher in COAD patients, particularly in the sigmoid colon. Interestingly, high PFKFB4 expression was associated with both improved overall survival (OS) and post-progression survival (PPS) in COAD patients. Further analysis revealed that genes associated with PFKFB4 were linked to various metabolic pathways, including amino acid biosynthesis, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, glucose metabolism, and inflammatory response. PFKFB4 expression also showed correlations with the infiltration of different immune cell types in COAD patients, such as CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, regulatory T cells (Tregs), macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, active mast cells, and resting NK cells. Overall, the relationship between PFKFB4 expression and the prognosis of COAD is complex and diverse, possibly playing different roles at different stages of the disease. Moreover, its mechanism might involve interactions with various metabolic pathways and immune infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential role of PFKFB4 as a biomarker or therapeutic target in COAD.

Abstract Background The frequent occurrence and increasing severity of major emerging infectious diseases (MEIDs) have posed considerable public health, economic and social issues worldwide. The emergency preparedness of public is inadequate to respond to and recover from MEIDs. Due to the limitation of time, space and resources, it is also difficult to carry out large-scale emergency preparedness training related to MEIDs. Then we developed a virtual interactive training system to improve emergency preparedness of public, including preparation of legal compliance, emergency knowledge, emergency capacity, economic estimation, material reserve and physical and mental health. Methods A protocol for conducting a randomized controlled trail to evaluate the People’s War against Pandemic, a virtual interactive training system aimed to improve emergency preparedness of public for MEIDs. During the intervention, participants need to complete the storyline task at least once a day, watch at least one article and one video in the knowledge corner, and complete a retest of wrong choices in the intelligent evaluation module. The primary outcome is emergency preparedness of public for MEIDs. The secondary outcome is prevention and control knowledge of MEIDs. Discussion The People’s War Against Pandemic may be an effective approach to provide public with a panoramic understanding of the response to MEIDs, so as to promote their comprehensive preparation and finally achieve effective response. Trial registration This study was funded in 2021 and registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR2200060919) in June 2022. Recruitment and enrollment of participants began in July 2022.

Due to the problem of air conditioning shortage in summer, homeless people and poor residents are threatened by high temperature, a low-energy ventilation cooling device (LEVCD) is designed to prevent heatstroke and improve the living environment. The abandoned plastic bottles, as a core ventilation cooling accessory, were used to construct the LEVCD. The flow and ventilation cooling characteristics of the LEVCD were investigated. The representative image was fabricated to discuss ventilation cooling performance by examining temperature, pressure, and velocity nephograms. The fluid dynamics characteristics, such as the jet action and throttling effect, were analyzed. The temperature drop efficiency index is presented to examine the ventilation cooling characteristics of the LEVCD. The results show that the abandoned plastic bottles were recycled, which can effectively reduce environmental pollution. The ventilation cooling function is mainly induced by jet action. The ventilation cooling effect increases with the increase in inlet airflow velocity. The temperature drop efficiency increase with the increase in ambient temperature.

Abstract Migration and invasion inhibitory protein (MIIP) has been identified as a tumor suppressor in various cancer types. Although MIIP is reported to exert tumor suppressive functions by repressing proliferation and metastasis of cancer cells, the detailed mechanism is poorly understood. In the present study, we found MIIP is a favorable indicator of prognosis in triple-negative breast cancer. MIIP could inhibit tumor angiogenesis, proliferation, and metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer cells in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, MIIP directly interacted with ITGB3 and suppressed its downstream signaling. As a result, β-catenin was reduced due to elevated ubiquitin-mediated degradation, leading to downregulated VEGFA production and epithelial mesenchymal transition. More importantly, we found RGD motif is essential for MIIP binding with ITGB3 and executing efficient tumor-suppressing effect. Our findings unravel a novel mechanism by which MIIP suppresses tumorigenesis in triple-negative breast cancer, and MIIP is thus a promising molecular biomarker or therapeutic target for the disease.

The power and efficiency of thermoelectric generation are not only affected by the performance of thermoelectric generator and the temperature difference between the hot and cold ends, but also by other factors under certain conditions. Therefore, the effect of series-parallel operation on the efficiency of thermoelectric generator was studied in detail by means of simulation analysis, experimental demonstration, theoretical prediction and experimental test. The series-parallel operation is divided into two types: same series with different parallel, different series with same parallel. From the study of three series-parallel operation conditions, it is concluded that there is only one condition for the maximum power value. At low temperature, the number of series is the same as that of parallel operation, and the internal and external resistance values are the same. The internal thermal resistance and the variation of thermal resistance with hot end and cold end are important factors that influence the maximum power value. The research results provide theoretical support for the application of thermoelectric generator.

The aim of this study was to investigate the hypoglycemic activity of phenols extracted from Pleioblastus amarus (Keng) shells (PASs), and to isolate and identify the possible components.of which o-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, quercetin-3-0-rhamnoside, and apigenin-7-0-glucoside exhibited a strong affinity with α-glucosidase and were identified as potential The results revealed that, Pleioblastus amarus (Keng) shell phenols (PASP) displayed hypoglycemic activity in vitro, inhibiting α-glucosidase (IC50 = 0.158 ± 0.002 mg/mL) while improving glucose consumption in insulin-resistant (IR) HepG2 cells, as well as the intracellular glycogen content and hexokinase (HK) and pyruvate kinase (PK) activity. Twelve phenolic compounds were detected by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS, α-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs). This study suggests that PASs, as a by-product, has the potential to become a new raw material source for hypoglycemic functional food, providing an application prospect for commonly considered waste product.

Actinin alpha 4 ( ACTN4 ) is expressed in the kidney podocytes. ACTN4 gene methylation in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains high. Underlying mechanism of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) inducing ACTN4 demethylation, and its inhibitory effect on DN renal fibrosis remains unclear. Methods: Human podocyte cell line, HPC, was treated with high glucose to establish model of DN. The levels of cytokines, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin (IL)-8, and fibrosis markers, alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and fibronectin (FN), were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. HPC cells were treated with EGCG, and cell viability was determined by MTT assay, ACTN4 gene methylation was analyzed by MSP. mRNA and protein expression levels were measured using RT-qPCR and Western blotting, respectively. Results: Actinin alpha 4 gene promoter was hypermethylated in the high glucose-treated groups. EGCG reversed the hypermethylated status of ACTN4 , along with the upregulation of ACTN4 levels and downregulation of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), NF-κB p65, p-NF-κB p65, IκB-α, VEGF, IL-8, α-SMA, and FN levels ( P

Summary: The long-standing performance-stability contradiction issue of high energy density materials (HEDMs) is of extremely complex and multi-parameter nature. Herein, machine learning was employed to handle 28 feature descriptors and 5 properties of detonation and stability of 153 HEDMs, wherein all 21,648 data used were obtained through high-throughput crystal-level quantum mechanics calculations on supercomputers. Among five models, namely, extreme gradient boosting regression tree (XGBoost), adaptive boosting, random forest, multi-layer perceptron, and kernel ridge regression, were respectively trained and evaluated by stratified sampling and 5-fold cross-validation method. Among them, XGBoost model produced the best scoring metrics in predicting the detonation velocity, detonation pressure, heat of explosion, decomposition temperature, and lattice energy of HEDMs, and XGBoost predictions agreed best with the 1,383 experimental data collected from massive literatures. Feature importance analysis was conducted to obtain data-driven insight into the causality of the performance-stability contradiction and delivered the optimal range of key features for more efficient rational design of advanced HEDMs.

Summary: Performance-stability contradiction of high-energy-density materials (HEDMs) is a long-standing puzzle in the field of chemistry and material science. Bridging the gap that exists between detonation performance of new HEDMs and their stability remains a formidable challenge. Achieving optimal balance between the two contradictory factors is of a significant demand for deep-well oil and gas drilling, space exploration, and other civil and defense applications. Herein, supercomputers and latest quantitative computational strategies were employed and high-throughput quantum calculations were conducted for 67 reported HEDMs. Based on statistical analysis of large amounts of physico-chemical data, in-crystal interspecies interactions were identified to be the one that provokes the performance-stability contradiction of HEDMs. To design new HEDMs with both good detonation performance and high stability, the proposed systematic and comprehensive strategies must be satisfied, which could promote the development of crystal engineering of HEDMs to an era of theory-guided rational design of materials. : Computational Method in Materials Science; Density Functional Theory (DFT); Energy Materials; Materials Design Subject Areas: Computational Method in Materials Science, Density Functional Theory (DFT), Energy Materials, Materials Design

Using ab initio calculation coupled with the bond-order-length-strength (BOLS) approximation, we investigate the configurations and electronic properties of (α, β)-graphyne nanoribbons (GYNRs) with armchair (AGYNRs) and zigzag (ZGYNRs) edges. Our investigation shows that the armchair-edged β-GYNRs and all α-GYNRs are semiconductors with suitable band-gaps, and that their band-gaps increase as the widths of nanoribbons decrease; on the other hand, zigzag-edged β-GYNRs appear to be zero-band-gap materials. Observation results suggest that (i) atomic undercoordination shortens and stiffens the C–C bond, which contributes to the Hamiltonian and hence widens the band-gap intrinsically; (ii) zigzag-edged β-GYNRs lack a band-gap due to the edge-undercoordinated atoms lacking the energy to open the β-graphyne gap; and (iii) the edge-undercoordination of atoms occurs during charge entrapment.

Incorporating the bond order-length-strength (BOLS) notion with the Ising premise, we have modeled the size dependence of the Neel transition temperature (TN) of antiferromagnetic nanomaterials. Reproduction of the size trends reveals that surface atomic undercoordination induces bond contraction, and interfacial hetero-coordination induces bond nature alteration. Both surface and interface of nanomaterials modulate the TN by adjusting the atomic cohesive energy. The TN is related to the atomic cohesive/exchange energy that is lowered by the coordination number (CN) imperfection of the undercoordinated atoms near the surface and altered by the changed bond nature of epitaxial interface. A numerical match between predictions and measurements reveals that the TN of antiferromagnetic nanomaterials declines with reduced size and increases with both the strengthening of heterogeneous bond and the increase of the bond number.

A comparative study of collapsed region and conventional region operation of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) fabricated with a wafer bonding technique is reported. No significant difference is observed in reflectivity of the CMUT face between the two regions of operation, but hysteric behavior of the devices is identified in the collapsed region operation.

Two main approaches to the fabrication of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (cMUTs) namely the sacrificial release processes are reviewed and the new wafer-bonding method is described in detail. The findings suggest that wafer-bonded cMUT technology is superior in terms of process control, yield and uniformity, as the number of steps and consequent process time were reduced and turn-around time was improved significantly.

A capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) featuring isolation posts (PostCMUT) as a solution to the charging problems caused by device fabrication and operation are reported. The results indicate that, by incorporating isolation posts into the CMUT design, it is possible to provide a solution to the device-charging problem seen in conventional CMUTs.

Consistency between x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements and density-function theory calculations confirms our bond order-length-strength notation-incorporated tight-binding theory predictions on the quantum entrapment of Si solid skin and atomic clusters. It has been revealed that bond-order deficiency shortens and strengthens the Si-Si bond, which results in the local densification and quantum entrapment of the core and valence electrons. Unifying Si clusters and Si(001) and (111) skins, this mechanism has led to quantification of the 2p binding energy of 96.089 eV for an isolated Si atom, and their bulk shifts of 2.461 eV. Findings evidence the significance of atomic undercoordination that is of great importance to device performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to investigate the expression of suppressors cytokine signaling (SOCS)-3, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygense (IDO) and to analyse the relationship of SOCS3 and TGF-β with IDO expression in early pregnancy chorionic villi and decidua in the maternal-fetal interface. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical method were used to detect the expression of TGF-β, SOCS3 and IDO in chorionic villi and decidua tissues of normal pregnant women. SOCS3, TGF-β and IDO protein was identified in chorionic villi and decidua tissues of normal pregnant women and there was a negative correlation between the expression of IDO and SOCS3, but TGF-β expression was positively correlated with IDO expression. The levels of IDO expression in the decidua from normal pregnancies were significantly higher than those in chorionic villi, while the expression of SOCS3 was no significant difference between decidua and chorionic villi. In normal physiological state of pregnancy, SOCS3 and TGF-β may be involved in the regulation of immune tolerance by positive or negative regulation of IDO expression at maternal fetal interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural symmetry and molecular separation in water and ice remain uncertain. We present herewith a solution to unifying the density, the structure order and symmetry, the size (H-O length dH), and the separation (dOO 5 dL + dH or the O:H length dL) of molecules packing in water and ice in terms of statistic mean. This solution reconciles: i) the dL and the dH symmetrization of the O:H-O bond in compressed ice, ii) the dOO relaxation of cooling water and ice and, iii) the dOO expansion of a dimer and between molecules at water surface. With any one of the dOO, the density r(g.cm-3), the dL, and the dH, as a known input, one can resolve the rest quantities using this solution that is probing conditions or methods independent. We clarified that: i) liquid water prefers statistically the mono-phase of tetrahedrally-coordinated structure with fluctuation, ii) the low-density phase (supersolid phase as it is strongly polarized with even lower density) exists only in regions consisting molecules with fewer than four neighbors and, iii) repulsion between electron pairs on adjacent oxygen atoms dictates the cooperative relaxation of the segmented O:H-O bond, which is responsible for the performance of water and ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) featuring piston-shaped membranes (piston CMUTs) were developed to improve device performance in terms of transmission efficiency, reception sensitivity, and fractional bandwidth (FBW). A piston CMUT has a relatively flat active moving surface whose membrane motion is closer to ideal piston-type motion compared with a CMUT with uniformly thick membranes (classical CMUT). Piston CMUTs with a more uniform surface displacement profile can achieve high output pressure with a relatively small electrode separation. The improved device capacitance and gap uniformity also enhance detection sensitivity. By adding a center mass to the membrane, a large ratio of second-order resonant frequency to first-order resonant frequency was achieved. This improved the FBW. Piston CMUTs featuring membranes of different geometric shapes were designed and fabricated using wafer bonding. Fabricating piston CMUTs is a more complex process than fabricating CMUTs with uniformly thick membranes. However, no yield loss was observed. These devices achieved ∼100% improvement in transduction performance (transmission and reception) over classical CMUTs. For CMUTs with square and rectangular membranes, the FBW increased from ∼110% to ∼150% and from ∼140% to ∼175%, respectively, compared with classical CMUTs. The new devices produced a maximum output pressure exceeding 1 MPa at the transducer surface. Performance optimization using geometric membrane shape configurations was the same in both piston CMUTs and classical CMUTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a new method for fabricating capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) that uses a wafer bonding technique. The transducer membrane and cavity are defined on an SOI (silicon-on-insulator) wafer and on a prime wafer, respectively. Then, using silicon direct bonding in a vacuum environment, the two wafers are bonded together to form a transducer. This new technique, capable of fabricating large CMUTs, offers advantages over the traditionally micromachined CMUTs. First, forming a vacuum-sealed cavity is relatively easy since the wafer bonding is performed in a vacuum chamber. Second, this process enables better control over the gap height, making it possible to fabricate very small gaps (less than 0.1 µm). Third, since the membrane is made of single crystal silicon, it is possible to predict and control the mechanical properties of the membrane to within 5%. Finally, the number of process steps involved in making a CMUT has been reduced from 22 to 15, shortening the device turn-around time. All of these advantages provide repeatable fabrication of CMUTs featuring predictable center frequency, bandwidth, and collapse voltage. Using this new technique, we have fabricated CMUTs that have membrane sizes between 12 µm and 750 µm, and thicknesses between 0.34 µm and 4.5 µm. This paper presents the fabrication process and some experimental results obtained from the wafer-bonded devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]