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The mode coupling in a graded-index polymer photonic crystal fiber (GI PPCF) with a solid core has been investigated using the Langevin equation. Based on the computer-simulated Langevin force, the Langevin equation is numerically integrated. The numerical solutions of the Langevin equation align with those of the time-independent power flow equation (TI PFE). We showed that by solving the Langevin equation, which is a stochastic differential equation, one can successfully treat a mode coupling in GI PPCFs, which is an intrinsically stochastic process. We demonstrated that, in terms of effectiveness, the Langevin equation is preferable compared to the TI PFE. The GI PPCF achieves the equilibrium mode distribution (EMD) at a coupling length that is even shorter than the conventional GI plastic optical fiber (POF). The application of multimode GI PCFs in communications and optical fiber sensor systems will benefit from these findings.

It is vital and challenging to coordinate the protection of natural reserves with rural construction. The rural structure and function were divided during the creation of natural reserves on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau (QTP), throwing the rural structure and functional system and its constituent parts out of balance. According to current research results on the construction mode of rural landscapes, the creation of rural landscapes is unable to address the requirements of villages and encourage the creation of protected areas. Therefore, it has become urgently necessary to conduct research on the rural landscape construction model of the QTP natural reserve. This study focuses on the case study of the construction mode of rural landscapes in the Mengda National Nature Reserve (MNNR) in the QTP. The inherent hierarchical structure relationships between rural landscape types, units and elements were identified. The basic characteristics of residential, production and cultural landscapes and their interdependent structural relationships were described. According to the evidence collected from literature, the rural landscape complex model and spatial optimisation strategy in the MNNR were proposed. It is believed that the rural residential, production and cultural landscape structures of the MNNR cannot effectively realise its living, production and culture function. From a spatial structure level, a rural landscape construction model was proposed based on production landscapes, residential landscapes as characteristics and cultural landscapes as the source. This model is based on agricultural landscapes, features the village and village dwellings and originates from temple landscapes, forming a comprehensive landscape unit that relies on and supports each other among production, residential and cultural landscapes. Emphasising the structural construction of infrastructure, such as transportation roads, network routes, tourism routes and water and electricity networks between the system and the external environment, is essential for promoting the circular relationship between the agricultural community complex in Dazhuang Village and the external system. The model is beneficial to balance the relationship between the rural landscape structure and MNNR function and promote the sustainable development of the relationship between the nature reserve and rural areas.

Objective: This study explores the correlation between Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) and ATP-binding cassette subfamily C member 5 (ABCC5) in relation to paclitaxel resistance in cervical cancer. It aims to identify potential cervical cancer stem cell markers, offering fresh perspectives for developing therapeutic strategies to overcome paclitaxel chemoresistance in cervical cancer. Methods: Paclitaxel-resistant Hela cells (Hela/Taxol) were developed by intermittently exposing Hela cells to progressively increasing concentrations of paclitaxel. We assessed the biological properties of both Hela and Hela/Taxol cells using various assays: cell proliferation, clonogenic, cell cycle, apoptosis, scratch, and transwell. To determine which markers better represent tumor stem cells, we analyzed various known and potential stem cell markers in combination. Flow cytometry was employed to measure the proportion of positive markers in both parental and drug-resistant cell lines. Following statistical analysis to establish relative stability, CD133+ABCC5+ cells were sorted for further examination. Subsequent tests included sphere-forming assays and Western blot analysis to detect the presence of the stem cell-specific protein Sox2, aiding in the identification of viable cervical cancer stem cell markers. Results: The Hela/Taxol cell line exhibited significantly enhanced proliferation, migration, and invasion capabilities compared to the Hela cell line, alongside a marked reduction in apoptosis rates (P

The study aimed to optimize the preparation process of acne granules and establish their quality standards. In this work, the extraction process of Chinese herbal extract was optimized by the amount of water added, the number of decoction, the extraction time, and the soaking time with extraction yield as an evaluation index. The indexes of the acne granules such as molding rate, dissolvability, angle of repose, moisture content, and ease of preparation were evaluated. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was used to identify Salviae, Scutellaria baicalensis, and Indigowoad Leaf. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the baicalin content in the granules. Based on orthogonal and single-factor experiments, the optimized extraction process of the prescription of nine medicinal materials was as follows: soaked in cold water for 2 hours, boiled three times, decocted with eight times the amount of water for 1.5 hours for the first time, and six times the amount of water for 1 hour for the second and third times. The combined extracts were concentrated to a relative density of 1.30 to 1.40 (20–30°C), and mixed evenly according to the mass ratio of extract to excipient 1:5, and dextrin: powdered sugar = 1:3. The mixture was granulated, dried, prepared into granules, and the acne granules were formed at a molding rate of 95.52% and a critical relative humidity of 82%. The spots in TLC were clear and easy to identify. The HPLC result showed that the content of baicalin was not less than 1.0 mg/g. The study provides a valuable reference for the production and preparation of the granules through optimization of the wet process and the excipient dosage. Furthermore, the established TLC method for the identification and the HPLC method for baicalin quantification laid the foundation for the quality control of the preparation in future studies.

The developmental toxicity and human health risks of triazole fungicides (TFs) have attracted worldwide attention due to the ability to enter the human body in a variety of ways. Nevertheless, the specific mechanism by which TFs exert remains incompletely understood. Given that retinoic acid (RA) signaling pathway are closely related to development, this study aimed to screen and identify developmentally disabled chemicals in commonly used TFs and to reveal the potential effects of TFs on developmental retardation through the RA signaling pathway in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). Specifically, six typical TFs (myclobutanil, tebuconazole, hexaconazole, propiconazole, difenoconazole, and flusilazole) were exposed through the construction of an embryoid bodies (EBs)-based in vitro global differentiation models. Our results clarified that various TFs disturbed lineage commitment during early embryonic development. Crucially, the activation of RA signaling pathway, which alters the expression of key genes and interferes the transport and metabolism of retinol, may be responsible for this effect. Furthermore, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and experiments using a retinoic acid receptor α inhibitor provide evidence supporting the potential modulatory role of the retinoic acid signaling pathway in developmental injury. The current study offers new insights into the TFs involved in the RA signaling pathway that interfere with the differentiation process of mESCs, which is crucial for understanding the impact of TFs on pregnancy and early development.

Mangiferin(MGF) exhibits crucial biological roles, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions. However, how to clearly elucidate the functioning mechanism of MGF for inhibiting cisplatin-induced hearing loss requires in-depth investigation. In this work, we aimed at gaining insight into how MGF functions as the protective agent against cisplatin-triggered ototoxicity using various assays. The variation for reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations was determined with MitoSOX-Red and 2′,7′-Dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate staining (DCFH-DA). The protective function and corresponding mechanism of MGF in hair cell survival in the House Ear Institute-Organ of Corti (HEI-OC1) cell line were assessed using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). Our findings demonstrated that MGF significantly alleviated cisplatin-induced injury to hair cells in vitro, encompassing cell lines and cochlear explants, as well as in vivo models, including C57BL/6 J mice and zebrafish larvae. Mechanistic studies revealed that MGF reversed the increased accumulation of ROS and inhibited cell apoptosis through mitochondrial-mediated intrinsic pathway. Moreover, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting data indicated MGF protected against cisplatin-mediated ototoxicity via the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (MAPK). These findings demonstrated MGF has significant potential promise in combating cisplatin-induced ototoxicity, offering a foundation for expanded investigation into therapeutic approaches for auditory protection.

Tunnel construction in central and western China presents significant challenges primarily due to the complex geological conditions. The presence of water-rich zones compromises the stability of excavation faces, leading to potential safety risks and economic losses. This study investigates the Yingpan Mountain extra-long tunnel through numerical simulations, focusing on stress and displacement variations under varying conditions. The primary focus is on assessing the influence of water on tunnel stability, particularly under water-rich conditions. The study proposes effective evaluation methods for different construction stages. The findings offer valuable guidance for future engineering projects, thereby enhancing safety and efficiency in tunnel construction.

Abstract Per‐ and poly‐fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are long‐lasting environmental contaminants that are released into the environment during the e‐waste disassembly process, pose a threat to human health. Human milk is a complex and dynamic mixture of endogenous and exogenous substances, including steroid hormones and PFAS. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the association between PFAS and steroid hormones in human milk from women living close to an e‐waste disassembly area. In 2021, we collected milk samples from 150 mothers within 4 weeks of delivery and analyzed them via liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry to determine the levels of 21 perfluorinated compounds and five steroid hormones (estrone, estriol, testosterone, progesterone, and androstenedione [A‐dione]). We also performed multiple linear regression analysis to clarify the association between maternal PFAS exposure and steroid hormone concentrations. Our results indicated that PFOA and PFOS were positively associated with estrone (β, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.08–0.39) and A‐dione (β, 0.186; 95% CI, 0.016–0.357) concentrations in human milk, respectively. Further, the average estimated daily intake of PFOA and PFOS were 36.5 ng/kg bw/day (range, 0.52–291.7 ng/kg bw/day) and 5.21 ng/kg bw/day (range, 0.26–32.3 ng/kg bw/day), respectively. Of concern, the PFAS intake of breastfeeding infants in the study area was higher than the recommended threshold. These findings suggested that prenatal exposure to PFAS from the e‐waste disassembly process can influence steroid hormones levels in human milk. Increased efforts to mitigate mother and infant exposure to environmental pollutants are also required.

BackgroundAlthough the emerging NGS-based assays, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) and targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS), have been extensively utilized for the identification of pathogens in pulmonary infections, there have been limited studies systematically evaluating differences in the efficacy of mNGS and multiplex PCR-based tNGS in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) specimens.MethodsIn this study, 85 suspected infectious BALF specimens were collected. Parallel mNGS and tNGS workflows to each sample were performed; then, we comparatively compared their consistency in detecting pathogens. The differential results for clinically key pathogens were confirmed using PCR.ResultsThe microbial detection rates of BALF specimens by the mNGS and tNGS workflows were 95.18% (79/83) and 92.77% (77/83), respectively, with no significant difference. mNGS identified 55 different microorganisms, whereas tNGS detected 49 pathogens. The comparative analysis of mNGS and tNGS revealed that 86.75% (72/83) of the specimens were complete or partial concordance. Particularly, mNGS and tNGS differed significantly in detection rates for some of the human herpesviruses only, including Human gammaherpesvirus 4 (P

IntroductionPre-HSCT disease control, suboptimal long-term prognosis, and a high recurrence incidence (RI) continue to pose significant challenges for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) patients.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study assessed the effectiveness of a decitabine (DAC)-based protocol in JMML patients undergoing HSCT. The pre-HSCT treatment includes initial and bridging treatment. The efficacy of DAC monotherapy versus DAC combined with cytotoxic chemotherapy(C-DAC) as initial treatment was compared, followed by DAC plus FLAG (fludarabine, cytarabine, and GCSF) as bridging treatment. The HSCT regimens were based on DAC, fludarabine, and busulfan. Post-HSCT, low-dose DAC was used as maintenance therapy. The study endpoints focused on pretransplantation simplified clinical response and post-HSCT survival.ResultsThere were 109 patients, including 45 receiving DAC monotherapy and 64 undergoing C-DAC treatment. 106 patients completed bridging treatment. All patients were administered planned HSCT regimens and post-HSCT treatment. The initial treatment resulted in 88.1% of patients achieving clinical remission without a significant difference between the DAC and C-DAC groups (p=0.769). Clinical remission rates significantly improved following bridging treatment (p=0.019). The 5-year overall survival, leukemia-free survival, and RI were 92.2%, 88.4%, and 8.0%, respectively. A poor clinical response to pre-HSCT treatment emerged as a risk factor for OS (hazard ratio: 9.8, 95% CI: 2.3-41.1, p=0.002).ConclusionImplementing a DAC-based administration strategy throughout the pre-HSCT period, during HSCT regimens, and in post-HSCT maintenance significantly reduced relapse and improved survival in JMML patients. Both DAC monotherapy and the DAC plus FLAG protocol proved effective as pre-HSCT treatments.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of microRNA-650 (miR-650) on melanoma metastasis and reveal the regulatory relationship between miR-650 and the inhibitor of growth family member 4 (ING4). Methods: miR-650 expression was determined in human melanoma WM115 and A-375 cells. WM115 cells were transfected with miR-650 mimic or mimic control. The invasion and migration abilities of transfected WM115 cells were analyzed using Transwell and wound healing assays, respectively. Then, miR-650-overexpression lentivirus vector was constructed and transfected into WM115 cells. After injection into the mice, the number of micro-metastatic foci in the lung tissues was counted. A regulatory relationship between miR-650 and ING4 was identified in WM115 and A-375 cells. Results: The miR-650 expression was upregulated in WM115 and A-375 cells. WM115 cells transfected with the miR-650 mimic exhibited higher invasive and migratory abilities than mock cells or cells transfected with negative control (NC). The number of micro-metastatic foci was significantly higher in mice injected with Lenti-miR-650 than that in those injected with mock or NC controls. Transfection with miR-650 mimic observably inhibited the expression of ING4 in WM115 and A-375 cells, whereas transfection with miR-650 inhibitor had the opposite effect. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay showed that the miR-650 mimic inhibited the luciferase activity of ING4. Conclusion: miR-650 promotes melanoma metastasis by downregulating ING4 expression.

ObjectivesNo study has reported secular trends in dementia prevalence, all-cause mortality, and survival status in rural China.MethodsWe established two cohorts (XRRCC1 and XRRCC2) in the same region of China, 17 years apart, to compare dementia prevalence, all-cause mortality, and survival status, and performed regression analysis to identify associated factors.ResultsDementia prevalence was 3.49% in XRRCC1 and 4.25% in XRRCC2, with XRRCC2 showing a significantly higher prevalence (OR = 1.79, 95%CI: 1.2–2.65). All-cause mortality rates for dementia patients were 62.0% in XRRCC1 and 35.7% in XRRCC2. Mortality in the normal population of XRRCC2 decreased by 66% compared to XRRCC1, mainly due to improved survival rates in women with dementia. Dementia prevalence was positively associated with age >65, spouse-absent status, and stroke, and negatively associated with ≥6 years of education.ConclusionDementia prevalence in rural China increased over 17 years, while mortality decreased. Major risk factors include aging, no spouse, and stroke, with higher education offering some protection.

Background Myocardial ischemia–reperfusion injury (MIRI) refers to severe damage to the ischemic myocardium following the restoration of blood flow, and it is a major complication of reperfusion therapy for myocardial infarction. Notably, drugs such as metoprolol have been utilized to reduce ischemia–reperfusion injury. Tanshinone IIA is a major constituent extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Recently, tanshinone IIA has been studied extensively in animal models for controlling MIRI. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis on the application of tanshinone IIA in rat models with MIRI to evaluate the therapeutic effects of tanshinone IIA. Methods A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Library, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, the Wanfang database, and the Chinese Scientific Journal Database to gather studies on tanshinone IIA intervention in rat models with MIRI.We employed SYRCLE’s risk of bias tool to assess study quality. The primary outcome indicators were superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Myocardial infarction area was a secondary outcome indicator. This study was registered at PROSPERO (registration number CRD 42022344447). Results According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 15 eligible studies were selected from 295 initially identified studies. In rat models with MIRI, tanshinone IIA significantly increased SOD levels while reducing MDA levels and myocardial infarction area. Moreover, the duration of myocardial ischemia influenced the effectiveness of tanshinone IIA. However, additional high-quality research studies are needed to establish the efficacy and definitive guidelines for the use of tanshinone IIA. Animal studies demonstrated that tanshinone IIA exerted a significant therapeutic effect when the ischemia duration was less than 40 minutes. Tanshinone IIA was found to be more effective when administered via intravenous, intraperitoneal, and intragastric routes at doses above 5 mg/kg. Additionally, treatment with tanshinone IIA at all stages—prior to myocardial ischemia, after ischemia but before reperfusion, prior to ischemia and after reperfusion, and after reperfusion—showed satisfactory results. Conclusions Tanshinone IIA enhanced SOD activity and reduced MDA levels, thereby ameliorating oxidative stress damage during MIRI. Additionally, it reduced the myocardial infarction area, indicating its effectiveness in mitigating MIRI-induced damage in rats and demonstrating a myocardial protective effect. These findings contribute valuable insights for developing MIRI treatment strategies.

Calcium (Ca2+) is a second messenger for many signal pathways, and changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) are an important signaling mechanism in the oocyte maturation, activation, fertilization, function regulation of granulosa and cumulus cells and offspring development. Ca2+ oscillations occur during oocyte maturation and fertilization, which are maintained by Ca2+ stores and extracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]e). Abnormalities in Ca2+ signaling can affect the release of the first polar body, the first meiotic division, and chromosome and spindle morphology. Well-studied aspects of Ca2+ signaling in the oocyte are oocyte activation and fertilization. Oocyte activation, driven by sperm-specific phospholipase PLCζ, is initiated by concerted intracellular patterns of Ca2+ release, termed Ca2+ oscillations. Ca2+ oscillations persist for a long time during fertilization and are coordinately engaged by a variety of Ca2+ channels, pumps, regulatory proteins and their partners. Calcium signaling also regulates granulosa and cumulus cells’ function, which further affects oocyte maturation and fertilization outcome. Clinically, there are several physical and chemical options for treating fertilization failure through oocyte activation. Additionally, various exogenous compounds or drugs can cause ovarian dysfunction and female infertility by inducing abnormal Ca2+ signaling or Ca2+ dyshomeostasis in oocytes and granulosa cells. Therefore, the reproductive health risks caused by adverse stresses should arouse our attention. This review will systematically summarize the latest research progress on the aforementioned aspects and propose further research directions on calcium signaling in female reproduction.

High-concentration phosphorus (P) fertilizers are crucial for crop growth. However, fertilizers with lower P concentrations, such as calcium magnesium phosphate (CMP) and single super phosphate (SSP), can also serve as efficient P sources, especially when blended with high-concentration P fertilizers like diammonium phosphate (DAP) or monoammonium phosphate (MAP). In this study, we conducted a 48-day pot experiment to explore how blending low-P fertilizers could optimize maize P utilization, using CMP to replace DAP in acidic soil, and SSP to replace MAP in alkaline soil, with five SSP+MAP and CMP+DAP mixtures tested. Key metrics such as shoot and root biomass, shoot P uptake, root length, and soil P bioavailability were measured. We found that maize biomass and P uptake with 100% DAP were comparable to those with 50% CMP and 50% DAP in acidic soil. Similar results were observed for 100% MAP compared to 50% SSP and 50% DAP in alkaline soil. Root biomass and length were largest with 100% MAP in acidic soil and at 100% DAP in alkaline soil, with no significant differences at 50% SSP or CMP substitutions for MAP and DAP, respectively. Furthermore, 50% SSP or CMP substitutions for MAP and DAP increased the content and proportion of the labile inorganic P (Pi) pool (H2O-Pi and NaHCO3-Pi), had a direct and positive effect on Olsen-P. Our findings reveal that 1:1 blends of SSP and MAP in acidic soil, and CMP and DAP in alkaline soil, effectively meet maize’s P requirements without relying solely on high-concentration P fertilizers. This indicates that strategic blending of fertilizers can optimize P use, which is crucial for sustainable agriculture.

Abstract Objectives To determine the imaging details and diagnostic information of the treatment response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) of rectal adenocarcinoma at 9.4T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by ex vivo. Methods Fifteen cases with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) followed by radical surgery after nCRT between September 2022 and February 2023 were recruited. Resected specimens were fixed in a perfluoropolyether‐filled test tube and scanned with a 3.0T and 9.4T MRI system ex vivo. The residual tumor depth and MRI‐based tumor regression grade (TRG) were subjectively assessed and then compared with the pathological findings. Results The ex vivo 9.4T T2WI without fat suppression clearly differentiated tumor tissue, fibrosis and normal rectal wall, which clearly corresponded to the pathologic tissues of the rectal specimens. The TRG could be accurately assessed on ex vivo 9.4T images in 13/15 specimens (86.7%), while in 11/15 specimens (73.3%) on ex vivo 3.0T images. Conclusion Ex vivo 9.4T MR imaging clearly displayed the components of rectal wall and proved excellent diagnostic performance for evaluating the treatment response to nCRT, which allow radiologists to understand and then assess more accurately the TRG of LARC after nCRT.

ABSTRACT Regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins exhibit GTPase-accelerating protein activities to govern G-protein function. In the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, there is a family of at least eight RGS and RGS-like proteins (MoRgs1 to MoRgs8), each exhibiting distinct or shared functions in the growth, appressorium formation, and pathogenicity. MoRgs3 recently emerged as one of the crucial regulators that senses intracellular oxidation during appressorium formation. To explore this unique regulatory mechanism of MoRgs3, we identified the nucleoside diphosphate kinase MoNdk1 that interacts with MoRgs3. MoNdk1 phosphorylates MoRgs3 under induced intracellular reactive oxygen species levels, and MoRgs3 phosphorylation is required for appressorium formation and pathogenicity. In addition, we showed that MoRgs3 phosphorylation determines its interaction with MoCrn1, a coronin-like actin-binding protein homolog, which regulates MoRgs3 internalization. Finally, we provided evidence demonstrating that MoRgs3 functions in MoMagA-mediated cAMP signaling to regulate normal appressorium induction. By revealing a novel signal perception mechanism, our studies highlighted the complexity of regulation during the appressorium function and pathogenicity of the blast fungus.IMPORTANCEWe report that MoRgs3 becomes phosphorylated in an oxidative intracellular environment during the appressorium formation stage. We found that this phosphorylation is carried out by MoNdk1, a nucleoside diphosphate kinase. In addition, this phosphorylation leads to a higher binding affinity between MoRgs3 and MoCrn1, a coronin-like actin-binding protein that was implicated in the endocytic transport of several other RGS proteins of Magnaporthe oryzae. We further found that the internalization of MoRgs3 is indispensable for its GTPase-activating protein function toward the Gα subunit MoMagA. Importantly, we characterized how such cellular regulatory events coincide with cAMP signaling-regulated appressorium formation and pathogenicity in the blast fungus. Our studies uncovered a novel intracellular reactive oxygen species signal-transducing mechanism in a model pathogenic fungus with important basic and applied implications.

Daylily (Hemerocallis citrina) is a perennial herb of the genus Hemerocallis of Liliaceae. It is also an economically important crop and is widely cultivated. Daylily has nutritional, medicinal and ornamental values. The research literature shows that daylily is a high-quality food raw material rich in soluble sugars, ascorbic acid, flavonoids, dietary fiber, carotenoids, mineral elements, polyphenols and other nutrients, which are effective in clearing heat and diuresis, resolving bruises and stopping bleeding, strengthening the stomach and brain, and reducing serum cholesterol levels. This article reviews the main nutrients of daylily and summarizes the drying process of daylily. In addition, due to the existence of active ingredients, daylily also has a variety of biological activities that are beneficial to human health. This article also highlights the nutritional quality of daylily, the research progress of dried vegetable rehydration technology and dried daylily. In the end, the undeveloped molecular mechanism and functional research status of daylily worldwide are introduced in order to provide reference for the nutritional quality research and dried processing industry of daylily.

Slope instability, driven by factors such as rainfall, seismic activity, and human influence, presents a pervasive hazard worldwide. Timely assessment of slope stability and accurate identification of its most critical slip surface are important for slope safety early warning and management. Currently, for the slope reliability analysis by the strength reduction method (SRM), the critical failure path is approximately determined through visualization techniques, which is not sufficiently precise. Therefore, this study proposes a critical failure search method based on SRM for slope reliability analysis, aiming to accurately identify the critical slip surface. The critical failure path is considered as the path with the maximum plastic dissipative energy density (PDED) and is searched in the constructed weighted graph based on the dissipated energy of the slope. This proposed method is further applied with an engineering slope to find the critical failure path and assess its reliability during and after construction. The searched critical failure path lies within the approximate range obtained through conventional visualization methods. Finally, a reliability prediction model consisting of time, rainfall, and deformation component is further constructed, which allows rapid estimation of the slope reliability through available monitor data. The results of reliability analysis indicate that construction disturbances have a significant impact on slope stability, along with other factors such as rainfall and creep.

IntroductionFusarium wilt (FW) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum (Foc) is a destructive soil-borne disease in cucumber (Cucumis sativus. L). However, there remains limited knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying FW resistance-mediated defense responses in cucumber.MethodsIn this study, metabolome and transcriptome profiling were carried out for two FW resistant (NR) and susceptible (NS), near isogenic lines (NILs) before and after Foc inoculation. NILs have shown consistent and stable resistance in multiple resistance tests conducted in the greenhouse and in the laboratory. A widely targeted metabolomic analysis identified differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) with significantly greater NR accumulation in response to Foc infection, including many phenolic acid and flavonoid compounds from the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway.ResultsTranscriptome analysis identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the NILs upon Foc inoculation including genes for secondary metabolite biosynthesis and transcription factor genes regulating the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. Joint analysis of the metabolomic and transcriptomic data identified DAMs and DEGs closely associated with the biosynthesis of phenolic acid and flavonoid DAMs. The association of these compounds with NR-conferred FW resistance was exemplified by in vivo assays. These assays found two phenolic acid compounds, bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and diisooctyl phthalate, as well as the flavonoid compound gallocatechin 3-O-gallate to have significant inhibitory effects on Foc growth. The antifungal effects of these three compounds represent a novel finding.DiscussionTherefore, phenolic acids and flavonoids play important roles in NR mediated FW resistance breeding in cucumber.

Treated drinking water is delivered to customers through drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs). Although studies have focused on exploring the microbial ecology of DWDSs, knowledge about the effects of different water treatments on the bacterial community of biofilm and loose deposits in DWDS is limited. This study assessed the effects of additional treatments on the bacterial communities developed in 10 months’ old pilot DWDSs. The results showed a similar bacterial community in the pipe-wall biofilm, which was dominated by Novosphingobium spp. (20–82 %) and Sphingomonas spp. (11–53 %), regardless of the treatment applied. The bacterial communities that were retained in the distribution systems (including pipe-wall biofilm and loose deposits) were similar to the particle-associated bacteria (PAB) in the corresponding supply water. The additional treatments showed clear effects of the removal and/or introduction of particles. The genera Aeromonas spp., Clostridium spp., Legionella spp., and Pseudomonas spp., which contain opportunistic pathogenic species, were only detected among the PAB in ion exchange system. Our study demonstrated that the biofilm community is consistent across treatments, and the contribution from bacteria in loose deposits is important but can be controlled by removing particles. These findings offer more insight into the origin and development of microbial ecology in DWDSs and suggest paths for further research on the possibility of managing the microbial ecology in distribution systems.

Objective: The difference in the tumor microenvironment (TME) between primary breast cancer (PBC) and breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM) is still unknown. Herein, we present the landscape of the TME in PBC and BCBM to better understand the process of BCBM. Methods: The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was used to obtain suitable PBC and BCBM data. Hub genes that were differentially expressed between the two groups were searched. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG were used to define the gene's function. Single-cell data were also analyzed to determine the difference between PBC and BCBM. Results: Two datasets (GSE100534 and GSE125989) were used to search for hub genes, and 79 genes were either upregulated or downregulated between the two groups. Four hub genes (COL1A1, PDGFR, MMP3 and FZD7) were related to prognosis. GO and KEGG analyses showed that extracellular matrix and focal adhesion play major roles in the metastasis process. Another two datasets (GSE176078 and GSE186344) were enrolled for single-cell analysis. Single-cell analysis demonstrated that immune cells (66.6 %) form the main part of PBC, while cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) (21.7 %) are the main component of BCBM. Immune cell proportion analysis showed that CD4+/CD8+ T cells (28.9 % and 14.3 %, respectively) and macrophages(M2) accounted for the majority of cells in PBC and BCBM, respectively. Further analysis of the classification of CAFs showed that apCAFs were significantly higher in PBC. Conclusions: This study presents the landscape of BCBM with hub gene searching and single-cell analysis. Showing the difference in the tumor/immune microenvironment of PBC and BCBM, would be beneficial to explore immunotherapy and targeted therapy for BCBM.

The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of mental health on the academic performance of junior and senior students studying in a university setting during the 2022–2023 academic year, in the post-COVID period. The study was conducted in Beijing, China, with the participation of 600 students, including 300 first-year students and 300 fifth-year students. DASS (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale) and PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) questionnaires were employed to measure mental health. The DASS assesses symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, while the PHQ-9 specifically evaluates depression severity. Academic performance was evaluated using a 12-point scale, which incorporated various criteria such as exam scores, coursework performance, and participation in extracurricular activities. The research was conducted across five faculties of the university from 2022 to 2023. In the study, fifth-year students demonstrated a higher level of mental health compared to first-year students, with an average DASS score of 27.1 and 24.2, respectively. Interestingly, despite this, first-year students achieved higher academic performance indicators, with an average score of 8.2 compared to 9.8 in fifth-year students. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between stress, depression, and anxiety levels with academic performance (stress: r = −0.25, p

Abstract Anomaly detection poses a significant challenge in the industry and knowledge distillation constructed using a frozen teacher network and a trainable student network is the prevailing approach for detecting suspicious regions. Forward and reverse distillation are the main ways to achieve anomaly detection. To design an effective model and aggregate detection results, we propose a dual-student knowledge distillation (DSKD) based on forward and reverse distillation. Taking advantage of the priority of reverse distillation to obtain high-level representation, we combine a skip connection and an attention module to build a reverse distillation student network that simultaneously focuses on high-level representation and low-level features. DSKD uses a forward distillation network as an auxiliary to allow the student network to preferentially obtain the query image. For different anomaly score maps obtained by the dual-student network, we use synthetic noise enhancement in combination with image segmentation loss to adaptively learn the weight scores of individual maps. Empirical experiments conducted on the MVTec dataset show that the proposed DSKD method achieves good performance on texture images as well as competitive results on object images compared with other state-of-the-art methods. Meanwhile, ablation experiments and a visualization analysis validate the contributions of each of the model’s components.

We estimated convex-structured covariance/correlation matrices by minimizing the entropy loss corresponding to the given matrix. We first considered the estimation of the Weighted sum of known Rank-one matrices with unknown Weights (W-Rank1-W) structural covariance matrices, which appeared commonly in array signal processing tasks, e.g., direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation. The associated minimization problem is convex and can be solved using the primal-dual interior-point algorithm. However, the objective functions (the entropy loss function) can be bounded above by a sequence of separable functions—we proposed a novel estimation algorithm based on this property under the Majorization-Minimization (MM) algorithmic framework. The proposed MM algorithm exhibited very low computational complexity in each iteration, and its convergence was demonstrated theoretically. Subsequently, we focused on the estimation of Toeplitz autocorrelation matrices, which appeared frequently in time-series analysis. In particular, we considered cases in which the autocorrelation coefficient decreased as the time lag increased. We transformed the Toeplitz structure into a W-Rank1-W structure via special variable substitution, and proposed an MM algorithm similar to that for the W-Rank1-W covariance estimation. However, each MM iteration involved a second-order cone programming SOCP problem that must be resolved. Our numerical experiments demonstrated the high computational efficiency and satisfactory estimation accuracy of the proposed MM algorithms in DOA and autocorrelation matrix estimation.

Objective To explore the role and molecular mechanism of Lnc-BM in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer (GC). Methods GC tissues and paired adjacent normal tissues of 36 GC patients were collected, and the expression of Lnc-BM was detected by RT-qPCR. Colony formation and CCK-8 assays were used to investigate the proliferation of GC cells. The migration and invasion properties of GC cells were investigated via Transwell assay. RNA pull-down assay was applied to confirm the interaction between FASTK and Lnc-BM. Western blot assay was used to detect FASTK protein level in Lnc-BM overexpressing or knockdown cells. Mitochondrial respiratory capacity and the related proteins expression levels were detected by Seahorse and Western blot assays, respectively. Lnc-BM stably overexpressing GC cells were constructed and then injected subcutaneously into nude mice. The tumor growth was observed. Results Lnc-BM was highly expressed in GC tissues compared with their paired adjacent normal tissues. Lnc-BM overexpression significantly promoted GC cells proliferation migration and invasion, while Lnc-BM knockdown inhibited GC cells proliferation, migration and invasion (P < 0.05). RNA pull-down experiment demonstrated that Lnc-BM can directly bind to FASTK. Western blot results indicated that overexpression of Lnc-BM increased the protein levels of FASTK, while knockdown of Lnc-BM inhibited the expression of FASTK (P < 0.05). Compared to the control group, overexpression of Lnc-BM increased the levels of mitochondria associated proteins, such as MT-ND6 and TOM20 (P < 0.05). Seahorse results indicated that overexpression of Lnc-BM enhanced mitochondrial respiratory capacity (P < 0.05). Knocking down FASTK in Lnc-BM stably overexpressing cells can reverse the increase in mitochondrial respiratory capacity caused by Lnc-BM overexpression (P < 0.05). In vivo, the results of subcutaneously implanted tumor model in nude mouse showed that Lnc-BM overexpression promoted the tumor growth (P < 0.05). Conclusion Lnc-BM promotes GC progression by regulating mitochondrial respiratory function through the FASTK/MT-ND6 axis.

Abstract Background The eastern edge of the Qinghai‒Tibet Plateau (QTP) and subtropical China have various regions where plant species originate and thrive, but these regions have been the focus of very few integrative studies. Here, we elucidated the phylogeographic structure of a continuous and widespread Akebia trifoliata population across these two regions. Results Sixty-one populations consisting of 391 genotypes were examined to assess population diversity and structure via network distribution analysis, maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree reconstruction, divergence time estimation, demographic history inference, and ancestral area reconstruction of both conserved internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and chloroplast (rps16) DNA sequences. The results showed that the ITS region was more variable than the rps16 region and could be suitable for studying intraspecific phylogeography. The A. trifoliata population displayed high genetic diversity, genetic differentiation and obvious phylogeographical structure, possibly originating on the eastern QTP, expanding during the last glacial-interglacial cycle, diverging in the early Pleistocene and middle Pleistocene, and extensively migrating thereafter. The migration route from west to east along rivers could be largely responsible for the long-distance dispersal of this species, while three main refuges (Qinba Mountains, Nanling Mountains and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau) with multiple ice shelters facilitated its wide distribution. Conclusions Our results suggested that the from west to east long migration accompanying with the minor short reciprocal migration in the south-north direction, and the three main refuges (the Qinba Mountains, Nanling Mountains and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau) contributed to the extant geographical distribution of A. trifoliata. In addition, this finding also strongly reduced the discrepancy between glacial contraction and postglacial expansion and the in situ survival hypothesis by simultaneously considering the existence of many similar climate-related ecological niches and migration influences.

Abstract Background To develop a deep learning(DL) model utilizing ultrasound images, and evaluate its efficacy in distinguishing between benign and malignant parotid tumors (PTs), as well as its practicality in assisting clinicians with accurate diagnosis. Methods A total of 2211 ultrasound images of 980 pathologically confirmed PTs (Training set: n = 721; Validation set: n = 82; Internal-test set: n = 89; External-test set: n = 88) from 907 patients were retrospectively included in this study. The optimal model was selected and the diagnostic performance evaluation is conducted by utilizing the area under curve (AUC) of the receiver-operating characteristic(ROC) based on five different DL networks constructed at varying depths. Furthermore, a comparison of different seniority radiologists was made in the presence of the optimal auxiliary diagnosis model. Additionally, the diagnostic confusion matrix of the optimal model was calculated, and an analysis and summary of misjudged cases’ characteristics were conducted. Results The Resnet18 demonstrated superior diagnostic performance, with an AUC value of 0.947, accuracy of 88.5%, sensitivity of 78.2%, and specificity of 92.7% in internal-test set, and with an AUC value of 0.925, accuracy of 89.8%, sensitivity of 83.3%, and specificity of 90.6% in external-test set. The PTs were subjectively assessed twice by six radiologists, both with and without the assisted of the model. With the assisted of the model, both junior and senior radiologists demonstrated enhanced diagnostic performance. In the internal-test set, there was an increase in AUC values by 0.062 and 0.082 for junior radiologists respectively, while senior radiologists experienced an improvement of 0.066 and 0.106 in their respective AUC values. Conclusions The DL model based on ultrasound images demonstrates exceptional capability in distinguishing between benign and malignant PTs, thereby assisting radiologists of varying expertise levels to achieve heightened diagnostic performance, and serve as a noninvasive imaging adjunct diagnostic method for clinical purposes.

Abstract Background The tripartite motif (TRIM) proteins have been reported to play crucial roles in various malignancies. However, the clinical significance of TRIM proteins in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the association between TRIM proteins and the clinicopathological features and survival outcomes in patients with CRC. Methods We performed a meta-analysis to investigate whether TRIM is a prognostic factor in CRC. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI and Weipu databases were searched to identify eligible studies that evaluated the association between TRIM proteins and overall survival (OS), as well as the clinicopathological features of patients with CRC. Hazard ratios (HR) or odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were derived and pooled using a fixed-effects model. Results From inception to March 2023, we extracted study characteristics and prognostic data for each identified study. Twelve studies enrolling 1608 patients were eligible for inclusion. Data on OS and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were available for 12 and 2 studies, respectively. The pooled analysis results showed a significant correlation between the elevated TRIM proteins and shorter OS (HR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.96–2.99) and worse RFS (HR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.78–3.54) in patients with CRC. The combined ORs indicated that TRIM protein over-expression was significantly associated with advanced TNM stage (OR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.25–4.10), deep tumor invasion (OR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.04–3.88), lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.99, 95% CI: 2.19–4.09) and perineural invasion (OR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.18–3.23). Conclusions Our findings suggest that TRIM proteins can predict tumor progression and poor prognosis in CRC. Therefore, TRIM proteins may be promising therapeutic targets for patients with CRC. Graphical Abstract

Abstract Lysine lactylation (Kla) links metabolism and gene regulation and plays a key role in multiple biological processes. However, the regulatory mechanism and functional consequence of Kla remain to be explored. Here, we report that HBO1 functions as a lysine lactyltransferase to regulate transcription. We show that HBO1 catalyzes the addition of Kla in vitro and intracellularly, and E508 is a key site for the lactyltransferase activity of HBO1. Quantitative proteomic analysis further reveals 95 endogenous Kla sites targeted by HBO1, with the majority located on histones. Using site-specific antibodies, we find that HBO1 may preferentially catalyze histone H3K9la and scaffold proteins including JADE1 and BRPF2 can promote the enzymatic activity for histone Kla. Notably, CUT&Tag assays demonstrate that HBO1 is required for histone H3K9la on transcription start sites (TSSs). Besides, the regulated Kla can promote key signaling pathways and tumorigenesis, which is further supported by evaluating the malignant behaviors of HBO1- knockout (KO) tumor cells, as well as the level of histone H3K9la in clinical tissues. Our study reveals HBO1 serves as a lactyltransferase to mediate a histone Kla-dependent gene transcription.

Abstract A wireless signal transmission technology based on acoustic carrier is proposed, which overcomes the limitation of electromagnetic signal shielding and shows great potential for in‐site monitoring of sliding electrical contact used in gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS)/gas‐insulated transmission line (GIL). Here, the state parameter of the sliding electrical contact is modulated onto the frequency domain of an ultrasound wave. As a mechanical wave, the ultrasonic wave is immune to electromagnetic shielding, so that it could carry the sensing signal to penetrate the metal shielding layer and transmit to the external terminals of GIS/GIL. The principle and signal modulation process of the acoustic carrier based transmission system have been demonstrated in detail. Both simulation and experiment have been conducted to analyse the system characteristics as well as optimise the system configuration. As a proof‐of‐concept application, the in situ and on‐line monitoring of the thermal rise of a slide electrical contact both in a current loading equivalent model and a prototype of GIS is demonstrated. Experimental results fit well with the physical process, and show a good measurement accuracy of 0.6% and temperature sensitivity of 400 Hz/°C.

Abstract Background The Asian yellow pond turtle (Mauremys mutica) is an important commercial freshwater aquaculture species in China. This species is a highly sexually dimorphic species, with males growing at a faster rate than females and exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), in which the incubation temperature during embryonic development determines the sexual fate. However, the mechanisms of the sex determination or sex differentiation in the Asian yellow pond turtle are remain a mystery. Results Temperature-specific gonadal transcriptomics of the Asian yellow pond turtle were performed during the thermosensitive period (stage 15) using RNA-seq technology to identify candidate genes that initiate gonadal differentiation. We uncovered candidates that were the first to respond to temperature. These candidates were sexually dimorphic in expression, reflecting differences in gonadal (Cirbp, Runx1) and germline differentiation (Vasa, Nanos1, Piwil2), gametogenesis (Hmgb3, Zar1, Ovoinhibitor-like, Kif4), steroid hormone biosynthesis (Hsd17b5, Hsd17b6), heat shock (Dnajb6, Hsp90b1, Hsp90aa1) and transient receptor potential channel genes (Trpm1, Trpm4, Trpm6, Trpv1). Conclusions Our work will provide important genetic information to elucidate the mechanisms of sex control in the Asian yellow pond turtles, and will contribute important genetic resources for further studies of temperature-dependent sex determination in turtles.

Abstract Zinc-alpha2-glycoprotein (AZGP1) has been implicated in peripheral metabolism; however, its role in regulating energy metabolism in the brain, particularly in POMC neurons, remains unknown. Here, we show that AZGP1 in POMC neurons plays a crucial role in controlling whole-body metabolism. POMC neuron-specific overexpression of Azgp1 under high-fat diet conditions reduces energy intake, raises energy expenditure, elevates peripheral tissue leptin and insulin sensitivity, alleviates liver steatosis, and promotes adipose tissue browning. Conversely, mice with inducible deletion of Azgp1 in POMC neurons exhibit the opposite metabolic phenotypes, showing increased susceptibility to diet-induced obesity. Notably, an increase in AZGP1 signaling in the hypothalamus elevates STAT3 phosphorylation and increases POMC neuron excitability. Mechanistically, AZGP1 enhances leptin-JAK2-STAT3 signaling by interacting with acylglycerol kinase (AGK) to block its ubiquitination degradation. Collectively, these results suggest that AZGP1 plays a crucial role in regulating energy homeostasis and glucose/lipid metabolism by acting on hypothalamic POMC neurons.

Abstract Background Numerous previous reports have demonstrated the efficacy of Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in promoting growth and preventing disease in animals. In this study, Enterococcus faecium ZJUIDS-R1 and Ligilactobaciiius animalis ZJUIDS-R2 were isolated from the feces of healthy rabbits, and both strains showed good probiotic properties in vitro. Two strains (108CFU/ml/kg/day) were fed to weaned rabbits for 21 days, after which specific bacterial infection was induced to investigate the effects of the strains on bacterial diarrhea in the rabbits. Results Our data showed that Enterococcus faecium ZJUIDS-R1 and Ligilactobaciiius animalis ZJUIDS-R2 interventions reduced the incidence of diarrhea and systemic inflammatory response, alleviated intestinal damage and increased antibody levels in animals. In addition, Enterococcus faecium ZJUIDS-R1 restored the flora abundance of Ruminococcaceae1. Ligilactobaciiius animalis ZJUIDS-R2 up-regulated the flora abundance of Adlercreutzia and Candidatus Saccharimonas. Both down-regulated the flora abundance of Shuttleworthia and Barnesiella to restore intestinal flora balance, thereby increasing intestinal short-chain fatty acid content. Conclusions These findings suggest that Enterococcus faecium ZJUIDS-R1 and Ligilactobaciiius animalis ZJUIDS-R2 were able to improve intestinal immunity, produce organic acids and regulate the balance of intestinal flora to enhance disease resistance and alleviate diarrhea-related diseases in weanling rabbits.

Abstract Optical encryption plays an increasingly important role in the field of information security owing to its parallel processing capability and low power consumption. Employing the ultrathin metasurfaces in optical encryption has promoted the miniaturization and multifunctionality of encryption systems. Nevertheless, with the few number of degrees of freedom (DoFs) multiplexed by single metasurface, both key space and encoding space are limited. To address this issue, we propose a high-security and large-capacity optical encryption scheme based on perfect high-dimensional Poincaré beams with expanded DoFs. By cascading two arrayed metasurfaces, more beam properties can be independently engineered, which gives rise to the extensively expanded key and encoding spaces. Our work provides a promising strategy for optical encryption with high security level and large information capacity and might facilitate the applications of Poincaré beams in optical communications and quantum information.

Abstract Background Refractoriness to surgical resection and chemotherapy makes intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) a fatal cancer of the digestive system with high mortality and poor prognosis. Important function invests circRNAs with tremendous potential in biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Nevertheless, it is still unknown how circRNAs contribute to the evolution of ICC. Methods CircRNAs in paired ICC and adjacent tissues were screened by circRNAs sequencing. To explore the impact of circRNAs on ICC development, experiments involving gain and loss of function were conducted. Various experimental techniques, including quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), western blotting, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), luciferase reporter assays, RNA pull-down, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), ubiquitination assays and so on were employed to identify the molecular regulatory role of circRNAs. Results Herein, we reported a new circRNA, which originates from exon 9 to exon 15 of the SLCO1B3 gene (named circSLCO1B3), orchestrated ICC progression by promoting tumor proliferation, metastasis and immune evasion. We found that the circSLCO1B3 gene was highly overexpressed in ICC tissues and related to lymphatic metastasis, tumor sizes, and tumor differentiation. Mechanically, circSLCO1B3 not only promoted ICC proliferation and metastasis via miR-502-5p/HOXC8/SMAD3 axis, but also eradicated anti-tumor immunity via suppressing ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent degradation of PD-L1 by E3 ubiquitin ligase SPOP. We further found that methyltransferase like 3 (METTL3) mediated the m6A methylation of circSLCO1B3 and stabilizes its expression. Our findings indicate that circSLCO1B3 is a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target in ICC patients. Conclusions Taken together, m6A-modified circSLCO1B3 was correlated with poor prognosis in ICC and promoted ICC progression not only by enhancing proliferation and metastasis via potentiating HOXC8 expression, but also by inducing immune evasion via antagonizing PD-L1 degradation. These results suggest that circSLCO1B3 is a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for ICC.

Alkali stress is a significant challenge across the globe which is posing serious threat to crop production and food security. This study was carried out to study the effect of different levels of alkali stress on growth and physiological traits of Leymus chinensis. The study was comprised of different levels of alkali stress; control (CK; 0 mmol·L-1), 25 and 50 mmol·L-1. The results showed that imposition of 50 mmol·L-1 alkali stress substantially reduced the photosynthetic capacity, relative water contents and accumulation of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in plant parts. Further, 50 mmol·L-1 alkali stress also reduced the above and below ground biomass, and severely inhibited the root growth. Moreover, increase in concentration of alkali stress inhibited clone components, tillering, tillering bud, and internode bud of Leymus chinensis. In conclusion the increasing concentration of alkali stress can reduce the growth and biomass production and nutrient accumulation of Leymus chinensis.

Abstract Objective To compare the potential efficacy and safety of dual therapy and quadruple therapy with vonoprazan (VPZ) as well as the standard quadruple therapy of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection in Hainan province. Methods A single-centre, non-blinded, non-inferiority randomized controlled trial was conducted at the outpatient department of gastroenterology at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University from June 2022 to February 2023. 135 patients aged 18–75 years with Hp infection were enrolled and randomized into three different groups (group V1: VPZ 20 mg twice a day and amoxicillin 1.0 g three times a day for 14 days V2: vonoprazan 20 mg, amoxicillin capsules 1.0 g, furazolidone 0.1 g and bismuth potassiulm citrate 240 mg, twice daily for 14 days;; group V3: ilaprazole 5 mg, Amoxicillin 1.0 g, Furazolidone 100 mg, bismuth potassiulm citrate 240 mg, twice a day for 14 days). Four weeks after the end of treatment, Hp eradication was confirmed by rechecking 13C-urea breath test (UBT). Results The eradication efficacy of V1 and V3 was non-inferior to that of V2, which is consistent with the results obtained from the Kruskal-Wallis H test. The eradication rate by intentional analysis was 84.4% (38/45, 95%CI 73.4%–95.5%, P>0.05) for all the three groups. If analyzed by per-protocol, the eradication rates were 88.4% (38/43, 95%CI 78.4%–98.4%), 92.7% (38/41, 95%CI 84.4%–101.0%),88.4% (38/43，95%CI 78.4%–98.4%) in groups V1, V2 and V3, respectively, which did not show a significant difference (P > 0.05). The incidence of adverse effects was significantly lower in VPZ dual therapy compared to the other two treatment regimens (P

Abstract Bioinspired bionic eyes should be self-driving, repairable and conformal to arbitrary geometries. Such eye would enable wide-field detection and efficient visual signal processing without requiring external energy, along with retinal transplantation by replacing dysfunctional photoreceptors with healthy ones for vision restoration. A variety of artificial eyes have been constructed with hemispherical silicon, perovskite and heterostructure photoreceptors, but creating zero-powered retinomorphic system with transplantable conformal features remains elusive. By combining neuromorphic principle with retinal and ionoelastomer engineering, we demonstrate a self-driven hemispherical retinomorphic eye with elastomeric retina made of ionogel heterojunction as photoreceptors. The receptor driven by photothermoelectric effect shows photoperception with broadband light detection (365 to 970 nm), wide field-of-view (180°) and photosynaptic (paired-pulse facilitation index, 153%) behaviors for biosimilar visual learning. The retinal photoreceptors are transplantable and conformal to any complex surface, enabling visual restoration for dynamic optical imaging and motion tracking.

To enhance the mechanical properties of the Nitrate Ester Plasticized Polyether solid propellant matrix, the uniaxial tension of multi-component systems is simulated and the factors influencing the mechanical properties of the propellant matrix are investigated. First, mesoscale models of five types of systems include poly alpha olefin (PAO(3)), polyethylene glycol (PEG200, PEG400, PEG600), and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) are established, followed by uniaxial tensile simulations. The results show PEG600, PEG400, PEG200, BDO, and PAO(3) in order of enhancing the mechanical performance of the matrix. Second, the diffusion behavior of nitroglycerin (NG) and butanetriol trinitrate (BTTN) in various systems is investigated. The results show that NG exhibits higher diffusion capacity than BTTN, and the diffusion coefficient increases with an increment in the molecular weight of PEG. Additionally, the influence of different plasticizer ratios (2.8–3.0), curing parameters (1.58–1.62), and chain extension parameters (0.08–0.10) on the mechanical properties of the PEG600 system are investigated. The results demonstrate that as the plasticizer ratio increases, there is a gradual decrease in the modulus of the matrix. Additionally, an increase in the curing parameter leads to a substantial enhancement in the tensile strength of the matrix, while increasing the chain extension parameter significantly expands the maximum tensile length of the matrix. Finally, employing the Slip-Spring model, the effects of the physical and chemical cross-linked network of the propellant are simulated. The result shows that increasing the content of a chemical cross-linked network significantly improves the tensile strength of the matrix.

Achieving high maize yields and efficient phosphorus (P) use with limited environmental impacts is one of the greatest challenges in sustainable maize production. Increasing plant density is considered an effective approach for achieving high maize yields. However, the low mobility of P in soils and the scarcity of natural P resources have hindered the development of methods that can simultaneously optimize P use and mitigate the P-related environmental footprint at high plant densities. In this study, meta-analysis and substance flow analysis were conducted to evaluate the effects of different types of mineral P fertilizer on maize yield at varying plant densities and assess the flow of P from rock phosphate mining to P fertilizer use for maize production in China. A significantly higher yield was obtained at higher plant densities than at lower plant densities. The application of single super-phosphate, triple super-phosphate, and calcium magnesium phosphate at high plant densities resulted in higher yields and a smaller environmental footprint than the application of diammonium phosphate and monoammonium phosphate. Our scenario analyses suggest that combining the optimal P type and application rate with a high plant density could increase maize yield by 22%. Further, the P resource use efficiency throughout the P supply chain increased by 39%, whereas the P-related environmental footprint decreased by 33%. Thus, simultaneously optimizing the P type and application rate at high plant densities achieved multiple objectives during maize production, indicating that combining P management with cropping techniques is a practical approach to sustainable maize production. These findings offer strategic, synergistic options for achieving sustainable agricultural development.

Abstract Background The implantation of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) as a bridge to transplantation or as destination therapy in end-stage heart failure patients is frequently complicated by the emergence of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs). These arrhythmias have been implicated in precipitating deleterious clinical outcomes, increased mortality rates and augmented healthcare expenditures. Case Presentation We present a challenging case of a 49-year-old male with a history of dilated cardiomyopathy who received an LVAD. Post-implantation, the patient suffered from intractable VAs, leading to multiple rehospitalizations and hemodynamic deterioration. Despite exhaustive medical management and electrical cardioversion attempts, the patient’s VAs persisted, ultimately necessitating prioritization for cardiac transplantation. Discussion This case highlights the challenges in managing VAs in LVAD patients and the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration. While pharmacological intervention is the initial strategy, catheter ablation may be considered in selected cases when medication is insufficient. In instances of intractable VAs, expeditious listing for heart transplantation as a high-priority candidate is advisable when feasible.

Abstract Background Danggui Sini decoction (DSD), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has the function of nourishing blood, warming meridians, and unblocking collaterals. Our clinical and animal studies had shown that DSD can effectively protect against oxaliplatin (OXA)-induced peripheral neuropathy (OIPN), but the detailed mechanisms remain uncertain. Multiple studies have confirmed that gut microbiota plays a crucial role in the development of OIPN. In this study, the potential mechanism of protective effect of DSD against OIPN by regulating gut microbiota was investigated. Methods The neuroprotective effects of DSD against OIPN were examined on a rat model of OIPN by determining mechanical allodynia, biological features of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) as well as proinflammatory indicators. Gut microbiota dysbiosis was characterized using 16S rDNA gene sequencing and metabolism disorders were evaluated using untargeted and targeted metabolomics. Moreover the gut microbiota mediated mechanisms were validated by antibiotic intervention and fecal microbiota transplantation. Results DSD treatment significantly alleviated OIPN symptoms by relieving mechanical allodynia, preserving DRG integrity and reducing proinflammatory indicators lipopolysaccharide (LPS), IL-6 and TNF-α. Besides, DSD restored OXA induced intestinal barrier disruption, gut microbiota dysbiosis as well as systemic metabolic disorders. Correlation analysis revealed that DSD increased bacterial genera such as Faecalibaculum, Allobaculum, Dubosiella and Rhodospirillales_unclassified were closely associated with neuroinflammation related metabolites, including positively with short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and sphingomyelin (d18:1/16:0), and negatively with pi-methylimidazoleacetic acid, l-glutamine and homovanillic acid. Meanwhile, antibiotic intervention apparently relieved OIPN symptoms. Furthermore, fecal microbiota transplantation further confirmed the mediated effects of gut microbiota. Conclusion DSD alleviates OIPN by regulating gut microbiota and potentially relieving neuroinflammation related metabolic disorder.

ABSTRACT Objective This study was designed to examine the correlation between serum uric acid (SUA) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels across non‐diabetic, pre‐diabetic, and diabetic adults from Northwest China. Materials and Methods This study utilized data from a cross‐sectional survey conducted in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which investigated the prevalence and risk factors of cardiovascular disease. All subjects underwent tests for SUA and FPG levels. Generalized additive models and two‐piecewise linear regression models were applied to explore the relationships between SUA and FPG level. The triglyceride–glucose (TyG) index was examined as a measure of insulin resistance, with an analysis of its mediating effects on the association between SUA and FPG level. Results A total of 10,217 individuals aged 18 and over were included. Generalized additive models verified the inverted U‐shaped association between SUA and FPG levels, and the inflection points of FPG levels in the curves were 6.5 mmol/L in males and 8.8 mmol/L in females. The TyG index is an intermediate variable in the relationship between SUA levels and elevated FPG levels, with mediating effects of 12.82% (P

Abstract Introduction Stroke is one of the common diseases that pose a severe threat to human health, with immune cells playing a crucial role in its onset and recovery. However, the specific mechanisms and causal relationships of different immune cell groups in various clinical stroke subtypes are unclear. This study explored the causal relationship between immune cells and stroke and its subtypes using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods Data from genome-wide association studies were analyzed using inverse-variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, and weighted median methods for MR analysis, along with heterogeneity tests, sensitivity analysis, and pleiotropy analysis. Results CD45RA+CD28−CD8+ T cell %T cell (OR 1.002, 95% CI 1.001–1.003; P FDR = 0.02), CD27 on CD24+CD27+ B cell (OR 1.127, 95% CI 1.061–1.198; P FDR = 0.04), CD27 on IgD−CD38dim B cell (OR 1.138, 95% CI 1.076–1.203; P FDR = 0.005), and CD27 on switched memory B cell (OR 1.144, 95% CI 1.076–1.216; P FDR = 0.01) were found to increase the risk of large artery stroke. Switched memory B cell %lymphocyte (OR 1.206, 95% CI 1.103–1.318; P FDR = 0.02) increased the risk of small vessel stroke. Reverse MR analysis did not reveal any reverse causal associations. Furthermore, by substituting the outcome data, a secondary MR analysis was conducted to validate the primary findings. Conclusion Our study reveals several causal links between immune phenotypes and stroke and its different subtypes, highlighting the complex interactions between the immune system and stroke. These findings provide new directions for further uncovering the biological basis of stroke and assist in advancing research on early interventions and treatment strategies.

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a common heart disease and a leading cause of death in developed countries and some developing countries such as China. It is recognized as a multifactorial disease, with dyslipidemia being closely associated with the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. Numerous studies have confirmed the relationship between a single indicator of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and CHD. However, the association between LDL-C to HDL-C ratio (LHR) and CHD remains unclear. This study aimed to comprehensively explore the association between LHR and CHD. Methods: This meta-analysis was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were comprehensively searched up to June 15, 2023, to find the studies that indicated the connection between LHR and CHD. A total of 12 published studies were selected. The random-effects model was used to pool the data and mean difference (MD), and the 95% confidence intervals (CI) were taken as the overall outcome. No language restrictions existed in the study selection. The Review Manager 5.4 and Stata 12 were used to analyze the data. Results: Twelve high-quality clinical studies involving 5544 participants, including 3009 patients with CHD, were enrolled in the meta-analysis. The findings revealed that the LHR was higher by 0.65 in patients with CHD than in those without CHD (MD, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.50–0.80). Conclusion: The LHR was found to be positively correlated with CHD, suggesting that it may serve as a potential indicator of CHD.

ObjectiveIn recent years, there has been a steady increase in the occurrence and fatality rates of shrimp diseases, causing substantial impacts in shrimp aquaculture. These diseases are marked by their swift onset, high infectivity, complex control requirements, and elevated mortality rates. With the continuous growth of shrimp factory farming, traditional manual detection approaches are no longer able to keep pace with the current requirements. Hence, there is an urgent necessity for an automated solution to identify shrimp diseases. The main goal of this research is to create a cost-effective inspection method using computer vision that achieves a harmonious balance between cost efficiency and detection accuracy. The improved YOLOv8 (You Only Look Once) network and multiple features were employed to detect shrimp diseases.MethodsTo address the issue of surface foam interference, the improved YOLOv8 network was applied to detect and extract surface shrimps as the primary focus of the image. This target detection approach accurately recognizes objects of interest in the image, determining their category and location, with extraction results surpassing those of threshold segmentation. Taking into account the cost limitations of platform computing power in practical production settings, the network was optimized by reducing parameters and computations, thereby improving detection speed and deployment efficiency. Additionally, the Farnberck optical flow method and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) were employed to capture the movement and image texture features of shrimp video clips. A dataset was created using these extracted multiple feature parameters, and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier was trained to categorize the multiple feature parameters in video clips, facilitating the detection of shrimp health.Results and DiscussionsThe improved YOLOv8 in this study effectively enhanced detection accuracy without increasing the number of parameters and flops. According to the results of the ablation experiment, replacing the backbone network with FasterNet lightweight backbone network significantly reduces the number of parameters and computation, albeit at the cost of decreased accuracy. However, after integrating the efficient multi-scale attention (EMA) on the neck, the mAP0.5 increased by 0.3% compared to YOLOv8s, while mAP0.95 only decreased by 2.1%. Furthermore, the parameter count decreased by 45%, and FLOPs decreased by 42%. The improved YOLOv8 exhibits remarkable performance, ranking second only to YOLOv7 in terms of mAP0.5 and mAP0.95, with respective reductions of 0.4% and 0.6%. Additionally, it possesses a significantly reduced parameter count and FLOPS compared to YOLOv7, matching those of YOLOv5. Despite the YOLOv7-Tiny and YOLOv8-VanillaNet models boasting lower parameters and Flops, their accuracy lags behind that of the improved YOLOv8. The mAP0.5 and mAP0.95 of YOLOv7-Tiny and YOLOv8-VanillaNet are 22.4%, 36.2%, 2.3%, and 4.7% lower than that of the improved YOLOv8, respectively. Using a support vector machine (SVM) trained on a comprehensive dataset incorporating multiple feature, the classifier achieved an impressive accuracy rate of 97.625%. The 150 normal fragments and the 150 diseased fragments were randomly selected as test samples. The classifier exhibited a detection accuracy of 89% on this dataset of the 300 samples. This result indicates that the combination of features extracted using the Farnberck optical flow method and GLCM can effectively capture the distinguishing dynamics of movement speed and direction between infected and healthy shrimp. In this research, the majority of errors stem from the incorrect recognition of diseased segments as normal segments, accounting for 88.2% of the total error. These errors can be categorized into three main types: 1) The first type occurs when floating foam obstructs the water surface, resulting in a small number of shrimp being extracted from the image. 2) The second type is attributed to changes in water movement. In this study, nanotubes were used for oxygenation, leading to the generation of sprays on the water surface, which affected the movement of shrimp. 3) The third type of error is linked to video quality. When the video's pixel count is low, the difference in optical flow between diseased shrimp and normal shrimp becomes relatively small. Therefore, it is advisable to adjust the collection area based on the actual production environment and enhance video quality.ConclusionsThe multiple features introduced in this study effectively capture the movement of shrimp, and can be employed for disease detection. The improved YOLOv8 is particularly well-suited for platforms with limited computational resources and is feasible for deployment in actual production settings. However, the experiment was conducted in a factory farming environment, limiting the applicability of the method to other farming environments. Overall, this method only requires consumer-grade cameras as image acquisition equipment and has lower requirements on the detection platform, and can provide a theoretical basis and methodological support for the future application of aquatic disease detection methods.

High-entropy ceramic materials usually refer to the multi-principal solid solution formed by 5 or more ceramic components. Due to its novel “high-entropy effect” and excellent performance, it has become one of the research hotspots in the field of ceramics in recent years. As the research system of high-entropy ceramics has gradually expanded from the initial rock salt oxides (Mg-Ni-Co-Cu-Zn)O to fluorite oxides, perovskite oxides, spinel oxides, borides, carbides and silicates, its special mechanical, electrical, magnetic and energy storage properties have been continuously discovered. Based on the basic principle of high-entropy materials, this paper mainly introduces the prominent perovskite-type oxide high-entropy ceramics in recent years from the perspective of ceramic structure and properties, and predicts the development trend of high-entropy perovskite-type ceramics in the next few years.

The basic region/leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors play important roles in plant development and responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. OsbZIP53 regulates resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae in rice by analyzing APIP5-RNAi transgenic plants. To further investigate the biological functions of OsbZIP53, we generated osbzip53 mutants using CRISPR/Cas9 editing and also constructed OsbZIP53 over-expression transgenic plants. Comprehensive analysis of phenotypical, physiological, and transcriptional data showed that knocking-out OsbZIP53 not only improved disease resistance by inducing a hypersensitivity response in plants, but also regulated the immune response through the salicylic acid pathway. Specifically, disrupting OsbZIP53 increased H2O2 accumulation by promoting reactive oxygen species generation through up-regulation of several respiratory burst oxidase homologs (Osrboh genes) and weakened H2O2 degradation by directly targeting OsMYBS1. In addition, the growth of osbzip53 mutants was seriously impaired, while OsbZIP53 over-expression lines displayed a similar phenotype to the wild type, suggesting that OsbZIP53 has a balancing effect on rice immune response and growth.

This experiment established a relative quantitative detection method for bovine derived components in milk powder based on Real time PCR. The specificity, sensitivity, and stability of cattle-specific primers and probes were tested. By simulating mixed samples of cow’s milk powder and horse’s milk powder with different concentrations, linear fitting was performed based on the functional relationship of their △Ct values, and a standard curve was drawn to establish a relative quantitative detection of bovine derived components in milk powder. The results showed that the minimum detection limit of this method was 0.000 01 mg/mL. The recovery rate was 91.11%~119.2%, with an inter group coefficient of variation of ≤0.58% and an intra group coefficient of variation of ≤1.44%. This method is suitable for detecting the adulteration of bovine derived components and content in milk powder in terms of specificity and stability.