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Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major healthcare challenge worldwide. MiRNAs exert a regulatory effect on the progress of DN. Our study proposed to investigate the miR-320c expression and its function on the pathogenesis of DN in vitro. The level of miR-320c in HK-2 cells was quantified by RT-qPCR. Cell morphology, invasion, and migration were observed by optical microscope, Transwell invasion assay, and scratch wound assay. Then, the levels of PTEN, α-SMA, vimentin, E-cadherin, p-PI3K, PI3K, AKT, and p-AKT were analyzed through western blotting. A Dual-luciferase reporter assay was conducted to explore the target relationship between miR-320c and PTEN. It was discovered that miR-320c was over-expressed in high glucose (HG)-treated HK-2 cells. Furthermore, inhibition of miR-320c could alleviate the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HG-induced HK-2 cells and retain the normal morphology of HK-2 cells. Additionally, the miR-320c inhibitor decreased the invasiveness and migration of HG-treated HK-2 cells. Next, the target gene of miR-320c, PTEN, was identified, and the function of miR-320c was reversed by down-regulation of PTEN. Finally, we found inhibition of miR-320c restrained the PI3K/AKT pathway. Therefore, inhibition of miR-320c could alleviate toxicity of HK-2 cells induced by HG via targeting PTEN and restraining the PI3K/AKT pathway, illustrating that miR-320c may act as a new biomarker in the diagnosis of DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical fiber bundle-based microendoscope, which is significant in clinical diagnosis and industrial detection, calls for miniaturization of the probe and high-resolution observation. Here, we propose a double-layer metasurface array borrowing the structures of insect compound eyes to meet both requirements instead of traditional optical components. Each unit in the array aims for an incident field of view, focusing light at the center of the fiber end face with no chromatic aberration at the wavelengths of 470 nm, 530 nm and 630 nm. The metasurface array is composed of a series of isotropic TiO2 nanopillars which are special selected after considering resonance mode and angular dispersion characteristics, etched on both sides of a silica substrate, with the individual functions of deflecting and focusing. In image space, numerical aperture (NA) is 0.287 and the particular layout of two layers achieve zero telecentricity theoretically, which meet the requirements of optical fiber bundle coupling. A unit for incident angle of 20° is shown to validate our design approach numerically, which obtains a focused spot close to the diffraction limit. The compact and ultrathin metasurface could greatly reduce the size of the probe in optical fiber bundle based microendoscope while ensuring the imaging quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical fiber bundle-based microendoscope, which is significant in clinical diagnosis and industrial detection, calls for miniaturization of the probe and high-resolution observation. Here, we propose a double-layer metasurface array borrowing the structures of insect compound eyes to meet both requirements instead of traditional optical components. Each unit in the array aims for an incident field of view, focusing light at the center of the fiber end face with no chromatic aberration at the wavelengths of 470 nm, 530 nm and 630 nm. The metasurface array is composed of a series of isotropic TiO2 nanopillars which are special selected after considering resonance mode and angular dispersion characteristics, etched on both sides of a silica substrate, with the individual functions of deflecting and focusing. In image space, numerical aperture (NA) is 0.287 and the particular layout of two layers achieve zero telecentricity theoretically, which meet the requirements of optical fiber bundle coupling. A unit for incident angle of 20° is shown to validate our design approach numerically, which obtains a focused spot close to the diffraction limit. The compact and ultrathin metasurface could greatly reduce the size of the probe in optical fiber bundle based microendoscope while ensuring the imaging quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immune composition is commonly heterogeneous and varies among colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. A comprehensive immune classification may act as important characteristics to predict CRC prognosis. Thus, we aimed to identify novel immune specific subtypes to guide future therapies. Unsupervised clustering was used to classify CRC samples into different immune subtypes based on abundances of immune cell populations, during which TCGA and GSE17536 datasets were used as training and validation sets, respectively. The associations between the immune subtypes and patient prognosis were investigated. Further, we identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between immune high and low subtypes, followed by functional enrichment analyses of DEGs. The expression levels of 74 immunomodulators (IMs) across immune subtypes were analyzed. As a result, we clustered CRC samples into three distinct immune subtypes (immune high, moderate, and low). Patients with immune-high subtype showed the best prognosis, and patients with immune-low subtype had the worst survival in both TCGA and GSE17536 cohorts. A group of 2735 up-regulated DEGs were identified across immune high and low subtypes. The main DEGs were the members of complement components, chemokines, immunoglobulins, and immunosuppressive genes that are involved in immune modulation-related pathways (e.g., cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction) or GO terms (e.g., adaptive immune response and T cell activation). The expression levels of 63 IMs were significantly varied across immune subtypes. In conclusion, this study provides a conceptual framework and molecular characteristics of CRC immune subtypes, which may accurately predict prognosis and offer novel targets for personalized immunotherapy through modifying subtype-specific tumor immune microenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous afterglow dispersions display promising biomedical applications due to their long‐lived excited states, whereas it is a common problem in the research field that processing and transferring solid‐state afterglow materials into aqueous medium can cause significant drop and even complete loss of their afterglow properties. Here, aqueous afterglow dispersions are fabricated from liquid precursors by dopant–matrix strategy and emulsion polymerization, which avoids the processing procedures on solid‐state materials and achieves 2.4 s long phosphorescence lifetimes in aqueous medium. Luminescent difluoroboron β‐diketonate dopants are first designed with small rate constant of phosphorescence decay and then dissolved in monomers. After emulsion polymerization, the as‐formed polymer latex particles not only assist dopants' intersystem crossing but also provide a glassy microenvironment to largely suppress nonradiative decay of dopants' triplets, leading to in situ formation of aqueous afterglow dispersions. This provides a robust method for constructing afterglow emulsions with long‐term colloidal stability, relatively high solid contents, tunable sizes, and diverse compositions. Through emulsion copolymerization, afterglow emulsions decorated with specific ligands are obtained to exhibit specific protein binding properties. Such decorated afterglow emulsions address the issue that afterglow materials lack biorecognition property and can pave the way for their applications in immunoassay and immunoimaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistent apical periodontitis is a critical challenge for endodontists. Developing root canal filling materials with continuous antibacterial effects and tightly sealed root canals are essential strategies to avoid the failure of root canal therapy and prevent persistent apical periodontitis. We modified the EndoREZ root canal sealer with the antibacterial material dimethylaminododecyl methacrylate (DMADDM) and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). The mechanical properties of the modified root canal sealer were tested. The biocompatibility of this sealer was verified in vitro and in vivo. Multispecies biofilms were constructed to assess the antibacterial effects of the modified root canal sealer. We applied magnetic fields and examined the extent of root canal sealer penetration in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that EndoREZ sealer containing 2.5% DMADDM and 1% MNP had biological safety and apical sealing ability. In addition, the modified sealer could increase the sealer penetration range and exert significant antibacterial effects on multispecies biofilms under an external magnetic field. According to the in vivo study, the apices of the root canals with the sealer containing 2.5% DMADDM and 1% MNP showed no significant resorption and exhibited only a slight increase in the periodontal ligament space, with a good inhibitory effect on persistent apical periodontitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of increasing use in the food industry, high relative levels of palmitic acid (C16:0) in cottonseed oil imposes harmful effects on human health when overconsumed in the diet. The limited understanding of the mechanism in controlling fatty acid composition has become a significant obstacle for breeding novel cotton varieties with high-quality oil. Fatty acyl–acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase B (FatBs) are a group of enzymes which prefer to hydrolyze the thioester bond from saturated acyl-ACPs, thus playing key roles in controlling the accumulation of saturated fatty acids. However, FatB members and their roles in cotton are largely unknown. In this study, a genome-wide characterization of FatB members was performed in allotetraploid upland cotton, aiming to explore the GhFatBs responsible for high accumulations of C16:0 in cotton seeds. A total of 14 GhFatB genes with uneven distribution on chromosomes were identified from an upland cotton genome and grouped into seven subfamilies through phylogenetic analysis. The six key amino acid residues (Ala, Trys, Ile, Met, Arg and Try) responsible for substrate preference were identified in the N-terminal acyl binding pocket of GhFatBs. RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the expression profiles of GhFatB genes varied in multiple cotton tissues, with eight GhFatBs (GhA/D-FatB3, GhA/D-FatB4, GhA/D-FatB5, and GhA/D-FatB7) having high expression levels in developing seeds. In particular, expression patterns of GhA-FatB3 and GhD-FatB4 were positively correlated with the dynamic accumulation of C16:0 during cotton seed development. Furthermore, heterologous overexpression assay of either GhA-FatB3 or GhD-FatB4 demonstrated that these two GhFatBs had a high substrate preference to 16:0-ACP, thus contributing greatly to the enrichment of palmitic acid in the tested tissues. Taken together, these findings increase our understanding on fatty acid accumulation and regulation mechanisms in plant seeds. GhFatBs, especially GhA-FatB3 and GhD-FatB4, could be molecular targets for genetic modification to reduce palmitic acid content or to optimize fatty acid profiles in cotton and other oil crops required for the sustainable production of healthy edible oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by facial erythema, papules, pustules, telangiectasia, and flushing. The Janus kinase (JAK) signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway appears to play a role in the pathogenesis of rosacea. Our study preliminarily explored the efficacy of JAK inhibitor tofacitinib in the treatment of rosacea. We retrospectively reviewed the cases of 21 patients with rosacea who were treated with oral tofacitinib. Patients received oral tofacitinib 5 mg as either monotherapy or adjunctive therapy. We have observed that 15 out of 21 patients (71.4%) patients experienced significant regression of erythema on the face (IGA ≤ 1), and a mean change of −2.24 in the Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) score was significant improvement from baseline. Treatment with oral tofacitinib might be a potentially effective treatment to ameliorate the symptoms of rosacea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using zeolitic imidazolate framework of ZIF-67 as the precursor, the hollow porous Co 9 S 8 (H–Co 9 S 8) nanocages are synthesized via the sulfidation reaction and thermal treatment processes. The ordinary solid Co 9 S 8 (S–Co 9 S 8) particles are prepared by hydrothermal method. To improve the conductivity and activity of the Co 9 S 8 materials, H–Co 9 S 8 + MWCNTs and S–Co 9 S 8 + MWCNTs composites are fabricated by ball milling. The electrochemical hydrogen storage properties of H–Co 9 S 8 and H–Co 9 S 8 + MWCNTs electrodes are tested via a three-electrode system for the first time. Ultimately, the H–Co 9 S 8 nanocages with hollow porous structure show higher discharge capacity of 667.1 mAh/g than the S–Co 9 S 8 particles. The electrochemical performance enhanced after doping with MWCNTs. H–Co 9 S 8 + MWCNTs displays the highest discharge capacity of 683.5 mAh/g. Additionally, the preferable high-rate dischargeability, corrosion resistance, and improved kinetic properties are also achieved for H–Co 9 S 8 + MWCNTs. H–Co 9 S 8 with a unique hollow structure and large specific surface area can offer sufficient electrochemical active sites to anchor hydrogen, meanwhile, MWCNTs with excellent electrical conductivity can further provide fast channels for charge transfer and improve the electrocatalytic activity of Co 9 S 8 electrode during the charging/discharging processes. [Display omitted] • The hollow porous Co 9 S 8 nanocages were prepared by hydrothermal using ZIF-67 as the precursor. • Composites of Co 9 S 8 doping with MWCNTs were fabricated via ball-milling. • The unique hollow porous structure of H–Co 9 S 8 could accelerate the hydrogen diffusion. • The capacity, stability, HRD and kinetic performance were enhanced after MWCNTs loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Lung cancer is the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. It is critical to identify the risk factors for lung cancer. However, previous results on the associations of dietary carotenoids and vitamin A intakes with lung cancer risk were inconclusive, and the study populations were mainly European descendants and Asians. This study aimed to prospectively investigate the associations among low-income African Americans and European Americans using resources from the Southern Community Cohort Study. Our findings suggested positive associations between dietary vitamin A intake and lung cancer risk among current smokers and racial-specific associations between dietary vitamin A intake and adenocarcinoma risk. Our study may contribute to understanding the role of nutrient intakes and lung cancer associations among the underrepresented study populations and improving the risk assessment of lung cancer risk. Observational studies found inverse associations of dietary carotenoids and vitamin A intakes with lung cancer risk. However, interventional trials among high-risk individuals showed that β-carotene supplements increased lung cancer risk. Most of the previous studies were conducted among European descendants or Asians. We prospectively examined the associations of lung cancer risk with dietary intakes of carotenoids and vitamin A in the Southern Community Cohort Study, including 65,550 participants with 1204 incident lung cancer cases. Multivariate Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Lung cancer cases had lower energy-adjusted dietary intakes of all carotenoids and vitamin A than non-cases. However, dietary intakes of carotenoids and vitamin A were not associated with overall lung cancer risk. A significant positive association of dietary vitamin A intake with lung cancer risk was observed among current smokers (HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.02–1.49; Ptrend = 0.01). In addition, vitamin A intake was associated with an increased risk of adenocarcinoma among African Americans (HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.55; 95%CI: 1.08–2.21; Ptrend = 0.03). Dietary lycopene intake was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer among former smokers (HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.04–2.17; Ptrend = 0.03). There are positive associations of dietary β-cryptoxanthin intake with squamous carcinoma risk (HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.49; 95% CI: 1.03–2.15; Ptrend = 0.03). Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of water in different systems has been extensively studied due to the complexity and flexibility of the hydrogen‐bonded network and the important role in chemical and biological processes. Near‐infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy has been used to investigate the structures of water and the interactions in aqueous systems. In this review, works for structural analysis of water by NIR and Raman spectroscopy were summarized. From resolution‐enhanced spectra, the spectral components of water were obtained. The spectral features correspond to the structures of water with different hydrogen bonds and the interactions of water and solutes. Following the concept of aquaphotomics, the changes of the spectral pattern of water with different perturbations, such as the variation of composition and temperature, were studied. The spectral pattern was found to be related to the analytes in the analyzing system and can be used to reflect the properties of the solutes and even disease diagnosis. Furthermore, water structures in the conformational change of macromolecules such as proteins and polymers were analyzed. Water was proved to be an indicator of the changes, and the water structures with two or three hydrogen bonds (S2 or S3) were found to have an important role in the phase transition of the proteins and polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy management strategy (EMS) can efficiently split the power among different sources for a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). This paper puts forward how to cooperate with a proton exchange membrane fuel cell as the primary energy source, and a ultracapacitor as the auxiliary energy storage. Firstly, the test bench of fuel cell is built and the characteristic of fuel cell is tested. A model of vehicle is built in AMESim software based on the real parameters of vehicle especially the characteristic of fuel cell. Secondly, the traditional power following strategy is introduced and an optimal energy management strategy is proposed. The demand power is decomposed by quadratic utility function (QUF) and Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) condition. In order to balance the vehicle economy and durability of fuel cell, the multi-objective artificial bee colony algorithm (MOABC) and pareto solution set are used to solve the optimal balance coefficient in the algorithm. The simulation results show that compared with the traditional strategy under one WLTP driving cycle, the novel strategy can reduce the fuel cell degradation by 25.08 %, and the equivalent hydrogen consumption can be also reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare fetuses and children with confirmed tethered cord syndrome to age-matched controls to provide a reference for prenatally identifying tethered spinal cord and to identify salient points on MRI for diagnosis. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 13 fetuses and 20 children with tethered cord syndrome, and age-matched counterparts were included as controls. The MRI features including concomitant malformations, position of the conus medullaris, and thickened filum terminale of the two patient groups were evaluated and compared. Levels of the conus medullaris were discriminated between patients and an equivalent number of controls. Results: Various concomitant malformations manifested on the MRI of all patients, and there were differences between the two patient groups. Significant differences of the level of the conus medullaris were found between the fetal and child patients (U, 26.50; Z, −3.87; p < 0.001) and between the normal fetus and child controls (U, 23.50; Z, −4.13; p < 0.001). The position of the conus medullaris was visibly lower in the patient groups than in the control groups. No significant difference in the diameters of the filum terminale was found between the fetal and child patients (p = 0.67). Conclusions: The current study's results indicate that tethered spinal cord syndrome can be diagnosed in utero with MRI combined with several characteristics, particularly the position of the conus medullaris. Special attention should be paid to the gestational age of the fetus because normal changes in spinal cord position occur with gestational development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was to use ultrasonic and compound enzyme method to extract polysaccharide from fresh Portulaca oleracea. Through single factor test and Box Behnken central combination test design, the quadratic regression model of the extraction rate of polysaccharide from Portulaca oleracea was analyzed by Design Expert 8.0.6 software, and the extraction rate under the technology was compared with that of single ultrasonic method. The results showed that the optimum technological parameters of ultrasonic assisted enzymatic extraction of polysaccharides from Portulaca oleracea were liquid to material ratio of 31 mL/g, ultrasonic power of 160 W, enzyme ratio (cellulase: papain) of 2.2: 1, and enzymatic hydrolysis time of 51 min. Under the condition, the extraction rate of Portulaca oleracea polysaccharide was 21.23 mg/g. The extraction yield of polysaccharides from Portulaca oleraceaby single ultrasonic wave was only 19.72 mg/g, which was significantly lower than that by ultrasonic and compound enzyme method. The study indicates that it is feasible to optimize the extraction conditions of polysaccharide from Portulaca oleracea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The links between cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) burden and neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) have not been fully studied.Objective: We aimed to explore the associations of the CSVD burden with Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) total scores and its subsyndromes in the elderly without dementia.Methods: We investigated 630 non-demented participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. All of them had NPI assessments and 3 Tesla MRI scans at baseline and 616 had longitudinal NPI assessments during the follow-up. Linear mixed-effects models were used to investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of CSVD burden with NPI total scores and its subsyndromes.Results: Higher CSVD burden longitudinally predicted more serious neuropsychiatric symptoms, including NPS (p &lt; 0.0001), hyperactivity (p = 0.0006), affective symptoms (p = 0.0091), and apathy (p &lt; 0.0001) in the total participants. Lacunar infarcts (LIs), white matter hyperactivities (WMHs), and cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) might play important roles in the occurrence of NPS, since they were longitudinally associated with specific neuropsychiatric subsyndromes. LIs contributed to hyperactivity (p = 0.0092), psychosis (p = 0.0402), affective symptoms (p = 0.0156), and apathy (p &lt; 0.0001). WMHs were associated with hyperactivity (p = 0.0377) and apathy (p = 0.0343). However, CMBs were only related to apathy (p = 0.0141).Conclusion: CSVD burden was associated with multiple neuropsychiatric symptoms, suggesting the importance of monitoring and controlling vascular risk factors. Different markers of CSVD were associated with specific subsyndromes of NPS, suggesting that different markers tended to occur in different encephalic regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is necessary to pay attention to and study the physical and mental health development of college students. On the basis of statistical analysis of the questionnaire, this paper studies the impact of pretest mental health intervention on college students' English test scores, summarizes the problems and characteristics of college students' mental health, and explores the reasons for psychological problems. Based on the research results and related survey data of the mental health status of college students by scholars, this paper believes that these reasons mainly include students' personal reasons, school and social environment pressure, and insufficient family support factors. The data analysis shows that in the relationship between English education and mental health in colleges and universities, the amount of mental health intervention of students' extracurricular exercise has a stable and low negative correlation with the scores of each factor of SCL-90 (Symptom Checklist 90) and is negatively correlated with the scores of each subscale. The experimental results show that there are extremely significant differences in academic performance (F = 5.084 , P < 0.01), and there is a certain linear relationship between students' mental health level and students' English exercise feeling. The lower the fatigue score, the higher the mental health level of the students, which effectively promotes the mental health development of college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we first introduce several new contractions by some auxiliary functions. Then we establish some φ-fixed point results for (γ , ψ , φ , ϕ) contractions, rational- (γ , ψ , φ , ϕ) contractions and almost- (γ , ψ , φ , ϕ) contractions and φ-fixed disc results for (ψ , φ , ϕ) x 0 type 1 contractions, (ψ , φ , ϕ) x 0 type 2 contractions, and (ψ , φ , ϕ) x 0 type 3 contractions in metric spaces. We generalize some existing φ-fixed point and φ-fixed circle results in the literature. Further, we give some examples to demonstrate the usefulness of our results and investigate the existence and uniqueness of solutions of nonlinear integral equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The diameters of the vertebral arteries on both sides are usually asymmetrical. Vertebral artery dominance (VAD) and congenital vertebral artery dysplasia are derived from the asymmetry of the vertebral artery diameters on both sides. They are usually regarded as normal congenital vascular variations and have no practical clinical significance. Summary: Recently, several clinical studies have found that VAD is a risk factor for posterior circulation ischemic stroke (PCIS). The existence of VAD is clinically significant for the occurrence of PCIS, and it is recognized by an increasing number of clinicians. Key Messages: This article reviews the frequency and evaluation methods of VAD, its correlation with PCIS, and its mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Genomic and transcriptomic findings greatly broaden the biological knowledge regarding substance use. However, systematic convergence and comparison evidence of genome‐wide findings is lacking for substance use. Here, we combined all the genome‐wide findings from both substance use behavior and disorder (SUBD) and identified common and distinguishing genetic factors for different SUBDs. Methods: Systemic literature search for genome‐wide association (GWAS) and RNA‐seq studies of alcohol/nicotine/drug use behavior (partially meets or not reported diagnostic criteria) and alcohol use behavior and disorder (AUBD), nicotine use behavior and disorder (NUBD) and drug use behavior and disorder (DUBD) was performed using PubMed and the GWAS catalog. Drug use was focused upon cannabis, opioid, cocaine and methamphetamine use. GWAS studies required case–control or case/cohort samples. RNA‐seq studies were based on brain tissues. The genes which contained significant single nucleotide polymorphism (P ≤ 1 × 10−6) in GWAS and reported as significant in RNA‐seq studies were extracted. Pathway enrichment was performed by using Metascape. Gene interaction networks were identified by using the Protein Interaction Network Analysis database. Results: Total SUBD‐related 2910 genes were extracted from 75 GWAS studies (2 773 889 participants) and 17 RNA‐seq studies. By overlapping the genes and pathways of AUBD, NUBD and DUBD, four shared genes (CACNB2, GRIN2B, PLXDC2 and PKNOX2), four shared pathways [two Gene Ontology (GO) terms of 'modulation of chemical synaptic transmission', 'regulation of trans‐synaptic signaling', two Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways of 'dopaminergic synapse', 'cocaine addiction'] were identified (significantly higher than random, P < 1 × 10−5). The top shared KEGG pathways (Benjamini–Hochberg‐corrected P‐value < 0.05) in the pairwise comparison of AUBD versus DUBD, NUBD versus DUBD, AUBD versus NUBD were 'Epstein–Barr virus infection', 'protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum' and 'neuroactive ligand‐receptor interaction', respectively. We also identified substance‐specific genetic factors: i.e. ADH1B and ALDH2 were unique for AUBD, while CHRNA3 and CHRNA4 were unique for NUBD. Conclusions: This systematic review identifies the shared and unique genes and pathways for alcohol, nicotine and drug use behaviors and disorders at the genome‐wide level and highlights critical biological processes for the common and distinguishing vulnerability of substance use behaviors and disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the serious pollution problems of traditional fuel tractors and the short continuous operation time of pure electric tractors, a hybrid tractor with fuel cell as the primary power source and battery as the auxiliary power source is proposed. A novel energy management strategy was also designed, which integrates thermostat control strategy, power following strategy, and fuzzy logic control. The energy management strategy utilizes the advantages of different algorithms and realizes the rational distribution of fuel cell and battery output power. The system economy and fuel cell durability are improved by the tabu search algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed energy management strategy can work well in different SOC states and reduce the fuel cell's power fluctuations. The tractor is equipped with 960 g of hydrogen, the initial state of charge (SOC) is 90%, and it can operate continuously for 2.65 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To explore and utilize abundant soil microbes and their beneficial functions, the bacterial and fungal compositions in rhizospheres between red- and yellow-fruited tomato varieties were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing technique. Result: Our results indicated that different soil microbes in rhizospheres of tomatoes were exactly recruited by different color fruit tomatoes. For the reasons as not only soil bacterial community, but also soil fungal compositions were all different between red and yellow fruit tomatoes. For example, Nocardioides, norank_f_norank_o_Vicinamibacterales, norank_f_norank_o_norank_c_KD4-96, norank_f_Birii41, norank_f_norank_o_S085 and Bradyrhizobium were the specific dominant soil bacterial genera, and Lecythophora, Derxomyces and unclassified_f_Pyronemataceae were the dominant soil fungal genera in the rhizospheres of red tomato varieties. By contrast, unclassified_f__Micromonsporaceae, Acidipila, Roseisolibacter, Gaiella and norank_f_Xanthobacteraceae were the unique dominant soil bacterial genera in the rhizospheres of yellow tomato varieties. And unclassified_o__Onygenales, Trichocladium, unclassified_c__Sordariomycetes, Pseudogymnoascus, Acremonium, Oidiodendron, Phialemonium, Penicillium, Phialosimplex were the unique dominant soil fungal genera in rhizospheres of yellow tomato varieties. Moreover, a higher abundance of specific soil bacterial and fungal genera in the rhizosphere was found in rhizospheres of the yellow than those of the red tomato varieties. Conclusion: Soil bacterial and fungal compositions in rhizospheres between red- and yellow-fruited tomato varieties were found significantly different which growing in the same environment under the identical managements. It suggested that different soil microbes in rhizospheres exactly were recruited by different phenotypes tomato varieties related to fruit color formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a numerical investigation of unsteady surface blowing using periodic variations of jet velocity with azimuthal angle to reduce helicopter rotor blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise. The unsteady blowing is modeled as the mass flow outlet boundary condition of time-varying jet velocity on the blade surface grid using computational fluid dynamics. The same high-resolution overset grid system and flow/noise solver are used to perform a detailed flow field simulation and noise prediction for the nonblowing baseline case and the steady/unsteady blowing cases under the rotor BVI condition, and a grid convergence study for the steady and unsteady blowing cases is carried out. The BVI noise reduction and rotor thrust coefficient results of the unsteady blowing method and the previously published steady blowing with constant jet velocity are then compared. The noise reduction level of unsteady blowing is approximately equivalent to that of steady blowing (noise reduction is more than 3 dB). However, the loss in rotor thrust coefficient caused by unsteady blowing (3.3%) is only half of that by steady blowing (6.3%); the air mass cost by unsteady blowing is only 63.7% of that by steady blowing per rotation revolution. The results show that unsteady blowing can effectively reduce BVI noise with lower cost and less thrust loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Current mainstream antidepressants have limited efficacy with a delayed onset of action. Yueju, a herbal medicine, has a rapid antidepressant action. Identification of the active ingredients in Yueju and the mechanism/s involved was carried out. Experimental Approach: Key molecule/s and compounds involved in this antidepressant action was identified by transcriptomic and HPLC analysis, respectively. Antidepressant effects were evaluated using various behavioural experiments. The signalling involved was assessed using site‐directed pharmacological intervention or optogenetic manipulation. Key Results: Transcriptomic analysis showed that Yueju up‐regulated pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) expression in the hippocampus. Two iridoids, geniposide and shanzhiside methyl ester, were identified and quantified from Yueju. Only co‐treatment with both, at an equivalent concentrations found in Yueju, increased PACAP expression and elicited a rapid antidepressant action, which were blocked by intra‐dentate gyrus infusion of a PACAP antagonist or optogenetic inactivation of PACAP expressing neurons. Geniposide and shanzhiside methyl ester co‐treatment rapidly inhibited CaMKII phosphorylation and enhanced mTOR/4EBP1/P70S6k/BDNF ignalling, while intra‐dentate gyrus infusions of a CaMKII activator blunted the rapid antidepressant action and BDNF expression up‐regulation induced by the co‐treatment. A single co‐treatment of them rapidly improved depression‐like behaviours and up‐regulated hippocampal PACAP signalling in the repeated corticosterone‐induced depression model, further confirming the involvement of PACAP. Conclusion and Implications: Geniposide and shanzhiside methyl ester co‐treatment had a synergistic rapid onset antidepressant action by triggering hippocampal PACAP activity and associated CaMKII–BDNF signalling. This mechanism could be targeted for development of fast onset antidepressants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrity of lens epithelial cells (LECs) lays the foundation for lens function and transparency. By contrast, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of LECs leads to lens fibrosis, such as anterior subcapsular cataracts (ASC) and fibrotic forms of posterior capsule opacification (PCO). However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we aimed to explore the role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) H19 in regulating TGF-β2-induced EMT during lens fibrosis, revealing a novel lncRNA-based regulatory mechanism. In this work, we identified that lncRNA H19 was highly expressed in LECs, but downregulated by exposure to TGF-β2. In both human lens epithelial explants and SRA01/04 cells, knockdown of H19 aggravated TGF-β2-induced EMT, while overexpressing H19 partially reversed EMT and restored lens epithelial phenotypes. Semi-in vivo whole lens culture and H19 knockout mice demonstrated the indispensable role of H19 in sustaining lens clarity through maintaining LEC features. Bioinformatic analyses further implied a potential H19-centered regulatory mechanism via Smad-dependent pathways, confirmed by in vitro experiments. In conclusion, we uncovered a novel role of H19 in inhibiting TGF-β2-induced EMT of the lens by suppressing Smad-dependent signaling, providing potential therapeutic targets for treating lens fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-axis electrical discharging machining (EDM) is the most commonly used manufacturing method for shrouded blisks. However, debris is difficult to be evacuated from a discharge gap, severely affecting the machining efficiency. Spatial planetary movements of a tool electrode can generate a non-uniform flow field in a discharge gap, promoting the evacuation of debris. This paper proposes a spatial planetary movement method for EDM of inclined holes. Screw theory is used to derive the kinematics of a spatial planetary movement, and the coordinate increments of each axis in an interpolation period can be calculated. The trajectories of the spatial planetary movements are simulated. The reliability of the method is confirmed by the simulation. Then, a multi-axis EDM machine can be controlled to drive a tool electrode to realize the spatial planetary movement. Machining experiments are carried out to explore the influences of the spatial planetary movement parameters on the machining performance of multi-axis EDM. Experiment results show that the increase in the amplitude of spatial planetary movements can improve discharge rate and gap status. The machining depth and machining efficiency of multi-axis EDM can be increased ulteriorly. And the speed of spatial planetary movements has no significant effect on the performance of multi-axis EDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Injury to lower genitourinary (GU) tissues, which may result in either infertility and/or organ dysfunctions, threatens the overall health of humans. Bioactive agent-based regenerative therapy is a promising therapeutic method. However, strategies for spatiotemporal delivery of bioactive agents with optimal stability, activity, and tunable delivery for effective sustained disease management are still in need and present challenges. In this review, we present the advancements of the pivotal components in delivery systems, including biomedical innovations, system fabrication methods, and loading strategies, which may improve the performance of delivery systems for better regenerative effects. We also review the most recent developments in the application of these technologies, and the potential for delivery-based regenerative therapies to treat lower GU injuries. Recent progress suggests that the use of advanced strategies have not only made it possible to develop better and more diverse functionalities, but also more precise, and smarter bioactive agent delivery systems for regenerative therapy. Their application in lower GU injury treatment has achieved certain effects in both patients with lower genitourinary injuries and/or in model animals. The continuous evolution of biomaterials and therapeutic agents, advances in three-dimensional printing, as well as emerging techniques all show a promising future for the treatment of lower GU-related disorders and dysfunctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, we investigate a (3 + 1) -dimensional nonlinear evolution equation, which can be used to describe the shallow-water waves. Via the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili hierarchy reduction, we derive the breather, semi-rational and rational solutions in terms of Gramian. The breathers are dark breathers. Taking the long wave limit in the breather solutions, we derive the semi-rational solutions describing the interactions between the lumps and breathers, and the rational solutions which give birth to the lumps are also derived. Interactions between the lumps and breathers are elastic. Furthermore, we graphically present the interactions among the dark lumps. We find that the interactions among the three lumps are elastic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To confirm the diagnosis of a 13‐year‐old adolescent with familial diabetes and further examine his genetic pathogeny. Research Design and Methods: Clinical data were collected, and genetic examination was performed. PolyPhen‐2 and Mutation Taster were used to predict the deleterious effects of the variant. Clustal Omega software was used to confirm the conservation of amino acid substitutions. To examine changes in the expression of proteins, recombinant vectors were constructed, and the expression of wild‐type and variant target genes was detected through quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Furthermore, the wild‐type and variant eukaryotic recombinant vectors were treated with a ubiquitin degradation inhibitor (MG132) and a lysosomal degradation pathway inhibitor (CQ, 3‐mA). The expression of target proteins was detected through Western blot analysis. Results: The patient had hyperglycaemia (27 mmol/L), a high HbA1c level (13.1%), a decreased C‐peptide level (0.63 ng/ml) and no diabetes antibodies. The patient had a family history of diabetes. The novel variation of ABCC8 c.2477G>A was detected in the proband and his relatives. The mutation was predicted to be harmful. Changes in the protein structure were observed. The ABCC8 c.2477G >A variant resulted in an increase in ABCC8 expression. Furthermore, changes in the expression of the ABCC8 variant was observed after 3‐MA treatment, especially after treatment with MG132. At the follow‐up, the patient's glucose level was normal without drug therapy for more than 2 years until until he started taking Trelagliptin Succinate to control hyperglycemia within the recent 6 months. Conclusions: The diagnosis of maturity‐onset diabetes of the young (MODY)12 was confirmed in our patient. The ABCC8 variant inhibited both ubiquitination and autophagy lysosome degradation pathways, especially the ubiquitination degradation pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a self-limiting disease, and there is no specific antiviral drug at present. Purpose. Here, we analyzed the influence of lacidophilin vaginal capsules plus recombinant human interferon α-2b (rh-IFN-α2b) on efficacy, vaginal microecology, and safety of patients with HPV infection. Two hundred cases of HPV infection admitted between January 2019 and December 2020 were retrospectively collected. Of them, 90 cases receiving rh-IFN-α2b intervention were assigned to the control group (CG), and 110 cases given lacidophilin vaginal capsules in addition to rh-IFN-α2b were included in the research group (RG). Baseline data, efficacy, vaginal microecology, microecological restoration recovery, and incidence of adverse events (AEs) were compared between the two groups. Results. The analyses revealed nonsignificant difference in baseline data between RG and CG, indicating comparability. In terms of efficacy, RG showed a statistically higher negative conversion ratio (NCR) than CG (57.27% vs. 47.78%), as well as an obviously higher overall response rate (ORR) (90.90% vs. 72.22%). As far as the vaginal microecology was concerned, the incidence rates of catalase-positive, sialidase-positive, abnormal microbial density, and abnormal microbial diversity of RG were significantly lower compared with CG, but no evident differences were determined in Trichomonas vaginalis-positive and Candida-positive. As for microecological restoration, RG had an obviously higher vaginal microecological recovery rate than CG (90.00% vs. 65.56%), as well as notably lower vaginal secretion pH and Nugent score. On the other hand, RG and CG showed no statistical significance in the incidence of AEs (12.73% vs. 13.33%). Conclusions. The main contributions of this study are as follows: first, it is confirmed that lacidophilin vaginal capsules plus rh-IFN-α2b has better clinical effects than rh-IFN-α2b alone in HPV-infected patients; second, it demonstrates that the combination therapy can significantly improve NCR and ORR, without increasing the incidence of AEs, and is beneficial to improve patients' vaginal microecology and promote its restoration from the multidimensional aspects of efficacy, safety, and vaginal microecology and its recovery. Our findings provide valuable clinical evidence for the drug treatment of HPV-infected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous study demonstrated that GAB2 promoted tumorigenesis in liver tissue and was a potential target for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we identified that the tumour suppressor protein Forkhead box D3 (Foxd3) is a transcriptional repressor of the Gab2 gene. In human HCC cells, FOXD3 expression is low, but GAB2 expression is abundant. Increased Foxd3 expression inhibited the expression of Gab2 in a dose‐dependent manner. Ectopic expression of Foxd3 in HCC cells reduced Gab2‐mediated promotion of cell proliferation and migration in vitro. Foxd3 also inhibited Gab2‐stimulated phosphorylation of Jak2 and Stat3. Furthermore, the protein levels of Foxd3 and Gab2 had a clear negative correlation: Gab2 expression was induced, whereas Foxd3 expression was suppressed in most tumour tissues in mice with diethylnitrosamine (DEN)‐induced hepatocellular carcinoma. These results suggest that the tumour suppressor Foxd3 and tumour enhancer Gab2 mutually inhibit each other to synergistically control the occurrence of HCC, providing a novel mechanism for treating this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation of the reference colors is the hardest and the most time‐consuming part of chromatic adaptation experiments. In this paper, a new method is proposed to prepare high‐quality reference color arrays for chromatic adaptation experiments. The reference color arrays are defined in the a*b* plane of CIELAB color space. The initial arrays are calculated by the CAT02 and the desired color differences. Then the arrays are output and two visual experiments are organized, the chromatic adaptation experiment and the color difference estimating experiment. The former is to check if the color gamut of the reference colors is fit for the experiment. The latter is to check the uniformity of the color differences of the arrays. According to the fitting curves from the color differences estimating experiment, the reference color arrays can be optimized to be more uniform in the color differences. The method is proved effective and suitable for different media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetization generation and accumulation in intrinsically nonmagnetic materials is one of the key routes to various exotic applications, especially realizing fast information storage and memory devices. Among the various approaches for magnetization injection, light irradiation is advantageous for its noncontacting and non‐invasive nature, and has been receiving great attention during the past few decades. In the current work, a quadratic response theory and first‐principles calculations are applied to reveal photoinduced magnetization in recently discovered 2D In2Se3 bilayers. The ferroelectric In2Se3 bilayers can be (meta‐) stabilized in versatile stacking patterns, exhibiting largely tunable electronic band structure, and optical feature. Hence, it is suggested that under circularly polarized light illumination, the system can show different photoinduced magnetization responses with large contrast in different stacking patterns. The magnetizations are composed by both spin and orbital angular momentum contributions, which can reach as large as 1μB under a laser with intermediate intensity (≈109 W cm–2). This magnitude can be easily observed and furthermore manipulated in the state‐of‐the‐art experimental techniques. The proposal suggests a candidate material platform to explore the interplay among spintronics, orbitronics, nonlinear optics, and ferroelectrics in a single platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two recently revised Azemiops snakes with apparent differences in their external appearances and skeletal morphologies but unclear genetic boundaries have been proposed. Some researchers have refrained from using the newly proposed taxonomy because these two "species" might be two clades corresponding to different geographical populations of Azemiops feae. To improve the understanding of the kinship of these two Burmese viper groups, more of their characteristics should be explored in depth. We performed a comparative analysis of the proteomic profiles and biochemical activities of snake venoms from these two groups (Sichuan A. feae and Zhejiang A. feae) and evaluated the immunorecognition capacity of commercial antivenoms toward them. Eight protein families were identified in venoms from these two groups, while phospholipase B was only detected in venom from Sichuan A. feae. These protein families displayed varying degrees of differences in relative abundance between venoms, and phospholipase A2 (Sichuan A. feae: 57.15%; Zhejiang A. feae: 65.94%) was the predominated component. Gloydius brevicaudus antivenom exhibited the strongest capacity to immunologically recognize these two venoms, but this was mainly limited to components with high molecular masses, some of which differed between venoms. Additionally, Zhejiang A. feae venom was more toxic than Sichuan A. feae venom, and the venoms expressed remarkable differences in enzymatic activities, probably resulting from the variation in the relative abundance of specific protein families. Our findings unveil differences between the two Burmese viper groups in terms of proteomic profiles, immunoreactivity, and the biochemical functions of their venoms. This information will facilitate the management of snakebites caused by these snakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to obtain new relation-theoretic coincidence and common fixed point results for some mappings F and g via hybrid contractions and auxiliary functions in extended rectangular b-metric spaces, which improve the existing results and give some relevant results. Finally, some nontrivial examples and applications to justify the main results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dexmedetomidine has been identified as a useful adjunct to improve the effect of nerve blocks in adults; however, its effect for children has not yet been fully investigated. This meta‐analysis aimed to evaluate the reliability and efficacy of dexmedetomidine as a local anesthetic adjunct for pediatric surgeries. Eligible studies were searched in Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, and CBM. RevMan 5.4 was used to assess the risk of bias of each study and perform statistical analysis. Stata 15.0 was used to evaluate the publication bias of primary outcomes. Thirteen randomized controlled trial (RCTs) involving 722 patients aged 6 months to 12 years were harvested. Statistical analysis showed that dexmedetomidine resulted in: a significantly longer duration of analgesia (standardized mean difference [SMD], 7.16; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 4.88 to 9.43; P <.001; I2 = 98%); a reduction in the 1‐hour pain score (mean difference [MD], –0.27; 95%CI, –0.47 to –0.06; P =.01; I2 = 28%); cumulative doses of rescue analgesic required of 2 doses (risk ratio [RR], 0.26; 95%CI, 0.14 to 0.49; P <.001; I2 = 0) or 3 doses (RR, 0.04; 95%CI, 0.01 to 0.16; P <.001; I2 = 4%); the frequency of emergence agitation (RR, 0.44; 95%CI, 0.22 to 0.91; P =.03; I2 = 0); and a reduction in the onset time of blocks (mean difference –3.56; 95%CI, –6.39 to –0.74; P =.01; I2 = 90%). However, the incidence of some side effects, including hypotension, bradycardia, nausea and vomiting, pruritis, urinary retention, and respiratory depression, did not significantly differ between the dexmedetomidine group and the placebo group. Therefore, dexmedetomidine is a reliable and efficient adjunct to local anesthetics in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zexieyin formula (ZXYF), a traditional Chinese herbal formula recorded in the Huangdi Neijing to have efficacy in relieving spleen dampness and heat accumulation syndrome, which is also the key pathogenesis of atherosclerosis (AS). The efficacy has demonstrated by our previous studies. However, the intrinsic mechanism of ZXYF for treating vascular inflammation and the effect of inflammatory response on plaque are not known. Currently, plaque stabilization is crucial for the prognosis of AS. Our study mainly focused on the therapeutic effects of ZXYF on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced vascular inflammation and vulnerable plaques (VP) in mice and explored its underlying mechanism. Male apolipoprotein E knockout (APOE−/−) mice were fed HFD for 8 weeks to establish a VP model. During this period, the mice were also administered ZXYF, while atorvastatin (ATO) was used as a positive control. Aortic plaque area and morphology were detected by oil red staining and HE staining. Aortic plaque collagen content was detected by Masson staining. M1/M2 type macrophages were detected using immunofluorescence (IF). The study analyzed the levels of inflammation-related cytokines (IL-1β, IL-10, IL-6), MAPK/NF-κB pathway proteins, and NLRP3 inflammasomes (NLRP3, Caspase-1) using Western blot. Additionally, the levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in the aorta were analyzed using immunohistochemistry (IHC). The plaque instability index was calculated for each group using the vulnerable plaque formula. In this study, APOE−/− mice were fed high-fat diet for 8 weeks. The results of oil-red and HE staining indicated a significant increase in the aortic plaque area of the mice, which exhibited a typical VP phenotype. ZXYF and ATO significantly improved AS plaques and prevented plaque rupture. HFD exacerbated vascular inflammation, stimulated macrophage conversion to M1-type through the MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway, and released pro-inflammatory factors such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-1α, and IL-6. These factors activated NLRP3 inflammasome, leading to cellular death. However, ZXYF could reverse this trend and promote the conversion of macrophages to the anti-inflammatory M2 type. The anti-inflammatory effect of ATO was not significant. Moreover, HFD promoted the release of MMP-2 and MMP-9 from macrophages, which degraded plaque collagen, and induced a decrease in plaque SMC content, resulting in a thinning of the plaque fibrous cap. In contrast, ZXYF inhibited the decomposition of plaque collagen and increased the content of plaque smooth muscle cells (SMC) by reducing macrophage secretion of MMPs, thereby stabilizing plaques. Although ATO could reverse the decrease in plaque collagen and SMC content, its effect on MMPs was not significant. Finally, we calculated the vulnerability index to assess the overall risk of the plaque vulnerability phenotype. In line with these findings, ZXYF and ATO were able to effectively reverse the increase in the vulnerability index caused by HFD and lower the risk of adverse cardiovascular events. Our results suggested that ZXYF could reduce inflammation and increase plaque stability by inhibiting the MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway, which provided a theoretical basis for clinical application and subsequent research. [Display omitted] • Zexieyin formula (ZXYF) has efficacy in the treatment of atherosclerosis (AS). • ZXYF inhibited vascular inflammation by preventing macrophage, decreasing the secretion of MMPs or activation of NLRP3 in aorta. • This study will promote the use of ZXYF in patients with AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sec-hexyl acetate was synthesized by the addition-esterification of 1-hexene. The activity of zinc-exchanged phosphotungstic acid catalysts is decided by the equilibrium relationship between the two different active sites, and the Lewis acid site can improve the adsorption capacity of the catalyst for acetic acid molecules. The in-situ FT-IR spectrum experiment confirms that the reaction rate of alkene isomerization is greater than that of the addition-esterification, and a higher temperature is not conducive to the generation of acetate. [Display omitted] The addition-esterification reaction of fatty acids and alkenes is an important method for replacing the Fischer-Speier esterification due to its 100 % atomic utilization. In this study, sec -hexyl acetate was synthesized through the addition-esterification of 1-hexene. At the same time, five different zinc-exchanged phosphotungstic acid catalysts were prepared using the ion exchange method, and their catalytic activities in the addition-esterification were tested and compared. Results indicate that the Zn 0.5 H 2.0 PW- I catalyst exhibits the best performance in six different catalysts, which is attributed to the synergistic effect of Brönsted and Lewis acids. The activity of catalysts is determined by the equilibrium relationship between Brönsted and Lewis acidity. In the addition-esterification of alkenes, the main activity center is the Brönsted acid site, while the Lewis acid site can improve the adsorption capacity of the catalyst for acetic acid molecules. Moreover, the preparation methods have a significant impact on the activity of catalysts. In addition, the in-situ FT-IR spectrum experiment confirms that the reaction rate of alkene isomerization is greater than that of addition-esterification, and a higher temperature is not conducive to the generation of acetate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Organic fertilizer (OF) is beneficial for crop yield and quality, however, most phosphorus in OF are organic forms, and cannot be utilized until they are hydrolyzed to inorganic phosphate (Pi). Although root-secreted acid phosphatases (APases) play an important role in hydrolyzing organic phosphorus (Po), it is unclear whether they improve the utilization efficiency of OF, and whether purple acid phosphatase (PAP) genes function in plants’ utilization of OF.We report a 10-year field study of OF application to rice, and the response of root-secreted APase activity to organic fertilization. Wild type (WT), OsPAP10c overexpressing, and OsPAP10c deficient rice were used to evaluate the role of this gene on the regulation of root-secreted APase activity and its response to OF.Over 10 years of OF application, the APase activity of rice root secretions increased, over rice that had been fertilized with chemical fertilizer (CF). The APase activity in the rhizosphere soil of OF treated rice increased as well compared to CF treated rice. In PAP10c-OE rice, APase activity in the root secretions was greater than in WT rice, the activity in pap10c rice was less than in WT in OF treatment.OF application enhances the APase activity of rice root secretions and improves the APase activity in the rhizosphere soil, which facilitates the hydrolysis of Po in OF. This hydrolysis generated sufficient available Pi for rice growth and production. OsPAP10c positively regulates root-secreted APase activity and Po utilization efficiency in rice in OF treated fields.Methods: Organic fertilizer (OF) is beneficial for crop yield and quality, however, most phosphorus in OF are organic forms, and cannot be utilized until they are hydrolyzed to inorganic phosphate (Pi). Although root-secreted acid phosphatases (APases) play an important role in hydrolyzing organic phosphorus (Po), it is unclear whether they improve the utilization efficiency of OF, and whether purple acid phosphatase (PAP) genes function in plants’ utilization of OF.We report a 10-year field study of OF application to rice, and the response of root-secreted APase activity to organic fertilization. Wild type (WT), OsPAP10c overexpressing, and OsPAP10c deficient rice were used to evaluate the role of this gene on the regulation of root-secreted APase activity and its response to OF.Over 10 years of OF application, the APase activity of rice root secretions increased, over rice that had been fertilized with chemical fertilizer (CF). The APase activity in the rhizosphere soil of OF treated rice increased as well compared to CF treated rice. In PAP10c-OE rice, APase activity in the root secretions was greater than in WT rice, the activity in pap10c rice was less than in WT in OF treatment.OF application enhances the APase activity of rice root secretions and improves the APase activity in the rhizosphere soil, which facilitates the hydrolysis of Po in OF. This hydrolysis generated sufficient available Pi for rice growth and production. OsPAP10c positively regulates root-secreted APase activity and Po utilization efficiency in rice in OF treated fields.Results: Organic fertilizer (OF) is beneficial for crop yield and quality, however, most phosphorus in OF are organic forms, and cannot be utilized until they are hydrolyzed to inorganic phosphate (Pi). Although root-secreted acid phosphatases (APases) play an important role in hydrolyzing organic phosphorus (Po), it is unclear whether they improve the utilization efficiency of OF, and whether purple acid phosphatase (PAP) genes function in plants’ utilization of OF.We report a 10-year field study of OF application to rice, and the response of root-secreted APase activity to organic fertilization. Wild type (WT), OsPAP10c overexpressing, and OsPAP10c deficient rice were used to evaluate the role of this gene on the regulation of root-secreted APase activity and its response to OF.Over 10 years of OF application, the APase activity of rice root secretions increased, over rice that had been fertilized with chemical fertilizer (CF). The APase activity in the rhizosphere soil of OF treated rice increased as well compared to CF treated rice. In PAP10c-OE rice, APase activity in the root secretions was greater than in WT rice, the activity in pap10c rice was less than in WT in OF treatment.OF application enhances the APase activity of rice root secretions and improves the APase activity in the rhizosphere soil, which facilitates the hydrolysis of Po in OF. This hydrolysis generated sufficient available Pi for rice growth and production. OsPAP10c positively regulates root-secreted APase activity and Po utilization efficiency in rice in OF treated fields.Conclusion: Organic fertilizer (OF) is beneficial for crop yield and quality, however, most phosphorus in OF are organic forms, and cannot be utilized until they are hydrolyzed to inorganic phosphate (Pi). Although root-secreted acid phosphatases (APases) play an important role in hydrolyzing organic phosphorus (Po), it is unclear whether they improve the utilization efficiency of OF, and whether purple acid phosphatase (PAP) genes function in plants’ utilization of OF.We report a 10-year field study of OF application to rice, and the response of root-secreted APase activity to organic fertilization. Wild type (WT), OsPAP10c overexpressing, and OsPAP10c deficient rice were used to evaluate the role of this gene on the regulation of root-secreted APase activity and its response to OF.Over 10 years of OF application, the APase activity of rice root secretions increased, over rice that had been fertilized with chemical fertilizer (CF). The APase activity in the rhizosphere soil of OF treated rice increased as well compared to CF treated rice. In PAP10c-OE rice, APase activity in the root secretions was greater than in WT rice, the activity in pap10c rice was less than in WT in OF treatment.OF application enhances the APase activity of rice root secretions and improves the APase activity in the rhizosphere soil, which facilitates the hydrolysis of Po in OF. This hydrolysis generated sufficient available Pi for rice growth and production. OsPAP10c positively regulates root-secreted APase activity and Po utilization efficiency in rice in OF treated fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by nature, this study employed the Bouligand structures, as observed in the dactyl club of mantis shrimp, to enhance the performance of 3D-printed Strain-Hardening Cementitious Composites (3DP-SHCC). Twenty sets of printed and mold-cast specimens were prepared to investigate the effects of Bouligand structures on the flexural performance of 3DP-SHCC. Three printing patterns (parallel, cross, and Bouligand printing) and five pitch angles (15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°) were used for the Bouligand printing pattern. The results showed that the flexural performance of parallel-printed SHCC exhibited significant directionality. The flexural strength and toughness of parallel-printed SHCC in the X direction were 1.28 times and 3.27 times greater than the mold-cast SHCC. However, the flexural strength and toughness in the Y direction were 0.58 times and 0.25 times those of the mold-cast SHCC. The cross-printed and Bouligand-printed SHCC alleviated the directionality. The flexural performance of cross-printed SHCC was lower than that of the mold-cast SHCC. Compared to parallel-printed SHCC, the flexural strength and toughness of Bouligand-printed SHCC increased by 1.25 to 1.73 times and 3.48 to 5.10 times, respectively, in the Y direction. Bouligand-printing twisted the fiber angles, enabling effective crack bridging across multiple directions and endowing the SHCC with uniform mechanical properties in various directions. The Bouligand structures provided valuable inspiration for optimizing 3DP-SHCC structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes is a common chronic metabolic disease. The frequent fluctuation of glucose is the main cause of most diabetes complications, which in turn causes harm to the health of patients. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy has attracted much attention in the rapid detection of glucose due to its unique molecular fingerprinting ability, ultra-high sensitivity and fast response. However, due to the low affinity between glucose and SERS substrate, poor signal, susceptibility to complex environmental interference, and poor stability of SERS detection, it is still a challenge for SERS to accurately and sensitively determine glucose in complex environments. In this work, we encapsulated 4-mercaptobutyronitrile (4-MBN) as an internal standard (IS) in Au@Ag NRs inside and then Au@4-MBN@Ag NRs, Leucomalachite Green (LMG), glucose oxidase (GOx) and horseradish peroxidase (HPR) were encapsulated in ZIF-8 to prepare a tandem enzyme catalytic ratiometric SERS sensor Au@4-MBN@Ag@LMG@ZIF-8(GOx, HPR) for the detection of glucose in saliva. Because ZIF-8 enhanced the catalytic activity of the enzyme, the ability of glucose enrichment, and weakens the aggregation of Ag NRs. The internal standard signal molecule improves the accuracy and sensitivity of detection. The ratiometric Raman signal I 412 /I 2233 of glucose has a good linear relationship with the concentration in the range of 0.1–100 μM, and the limit of detection (LOD) could be down to 0.03 μM. At the same time, it has excellent selectivity, repeatability and accuracy. The recovery rate of glucose in saliva is 96.50%–105.56 %, which proves the feasibility of the method. The Au@4-MBN@Ag@LMG@ZIF-8(GOx, HPR) sensor prepared in this study showed excellent SERS performance, which was able to detect glucose quickly, sensitively and accurately. This work provides a new strategy for the design of enzyme-catalyzed SERS sensors. [Display omitted] • A novel ratiometric glucose SERS sensor was successfully prepared. • Au@4-MBN@Ag NR is individually encapsulated in ZIF-8 crystals to improve SERS signal stability. • As a stationary carrier, ZIF-8 can effectively prevent biological and chemical degradation. • Detection of ratiometric Raman improves the sensitivity and accuracy of detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Hirudin variants are the most powerful thrombin inhibitors discovered to date, with a lower risk of bleeding than heparin. For anticoagulation, the C‐termini of hirudin variants bind to the exocite I of thrombin. Anticoagulant effects of gene‐recombinant hirudin are weaker than natural hirudin for the reason of lacking tyrosine O‐sulfation at C‐terminus. Experimental Approach An integrative pharmacological study was carried out using molecular dynamic, molecular biological and in vivo and in vitro experiments to elucidate the anticoagulant effects of protein‐engineered hirudins. Key Results: Molecular dynamic analysis showed that modifications of the C‐termini of hirudin variant 1 of Hirudo medicinalis (HV1) and hirudin variant 2 of Hirudinaria manillensis (HM2) changed the binding energy of the C‐termini to human thrombin. The study indicated that Asp61 of HM2 that corresponds to sulfated Tyr63 of HV1 is critical for inhibiting thrombin activities. Further, the anticoagulant effects of HV1 and HM2 were improved when the amino acid residues adjacent to Asp61 were mutated to Asp. These improvements were prolongation of the activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time and thrombin time of human blood, and decreased Ki and IC50 values. In the in vivo experiments, mutations at C‐termini of HV1 and HM2 significantly changed partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin and thrombin time Conclusion and Implications: The study indicated that the anticoagulant effects of gene‐engineered HM2 are stronger than gene‐engineered HV1 and HM2‐E60D‐I62D has the strongest effects and could be an antithrombotic with better therapeutic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the correlation between the left arcuate fasciculus (AF) segments and acute/subacute post-stroke aphasia (PSA). Methods: Twenty-six patients underwent language assessment and MRI scanning. The integrity of the AF based on a three-segment model was evaluated using diffusion tensor imaging. All patients were classified into three groups according to the reconstruction of the left AF: completely reconstructed (group A, 8 cases), non-reconstructed (group B, 6 cases), and partially reconstructed (group C, 12 cases). The correlations and intergroup differences in language performance and diffusion indices were comprehensively estimated. Results: A correlation analyses showed that the lesion load of the language areas and diffusion indices on the left AF posterior and long segments was significantly related to some language subsets, respectively. When controlled lesion load was variable, significant correlations between diffusion indices on the posterior and long segments and comprehension, repetition, naming, and aphasia quotient were retained. Multiple comparison tests revealed intergroup differences in diffusion indices on the left AF posterior and long segments, as well as these language subsets. No significant correlation was found between the anterior segment and language performance. Conclusions: The integrity of the left AF segments, particularly the posterior segment, is crucial for the residual comprehension and repetition abilities in individuals with acute/subacute PSA, and lesion load in cortical language areas is an important factor that should be taken into account when illustrating the contributions of damage to special fiber tracts to language impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) hardly maintain their physical and chemical properties after exposure to acidic, neutral, or alkaline aqueous solutions, resulting in insufficient stability, therefore limiting their applications. Thus, the design and synthesis of stable size/morphology-controlled MOF nanocrystals is critical but challenging. In this study, dual-ligand and hard-soft-acid-base strategies were used to fabricate a variety of 3D pillared-layer [Ni(thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate)(4,4′-bipyridine)]n MOF nanocrystals (1D nanofibers, 2D nanosheets and 3D aggregates) with controllable morphology by varying the concentration of 4,4′-bipyridine and thus controlling the crystal growth direction. Owing to the shorter ion diffusion length, enhanced electron/ion transfer and strong interactions between thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate and 4,4′-bipyridine, the 2D nanosheets showed much larger specific capacitance than 1D nanofibers and 3D aggregates. A single device with an output voltage as high as 3.0 V and exceptional cycling performance (95% of retention after 5000 cycles at 3 mA cm–2) was realized by configuring two aqueous asymmetric supercapacitive devices in series. The excellent cycling property and charge–discharge mechanism are consistent with the hard-soft-acid-base theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sepsis‐associated acute kidney injury (S‐AKI) has been reported to affect 30%–50% of all sepsis patients; this condition is associated with a notable fatality rate. Following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, the expression of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 7 (TRPM7), a nonselective cation channel expressed by the renal tubular epithelial cells (RTECs) was found to be upregulated. We aimed to determine how TRPM7 functions in S‐AKI. Methods: To establish an in vitro model of S‐AKI, RTECs were treated with LPS. The effect of TRPM7 knockdown on cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress was studied. The binding site between Kruppel‐like factor 2 (KLF2) and TRPM7 was predicted using JASPAR. The influence of KLF2 on the regulatory roles of TRPM7 in cells, as well as the effect of their knockdown on the MAPK signaling pathway, was investigated. Results: TRPM7 was upregulated in LPS‐treated cells, and knocking improved cell viability, reduced LDH levels, and minimized apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress. KLF2 was shown to be associated with TRPM7 and its level decreased in LPS‐treated cells. KLF2 knockdown increased TRPM7 expression and reversed the effects of TRPM7 knockdown in LPS‐treated cells, including suppression of p38 MAPK, ERK1/2, and JNK activation. Conclusion: Taken together, our results show that TRPM7 is negatively regulated by KLF2 and promotes LPS‐induced inflammatory dysfunction by activating the MAPK pathway in RTECs. The theoretical foundation for the prevention and management of S‐AKI is laid out in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of CO 2 has attracted lots of attentions, while the conversion and utilization of common low concentration carbon dioxide has not been widely concerned. Herein, oxygen-free low concentration(<40%) CO 2 mixed gas has been explore in the utilization of methane reforming. the low concentration CO 2 mixed gas, which derived from biomass gasification, combined steam reforming methane route has been proposed and explored in the study. The effect of each key parameters, including CO 2 mixed gas addition, reaction temperature, S/C and WHSV, on the syngas yield were investigated.In the proper condition, an product with H 2 /CO ratio around 2 and 97% syngas purity was obtained. Furthermore, since the Ni-modified volcanic rock catalyst showed excellent activity in the reforming reaction, its stability was further confirmed via life test, meanwhile, the other characterizations were observed via XRD, SEM,TEM and BET. the results showed that the catalyst was stable after 24h life experiment with less than 0.15% carbon deposited. Moreover, TEM results revealed that Na and Fe existed in the volcanic rock would gradually migrated to the Ni particle during the reaction, which should be the main mechanism for the improvement of activities and stability of the catalysts. The study provide a new way to utilized the low concentration CO 2 mixed gas. Biomass Derived low concentration CO 2 mixed Gas Combined Steam to Reform Methane through Ni Based Volcanic Rock Catalyst. [Display omitted] • Low concentration CO 2 showed excellent potential in methane reforming. • The content of synthesis gas in reforming products could reach 97%. • Ni/VR catalyst was stable after 24h reaction with less 0.15% carbon deposition. • The Na and Fe element in VR enhanced the activities and stability of catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetite/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs) and magnetite nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 NPs) were added to enhance biohydrogen (bioH 2) production in dark fermentation. Concentration of supplements from 10 to 100 mg/L was appropriate to enhance bioH 2 production, and inhibition appeared once concentration exceeded 100 mg/L. The best bioH 2 yield was 198.30 mL/g glucose at 100 mg/L Fe 3 O 4 NPs and 225.60 mL/g glucose at 100 mg/L Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs, which was 42.97% and 62.65% higher than that in the blank group, respectively. Both Fe 3 O 4 NPs and Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs could intensify butyrate-type fermentation and change the hydrogen-producing microorganism cells morphology, but the enhancement effect of Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs was superior. Microbial community structure analysis showed that Clostridium-sensu-stricto-1 became more dominant ultimately by Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs. [Display omitted] • Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs were synthesized to enhance biohydrogen yield. • Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs enhanced disproportionation reaction of propionate to butyrate. • Fe 3 O 4 NPs and Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs could make the microbial cells longer and thicker. • Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs involved in intracellular and extracellular electron transfer. • Fe 3 O 4 -rGO NCs increased the abundance of Clostridium-sensu-stricto-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The majority of lung cancer(LC) patients are diagnosed at advanced stage with a poor prognosis. However, there is still no ideal diagnostic and prognostic prediction model for lung cancer.Methods: Data of CEA, CYFRA21-1 and NSE test of patients with LC and benign lung diseases (BLDs) or healthy people from Physical Examination Center was collected. Samples were divided into three data sets as needed. Reassign three kinds of tumor markers (TMs) according to their distribution characteristics in different populations. Diagnostic and prognostic models were thus established, and independent validation was conducted with other data sets.Results: The diagnostic prediction model showed good discrimination ability: the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) differentiated LC from healthy people and BLDs (diagnosed within 2 months), being 0.88 and 0.84 respectively. Meanwhile, the prognostic prediction model did great in prediction: AUC in training data set and test data set were 0.85 and 0.8 respectively.Conclusion: Reassigned CEA, CYFRA21-1 and NSE can effectively predict the diagnosis and prognosis of LC. Compared with the same TMs that were considered individually, this diagnostic prediction model can identify high-risk population for LC screening more accurately. The prognostic prediction model could be helpful in making more scientific treatment and follow-up plans for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel complex (C6H16N)3[Tb2(Hsal)3(NO3)6] (1) was synthesised and characterized using X-ray crystallography. The PXRD patterns indicate that complex 1 is stable after heating at 180 °C for half an hour. More interestingly, high luminescence quantum yields of 90%, 78%, and 53% and long lifetimes of 1.71, 1.72, and 1.71 ms were obtained at room temperature, 80 °C, and 180 °C, respectively. Thus, complex 1 is one of the rare examples of luminescent lanthanide complexes with both high luminescence efficiency and thermostability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinity severely threatens plant growth and crop performance. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a plant signal molecule, has been implicated in the regulation of plant responses to salinity stress. However, it is unclear how the transcriptional network regulates H2S biosynthesis during salt stress response. In this study, we identify a rice NAC (NAM, ATAF and CUC) transcription factor, OsNAC35-like (OsNACL35), from a salt-tolerant cultivar 'Sea Rice 86′ (SR86) and further show that it may have improved salt tolerance via enhanced H2S production. The expression of OsNACL35 was significantly upregulated by high salinity and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The OsNACL35 protein was localized predominantly in the nucleus and was found to have transactivation activity in yeast. The overexpression of OsNACL35 (OsNACL35-OE) in japonica cultivar Nipponbare ramatically increased resistance to salinity stress, whereas its dominant-negative constructs (SUPERMAN repression domain, SRDX) conferred hypersensitivity to salt stress in the transgenic lines at the vegetative stage. Moreover, the quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that many stress-associated genes were differentially expressed in the OsNACL35-OE and OsNACL35-SRDX lines. Interestingly, the ectopic expression of OsNACL35 triggered a sharp increase in H2S content by upregulating the expression of a H2S biosynthetic gene, OsDCD1, upon salinity stress. Furthermore, the dual luciferase and yeast one-hybrid assays indicated that OsNACL35 directly upregulated the expression of OsDCD1 by binding to the promoter sequence of OsDCD1. Taken together, our observations illustrate that OsNACL35 acts as a positive regulator that links H2S production to salt stress tolerance, which may hold promising utility in breeding salt-tolerant rice cultivar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wallerian degeneration (WD) is a well-known process by which degenerating axons and myelin are cleared after nerve injury. Although organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) is characterized by Wallerian-like degeneration of long axons in human and sensitive animals, the precise pathological mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we cultured embryonic chicken dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons, the model of OPIDN in vitro, to investigate the underlying mechanism of axon degeneration induced by tri- ortho -cresyl phosphate (TOCP), an OPIDN inducer. The results showed that TOCP exposure time- and concentration-dependently induced a serious degeneration and fragmentation of the axons from the DRG neurons. A collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential and a dramatic depletion of ATP levels were found in the DRG neurons after TOCP treatment. In addition, nicotinamide nucleotide adenylyl transferase 2 (NMNAT2) expression and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) level was also found to be decreased in the DRG neurons exposed to TOCP. However, the TOCP-induced Wallerian degeneration in the DRG neurons could be inhibited by ATP supplementation. And exogenous NAD+ or NAD+ processor nicotinamide riboside can rescue TOCP-induced ATP deficiency and prevent TOCP-induced axon degeneration of the DRG neurons. These findings may shed light on the pathophysiological mechanism of TOCP-induced axonal damages, and implicate the potential application of NAD+ to treat OPIDN. • Tri- ortho -cresyl phosphate (TOCP) induced axon degeneration of chicken DRG neurons. • TOCP caused loss of nicotinamide nucleotide adenylyltransferase 2 (NMNAT2). • TOCP caused ATP deficiency of the DRG neurons by decreasing NAD+ level. • NAD+ supplement prevented TOCP-induced axon degeneration in chicken DRG neurons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]