Search

Oligosaccharides have been used for an environmentally friendly insect control in the agricultural industry. In order to discover novel eco-friendly pesticides, a series of partially acetylated oligorhamnoses mezzettiasides, 2-8, and their analogues, 9-14, with biosurfactant characteristics were designed and synthesized, some of which exhibited comparable to or even stronger aphicidal activity than pymetrozine. Preliminary SAR studies demonstrated that the aphicidal activity of mezzettiasides analogs is highly dependent on their structures, including both the sugar length and the substitutes on the sugar. Among them, trirhamnolipid 9 displayed the strongest aphicidal activity, with an LC50 of 0.019 mmol/L, indicating that the biosurfactant 9 may have potential for use as an environmentally friendly agricultural pesticide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapamycin has great potential in the antitumor application, but its therapeutic effect is seriously affected by poor water solubility, targeting ability, and low bioavailability. Here, we constructed a novel composite nanomaterial with PCN-224 as a drug carrier and loaded rapamycin, named R@BP@HA. The nanoplate not only improves targeting, but also synergizes rapamycin with PCN-224 to effectively promote tumor cell apoptosis, which subsequently causes immunogenic cell death (ICD), and shows strong therapeutic effect in 4T1 breast cancer model. The treatment effect depends on three main points:(i)Proapoptotic effect of rapamycin on tumor cells;(ii)ROS production by PCN-224-mediated photodynamic therapy;(iii)ICD induced DC maturation, increased immune response and promoted T cell proliferation and differentiation. This nanoplate offers potential antitumor efficacy in combination with chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, and immunotherapy. Image: Rapamycin was self-assembled into a water-soluble nanoparticle by BSA, and then loaded onto PCN-224. The R@BP@HA was constructed with HA modification on the surface and then entered the tumor tissue through passive EPR targeting and active HA targeting. Under the action of 660 nm laser, rapamycin was released to the tumor site, and PCN-224 produced ROS. The two synergies effectively killed tumor cells. Dead tumor cells induce ICD, increase the expression level of DAMPs, and further induce DC maturation. DC can effectively present antigens to T cells, promote the proliferation and activation of T cells, and effectively promote the body's immune response. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CUT-like homeobox 1 (CUX1) has been proven to be a key regulator in sheep hair follicle development. In our previous study, CUX1 was identified as a differential expressed gene between Hu sheep lambskin with small wave patterns (SM) and straight wool patterns (ST); however, the exact molecular mechanism of CUX1 expression has been obscure. As DNA methylation can regulate the gene expression, the potential association between CUX1 core promotor region methylation and lambskin pattern in Hu sheep was explored in the present study. The results show that the core promoter region of CUX1 was present at (−1601–(−1) bp) upstream of the transcription start site. A repressive region (−1151–(−751) bp) was also detected, which had a strong inhibitory effect on CUX1 promoter activity. Bisulfite amplicon sequencing revealed that no significant difference was detected between the methylation levels of CUX1 core promoter region in SM tissues and ST tissues. Although the data demonstrated the differential expression of CUX1 between SM and ST probably has no association with DNA methylation, the identification of the core region and a potential repressive region of CUX1 promoter can enrich the role of CUX1 in Hu sheep hair follicle development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image-based 3D reconstruction from a single-view image is critical and fundamental in many areas and can be integrated into many applications to provide useful functions. However, there are several crucial difficulties and challenges in accomplishing this process. For example, the issues of self-occlusion and lack of object information in a different perspective of viewing. Thus, the quality of the generated 3D shape from a single-view image may not be satisfactory and robust, hence affecting its feasibility in further applications. Conventionally, the 3D reconstruction process requires multiple input images such that the context of the target object can be fully conveyed. In this paper, we propose a new and simple, yet powerful framework that improves the quality of the generated point cloud from a single-view image. Concretely, the significant representatives are first discovered and selected by adopting a network architecture that contains both encoder and decoder models. Finally, the resultant point clouds are obtained by extracting the mean shape using the methods of Chamfer Distance (CD), Earth Mover's Distance (EMD), and Self-Organizing Map (SOM). As a result, the proposed algorithm is capable to demonstrate its robustness and effectiveness when compared to state-of-the-art 3D reconstruction methods. The best mean loss exhibited is 4.45 when evaluated on 12 classes in the ShapeNetCoreV1 dataset. In addition, qualitative results are presented to further verify the reliability of the proposed method. • Proposal of single RGB image as the input for 3D point cloud reconstruction. • The utilization of the mean shape extractor to improve the quality of 3D modeling. • Three different mean shape extraction methods are employed for framework validation. • The effectiveness of each mean shape is evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. • Compelling CD and EMD results are achieved when tested in the ShapeNetCore dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Fourteen new p -terphenyl derivatives were obtained from a sponge derived fungus Aspergillus sp. • Comprehensive methods such as chiral-phase HPLC analysis, ECD calculations and X-ray diffraction analysis were applied to determine the absolute configurations. • Asperterphenyls B and C represented the first reported natural p -terphenyl derivatives possessing a dicarboxylic acid system. • Asperterphenyl A displayed significant neuraminidase inhibitory activity with an IC 50 value of 1.77 µM. • Asperterphenyl A could efficiently inhibit infection of multiple strains of H1N1 through decreasing viral plaque formation in a dose-dependent manner. Guided by Global Natural Products Social molecular networking, 14 new p -terphenyl derivatives, asperterphenyls A–N (1 – 14), together with 20 known p -terphenyl derivatives (15 – 34), were obtained from a sponge derived fungus Aspergillus sp. SCSIO41315. Among them, new compounds 2 – 8 and 15 – 17 were ten pairs of enantiomers. Comprehensive methods such as chiral-phase HPLC analysis, ECD calculations and X-ray diffraction analysis were applied to determine the absolute configurations. Asperterphenyls B (2) and C (3) represented the first reported natural p -terphenyl derivatives possessing a dicarboxylic acid system. Asperterphenyl A (1) displayed neuraminidase inhibitory activity with an IC 50 value of 1.77 ± 0.53 µM and could efficiently inhibit infection of multiple strains of H1N1 with IC 50 values from 0.67 ± 0.28 to 1.48 ± 0.60 µM through decreasing viral plaque formation in a dose-dependent manner, which suggested that asperterphenyl A (1) might be exploited as a potential antiviral compound in the pharmaceutical fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we reported the synthesis of perovskite La 0.8 Sr 0.2 FeO 3 nanocrystals in heavy metal oxide glass under the Al 2 O 3 tailoring. 10 nm-nanocrystals of orthogonal La 0.8 Sr 0.2 FeO 3 were synthesized and well distributed in glass by melting quenching followed with subsequent crystallization process at 400 °C for 30 min for 10% Al 2 O 3 content. Aluminum abnormality effect and the Sr2+ induced multi-valence states of Fe ions and oxygen vacancies in La 0.8 Sr 0.2 FeO 3 lattice, resulting in polarizability and oxygen packing density change. The glass with 10%Al 2 O 3 amount exhibited a large thermal stability (132 °C) and significant enhancement in Verdet constant of 105 rad/T.m at 633 nm wavelength. The obtained Verdet constant values were compared with relative literatures and the values in this study are superior than values in literatures. The obtained glass with extremely good magnetic property and magneto optical performances can be promising candidate for photonics device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to complex dynamic coupling relationships in the system, the research that couples pendulum and vibrators in the same system is rarely found. Especially in the vibrating system with spatial motion, the theoretical derivation may be too complex to be easy to implement. In this paper, we present a vibrator-pendulum coupling system with spatial motion characteristics; here, the pendulum is driven by the two vibrators mounted on it. The synchronization of the vibrators and the motion characteristics of the system are studied via theory, numeric, and experiment. In theory, the synchronization and stability criteria of the two vibrators are deduced. According to the theoretical results, some numerical qualitative analyses are given to further reveal the synchronous stable states and spatial motion characteristics of the system. The validity of the theoretical methods and the correctness of the numerical qualitative results are examined by simulation and experiment. Taking the pendulum as the working rigid frame, the proposed dynamic model and research results can be applied to design a new kind of vibrating jaw crusher with spatial motion characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the safety and efficacy of transurethral photoselective Greenlight™ laser vaporization in adult patients with orthotopic ureterocele. Materials and methods: Thirty adult patients diagnosed with orthotopic urecterocele were recruited at our center. Transurethral photoselective Greenlight laser vaporization was used as the exclusive technique for endoscopic management during the study period. Information, including age, gender, mode of presentation, ureterocele size, vesicoureteral reflux, hydronephrosis status, and incidence of reoperation, were collected for evaluation. Results: Our series included 12 men and 18 women. The mean patient age at presentation was 30.5 years (range, 18-62 years). The mean size of ureterocele was 18 mm (range, 10-41 mm). All patients successfully underwent transurethral photoselective Greenlight laser to vaporize the ureterocele. The operation ranged from 13 min to 38 min (mean 19.6 min). The average blood loss was <10 mL. No patient had intraoperative complications. The average postoperative hospital stay was 18.3 h. All patients were voided after postoperative catheter removal. None of the patients demonstrated any residual ureterocele and/or hydronephrosis when evaluated with ultrasonography after 3 months. Only one patient with a duplex collecting system presented asymptomatic low-grade reflux at 3 months, which was spontaneously resolved after 6 months of follow-up. All patients were free of any symptoms. No reoperative procedures were required at a mean follow-up of 14.2 months (range, 8-16). Conclusions: Transurethral photoselective Greenlight laser vaporization is safe, effective, and efficient for the management of orthotopic urecteroceles in adults. Therefore, this technique should be considered as the initial treatment in most patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of DRTR (Double Reverse Traction Repositor, DRTR)and traction table in the treatment of femoral shaft fractures with the aid of AN-IMN (Antegrade intramedullary nailing). Patients and Methods: In this study, patients with femoral shaft fractures admitted to the Department of Orthopedics at Zhaoqing First People’s Hospital from May 2018 to October 2022 were recruited. All patients were treated with anterograde intramedullary nailing, with 23 patients in the DRTR-assisted group and 21 patients in the traction table-assisted group. The demographic characteristics, fracture classification, intraoperative data, postoperative data, and prognostic indicators of the two groups were recorded and analyzed retrospectively. All procedures were performed by the same team of experienced physicians. Results: All the patients in the two groups were followed up for more than 12 months. Both traction methods could provide stable traction for the operator during AN-IMN, and there was no significant difference in demographic characteristics and fracture classification. The intraoperative fluoroscopy times and opening reduction rate of the DRTR group were lower than those of the traction table group (P < 0.05), and the postoperative Harris Hip Score, as well as the Lyshol Lysholm knee function Score of the DRTR group, were significantly higher than the traction table group members (P < 0.05). Postoperative complications such as perineal soft tissue injury and lateral femoral cutaneous nerve injury occurred in the traction table group, but not in the DRTR group. Conclusion: DRTR can safely and effectively provide continuous and stable traction in the femoral shaft fractures surgery, and outperforms the traction table in the number of intraoperative fluoroscopy, opening reduction rate, reduction of complications, and postoperative joint function score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibins suppress the FSH production in pituitary gonadotrope cells by robustly antagonizing activin signaling by competitively binding to activin type II receptors (ACTR II). The binding of inhibin A to ACTR II requires the presence of its co-receptor, namely, betaglycan. In humans, the critical binding site for betaglycan to inhibin A was identified on the inhibin α subunit. Through conservation analysis, we found that a core 13-amino-acid peptide sequence within the betaglycan-binding epitope on human inhibin α subunit is highly conserved across species. Based on the tandem sequence of such a conserved 13-amino-acid betaglycan-binding epitope (INHα13AA-T), we developed a novel inhibin vaccine and tested its efficacy in promoting female fertility using the female rat as a model. Compared with placebo-immunized controls, INHα13AA-T immunization induced a marked (p < 0.05) antibody generation, enhanced (p < 0.05) ovarian follicle development, and increased ovulation rate and litter sizes. Mechanistically, INHα13AA-T immunization promoted (p < 0.05) pituitary Fshb transcription and increased (p < 0.05) serum FSH and 17β-estradiol concentrations. In summary, active immunization against INHα13AA-T potently increased FSH levels, ovarian follicle development, ovulation rate and litter sizes, thus causing super-fertility in females. Therefore, immunization against INHα13AA is a promising alternative to the conventional approach of multiple ovulation and super-fertility in mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 3D carbon cloth frame decorated with Au particles was prepared by a simple one-step hydrothermal method. • CC with Au particles can be used to reduce the local current density and the nucleation overpotential during Li plating. • The Au-CC/Li electrode exhibits quite a promising stability during the repeated plating/stripping cycles. • The Au-CC/Li|LFP full cell delivers a high capacity retention. [Display omitted] Li metal has been proven to increase the energy density of rechargeable Li batteries significantly. However, the growth of Li dendrites has hindered the practical application of Li metal. Herein, an Au modified carbon cloth (Au-CC) was prepared by a simple one-step hydrothermal method. Benefiting from the miscibility of Li and Au on the surface of skeleton, the Au-CC can regulate the uniform plating/stripping process of Li effectively and alleviate the formation of Li dendrites, leading to a superior electrochemical performance (near 100% CE for 200 cycles at 2 mA cm−2). The as-fabricated Au-CC/Li electrode delivers a ultralong lifespan of 1200 h with low voltage hysteresis at 1 mA cm−2 for 1 mAh cm−2 in symmetric cells. By assembling the full-cell batteries using LiFePO 4 and Au-CC/Li as cathode and anode respectively, the capacity retention of 80.8% is achieved after 200 cycles at 3C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary lymphedema is a chronic and incurable disease lacking satisfactory therapeutic drugs. It primarily results from lymphatic vessel dysfunction resulting from factors such as tumor-related surgery, injury, or infection. Promoting lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic vessel remodeling is crucial for restoring tissue fluid drainage and treating secondary lymphedema. In this study, we discovered that the oral administration of a type-II arabinogalactan (CAPW-1, molecular weight: 64 kDa) significantly promoted lymphangiogenesis and alleviated edema in mice with secondary lymphedema. Notably, the tail diameter of the CAPW-1200 group considerably decreased in comparison to that of the lymphedema group, with an average diameter difference reaching 0.98 mm on day 14. CAPW-1 treatment also reduced the average thickness of the subcutaneous area in the CAPW-1200 group to 0.37 mm (compared with 0.73 mm in the lymphedema group). It also facilitated the return of injected indocyanine green (ICG) from the tail tip to the sciatic lymph nodes, indicating that CAPW-1 promoted lymphatic vessel remodeling at the injury site. In addition, CAPW-1 enhanced the proliferation and migration of lymphatic endothelial cells. This phenomenon was associated with the activation of the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway, thereby promoting the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C), which can be abolished using a TLR4 antagonist. Despite these findings, CAPW-1 did not alleviate the symptoms of lymphedema or restore lymphatic drainage in VEGFR3flox/flox/Prox1-CreERT2 mice. In summary, CAPW-1 alleviates secondary lymphedema by promoting lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic vessel remodeling through the activation of the TLR4/NF-κB/VEGF-C signaling pathway, indicating its potential as a therapeutic lymphangiogenesis agent for patients with secondary lymphedema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diamagnetic Y3+ ions doped magneto-optical TbVO 4 nanocrystals were synthesized and characterized, the influence of mixed valence effect in TbVO 4 : Y to structure and properties of diamagnetic glasses/ceramic was studied. 80–100 nm spherical TbVO 4 nanocrystals were hydrothermally synthesized. The doping of 30% and 40% Y3+ into TbVO 4 increased the grain size to 120–150 nm and transformed pure zircon-type to a combination of zircon- scheelite type structure. EDX, Raman and infrared spectra revealed that the Y3+ occupied the site of Tb3+ with chemical formula of Tb 0.7 Y 0.3 VO 4 and Tb 0.6 Y 0.4 VO 4 respectively. More than 40% Y3+ could not be incorporated into TbVO 4 lattice. Y doped TbVO 4 nanocrystals presented two absorption peaks at 266 nm and 301 nm and one broad emission peak centered at 468 nm. A quenching of emission was observed for 40%Y doped TbVO 4 due to the non-radiation energy transfer between Tb3+ and Y3+. Three nanocrystals displayed EPR resonance signal at g = 1.98 for V4+ ions due to the ion (oxygen) vacancies and structure deformation. VSM and XPS results indicated that the Y3+ doping changed paramagnetic to diamagnetic due to the increase concentration of diamagnetic Y3+, V5+ and Tb4+ ions. Three nanocrystals doped diamagnetic glass/ceramic presented different transparency, homogeneity and structures because of multivalence states of Tb and V in glasses/ceramic. Pure TbVO 4 and TbVO 4 :30%Y doped glasses exhibited transition 7F 0 →5D 2 of Tb3+ and 2B 2 g →2B 1 g of V4+ ions which resulted in the reduction of band gap energy and red-shifts of absorption edges. A quenching of 5D 4 →7F 5–2 transition of Tb3+ was observed in Tb 0.6 Y 0.4 VO 4 doped ceramic. Closed and open-aperture Z-scan showed an enhancement of nonlinearity due to the increase of polarizability. The mixed valence states of Tb and V yielded different magnetization and magneto optical rotation performances in glasses/ceramic. TbVO 4 :30%Y doped glass exhibited remarkable third nonlinear susceptibility (7.66 × 10−11 esu), magnetization and Verdet constant (0.2248 min/G.cm) at 633 nm. • Diamagnetic Y3+ doped ~100 nm spherical magneto-optical TbVO 4 were synthesized, characterized. • Tb 0.7 Y 0.3 VO 4 /Tb 0.6 Y 0.4 VO 4 show lower band gap, modified magnetization and zircon-scheelite structure. • Glasses/ceramic with different homogeneity, transparency and structure were obtained. • Multivalence of Tb and V in diamagnetic matrix contributed to linear and nonlinearity improvement. • TbVO 4 :30%Y doped glass show giant magnetization and Verdet constant (0.2248 min/G.cm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel algorithm is proposed for sample partitioning optimization in NIR models. • AHCTS is a hybrid method and it is self-adaptive to the spectral data. • The AHCTS optimization combined with PLSR is suitable for NIR application. • AHCTS outperforms the conventional methods of KS and SPXY. The division of calibration and validation is one of the essential procedures that affect the prediction result of the calibration model in quantitative analysis of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. The conventional methods are Kennard-Stone (KS) and sample set partitioning based on joint x -y distances (SPXY). These algorithms use Euclidean distance to cover as many representative samples as possible. This paper proposes an Adaptive Hybrid Cuckoo-Tabu Search (AHCTS) algorithm for partitioning samples based on optimization. The algorithm combines the characteristics of cuckoo search (CS) and tabu search (TS) and fuses with an adaptive function. For comparison, using fishmeal samples as spectral analysis data, KS, SPXY, and AHCTS algorithms were used to divide the modeling samples to establish partial least squares regression (PLSR) models. The experimental results showed that the model established by the proposed algorithm performs better than KS and SPXY. It reveals that the AHCTS method may be an advantageous alternative for quantitative analysis of NIR spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magneto-optical materials exhibiting low/no temperature-dependent Faraday rotation, high magnetization and good thermal/mechanical stability are required in various magneto-optical sensing and photonic applications. For the first time, we employed the rare earth Lu3+ and Sc3+ ions to strengthen the structure and enhance magnetic& magneto-optical properties of heavy metal oxide diamagnetic glasses. Experimental results revealed that the doping of Lu 2 O 3 and Sc 2 O 3 not only significantly increased the UV-VIS transmittance, improved the thermal stability, Vicker's hardness and tensile strength, but also remarkably increased the magnetic susceptibility and Verdet constant. The reasons were analyzed through the XRD, FT-IR, Raman spectra, oxygen chemical bonds, EPR of Lu 2 O 3 and Sc 2 O 3 crystal fields and affinity to oxygen. Promising Faraday rotating glass with Verdet constant of 76.32 rad/Tm at 633 nm, thermal stability KH = 0.817, very low thermal expansion coefficient (14.04 × 10−6 K−1) and high diamagnetic susceptibility of 9.25 × 10−6 emu/g has obtained which has potential merits for photonics and MO devices applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have suggested that macrophages are present during lens regeneration in newts, but their role in the process is yet to be elucidated. Methods: Here we generated a transgenic reporter line using the newt, Pleurodeles waltl, that traces macrophages during lens regeneration. Furthermore, we assessed early changes in gene expression during lens regeneration using two newt species, Notophthalmus viridescens and Pleurodeles waltl. Finally, we used clodronate liposomes to deplete macrophages during lens regeneration in both species and tested the effect of a subsequent secondary injury after macrophage recovery. Results: Macrophage depletion abrogated lens regeneration, induced the formation of scar-like tissue, led to inflammation, decreased iris pigment epithelial cell (iPEC) proliferation, and increased rates of apoptosis in the eye. Some of these phenotypes persisted throughout the last observation period of 100 days and could be attenuated by exogenous FGF2 administration. A distinct transcript profile encoding acute inflammatory effectors was established for the dorsal iris. Reinjury of the newt eye alleviated the effects of macrophage depletion, including the resolution of scar-like tissue, and re-initiated the regeneration process. Conclusions: Together, our findings highlight the importance of macrophages for facilitating a pro-regenerative environment in the newt eye by regulating fibrotic responses, modulating the overall inflammatory landscape, and maintaining the proper balance of early proliferation and late apoptosis of the iPECs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hu sheep, a unique Chinese breed with high reproductive performance, are also well known for their rare white lambskin in China. The quality of lambskin is affected by hair follicles, and dermal papilla cells are an important component of hair follicles that plays a key role in hair follicle growth and development. This study helps elucidate the effect of miR-148a and miR-10a on hair follicle growth and development. Results: Based on the results of gene chip and high-throughput sequencing, bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) was used as a research object. Bioinformatics analysis and the dual-luciferase reporter system indicated that, along with Western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) that miR-148a and miR-10a target relationships with BMP7. BMP7 was the target gene both for miR-148a and miR-10a by the dual-luciferase reporter system and Western blot. Hu sheep dermal papilla cells were successfully isolated and purified, and after transfecting miR-148a/miR-10a mimics and inhibitors into dermal papilla cells, a Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to determine that miR-148a/miR-10a inhibited the proliferation of Hu sheep dermal papilla cells. In addition, after the overexpression of miR-148a, the expression levels of Smad3 (P < 0.05), Smad6 (P < 0.05), Smad4 (P < 0.01), and Smad5 (P < 0.01) were significantly higher than those of the control groups. After the inhibition of miR-148a, the expression levels of Smad3 (P < 0.05), Smad4 (P < 0.05), and TGF-β (P < 0.01) were significantly lower than those of the control groups. After the overexpression of miR-10a, the expression levels of Smad1 (P < 0.01), Smad2 (P < 0.05), Smad4 (P < 0.01), Smad5 (P < 0.01), and TGF-β (P < 0.05) were significantly lower than those of the control groups. After the inhibition of miR-10a, the expression levels of Smad1 (P < 0.01) and Smad2 (P < 0.05) were significantly lower than those of the control groups. Conclusions: These results revealed the target relationship between miR-148a, miR-10a and BMP7, and the effect of miR-148a and miR-10a on the proliferation of dermal papilla cells. They will provide the basis for a follow-up study on how miR-148a, and miR-10a mediate BMP7 regulation of hair follicle growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of HuoXueHuaYu (HXHY) therapy in treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: We performed comprehensive searches on Embase, Pubmed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang databases up to June 2017 for randomized controlled trials using HXHY in the treatment of NAFLD compared with conventional treatment. Results: This meta-analysis included 13 studies involving 1429 patients which 775 patients belonged to HXHY group and 654 patients belonged to conventional treatment group. The results of meta-analysis showed that HXHY can significantly improve B ultrasonic level (OR = 2.33; 95% CI:1.60, 3.40; P < 0.00001) of NAFLD compared with conventional treatment. As to lipids, HXHY was tested to be better on reduction of total cholesterol (TC) (MD = -0.38, 95% CI: − 0.48, − 0.29; P < 0.00001) and triglyceride (TG) (MD = -0.31; 95% CI: − 0.37, − 0.24; P < 0.00001) than conventional treatment. HXHY also had a greater beneficial effect on liver function in reducing alanine transaminase (ALT) (MD = -1.69; 95% CI: − 2.24, − 1.14; P < 0.00001) and aspartate transaminase (AST) (MD = -22.53; 95% CI: − 33.16, − 11.90; P < 0.00001) compared with conventional treatment. HXHY can also significantly improve the effective rate (OR = 3.55; 95% CI:2.65, 4.76; P < 0.00001) compared with conventional treatment. No serious adverse reactions were reported. Conclusions: HXHY seems to be an effective and safe therapy for NAFLD. It is suggested that further study of HXHY in the treatment of NAFLD requires trials with rigorous design, multicenter, large-scale and high-quality worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hair follicles are the basis of the formation of Hu sheep pattern. This study was to employ whole transcriptome sequencing to screen differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) between three wave patterns in lambskin. In this study, three groups of 2-day-old Hu sheep were selected from full-sib individuals that included small, medium, and large waves, and hair follicle tissues were collected from dorsal side of Hu sheep. LncRNA and mRNA expression profiles were analyzed by whole transcriptome sequencing technology. 33, 31, and 41 differentially expressed lncRNAs were selected between large and medium, medium and small, and large and small, respectively. 458, 481, and 498 differentially expressed mRNAs were found between large and medium, medium and small, and large and small, respectively, by RNA-seq analysis. qRT-PCR results of 16 randomly selected lncRNAs and mRNAs were similar to the sequencing results. Correlation analysis of lncRNA and mRNA expression showed that, several lncRNAs may be enriched for hair follicle such as Wnt, mTOR, Notch signaling pathways. Our results aid in excavation of mRNAs and lncRNAs in hair follicle, and providing a basis for future study on pattern formation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral image (HSI) classification plays a key role in the field of earth observation missions. Recently, transformer-based approaches have been widely used for HSI classification due to their ability to model long-range sequences. However, these methods face two main challenges. First, they treat HSI as linear vectors, disregarding their 3D attributes and spatial structure. Second, the repeated concatenation of encoders leads to information loss and gradient vanishing. To overcome these challenges, we propose a new solution called the multi-level feature extraction network (MLFEN). MLFEN consists of two sub-networks: the hybrid convolutional attention module (HCAM) and the enhanced dense vision transformer (EDVT). HCAM incorporates a band shift strategy to eliminate the edge effect of convolution and utilizes hybrid convolutional blocks to capture the 3D properties and spatial structure of HSI. Additionally, an attention module is introduced to identify strongly discriminative features. EDVT reconfigures the organization of original encoders by incorporating dense connections and adaptive feature fusion components, enabling faster propagation of information and mitigating the problem of gradient vanishing. Furthermore, we propose a novel sparse loss function to better fit the data distribution. Extensive experiments conducted on three public datasets demonstrate the significant advancements achieved by MLFEN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Screening for polymorphisms in the promoter region of a functional gene is an effective way to identify useful markers for improving sheep growth and development. Non-SMC condensin I complex subunit G (NCAPG) is a candidate gene linked with sheep growth and development. Its explicit role in muscle development is still unclear, and markers in NCAPG's promoter region have not been explored yet. The goal of this study was to investigate the direct role of NCAPG in regulating myogenic development and the differentiation of myoblasts and explore potential markers in its promoter region in relation to sheep growth and development traits. To achieve this goal, cell proliferation and differentiation after RNA interference with NCAPG were investigated in embryonic myoblasts. In addition, the genetic markers in the promoter region of NCAPG were scanned, and association analysis between the markers and sheep growth and development traits was carried out. The results suggest that interfering with NCAPG inhibits the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts. Five variants detected in the promoter region of NCAPG were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with sheep growth and development traits. These results provide direct evidence of NCAPG regulating myogenesis and provide useful genetic markers to increase the efficacy of the selection of sheep growth and development traits. Previously, NCAPG was identified as a candidate gene associated with sheep growth traits. This study aimed to investigate the direct role of NCAPG in regulating myogenesis in embryonic myoblast cells and to investigate the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in its promoter region and sheep growth traits. The function of NCAPG in myoblast proliferation and differentiation was detected after small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) knocked down the expression of NCAPG. Cell proliferation was detected using CCK-8 assay, EdU proliferation assay, and flow cytometry cell cycle analysis. Cell differentiation was detected via cell immunofluorescence and the quantification of myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs). SNPs in the promoter region were detected using Sanger sequencing and genotyped using the improved multiplex ligation detection reaction (iMLDR®) technique. As a result, a notable decrease (p < 0.01) in the percentage of EdU-positive cells in the siRNA-694-treated group was observed. A significant decrease (p < 0.01) in cell viability after treatment with siRNA-694 for 48 h and 72 h was detected using the CCK-8 method. The quantity of S-phase cells in the siRNA-694 treatment group was significantly decreased (p < 0.01). After interfering with NCAPG in myoblasts during induced differentiation, the relative expression levels of MRFs were markedly (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01) reduced compared with the control group on days 5–7. The myoblast differentiation in the siRNA-694 treatment group was obviously suppressed compared with the control group. SNP1, SNP2, SNP3, and SNP4 were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with all traits except body weight measured at birth and one month of age. SNP5 was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with body weight, body height, and body length in six-month-old sheep. In conclusion, interfering with NCAPG can inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of ovine embryonic myoblasts. SNPs in its promoter region can serve as potential useful markers for selecting sheep growth traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A transformer model is proposed for detecting multi-scale chicken in free-range farms. • An efficient new transformer module is designed to balance computational efficiency with performance. • Three independent testing sets are constructed for testing generalization ability. • Robustness and fine-tuning experiments further confirm the superiority of the proposed model. Accurate detection and localization of chicken targets in complex environments are the foundation of intelligent free-range chicken farming. However, commercial free-range chicken farming poses several challenges to detection methods, including complex and variable backgrounds, multi-scale targets, aggregated occlusion and changes in the posture of chicken. While there has been significant research on object detection algorithms based on convolutional neural networks, these algorithms have limited effectiveness in detecting small targets and generalizing to new scenes. Therefore, this study proposes a highly accurate and strongly generalizable chicken object detection model called Efficient Multi-scale Chicken DETR (EMSC-DETR), which is based on an improved Real-Time DEtection TRansformer (RT-DETR). To address the issue of easily losing small target features, a new efficient transformer module called space-to-depth transformer module (SDTM) is introduced. SDTM includes space-to-depth (SPD) and BiFormer modules, which facilitate deep interaction between local and global features, and significantly improve the computational efficiency of the transformer. Additionally, to overcome the detection and differentiation difficulties caused by chicken aggregation occlusion, the transformer encoder of EMSC-DETR incorporates a contextual transformer (CoT). CoT utilizes rich contextual information among the nearest neighbors to enhance the feature representation of high-level features, enabling more accurate localization of overlapped chicken targets. To evaluate the proposed model in complex environments, 14 scene data were collected from two fields and divided into training, validation, testing sets and three independent testing sets with unknown scenes. Experimental results show that the proposed EMSC-DETR obtains the best detection performance in the testing set, with an AP 50 of 98.6%, surpassing other state-of-the-art models of similar size. In the three independent testing sets, the proposed model shows improvements of 8.2%, 9.2% and 28.3% in the AP 50 compared to the original RT-DETR, respectively. Moreover, the model exhibits superior generalization ability for unknown scenes compared to other state-of-the-art models. Robustness and fine-tuning experiments further confirm the reliability and application potential of EMSC-DETR in detecting free-range chickens, which is crucial for complex commercial farming. This study is expected to provide references and new ideas for precision livestock farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fishmeal is a high-energy feed. Fishmeal quality has an important influence on animal growth. The detection of ash content is essential for evaluating fishmeal quality. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a rapid detection technique that can be used to determine the ash content in fishmeal. The wavelength related to the target component must be selected in NIR quantitative analysis considering that the NIR spectrum has a strong correlation. In this paper, the adaptive binary differential evolution (ABDE) algorithm was proposed for feature selection. The algorithm was an improvement of the mutation operator of binary differential evolution (BDE) and improved binary differential evolution (IBDE) algorithms. The performance of the BDE, IBDE, and ABDE algorithms was compared in secondary wavelength selection on 11 combined intervals selected by the move window partial least squares (MWPLS) algorithm. The performance of the model established by the ABDE algorithm in feature selection was superior to that constructed by the BDE and IBDE algorithms. Frequency ABDE (FABDE) was designed by introducing frequency into the ABDE algorithm to minimize the influence of random factors. The root mean square error (RMSET) and the correlation coefficient (R T) of the FABDE model for the test set were 1.160 ​% and 0.941, respectively. By comparison, the RMSET and the R T of the ABDE model were 1.212 ​% and 0.935, respectively. The results of model prediction indicated that the FABDE algorithm proposed herein can be feasibly used to improve the model effects for the rapid NIR analysis of ash content in fishmeal. • A novel algorithm is proposed for feature selection in NIR models. • ABDE outperforms the methods of BDE and IBDE. • The FABDE is designed by introducing frequency into the ABDE. • NIRS combined to FABDE is effective for estimating content of ash. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 80 nm- Mn 1−x Eu x Se 2 nano cubes presented good morphology, structural, optical and magnetic properties. • Incorporation of Eu disturbed self-assembly of MnSe 2 cubes and decreased energy band gap. • Mn 0.9 Eu 0.1 Se 2 doped diamagnetic glass presented promising emission and nonlinearity properties. • Dipole-dipole and dipole-electron exchange between mixed valence states of Eu and Mn yielded large magnetization. • 3% Mn 0.9 Eu 0.1 Se 2 doped glass exhibited giant Faraday rotation Verdet constant of 63.998 rad/T/m at 633 nm. Rare earth ions coupled magnetic, electronic and magneto-optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenides are attractive due to interaction of lattice, spin and electronic degree of freedom. For the first time, Eu doped MnSe 2 nano-cubes were synthesized and characterized, and the influences to structural and properties of Faraday rotating glass were studied. The introduction of mixed valence states of Eu disturbed the self-assembly of MnSe 2 and enhanced the antiferromagnetism due to the vacancies induced by the charge neutral and radius/electronegativity difference. Mn 0.9 Eu 0.1 Se 2 presenting smaller grain size and better crystallization was selected as dopant to heavy metal oxide glass matrix. The rich energy levels of significant d-d , f-f electron transitions of Mn and Eu ions in Mn 0.9 Eu 0.1 Se 2 contributed to the improvement of optical linear and nonlinear properties. The band gaps of glasses were decreased and the absorption edges red-shifted. Meanwhile, the third nonlinearity was improved due to increase of polarizability. The spin interactions and electrons charge interactions between Eu and Mn ions in glass provided complex magnetization changing from diamagnetic, paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic. 3% of Mn 0.9 Eu 0.1 Se 2 functionalized glass showed excellent optical emission at 560 nm and 620 nm wavelengths, good nonlinear coefficient (5.88 × 10−14 esu), high paramagnetic moment (8.28 × 10−6 emu/mol) and giant Verdet constant value (63.998 rad/T/m at 633 nm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Thermal poling on 10%B 2 O 3 –52%Bi 2 O 3 –38%PbO diamagnetic glass was performed. • Second & third nonlinearity, structure defects, thermal, magnetic and magneto optical properties were characterized. • 5 µm-thickness layer second harmonic generation was obtained at 3 kV, 260°C for 4 hours poling. • Strong second harmonic generation intensity (2.3 pm/V) and third nonlinearity were enhanced. • Giant Verdet constant (0.2382 min/G.cm) and diamagnetic susceptibility (0.424×10−5 emu/mol) were achieved. The electric field manipulation of magnetic and magneto optical properties is currently of great interest for photonics and spintronics devices. In this study, for the first time, we utilized the thermal poling electric field induced polarization and magnetization to manipulate the magnetic and Faraday rotation performance of heavy metal oxide diamagnetic glass. The influence of poling conditions on second & third nonlinearity, structure and defects, thermal, magnetic and magneto optical properties were studied through varies characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscope, X-ray powder diffraction, Raman, maker fringe, electron paramagnetic resonance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Z-scan, vibration sample magnetometer and Faraday rotation measurements. 5 µm-thickness layer second harmonic generation intensity increased with the voltages from 1 kV to 3 kV, while at 300°C second harmonic generation the intensity decreased. Third nonlinearity coefficient and nonlinear refractive index were calculated to be much higher than that of un-poled glass through the Z-scan method. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman and electron paramagnetic resonance analysis revealed the center-asymmetric network of glass, non-bridging oxygen and defect centers after thermal poling. The modification on glass structure resulted in the enhancement of magnetic moment of glass with electric induced magnetic field changes electric coupling effect as high as 15%. Faraday rotation measurement indicated that polarization dominantly contributed to the enhancement of V, at the same time, the V also was impacted by glass transmittance and crystal scattering. The optimized thermal poling condition was determined to be 3 kVand 260°C for 4 hours, under which thermally poled glass presented the strong second harmonic generation intensity (2.3 pm/V), highest Verdet constant (0.2382 min/G.cm) and improved diamagnetic susceptibility (0.424×10−5 emu/mol). Diamagnetic glass with these properties is attractive for magneto optical sensing and nonlinear applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steamed Polygonatum cyrtonema has been commonly used clinically for its gaining effect, whose main active ingredient is a polysaccharide. A water-soluble polysaccharide named PSP-W-1 was isolated from steamed Polygonatum cyrtonema. PSP-W-1 was characterized as a galactan having a backbone consisting predominately of 1,4-β-linked Gal p branched at the C-6 position by T-β-linked Gal p with a molecular weight of 14.4 kDa. PSP-W-1 could inhibit the overproduction of inflammatory factors and inflammatory mediators (iNOS, IL-6, COX-2) in dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis mice. Oral administration of PSP-W-1 dramatically alleviated colonic pathological damage, repaired the intestinal barrier (occludin and ZO-1) and regulated the intestinal microbiota by increasing the abundance of norank_f_ Muribaculaceae , Lactobacillus and norank_f_norank_o_ Clostridia UCG-014, while decreasing the abundance of Bacteroides and Escherichia - Shigella to alleviate colitis symptoms. Overall, our findings suggest that PSP-W-1 might be a therapeutic option for both the prevention and treatment of colitis. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]