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To investigate the spoilage characteristics of Jinhua ham, sensory scores, volatile compounds, biogenic amine, physicochemical parameters and microbial counts were evaluated between normal and spoiled hams. The results showed that off-odors of spoiled hams were dominated by rancid, sour, sulfide and ammonia odors derived from these compounds including butanoic acid, methanethiol and dimethyl disulfide. Total content of biogenic amine in spoiled hams was significantly higher (more than 10-fold) compared with normal hams, and putrescine, cadaverine and histamine were the key components of biogenic amine of spoiled hams. Lower salt content, and higher moisture, TVB-N and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values were observed in spoiled hams compared with normal hams. The populations of Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococcus of spoiled hams were obviously higher than that of normal hams. High moisture and low salt content caused the abnormal growth of Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococcus in spoiled hams, which contributed to the spoilage of Jinhua ham.

Abstract Generalized Feistel structures (called GFSs for short) are one of the most popular block cipher structures. They are mainly divided into type‐1, type‐2 and type‐3 GFS. Among them, type‐1 and type‐1‐like ones attracted much attention during the past decades because of the simple design and high implementation efficiency. In this paper, the security of the type‐1 and type‐1‐like 4‐branch GFS with substitution permutation round functions against the impossible differential attack are evaluated. For these two structures, 21‐round impossible differential distinguishers are constructed when the linear layers P satisfy γ(P) ≥ 2, where γ(P) denotes the primitive index of P. Especially, when γ(P) = 2, the 21‐round distinguisher of the type‐1 structure is one round longer than before. Furthermore, for a specific block cipher Lesamnta‐LW‐BC, which takes the type‐1‐like structure, by exploiting the details of the linear layer, a better 21‐round impossible differential distinguisher is constructed, which contains more impossible differentials than before. With this distinguisher, a 27‐round impossible differential attack on Lesamnta‐LW‐BC is performed. The length of this attack is 8 rounds longer than the previous best one. Our results can provide guidance for designing and analysing the type‐1 and type‐1‐like GFS as well as the specific block ciphers which take the structures.

Abstract Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive histological subtype of breast cancer, exhibits a high risk of early recurrence rate and a poor prognosis, and it is primarily associated with the abundance of cancer stem cells (CSCs). At present, the strategies for effectively eradicating or inhibiting TNBC CSCs are still limited, which makes the development of novel drugs with anti-CSCs function be of great value for the treatment of TNBC, especially the refractory TNBC. In this study, we found that the small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor DCC-2036 suppressed TNBC stem cells by inhibiting the tyrosine kinase AXL and the transcription factor KLF5. DCC-2036 downregulated the expression of KLF5 by decreasing the protein stability of KLF5 via the AXL-Akt-GSK3β signal axis, and in turn, the downregulation of KLF5 further reduced the expression of AXL via binding to its promotor (−171 to −162 bp). In addition, p-AXL/AXL levels were positively correlated with KLF5 expression in human TNBC specimens. These findings indicated that DCC-2036 is able to suppress the CSCs in TNBC by targeting the AXL-KLF5 positive feedback loop. Moreover, our findings indicated that DCC-2036 increased the sensitivity of TNBC chemotherapy. Therefore, this study proposes a potential drug candidate and several targets for the treatment of refractory TNBC.

The synthesis of coordination polymers (e.g. Prussian blue) is as old as modern chemistry itself, but never stops surprising people. We here report superconductivity observed of a designer coordination polymer system sporting the chemically soft mercaptan and hard carboxyl groups. The mercapto-carboxyl (dubbed Mercarb, or QiuSuo in Mandarin Pinyin) synergy hints at Daoism and here carries over from the molecular to the solid state: the soft sulfur donors bond with Co2+/Ni2+ (or other transition metal ions) to afford 2D sheets for charge transport, while the interlayer metal-carboxylate domain is more ionic and mediates the transition into the superconductive state.

Phase transformation is noneffective for strengthening the invar alloys with single-austenite phase. How to greatly increase the mechanical strength of the alloys without worsening their low thermal-expansion property is crucial for their industrial applications. In this study, warm rolling was tried to increase crystal defects in the invar alloy, in which more low-energy twin boundaries were expected to form by means of interaction between these crystal defects during solution treatment. The twin boundaries interfere the network connected by random grain boundaries to prevent unhomogeneous precipitation of the secondary phase along them during aging and the resultant poor strengthening effect. Our results revealed that warm rolling in the temperature range of 650 °C–800 °C indeed increased mechanical strength of the invar alloy, together with a decrease in its coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). The mechanical strength and the CTE parabolically varied with the increased warm-rolling temperature. The sample, which was warm-rolled at 750 °C, followed by solutionizing at 1250 °C for 3 h and then aging at 650 °C for 7 h, presented the maximum ultimate strength of 921 MPa, the best elongation of 11.2%, and almost the minimum CTE of 3.2 × 10-6/°C in the range of −50 to 100 °C. These values increased by about 21% and 24%, and decreased by about 20%, respectively, compared to those without warm rolling.

This study investigated water samples collected from the surface water and groundwater in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China in different stages of the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (hereinafter referred to as COVID-19) in the city, aiming to determine the distribution characteristics of antiviral drugs in the city’s waters. The results are as follows. The main hydrochemical type of surface water and groundwater in Wuhan was Ca-HCO3. The major chemical components in the groundwater had higher concentrations and spatial variability than those in the surface water. Two antiviral drugs and two glucocorticoids were detected in the surface water, groundwater, and sewage during the COVID-19 outbreak. Among them, chloroquine phosphate and cortisone had higher detection rates of 32.26% and 25.80%, respectively in all samples. The concentrations of residual drugs in East Lake were higher than those in other waters. The main drug detected in the waters in the later stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan was chloroquine phosphate, whose detection rates in the surface water and the groundwater were 53.85% and 28.57%, respectively. Moreover, the detection rate and concentration of chloroquine phosphate were higher in East Lake than in Huangjia Lake. The groundwater containing chloroquine phosphate was mainly distributed along the river areas where the groundwater was highly vulnerable. The residual drugs in the surface water and the groundwater had lower concentrations in the late stage of the COVID-19 outbreak than in the middle of the outbreak, and they have not yet caused any negative impacts on the ecological environment.©2022 China Geology Editorial Office.

Currently, the integration of distributed power supply into the power grid is steadily increasing. The grid’s carrying capacity serves as a crucial metric for evaluating the grid’s resilience following the widespread integration of distributed power supply. During typhoon conditions, if the power grid experiences line breakage and load loss faults, the grid’s framework is altered, rendering the conventional carrying capacity assessment method obsolete. This study introduces a method for assessing the risk of line carrying capacity and an index for line overload probability under typhoon conditions, integrating line and transformer capacity constraints to evaluate the grid’s carrying capacity risk. The probability of line failure is modeled during typhoon events, and a modified IEEE39 node example is employed to simulate a high-penetration grid in a typhoon scenario. Addressing the issue of inadequate intraday dispatch capability under insufficient carrying capacity, we propose a multi-timescale dispatch method and derive the optimal grid dispatch strategy using the viscous bacteria algorithm. The efficacy of the multi-timescale dispatch strategy in addressing the grid’s carrying capacity risk is validated through simulation, while the economic cost of mitigating the grid’s carrying capacity risk and the line overload probability is assessed across varying parameter values.

Kitasamycin (KM), a broad—spectrum macrolide antibiotic, has implications for growth performance and residue in animals and humans. This study aimed to explore the effects of different KM doses on intramuscular fat accumulation, cecal microflora, and short—chain fatty acids (SCFAs) using a growing–finishing pig model. Forty—two pigs were divided into three groups: control, subtherapeutic KM (50 mg/kg, KM50), and therapeutic KM (200 mg/kg, KM200) diets over 8 weeks. KM50 led to increased back fat thickness, fat content in the longissimus dorsi muscle (LM), and elevated plasma total cholesterol (TC) levels (p < 0.05), supported by upregulated lipid synthesis gene expression (Acc1, Fas, Scd1) (p < 0.05) in the LM. KM50 altered cecal microflora, reducing Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. abundance, while increasing SCFA concentrations (acetic acid, propionic acid, total SCFAs) (p < 0.05). KM200 had minimal effects on intestinal weight and density, with increased apparent digestibility of nutrients. These findings highlight the dose-dependent impact of KM on intramuscular fat deposition. Subtherapeutic KM induced ectopic fat deposition, emphasizing potential risks in disease treatment for humans and animals.

Two novel species of Lyophyllum are proposed based on morphological and phylogenetic investigations. Lyophyllum bulborhizum sp. nov. has abundant black scales on the surface, is a dry, dark grey at the center, grey at the margin, has a clear bulbous stipe base, and has a narrowly cylindrical or narrowly clavate pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia. Lyophyllum nigrum sp. nov. is tufted and has a dark grey pileus and subclavate, a greyish green-to-olive stipe, and a narrowly cylindrical or narrowly clavate pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia. In addition, L. rhombisporum is described with morphology and phylogeny and compared with the type species. Molecular analyses employing internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences strongly support the two new species to be unique in the genus Lyophyllum. Full descriptions, colour photos, illustrations, and phylogenetic analyses results of the two new taxa and the known taxon are presented in this study.

The relationship between land use changes and regional carbon storage is closely linked. Identifying evolving trends concerning and influencing factors on carbon storage under future scenarios is key in order to achieve the “dual carbon” goals. Using Chongqing as a case study, this study integrated the advantages of the PLUS model, InVEST model, and a geographic detector model. It conducted simulations of land use type data under scenarios of natural development (ND) and ecological protection (EP), and identified evolving trends and influencing factors regarding carbon storage. The results were as follows: (1) the PLUS model demonstrated excellent simulation performance, with a Kappa coefficient above 0.85 and an overall accuracy above 0.90. During the study period, significant changes occurred for cultivated land, forested land, water bodies, and construction, which were closely related to carbon storage; (2) carbon storage in Chongqing showed a decreasing trend, with a decrease of 10.07 × 106 t C from 2000 to 2020. Under the ND scenario, carbon storage was projected to decrease by 10.54 × 106 t C in 2030 compared to 2020, and it was expected to stabilize from 2030 to 2050. At the county level, Youyang, Fengjie, and Wuxi had the highest carbon storage, while Nanchuan, Jiangbei, and Dadukou had the lowest; (3) the spatial distribution of carbon storage presented an “eastern hotspot western cold spot aggregation” pattern. The proportions of regions with a decreased, unchanged, and increased aggregation of carbon storage in Chongqing during 2000–2010 and 2010–2020 were 2.99%, 95.95%, 1.06%; and 4.39%, 92.40%, 3.21%, respectively. The trend indicated a decrease in the aggregation of carbon storage, and future carbon storage was expected to stabilize; (4) elevation, terrain fluctuation, NDVI, annual average temperature, annual average precipitation, and nighttime light index had influence values of 0.88, 0.81, 0.61, 0.86, 0.77, and 0.81 on carbon storage, respectively, with different combinations of influencing factors having a greater impact. In the future, ecological priority and green development concepts should be followed, and comprehensive improvement of regional development conditions should be pursued to enhance carbon storage, thereby promoting the achievement of the “dual carbon” goals. This study provided an analytical path and data support for formulating optimized carbon storage policies at the regional level.

Post-weaning diarrhea significantly contributes to the high mortality in pig production, but the metabolic changes in weaned piglets with diarrhea remain unclear. This study aimed to identify the differential metabolites in the urine of diarrheal weaned piglets and those of healthy weaned piglets to reveal the metabolic changes associated with diarrhea in weaned piglets. Nine 25-day-old piglets with diarrhea scores above 16 and an average body weight of 5.41 ± 0.18 kg were selected for the diarrhea group. Corresponding to the body weight and sex of the diarrhea group, nine 25-month-old healthy piglets with similar sex and body weights of 5.49 ± 0.21 kg were selected as the control group. Results showed that the serum C-reactive protein and cortisol of piglets in the diarrhea group were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). The mRNA expression of TNF-α, IFN-γ in the jejunum and colon, and IL-1β in the jejunum were increased in diarrhea piglets (p < 0.05), accompanied by a reduction in the mRNA expression of ZO-1, ZO-2, and CLDN1 in the jejunum and colon (p < 0.05); mRNA expression of OCLN in the colon also occurred (p < 0.05). Metabolomic analysis of urine revealed increased levels of inosine, hypoxanthine, guanosine, deoxyinosin, glucosamine, glucosamine-1-p, N-Acetylmannosamine, chitobiose, and uric acid, identified as differential metabolites in diarrhea piglets compared to the controls. In summary, elevated weaning stress and inflammatory disease were associated with the abnormalities of purine metabolism and the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway of weaned piglets. This study additionally indicated the presence of energy metabolism-related diseases in diarrheal weaned piglets.

Neuromorphic computing systems, which mimic the operation of neurons and synapses in the human brain, are seen as an appealing next-generation computing method due to their strong and efficient computing abilities. Two-dimensional (2D) materials with dangling bond-free surfaces and atomic-level thicknesses have emerged as promising candidates for neuromorphic computing hardware. As a result, 2D neuromorphic devices may provide an ideal platform for developing multifunctional neuromorphic applications. Here, we review the recent neuromorphic devices based on 2D material and their multifunctional applications. The synthesis and next micro–nano fabrication methods of 2D materials and their heterostructures are first introduced. The recent advances of neuromorphic 2D devices are discussed in detail using different operating principles. More importantly, we present a review of emerging multifunctional neuromorphic applications, including neuromorphic visual, auditory, tactile, and nociceptive systems based on 2D devices. In the end, we discuss the problems and methods for 2D neuromorphic device developments in the future. This paper will give insights into designing 2D neuromorphic devices and applying them to the future neuromorphic systems.

Nano-photonic devices based on 2D materials offer a potential solution for the miniaturization of optical computing technologies. Here, the authors demonstrate the implementation of high-speed logic operations via the all-optical generation and electrical control of multiple plasmon polaritons in a hybrid graphene device.

Abstract Background Tetrasomy 18p syndrome is a rare chromosomal disorder that is caused by the presence of isochromosome 18p. Most tetrasomy 18p cases are de novo cases and maternal origin of trisomy 18p is a rare condition. At present, only four cases of maternal origin have been reported in worldwide.This is the fifth case of tetrasomy 18p originating from maternal trisomy 18p. The mother of the fetus studied had no apparent disease phenotype. Case presentation The current case report is to describe a fetus with confirmed 18p tetrasomy as detected by karyotyping and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism array (SNP array) analysis. However, the fetus showed normal phenotypic features that were observed using ultrasound scans. The mother and maternal grandfather were phenotypically normal and healthy; however, they were diagnosed with trisomy 18p, which was confirmed by conventional karyotyping and SNP array. Conclusions We report a case of 18p tetrasomy in a fetus whose mother and grandfather had 18p trisomy. The mother and grandfather were phenotypically normal. Our case report findings provide an important reference for the genetic counseling of trisomy 18p in the future.

The moiré intralayer excitons in the twisted WSe2/WSe2 homobilayers superlattices were successfully observed and confirmed the existence of moiré intralayer excitons.

Abstract Background Preliminary clinical observations show that contemporaneous hereditary breast cancer (CHBC) patients suffered breast cancer at an early age, which requires further analysis. Methods 38 familial hereditary breast cancer patients (18 CHBC patients and 20 non-CHBC patients) were screened out and 152 non-hereditary breast cancer patients were used as control subjects. Clinical pathologic subtypes, age, tumor location, histological grade, lymph node metastasis, and molecular phenotype expression (ER, PR, HER-2, Ki-67, CK5/6, E-cad, P63, and P120) were compared across all subgroups. Results The incidence of CHBC was 9.47% (18/190) in breast cancer patients. The average ages of onset of CHBC patients, non-CHBC patients, and non-hereditary breast cancer patients were 49.06 ± 6.42, 60.75 ± 9.95 and 61.69 ± 14.34 respectively; whereas there were no significant differences with respect to pathological type or tumor location. There were significant differences in some histological grading (grade II/III), lymph node metastasis and PR expression between hereditary and non-hereditary breast cancers (P

Abstract Background Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis soionifera) is a perennial grass of Gramineae, belonging to cold season turfgrass, but has poor disease resistance. Up to now, little is known about the induced systemic resistance (ISR) mechanism, especially the relevant functional proteins, which is important to disease resistance of turfgrass. Achieving more information of proteins of infected creeping bentgrass is helpful to understand the ISR mechanism. Results With BDO treatment, creeping bentgrass seedlings were grown, and the ISR response was induced by infecting Rhizoctonia solani. High-quality protein sequences of creeping bentgrass seedlings were obtained. Some of protein sequences were functionally annotated according to the database alignment while a large part of the obtained protein sequences was left non-annotated. To treat the non-annotated sequences, a prediction model based on convolutional neural network was established with the dataset from Uniport database in three domains to acquire good performance, especially the higher false positive control rate. With established model, the non-annotated protein sequences of creeping bentgrass were analyzed to annotate proteins relevant to disease-resistance response and signal transduction. Conclusions The prediction model based on convolutional neural network was successfully applied to select good candidates of the proteins with functions relevant to the ISR mechanism from the protein sequences which cannot be annotated by database alignment. The waste of sequence data can be avoided, and research time and labor will be saved in further research of protein of creeping bentgrass by molecular biology technology. It also provides reference for other sequence analysis of turfgrass disease-resistance research.

Abstract Versatile liquid manipulating surfaces combining patternable and controllable wettability have recently motivated considerable attention owing to their significant advantages in droplet-solid impacting behaviors, microdroplet self-removal, and liquid–liquid interface reaction applications. However, developing a facile and efficient method to fabricate these versatile surfaces remains an enormous challenge. In this paper, a strategy for the fabrication of liquid manipulating surfaces with patternable and controllable wettability on Polyimide (PI) film based on femtosecond laser thermal accumulation engineering is proposed. Because of its controllable micro-/nanostructures and chemical composition through adjusting the local thermal accumulation, the wettability of PI film can be tuned from superhydrophilicity (~ 3.6°) to superhydrophobicity (~ 151.6°). Furthermore, three diverse surfaces with patternable and heterogeneous wettability were constructed and various applications were successfully realized, including water transport, droplet arrays, and liquid wells. This work may provide a facile strategy for achieving patternable and controllable wettability efficiently and developing multifunctional liquid steering surfaces.

Abstract Background Antimicrobial peptides including various defensins have been attracting considerable research interest worldwide, as they have potential to substitute for antibiotics. Moreover, AMPs also have immunomodulatory activity. In this study, we explored the role and its potential mechanisms of β-defensin 118 (DEFB118) in alleviating inflammation and injury of IPEC-J2 cells (porcine jejunum epithelial cell line) upon the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) challenge. Results The porcine jejunum epithelial cell line (IPEC-J2) pretreated with or without DEFB118 (25 μg/mL) were challenged by ETEC (1×106 CFU) or culture medium. We showed that DEFB118 pretreatment significantly increased the cell viability (P

Abstract In this work, we study the reaction of a nucleon and a doubly charmed state $$T^+_{cc}$$ T cc + . Under the assumption of the $$T^+_{cc}$$ T cc + as a molecular state of $$D^{*}D$$ D ∗ D , the reaction of the nucleon and $$T_{cc}$$ T cc is mediated by exchanges of $$\pi $$ π , $$\eta $$ η , $$\rho $$ ρ , and $$\omega $$ ω meson, which results in split of $$T_{cc}$$ T cc state with two D mesons in final state. With the help of the effective Lagrangians, the cross section of $$p+T^+_{cc}\rightarrow p+D^++D^0$$ p + T cc + → p + D + + D 0 process is calculated, and a very large cross section can be obtained with very small incoming momentum of proton. It decrease rapidly with the increase of the momentum to about 10 mb at momenta of order of GeV. Such large cross section suggests that induced by a proton the $$T_{cc}^+$$ T cc + state is very easy to decay and transit to two D mesons. In the rest frame of the $$T_{cc}^+$$ T cc + state, an obvious accumulation of final D meson at small momentum region can be observed in predicted Dalitz plot, which is due to the molecular state interpretation of $$T^+_{cc}$$ T cc + state. This novel quasi-fission phenomenon of double charm molecular $$T_{cc}^+$$ T cc + state induced by a proton can be accessible at High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider.

Abstract The China Energy Administration has issued policies to encourage energy storage to participate in the electric auxiliary service market, which will provide ideas for electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) to collectively participate in peak‐regulation and frequency modulation (FM). Taking into account the benefits of EVs participating in peak‐regulation and FM, this paper studies expansion planning for EVCSs. First, the orderly scheduling strategy of EVs under vehicle‐to‐grid (V2G) technology is established in this paper. And a peak regulation method is proposed to maximize the economic benefits of charging and discharging during peak and valley periods. Second, based on the temporal and spatial prediction model of EV charging demand, the expansion planning model of EVCSs is constructed considering the benefits of peak‐regulation and FM. Aiming at minimizing the comprehensive annual social cost of charging stations, the expansion site selection and capacity scheme of EVCSs are obtained. Finally, taking the 24 nodes in Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai City as an example, the location and capacity of the final annual expansion plan are obtained. And the influence of main control parameters on the results of the whole model and method is analysed in detail, the feasibility and effectiveness of the whole model and method are verified.

Abstract The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global pandemic of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 are among the most promising strategies to prevent and treat COVID-19. However, SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) profoundly reduced the efficacies of most of mAbs and vaccines approved for clinical use. Herein, we demonstrated mAb 35B5 efficiently neutralizes both wild-type (WT) SARS-CoV-2 and VOCs, including B.1.617.2 (delta) variant, in vitro and in vivo. Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) revealed that 35B5 neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 by targeting a unique epitope that avoids the prevailing mutation sites on RBD identified in circulating VOCs, providing the molecular basis for its pan-neutralizing efficacy. The 35B5-binding epitope could also be exploited for the rational design of a universal SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Increasing attention has been paid to the regulation of electromagnetic parameters by reasonable micromorphological design and proper composition to realize high-performance electromagnetic wave absorbers. Herein, a unique hierarchical SiC nanowire-reinforced SiC aerogel decorated with Ni-capped carbon nanotubes (SiCnw@SiC-Ni@CNT) was constructed. The effective synergism between the combination of multiphase magnetic/dielectric materials and the introduction of specific 3D hierarchical microstructures is beneficial for the apparent improvement of multiple dielectric/magnetic losses, electromagnetic scattering effects, and impedance matching capabilities, exhibiting remarkable tunable microwave absorption performance. Accordingly, a strong microwave absorption intensity (RLmin) at 10.24 GHz of −47.75 dB with a loading of 20 wt% and an ultrawide effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL

BackgroundAbnormally changed steroid hormones during pregnancy are closely related to the pathological process of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Our aim was to systematically profile the metabolic alteration of circulating steroid hormones in GDM women and screen for risk factors.MethodsThis study was a case-control study with data measured from 40 GDM women and 70 healthy pregnant women during their 24-28 gestational weeks. 36 kinds of steroid hormones, including 3 kinds of corticosteroids, 2 kinds of progestins, 5 kinds of androgens and 26 kinds of downstream estrogens in serum were systematically measured using a combined sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method. The flux of different metabolic pathways of steroid hormones was analyzed. Logistic regression and ROC curve model analyses were performed to identify potential steroid markers closely associated with GDM development.ResultsSerum corticosteroids, progestins and almost all the estrogen metabolites via 16-pathway from parent estrogens were higher in GDM women compared with healthy controls. Most of the estrogen metabolites via 4-pathway and more than half of the metabolites via 2-pathway were not significantly different. 16α-hydroxyestrone (16OHE1), estrone-glucuronide/sulfate (E1-G/S) and the ratio of total 2-pathway estrogens to total estrogens were screened as three indicators closely related to the risk of GDM development. The adjusted odds ratios of GDM for the highest quartile compared with the lowest were 72.22 (95% CI 11.27-462.71, Ptrend

ABSTRACT Mycoplasma genitalium is a prokaryotic microorganism that causes urogenital tract infections. M. genitalium protein of adhesion (MgPa) was essential for M. genitalium attachment and subsequent invasion into host cells. Our prior research confirmed that Cyclophilin A (CypA) was the binding receptor for MgPa and MgPa-CypA interaction can lead to the production of inflammatory cytokines. In this study, we revealed that the recombinant MgPa (rMgPa) could inhibit the CaN-NFAT signaling pathway to reduce the level of IFN-γ, IL-2, CD25, and CD69 in Jurkat cells by binding to the CypA receptor. Moreover, rMgPa inhibited the expressions of IFN-γ, IL-2, CD25, and CD69 in primary mouse T cells. Likewise, the expressions of these T cells activation-related molecules in CypA-siRNA-transfected cells and CypA−/− mouse primary T cell was strengthened by rMgPa. These findings showed that rMgPa suppressed T cell activation by downregulating the CypA-CaN-NFAT pathway, and as a result, acted as an immunosuppressive agent. IMPORTANCE Mycoplasma genitalium is a sexually transmitted bacterium that can co-infect with other infections and causes nongonococcal urethritis in males, cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, premature birth, and ectopic pregnancy in women. The adhesion protein of M. genitalium (MgPa) is the primary virulence factor in the complicated pathogenicity of M. genitalium. This research proved that MgPa could interact with host cell Cyclophilin A (CypA) and prevent T cell activation by inhibiting Calcineurin (CaN) phosphorylation and NFAT nuclear translocation, which clarified the immunosuppression mechanism of M. genitalium to host T cells. Therefore, this study can provide a new idea that CypA can be used for a therapeutic or prophylactic target for M. genitalium infection.

Abstract Inspired by the significant advantages of the bottom‐up synthesis whose structures and functionalities can be customized by the selection of molecular components, a 2D metal‐organic framework (MOF) nanosheet Co‐BTB‐LB has been synthesized by a liquid–liquid interface‐assisted method. The as‐prepared Co‐BTB‐LB is identified by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the sheet‐like structure is verified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Co‐BTB‐LB electrode exhibits an excellent capacity of 4969.3 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and good cycling stability with 75% capacity retention after 1000 cycles. The asymmetric supercapacitor device with Co‐BTB‐LB as the positive electrode shows a maximum energy density of 150.2 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 1619.2 W kg−1 and good cycling stability with a capacitance retention of 97.1% after 10000 cycles. This represents a state‐of‐the‐art performance reported for asymmetric supercapacitor device using electroactive bottom‐up metal‐complex nanosheet, which will clearly lead to a significant expansion of the applicability of this type of 2D nanomaterials.

Abstract The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) for high‐value‐added products is a promising strategy to tackle excessive CO2 emissions. However, the activity of and selectivity for catalysts for CO2RR still need to be improved because of the competing reaction (hydrogen evolution reaction). In this study, for the first time, we have demonstrated dual atomic catalytic sites for CO2RR from a core–shell hybrid of the covalent–organic framework and the metal–organic framework. Due to abundant dual atomic sites (with CoN4O and ZnN4 of 2.47 and 11.05 wt.%, respectively) on hollow carbon, the catalyst promoted catalysis of CO2RR, with the highest Faradic efficiency for CO of 92.6% at –0.8 V and a turnover frequency value of 1370.24 h–1 at –1.0 V. More importantly, the activity and selectivity of the catalyst were well retained for 30 h. The theoretical calculation further revealed that CoN4O was the main site for CO2RR, and the activity of and selectivity for Zn sites were also improved because of the synergetic roles.

Documenting the origins of megadiverse (sub)tropical aquatic ecosystems is an important goal for studies of evolution and ecology. Nonetheless, the geological and ecological establishment of the modern Yangtze River remains poorly understood. Here, we reconstruct the geographic and ecological history of an endemic clade of East Asian fishes based on the mitochondrial phylogenomics analysis of Cyprinidae using 15 fossil calibrations. We estimate an ancestral condition of benthic spawning with demersal or adhesive eggs in southern East Asia before ∼23 Ma and a derived condition of riverine spawning with semibuoyant eggs in the Yangtze by ∼18 Ma. These results imply the formation of Yangtze riverine ecosystems around the Oligocene-Miocene boundary in response to plateau uplift and monsoon strengthening. Some of these cyprinids reverted to benthic spawning with adhesive eggs by ∼15 Ma, a time of rising to peak net diversification rates, indicating the formation of potamo-lacustrine ecosystems by the mid-Miocene during a strong East Asian summer monsoon. Our study provides increased spatiotemporal resolution for the co-evolutionary histories of the Yangtze River and its biodiversity and highlights biological evidence concerning the geomorphological dynamics of the Yangtze River.

Suxiao Jiuxin Pill (SJP) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine drug used to manage heart diseases. This study aimed at determining the pharmacological effects of SJP in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and the molecular pathways its active compounds target to induce coronary artery vasorelaxation. Using the AMI rat model, SJP improved cardiac function and elevated ST segment. LC-MS and GC-MS detected twenty-eight non-volatile compounds and eleven volatile compounds in sera from SJP-treated rats. Network pharmacology analysis revealed eNOS and PTGS2 as the key drug targets. Indeed, SJP induced coronary artery relaxation via activation of the eNOS-NO pathway. Several of SJP’s main compounds, like senkyunolide A, scopoletin, and borneol, caused concentration-dependent coronary artery relaxation. Senkyunolide A and scopoletin increased eNOS and Akt phosphorylation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Molecular docking and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) revealed an interaction between senkynolide A/scopoletin and Akt. Vasodilation caused by senkyunolide A and scopoletin was inhibited by uprosertib (Akt inhibitor) and eNOS/sGC/PKG axis inhibitors. This suggests that senkyunolide A and scopoletin relax coronary arteries through the Akt-eNOS-NO pathway. In addition, borneol induced endothelium-independent vasorelaxation of the coronary artery. The Kv channel inhibitor 4-AP, KCa2+ inhibitor TEA, and Kir inhibitor BaCl2 significantly inhibited the vasorelaxant effect of borneol in the coronary artery. In conclusion, the results show that Suxiao Jiuxin Pill protects the heart against acute myocardial infarction.

BackgroundChickenpox is an old but easily neglected infectious disease. Although chickenpox is preventable by vaccines, vaccine breakthroughs often occur, and the chickenpox epidemic is on the rise. Chickenpox is not included in the list of regulated communicable diseases that must be reported and controlled by public and health departments; therefore, it is crucial to rapidly identify and report varicella outbreaks during the early stages. The Baidu index (BDI) can supplement the traditional surveillance system for infectious diseases, such as brucellosis and dengue, in China. The number of reported chickenpox cases and internet search data also showed a similar trend. BDI can be a useful tool to display the outbreak of infectious diseases. ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop an efficient disease surveillance method that uses BDI to assist in traditional surveillance. MethodsChickenpox incidence data (weekly from January 2017 to June 2021) reported by the Yunnan Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention were obtained to evaluate the relationship between the incidence of chickenpox and BDI. We applied a support vector machine regression (SVR) model and a multiple regression prediction model with BDI to predict the incidence of chickenpox. In addition, we used the SVR model to predict the number of chickenpox cases from June 2021 to the first week of April 2022. ResultsThe analysis showed that there was a close correlation between the weekly number of newly diagnosed cases and the BDI. In the search terms we collected, the highest Spearman correlation coefficient was 0.747. Most BDI search terms, such as “chickenpox,” “chickenpox treatment,” “treatment of chickenpox,” “chickenpox symptoms,” and “chickenpox virus,” trend consistently. Some BDI search terms, such as “chickenpox pictures,” “symptoms of chickenpox,” “chickenpox vaccine,” and “is chickenpox vaccine necessary,” appeared earlier than the trend of “chickenpox virus.” The 2 models were compared, the SVR model performed better in all the applied measurements: fitting effect, R2=0.9108, root mean square error (RMSE)=96.2995, and mean absolute error (MAE)=73.3988; and prediction effect, R2=0.548, RMSE=189.1807, and MAE=147.5412. In addition, we applied the SVR model to predict the number of reported cases weekly in Yunnan from June 2021 to April 2022 using the same period of the BDI. The results showed that the fluctuation of the time series from July 2021 to April 2022 was similar to that of the last year and a half with no change in the level of prevention and control. ConclusionsThese findings indicated that the BDI in Yunnan Province can predict the incidence of chickenpox in the same period. Thus, the BDI is a useful tool for monitoring the chickenpox epidemic and for complementing traditional monitoring systems.

Veratrum nigrum L. (VN) is a well-known herbal medicine and rich in chemical components with multiple pharmacological activities including antihypertensive, anticancer, and antifungal effects. In the current experiment, the quality of VN from different habitats was evaluated based on combinative method of fingerprint, multi-component quantification and chemical pattern recognition. Fifteen batches of VN were collected, and intrinsic chemical composition were identified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, which is a method for analyzing the similarity between samples, coupled with fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine. The fingerprint similarity model show that 22 common peaks were selected covering 15 batches of and the similarity > 0.963. The total of 22 joint components were tentatively identified by comparison with standard substances or literature. A ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method for simultaneous determination of 8 compounds was established to evaluate the contents of raw and processed Veratrum nigrum L. Multivariate analysis was then applied to compare different batches of herbs based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry data. All raw and processed samples were classified by partial least squares discriminant analysis based on the 8 analyzed compounds. The findings suggested that veratramine and polydatin with a variable importance for the project (VIP) > 1 were identified as significant constituents, the presence of which can be used to differentiate between raw and processed Veratrum nigrum L. samples. These results indicate that processing methods show important effects on the composition of Veratrum nigrum L..

High-risk companies have to deal with problems related to the environment, health, and safety (EHS) since the products of such companies create serious challenges to environmental safety. The presence of various similar and dissimilar risk factors in these companies complicates the known and unknown causal relationships whose interpretation and understanding are difficult. Therefore, EHS improvement has remained a great challenge to be solved by these companies. The design and implementation of ubiquitous systems are supported by the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as their enabling technologies. IoT has been found capable of solving different problems of high-risk companies in regard to EHS-related challenges. A wide window for preference elicitation has been opened to decision experts (DEs) through the development of the q-rung orthopair fuzzy set (q-ROFS). The extensive research conducted into q-ROFS implies a great urge for a decision approach that can use accessible information appropriately to make decisions of the highest rationality. Using the q-ROFS advantages, the present study develops a novel approach with the “entropy-rank sum-weighting integrated approach (ERSWIA)” and “weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS)” model termed as “q-ROF-ERSWIA-WASPAS”. In this line, the q-ROF-ERSWIA is applied to compute the integrated weights of criteria, and the q-ROF-WASPAS is implemented to find the prioritization of organizations. A case study to assess the challenges of IoT-based applications in EHS industries in the era of Industry 4.0 is taken. Comparison and sensitivity studies are discussed to illustrate the usefulness of the presented approach.

BackgroundProstate-specific antigen (PSA) is a critical part of prostate cancer (PCa) screening, diagnosis, staging, and prognosis. However, elevated PSA levels can also be caused by several external factors. To improve the specificity and sensitivity of PSA in clinical practice, we explored whether markers or parameters may be used as prognostic targets for PCa by long-term follow-up.MethodsA total of 121 PCa patients who underwent laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) were included in our study, all of whom underwent imaging and preoperative pathological diagnosis. Endocrine therapy has long been applied to treat postoperative patients. The prognosis of enrolled patients was followed, and statistics were collected. Spearman's correlation analysis was applied to examine the relationship and clinical parameters. Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to process the clinical variables of PCa patients. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was applied to examine univariate and multivariate variables.ResultsThe Gleason score (GS), PSA, clinical stage, nerve infiltration, organ confinement, Ki67 and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were significantly associated with prognosis (all P

Huanglongbing (HLB) is a global devastating citrus disease that is mainly caused by “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus” (CLas). It is mostly transmitted by the insect Asian citrus psyllid (ACP, Diaphorina citri) in a persistent and proliferative manner. CLas traverses multiple barriers to complete an infection cycle and is likely involved in multiple interactions with D. citri. However, the protein–protein interactions between CLas and D. citri are largely unknown. Here, we report on a vitellogenin-like protein (Vg_VWD) in D. citri that interacts with a CLas flagellum (flaA) protein. We found that Vg_VWD was upregulated in CLas-infected D. citri. Silencing of Vg_VWD in D. citri via RNAi silencing significantly increased the CLas titer, suggesting that Vg_VWD plays an important role in the CLas–D. citri interaction. Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression assays indicated that Vg_VWD inhibits BAX- and INF1-triggered necrosis and suppresses the callose deposition induced by flaA in Nicotiana benthamiana. These findings provide new insights into the molecular interaction between CLas and D. citri.

The proper governance of agriculture water is crucial for meeting global food security and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially when considering small-scale farmers in the Global South. Water management has been examined as a form of the commons for agriculture, but shortcomings in Ostrom’s Design Principles restrict the scope of analysis. There is an urgent need for a novel framework for informing theories and practices found in water commons. This research builds upon Ostrom’s Design Principles to suggest a new lens of environmental justice to explain one successful approach to the governance of water commons. Using an empirically grounded framework, the research examined the governance of irrigation water as a common-pool resource shared by multiple ethnic groups at a World Heritage watershed site in Yunnan Province, China. The research suggested that a local shared notion of multi-dimensional justice, incorporating distributive, procedural, and recognitional justice, is a precondition for the successful management of irrigation water. The policy implication calls for a wider understanding of plurality and multidimensionality of justice and the roles they play in justice practices situated in local value systems in China and beyond.

The advent of topological semi-metals with peculiar band structure and exotic quantum-transport provides novel pathways for upgrading the performance of terahertz (THz) detection. HgTe is among such a candidate with the unique advantages of a negative bandgap, ultra-high mobility, and thermoelectricity, which ignites the possibility of addressing the technical bottlenecks of traditional routes for THz detection. Herein, for the first time, we report large-area (3 in.) growth of high-mobility HgTe thin-film via molecular-beam epitaxial and the implementation of bow-tie antennas based HgTe THz-detector with the abilities of ultrafast response, low noise, and high ambient-stability at room temperature. By exploration of strong light-coupling and superior hot-carrier transport, the bow-tie antenna-based HgTe photodetector can achieve a responsivity of 0.04 A/W and a noise equivalent power of less than 0.6 nW/Hz1/2 at 0.3 THz. Furthermore, the sensitivity can be further improved by nearly an order of magnitude up to 0.36 A/W at 0.3 THz by incorporating a short channel asymmetric cubic resonator. The reported performances allow a realistic exploration of high-mobility bulk states in topological semimetals for large area, fast-imaging applications in the THz band.

Abstract Background The movement of intraventricular silicone oil observed in the supine position is extremely rare. Herein, we describe a patient who presented with dynamically moving silicone oil particles in the ventricle when changing position and provide an updated review of this phenomenon. Case presentation We report a case of a 70-year-old woman who presented with intraventricular hyperdensities that were occasionally found on brain computed tomography (CT). Initial nonenhanced brain CT demonstrated nondependent hyperdensities in the bilateral anterior horns of the lateral ventricles, the third ventricle, and the right suprasellar cistern, mimicking an intraventricular hemorrhage. Further brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the supine position revealed abnormal signals in the bilateral anterior horns of the lateral ventricles, the posterior horn of the right lateral ventricle, the third ventricle, the right suprasellar cistern, and the bilateral eyeballs, with isosignal intensities surrounded by low-signal chemical shift artifacts on T1-weighted imaging and variable signals (hypo- or hyperintensity) on T2-weighted imaging. The lesion in the anterior horn of the right ventricle largely moved to the posterior horn of the ipsilateral ventricle. The final craniocervical CT angiography showed that the lesion in the posterior horn had moved back to the anterior horn of the right lateral ventricle. These features were consistent with intraventricular silicone oil migration. The final spinal MRI did not demonstrate a migration of silicone oil into the spinal subarachnoid space. Discussion and conclusions This case report describes a dynamic process of silicone oil displacement in the supine position and provides a comprehensive imaging presentation. The moving pattern and a characteristic chemical shift artifact on MRI are key to the diagnosis and may help prevent unnecessary examinations or intervention.

This study aimed to investigate effects of dietary lycopene supplementation on meat quality, antioxidant ability and muscle fiber type transformation in finishing pigs. In a 70-day experiment, 18 Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire barrows were randomly allocated to 3 dietary treatments including a basal diet supplemented with 0, 100 and 200 mg/kg lycopene, respectively. Each dietary treatment had 6 replicates with one pig each. Results showed that dietary 200 mg/kg lycopene supplementation increased muscle redness a∗ value, intramuscular fat and crude protein contents, and decreased muscle lightness L∗ and yellowness b∗ values (P

Abstract Background Sialyllactose (SL) is one of the most abundant oligosaccharides present in porcine breast milk. However, little is known about its effect on growth performance and intestinal health in weaned pigs. This study was conducted to explore the protective effect of SL on intestinal epithelium in weaned pigs upon enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) challenge. Methods Thirty-two pigs were randomly divided into four treatments. Pigs fed with a basal diet or basal diet containing SL (5.0 g/kg) were orally infused with ETEC or culture medium. Results SL supplementation elevated the average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency in the ETEC-challenged pigs (P

Abstract Background Myocardial infarction (MI) represents a severe cardiovascular disease with limited therapeutic agents. This study was aimed to elucidate the role of the exosomes derived from human placental mesenchymal stem cells (PMSCs-Exos) in MI. Methods PMSCs were isolated and cultured in vitro, with identification by both transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). To further investigate the effects of PMSC-Exos on MI, C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into Sham group, MI group, and PMSC-Exos group. After 4 weeks of the intervention, cardiac function was assessed by cardiac echocardiography, electrocardiogram and masson trichrome staining; lipid indicators were determined by automatic biochemical instrument; inflammatory cytokines were measured by cytometric bead array (CBA); gut microbiota, microbial metabolites short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as well as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were separately investigated by 16S rRNA high throughput sequencing, gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and tachypleus amebocyte lysate kit; transcriptome analysis was used to test the transcriptional components (mRNA\miRNA\cirRNA\lncRNA) of PMSC-Exos. Results We found that human PMSC-Exos were obtained and identified with high purity and uniformity. MI model was successfully established. Compared to MI group, PMSC-Exos treatment ameliorated myocardial fibrosis and left ventricular (LV) remodeling (P

Abstract Background Coronary heart disease (CHD) has become the leading cause of death and one of the most serious epidemic diseases worldwide. CHD is characterized by urgency, danger and severity, and dynamic treatment strategies for CHD patients are needed. We aimed to build and validate an AI model for dynamic treatment recommendations for CHD patients with the goal of improving patient outcomes and learning best practices from clinicians to help clinical decision support for treating CHD patients. Methods We formed the treatment strategy as a sequential decision problem, and applied an AI supervised reinforcement learning-long short-term memory (SRL-LSTM) framework that combined supervised learning (SL) and reinforcement learning (RL) with an LSTM network to track patients’ states to learn a recommendation model that took a patient’s diagnosis and evolving health status as input and provided a treatment recommendation in the form of whether to take specific drugs. The experiments were conducted by leveraging a real-world intensive care unit (ICU) database with 13,762 admitted patients diagnosed with CHD. We compared the performance of the applied SRL-LSTM model and several state-of-the-art SL and RL models in reducing the estimated in-hospital mortality and the Jaccard similarity with clinicians’ decisions. We used a random forest algorithm to calculate the feature importance of both the clinician policy and the AI policy to illustrate the interpretability of the AI model. Results Our experimental study demonstrated that the AI model could help reduce the estimated in-hospital mortality through its RL function and learn the best practice from clinicians through its SL function. The similarity between the clinician policy and the AI policy regarding the surviving patients was high, while for the expired patients, it was much lower. The dynamic treatment strategies made by the AI model were clinically interpretable and relied on sensible clinical features extracted according to monitoring indexes and risk factors for CHD patients. Conclusions We proposed a pipeline for constructing an AI model to learn dynamic treatment strategies for CHD patients that could improve patient outcomes and mimic the best practices of clinicians. And a lot of further studies and efforts are needed to make it practical.

In this paper, we prove that every local Lie derivation on von Neumann algebras is a Lie derivation; and we show that if M is a type I von Neumann algebra with an atomic lattice of projections, then every local Lie derivation on LS(M) is a Lie derivation.

Objective To explore effective ways to mobilize more blood donors to become voluntary donors of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), so as to increase the HSCs supply in China. Methods Two scales(the information scale and the control scale) with the same items were designed and both included questions concerning the knowledge of HSCs donation and the level of demand. The information scale indicated the correct answer to these questions, while the control scale did not. A total of 3 000 blood donors in Guangzhou were randomly assigned into the intervention group (n=1 500, filled in the information scale) and the control group (n=1 500, filled in the control scale). Results Blood donors who filled in the informational scale expressed a higher intention to become HSCs volunteers (MInformation =4.32, SD=0.87; MControl=4.02, SD=0.93, t(529)=3.87, P

Abstract Background Cancer cells have an imbalance in oxidation-reduction (redox) homeostasis. Understanding the precise mechanisms and the impact of the altered redox microenvironment on the immunologic reaction to tumors is limited. Methods We isolated exosomes from ovarian cancer cells through ultracentrifuge and characterized by Western-blots and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis. 2D, 3D-coculture tumor model, and 3D live cell imaging were used to study the interactions between tumor cells, macrophages and CD3 T cells in vitro. The role of exosomal miR-155-5p in tumor growth was evaluated in xenograft nude mice models and immune-competent mice models. Flow cytometry and flow sorting were used to determine the expression levels of miR-155-5p and PD-L1 in ascites and splenic macrophages, and the percentages of CD3 T cells subpopulations. Results The elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) greatly downregulated exosomal miR-155-5p expression in tumor cells. Neutralization of ROS with N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) increased the levels of miR-155-5p in tumor exosomes that were taken up by macrophages, leading to reduction of macrophage migration and tumor spheroid infiltration. We further found that programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a functional target of miR-155-5p. Co-culture of macrophages pre-treated with NAC-derived tumor exosomes or exosomal miR-155-5p with T-lymphocytes leading to an increased percentage of CD8+ T-lymphocyte and a decreased CD3+ T cell apoptosis through PD-L1 downregulation. Tumor growth in nude mice was delayed by treatment with NAC-derived tumor exosomes. Delivery of tumor exo-miR-155-5p in immune-intact mice suppressed ovarian cancer progression and macrophage infiltration, and activated CD8+ T cell function. It is of note that exo-miR-155-5p inhibited tumor growth more potently than the PD-L1 antibody, suggesting that in addition to PD-L1, other pathways may also be targeted by this approach. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate a novel mechanism, ROS-induced down-regulation of miR-155-5p, by which tumors modulate the microenvironment that favors tumor growth. Understanding of the negative impact of ROS on the tumor immune response will improve current therapeutic strategies. Targeting miR-155-5p can be an alternative approach to prevent formation of an immunosuppressive TME through downregulation of PD-L1 and other immunosuppressive factors. Graphical Abstract

A large pool of ammonia in mature leachate is challenging to treat with a membrane bioreactor system to meet the discharge Standard for Pollution Control on the Landfill Site of Municipal Solid Waste in China (GB 16889-2008) without external carbon source addition. In this study, an engineering leachate treatment project with a scale of 2,000 m3/d was operated to evaluate the ammonia heat extraction system (AHES), which contains preheat, decomposition, steam-stripping, ammonia recovery, and centrifuge dewatering. The operation results showed that NH3-N concentrations of raw leachate and treated effluent from an ammonia heat extraction system (AHES) were 1,305–2,485 mg/L and 207–541 mg/L, respectively. The ratio of COD/NH3-N increased from 1.40–1.84 to 7.69–28.00. Nitrogen was recovered in the form of NH4HCO3 by the ammonia recovery tower with the introduction of CO2, wherein the mature leachate can offer 37% CO2 consumption. The unit consumptions of steam and power were 8.0% and 2.66 kWh/m3 respectively, and the total operation cost of AHES was 2.06 USD per cubic metre of leachate. These results confirm that heat extraction is an efficient and cost-effective technology for the recovery of nitrogen resource from mature leachate. HIGHLIGHTS A leachate treatment engineering project with a scale of 2,000 m3/d was introduced.; AHES was developed for nitrogen resource recovery from mature leachate.; Nitrogen resource was recovered via the formation of NH4HCO3.; The comprehensive operation cost of AHES was 13.11 RMB/m3 of leachate.;

To explore the relationship between genetic polymorphisms of metabolic enzymes such as CYP1A1, CYP2D6, GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 and idiopathic male infertility. By observing the efficacy of antioxidants in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility, the effect of metabolic enzyme gene polymorphisms on antioxidant therapy in patients with idiopathic male infertility was prospectively studied. This case–control study included 310 men with idiopathic infertility and 170 healthy controls. The cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6), glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1), glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1), and glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) genotypes in peripheral blood samples were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The idiopathic male infertility group was treated with vitamin C, vitamin E, and coenzyme Q10 for 3 months and followed up for 6 months. GSTM1(−), GSTT1(−), and GSTM1/T1(−/−) in the idiopathic male infertility groups were more common than those in the control group. The sperm concentration, motility, viability, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and seminal plasma total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) level in patients with GSTM1(−), GSTT1(−), and GSTM1/T1(−/−) were lower than those in wild-type carriers, and the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI), 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG), and malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels were higher. Therefore, oxidative damage may play an important role in the occurrence and development of idiopathic male infertility, but antioxidant therapy is not effective in male infertility patients with GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene deletions.

Contact operations of free-floating satellite robots are difficult and risky and therefore, they must be thoroughly tested and verified by ground-based facilities. A hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation system with industrial robots is commonly used for simulating space robotic operations. However, a great challenge is to handle simulation divergence due to intrinsic time delay between the measured forces and the simulation driven reaction of the robot. This paper presents a novel hybrid force/velocity control method for compensating the time delay of a HIL simulation. A real-time identification method for contact stiffness and damping is proposed based on the adaptive Kalman filter. Then, an energy observer is designed to monitor the energy flow and an energy controller (EC) is established. The EC acts a variable damping and thus the contact damping is amended. Therefore, a compensation strategy based on parameter identification and damping amendment is proposed to eliminate the effects of time delays. Finally, numerical simulations and experimental results show that the simulation divergence due to time delay can be prevented. Moreover, space robotic operations with high fidelity of both contact force and contact velocity are reproduced by the proposed method.

Bioactive peptides are widely used in functional foods due to their remarkable efficacy, selectivity, and low toxicity. However, commercially produced bioactive peptides lack quality stability between batches. Furthermore, the efficacies of bioactive peptides cannot be guaranteed in vivo due to gastrointestinal digestion and rapid plasma, liver, and kidney metabolism. The problem of poor stability has restricted the development of peptides. Bioactive peptide stability assessments use different stability assays, so the results of different studies are not always comparable. This review summarizes the quality stability challenges in the enzymatic hydrolysis production of bioactive peptides and the metabolism stability challenges after oral administration. Future directions on the strategies for improving their stability are provided. It was proposed that we use fingerprinting as a quality control measure using qualitative and quantitative characteristic functional peptide sequences. The chemical modification and encapsulation of bioactive peptides in microcapsules and liposomes are widely used to improve the digestive and metabolic stability of bioactive peptides. Additionally, the establishment of a universal stability test and a unified index would greatly improve uniformity and comparability in research into bioactive peptides. In summary, the reliable evaluation of stability is an essential component of peptide characterization, and these ideas may facilitate further development and utilization of bioactive peptides.

The kinase domain is highly conserved among protein kinases 'in terms of both sequence and structure. Conformational rearrangements of the kinase domain are affected by the phosphorylation of residues and the binding of kinase inhibitors. Interestingly, the conformational rearrangement of the active pocket plays an important role in kinase activity and can be used to design novel kinase inhibitors. We characterized the conformational plasticity of the active pocket when bosutinib was bound to salt-inducible kinase 2 (SIK2) using homology modeling and molecular dynamics simulations. Ten different initial complex models were constructed using the Morph server, ranging from open to closed conformations of SIK2 binding with bosutinib. Our simulation showed that bosutinib binds SIK2 with up or down conformations of the P-loop and with all the conformations of the activation loop. In addition, the αC-helix conformation was induced by the conformation of the activation loop, and the salt bridge formed only with its open conformation. The binding affinity of the models was also determined using the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area method. Bosutinib was found to form a strong binding model with SIK2 and hydrophobic interactions were the dominant factor. This discovery may help guide the design of novel SIK2 inhibitors.