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Oxysophocarpine (OSC), a quinolizidine alkaloid, shows neuroprotective potential, though its mechanisms are unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of OSC through the nuclear factor erythroid 2−related factor 2 (Nrf2)/ heme oxygenase−1 (HO–1) signaling pathway using the HT–22 cell line. Assessments of cell viability were conducted utilizing the 3−(4,5−dimethylthiazol−2−yl)−2,5−diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Assessments of oxidative stress (OS) were conducted through the quantification of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The integrity of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was scrutinized using fluorescent probe technology. Apoptosis levels were quantified using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. The trafficking of Nrf2 within the cell nucleus was examined through immunofluorescence analysis. Furthermore, Western blotting (WB) was applied to evaluate the expression levels of proteins implicated in apoptosis and the Nrf2/HO–1 pathway. To further probe the influence of OSC on the overexpression of antioxidant enzymes, cells were subjected to transfection with HO–1 siRNA. The results showed that OSC inhibited glutamate-induced OS, as evidenced by reduced cell viability and ROS levels. Furthermore, the apoptotic condition induced by glutamate in HT–22 cells was significantly reduced following OSC treatment. More interestingly, the Nrf2/HO–1 signaling pathway was upregulated following OSC treatment. These results suggest that OSC can exert neuroprotective effects by regulating the Nrf2/HO–1 pathway to inhibit neuronal cell apoptosis, potentially aiding in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Abstract Fritillaria cirrhosa, an endangered medicinal plant in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is facing resource scarcity. Artificial cultivation has been employed to address this issue, but problems related to continuous cultivation hinder successful transplantation. Imbalanced microbial communities are considered a potential cause, yet the overall changes in the microbial community under continuous cropping systems remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of varying durations of continuous cropping on the bacterial and fungal communities, as well as enzymatic activities, in the rhizospheric soil of F. cirrhosa. Our findings revealed that continuous cropping of F. cirrhosa resulted in soil acidification, nutrient imbalances, and increased enzyme activity. Specifically, after 10 years of continuous cropping, there was a notable shift in the abundance and diversity (e.g., Chao1 index) of soil bacteria and fungi. Moreover, microbial composition analyses revealed a significant accumulation of harmful microorganisms associated with soil-borne diseases (e.g., Luteimonas, Parastagonospora, Pseudogymnoascus) in successively cropped soils, in contrast to the significant reduction of beneficial microorganisms (e.g., Sphingomonas, Lysobacter, Cladosporium) that promote plant growth and development and protect against diseases such as Fusarium sp.These changes led to decreased connectivity and stability within the soil microbial community. Structural equation modeling and redundancy analysis revealed that alkaline hydrolytic nitrogen and available phosphorus directly influenced soil pH, which was identified as the primary driver of soil microbial community changes and subsequently contributed to soil health deterioration. Overall, our results highlight that soil acidification and imbalanced rhizosphere microbial communities are the primary challenges associated with continuous cropping of F. cirrhosa. These findings establish a theoretical foundation for standardized cultivation practices of F. cirrhosa and the bioremediation of continuously cultivated soils.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems worldwide faced severe strain. This study, utilizing wastewater virus surveillance, identified that periodic spontaneous avoidance behaviors significantly impacted infectious disease transmission during rapid and intense outbreaks. To incorporate these behaviors into disease transmission analysis, we introduced the Su-SEIQR model and validated it using COVID-19 wastewater data from Beijing and Hong Kong. The results demonstrated that the Su-SEIQR model accurately reflected trends in susceptible populations and confirmed cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the role of spontaneous collective avoidance behaviors in generating periodic fluctuations. These fluctuations helped reduce infection peaks, thereby alleviating pressure on healthcare systems. However, the effect of these spontaneous behaviors on mitigating healthcare overload was limited. Consequently, we incorporated healthcare capacity constraints into the model, adjusting parameters to further guide population behaviors during the pandemic, aiming to keep the outbreak within manageable limits and reduce strain on healthcare resources. This study provides robust support for the development of environmental and public health policies during pandemics by constructing an innovative transmission model, which effectively prevents healthcare overload. Additionally, this approach can be applied to managing future outbreaks of unknown viruses or ‘Disease X’.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor in adults with dismal prognosis. Vascular abnormality is a hallmark of GBM, and aggravates diseases progression by increasing hypoxia, inducing life-threaten edema and hindering drug delivery. Nonetheless, the intricate mechanism underlying vascular abnormality remains inadequately understood. Here, we revealed a key role of SOX4 on vascular abnormality in GBM. SOX4 expression was increased in endothelial cells (ECs) from human brain tumors compared with ECs from paired normal brain tissue. Knockdown of SOX4 in mouse brain ECs restrained cell migration and proliferation. Furthermore, in vitro suppression of SOX4 in brain ECs and in vivo conditional knockout of SOX4 in tumor ECs led to the downregulation of genes linked with vascular abnormality. Notably, specific depletion of SOX4 in ECs enhanced drug delivery and sensitive tumor to chemotherapeutic drugs in GBM. Taken together, these results demonstrated that SOX4 is a novel regulator for tumor angiogenesis and vascular abnormality in GBM. Our findings identify SOX4 as a potential vascular therapeutic target to improve drug delivery for GBM treatment.

In the present work, the type, morphology and size of secondary phase particles in a Mg–4Al–2Sn-0.5Ca (ATX420) alloy are tailored through sub-rapid solidification (SRS) and aging treatment before friction stir processing (FSP) to systematically investigate their impact on microstructures and mechanical properties of the FSP ATX420 Mg alloy. The smaller eutectic CaMgSn phase with micro-defects in the as-cast SRS alloy is more likely to be broken during FSP, compared to the as-cast conventional solidification (CS) alloy. Additionally, nano-sized CaMgSn and Mg17Al12 particles precipitate in as-aged SRS alloy due to a high supersaturation solubility of solutes in the as-cast SRS alloy. These densely-distributed nano-sized precipitates in the as-aged SRS alloy increase the processing temperature by 60 °C during FSP, which results in less nano-sized precipitates in the stirring zone and grain growth of the α-Mg matrix. This leads to a decrease in hardness in the FSP-aged-SRS alloy (∼10 HV). Besides, the grain structure evolutions in the stirring zone and transition zone are systematically investigated for understanding the microstructure evolution during FSP in Mg alloys with eutectic phase.

The influence of B and Sb on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of T6-treated Al–Si–Mg alloys has been specifically studied. It is found that the addition of 0.03 wt% B to Al–Si–Mg alloys results in the lowest corrosion rate (0.02451 mm/y) when immersed in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution for 3 days. This improvement can be attributed to the transformation of coarse dendritic α-Al grains into refined equiaxed grains, which is beneficial for the formation of uniform and compact passive film. In contrast, the Al–Si–Mg alloy with addition of 0.2 wt% Sb shows the highest corrosion rate (0.05795 mm/y), which can be attributed to two reasons. First, the addition of Sb contributes to the transformation of rod-like eutectic Si particles into a spherical morphology, increasing the number of micro-galvanic corrosion sites and thus accelerating the corrosion process. Second, the generated Mg3Sb2 phase, being more noble than the eutectic Si phase, strengthens the micro-galvanic corrosion.

One of the crucial issues confronting China is high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Despite the numerous measures outlined to promote the country’s carbon neutrality target, CO2 emissions in the nation continue to increase. This means that more policy options are needed to help improve environmental sustainability (ES) in the nation. Hence, examining the relationship between financial development (FD), foreign direct investment, industrialization, and environmental sustainability in China to provide proper recommendations to drive the carbon neutrality agenda of the nation is deemed fitting. In attaining this goal, time-series data from the period 1990 to 2018 is employed. According to the results, foreign direct investment deteriorates environmental sustainability by promoting more CO2 emissions. This validates the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH). In addition, industrialization and financial development are not friendly to the nation’s environmental quality. Furthermore, economic growth and urbanization escalate environmental pollution in the nation. In addition, the interactions between financial development and foreign direct investment and between financial development and industrialization deteriorate the environment in China. Moreover, foreign direct investment and financial development have an inverted U-shaped association with environmental degradation, but industrialization and environmental pollution are not nonlinearly related. The study advocated for the implementation of measures that could help advance the carbon-neutrality targets of the nation.

The mechanism of generation of shock waves by the collapse of a cavitation bubble near a single particle or dual particles is numerically investigated using OpenFOAM. For the single-particle case, shock waves during bubble inception and jet impacting on the particle surface are revealed in detail. The pressure induced on the particle by the inception shock wave of the bubble decreases with increasing bubble-particle distance, and the pressure is proportional to 1/r1.26 (r being the distance from the center of the shock wave). For the dual particles, the evolution of the neck structure is closely related to the generation mechanism of the shock wave. At extremely close particle–bubble distances, two shock waves propagating in opposite directions are emitted outside and inside the bubble after two necks collide. At long particle–bubble distances, a shock wave is emitted after the neck contracts, and simultaneously the bubble splits into two daughter bubbles. The energy of the shock wave generated by the neck constriction (i.e., the pressure at its generation location) first increases and then decreases with increasing bubble-particle distance. For unequal-sized double particles, the size of the daughter bubble depends on the bubble-particle distance and the particle size. These findings provide new perspectives for understanding the damage sustained by hydro-mechanical components operating in sand-laden water flows.

The jet dynamics of a cavitation bubble near unequal-sized dual particles is investigated employing OpenFOAM, and the effects of the jets on the particles are quantitatively analyzed in terms of their pressure impacts. Different from single-particle cases, the necks that evolve between dual particles are closely linked to the formation mechanism of the jets. Based on the simulation results, the jet dynamics can be divided into five scenarios: (1) the contraction of the annular depression produced by the collision of the two necks causes the bubble to split into two daughter bubbles and generates a single jet inside each daughter bubble; (2) the annular depression impacts the particle, leading to the bubble to fracture and producing a single jet inside a daughter bubble; (3) the bubble is split by a single neck constriction and produces a single jet; (4) the bubble is split by a single neck constriction and generates two jets; and (5) the bubble is split by the contraction of two necks and produces four jets together with three daughter bubbles. As the bubble–particle distance or the radius ratio of the dual particles increases, the maximum force on the small particle generated by the bubble decreases.

Abstract Objective Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) is a common complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Hungry bone syndrome (HBS) after parathyroidectomy (PTX) is a serious complication, which can lead to diarrhea, convulsion, arrhythmia and even death. This study was aimed to determine the risk factors for HBS after PTX in dialysis patients with SHPT and construct a nomogram prediction model to predict the incidence of postoperative complications. Methods Clinical data were collected from 80 maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients with SHPT who received total PTX in the Second Hospital of Jilin University from January 2018 to September 2021. In line with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, totally 75 patients were finally enrolled for analysis. Patients were divided into two groups for retrospective analysis according to the severity of postoperative HBS, including HBS group and non-HBS (N-HBS) group. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the risk factors for postoperative HBS. Afterwards, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted based on the statistical analysis results, aiming to compare the prediction effects of different predicting factors. Finally, the nomogram was established to evaluate the occurrence probability of postoperative complications predicted by the risk factors. Results Among the 75 patients, 32 had HBS (HBS group), while 43 did not have HBS (N-HBS group). Univariate analysis results indicated that, the preoperative intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) and serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels in HBS group were significantly higher than those in N-HBS group, while preoperative hemoglobin and preoperative albumin (Alb) levels were significantly lower than those in N-HBS group. As discovered by multivariate logistic regression analysis, preoperative iPTH (OR = 1.111, P = 0.029) and ALP (OR = 1.010, P

Abstract Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has historically been a significant global health concern, profoundly impacting both life and well-being. In the process of CKD, with the gradual loss of renal function, the incidence of various life-threatening complications, such as cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular accident, infection and stroke, is also increasing rapidly. Unfortunately, existing treatments exhibit limited ability to halt the progression of kidney injury in CKD, emphasizing the urgent need to delve into the precise molecular mechanisms governing the occurrence and development of CKD while identifying novel therapeutic targets. Renal fibrosis, a typical pathological feature of CKD, plays a pivotal role in disrupting normal renal structures and the loss of renal function. Ferroptosis is a recently discovered iron-dependent form of cell death characterized by lipid peroxide accumulation. Ferroptosis has emerged as a potential key player in various diseases and the initiation of organ fibrosis. Substantial evidence suggests that ferroptosis may significantly contribute to the intricate interplay between CKD and its progression. This review comprehensively outlines the intricate relationship between CKD and ferroptosis in terms of iron metabolism and lipid peroxidation, and discusses the current landscape of pharmacological research on ferroptosis, shedding light on promising avenues for intervention. It further illustrates recent breakthroughs in ferroptosis-related regulatory mechanisms implicated in the progression of CKD, thereby providing new insights for CKD treatment. Video Abstract

Abstract Background Esophagectomy is the main treatment for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and patients with histopathologically negative margins still have a relatively higher recurrence rate. Contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) radiomics might noninvasively obtain potential information about the internal heterogeneity of ESCC and its adjacent tissues. This study aimed to develop CECT radiomics models to preoperatively identify the differences between tumor and proximal tumor-adjacent and tumor-distant tissues in ESCC to potentially reduce tumor recurrence. Methods A total of 529 consecutive patients with ESCC from Centers A (n = 447) and B (n = 82) undergoing preoperative CECT were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Radiomics features of the tumor, proximal tumor-adjacent (PTA) and proximal tumor-distant (PTD) tissues were individually extracted by delineating the corresponding region of interest (ROI) on CECT and applying the 3D-Slicer radiomics module. Patients with pairwise tissues (ESCC vs. PTA, ESCC vs. PTD, and PTA vs. PTD) from Center A were randomly assigned to the training cohort (TC, n = 313) and internal validation cohort (IVC, n = 134). Univariate analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator were used to select the core radiomics features, and logistic regression was performed to develop radiomics models to differentiate individual pairwise tissues in TC, validated in IVC and the external validation cohort (EVC) from Center B. Diagnostic performance was assessed using area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) and accuracy. Results With the chosen 20, 19 and 5 core radiomics features in TC, 3 individual radiomics models were developed, which exhibited excellent ability to differentiate the tumor from PTA tissue (AUC: 0.965; accuracy: 0.965), the tumor from PTD tissue (AUC: 0.991; accuracy: 0.958), and PTA from PTD tissue (AUC: 0.870; accuracy: 0.848), respectively. In IVC and EVC, the models also showed good performance in differentiating the tumor from PTA tissue (AUCs: 0.956 and 0.962; accuracy: 0.956 and 0.937), the tumor from PTD tissue (AUCs: 0.990 and 0.974; accuracy: 0.952 and 0.970), and PTA from PTD tissue (AUCs: 0.806 and 0.786; accuracy: 0.760 and 0.786), respectively. Conclusion CECT radiomics models could differentiate the tumor from PTA tissue, the tumor from PTD tissue, and PTA from PTD tissue in ESCC.

This study explored the potential of Paeonia japonica (Makino) Miyabe & Takeda (P. japonica) as a natural treatment for diabetes. A methanol extract of the root of P. japonica and its fractions were investigated for their antioxidant and antidiabetic properties. The ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fraction was the most potent, displaying strong antioxidant activity and inhibiting enzymes that break down carbohydrates (α-amylase and α-glucosidase), which could reduce blood sugar levels. Furthermore, the EtOAc fraction inhibited glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 cells and stimulated the gene responsible for cellular glucose uptake (GLUT4), suggesting improved insulin sensitivity. It also effectively reduced the formation of harmful advanced glycation end products linked to diabetic complications. The isolation of bioactive compounds from the EtOAc fraction revealed the presence of 4-O-methylgallic acid and ellagic acid, which potentially contributed to the observed antidiabetic effects. Overall, this study highlights the EtOAc fraction of P. japonica as a promising source for developing natural diabetes therapies. The findings suggest its potential for regulating various diabetic pathways, warranting further research for drug development.

The solubilization of poorly water-soluble natural bioactive compounds remains a significant challenge. This study aims to design a ternary inclusion system to enhance the solubility of the poorly water-soluble compound Neohesperidin (NH). Soluble ternary cyclodextrin complexations (t-CDs) containing NH, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD), and meglumine (MEG) were prepared and optimized. The optimized t-CDs were further characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and molecular docking (MD) techniques. The results suggested that NH formed was associated with MEG through hydrogen bonds with MEG, and was subsequently incorporated into the hydrophobic cavity of HP-β-CD, which may be a key factor in improving its solubility. The solubility of NH in water at 37 °C increased significantly from 0.16 mg/mL to 5.81 mg/mL in the optimized t-CDs (NH/MEG/HP-β-CD).

Esophagus carcinoma (EC) ranks sixth in cancer-related mortality and seventh in terms of morbidity worldwide, and radical esophagectomy is considered as the basis of comprehensive treatment for locally advanced EC. Accurate preoperative determination of lymph node status is critical for treatment decision-making, assessment of survival time and life quality of patients after surgery. However, the rate of misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of metastatic lymph nodes by traditional imaging methods is high. With the development of artificial intelligence technology and medical image digitization, medical image analysis methods based on artificial intelligence have brought new ideas to the diagnosis and research of lymph node metastasis secondary to EC. At present, texture analysis, radiomics and deep learning are the most widely used methods. These technologies extract and analyze quantitative features from traditional medical images to provide biological information such as tumor characteristics and heterogeneity to guide clinical practice. Therefore, this review mainly introduces and discusses the current status of imaging research on lymph node metastasis in patients with EC based on texture analysis, radiomics and deep learning, and prospects the important research directions in the future with a view to improving the diagnostic capability of lymph node metastasis in patients with EC in China.

PurposeInvestigate the clinical/hematological characteristics of children infected with the Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and identify an effective indicator to distinguish coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity in children.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted through electronic medical records from pediatric patients. The demographic, clinical, and routine blood test (RBT) features of children diagnosed by real-time PCR for SARS-CoV-2 were collected.ResultsData of 261 patients were analyzed. The most common abnormality shown by RBTs was increased monocyte count (68%). Children had “mild-moderate” or “severe” forms of COVID-19. Prevalence of abnormal neutrophil count (p = 0.048), eosinophil count (p = 0.006), mean corpuscular volume (p = 0.033), mean platelet volume (p = 0.006), platelet-large cell ratio (p = 0.043), and red blood cell distribution width-standard deviation (p = 0.031) were significantly different in the two types. A combination of the neutrophil: lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and eosinophil count for diagnosing severe COVID-19 presented the largest AUC (0.688, 95% CI = 0.599–0.777; p

ObjectiveTo develop a CT-based nomogram to predict the response of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus immunotherapy.MethodsIn this retrospective study, 158 consecutive patients with advanced ESCC receiving contrast-enhanced CT before neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus immunotherapy were randomized to a training cohort (TC, n = 121) and a validation cohort (VC, n = 37). Response to treatment was assessed with response evaluation criteria in solid tumors. Patients in the TC were divided into the responder (n = 69) and non-responder (n = 52) groups. For the TC, univariate analyses were performed to confirm factors associated with response prediction, and binary analyses were performed to identify independent variables to develop a nomogram. In both the TC and VC, the nomogram performance was assessed by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), calibration slope, and decision curve analysis (DCA).ResultsIn the TC, univariate analysis showed that cT stage, cN stage, gross tumor volume, gross volume of all enlarged lymph nodes, and tumor length were associated with the response (all P < 0.05). Binary analysis demonstrated that cT stage, cN stage, and tumor length were independent predictors. The independent factors were imported into the R software to construct a nomogram, showing the discriminatory ability with an AUC of 0.813 (95% confidence interval: 0.735–0.890), and the calibration curve and DCA showed that the predictive ability of the nomogram was in good agreement with the actual observation.ConclusionThis study provides an accurate nomogram to predict the response of advanced ESCC to neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus immunotherapy.

Gaussian mixture probability hypothesis density (GM-PHD) filtering often assumes a uniform distribution of clutter in the observation area. However, in practice, clutter is often unknown and non-uniform, necessitating accurate estimation of its spatial distribution, non-uniformity, and temporal variations. To address this problem, we proposed a modified GM-PHD filtering method with clutter density estimation for multiple target tracking. In the proposed method, first, potential target measurements within the tracking gate are eliminated to obtain the clutter measurement set. Next, the clutter density around each target is estimated. Finally, the estimated clutter density is incorporated into GM-PHD filtering, to estimate the target state and clutter density in complex clutter environments. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed filtering method improves the performance of the GM-PHD filter in multi-target tracking scenarios with unknown clutter density.

Background: Preserving parathyroid glands in situ is crucial to avoid surgical hypoparathyroidism, but it is also one of the greatest challenges during thyroid surgery. Magnified endoscopic imaging has been proposed as a way to improve parathyroid preservation. Methods: 2,603 consecutive patients who underwent thyroid surgery at the First People’s Hospital of Zunyi from January 2018 to July 2022 were screened. 1,355 patients were eligible, including 965 endoscopic and 390 open cases. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) loss levels and severe parathyroid injury rates were compared between endoscopic and open cases. Meanwhile, factors that contribute to parathyroid injuries were assessed, including surgical extent, tumor size, carbon nanoparticle guidance, and surgical proficiency. Results: PTH loss levels were similar between endoscopic and open cases (P = 0.440). The incidence of severe parathyroid injuries was also comparable (7.8% for endoscopic vs. 6.9% for open, P = 0.592). The endoscopic group had higher rates of autologous parathyroid transplantation (39.5% vs. 24.4%, P = 0.000), while accidental parathyroidectomy rates were similar (11.4% vs. 10.8%, P = 0.739). Among patients who received the same extent of thyroid surgeries, no significant difference was found in PTH loss levels and severe parathyroid injury rates, except for a higher risk of severe parathyroid injuries in endoscopic bilateral thyroidectomy (18.52% vs. 11.52%, P = 0.033). Conclusions: Despite the magnified endoscopic imaging facilitating the identification of parathyroid tissues, endoscopic approaches are not superior to open ones for the in-situ preservation of parathyroid glands. For a bilateral thyroidectomy, open approaches are safer for parathyroid preservation.

BackgroundAluminum activates signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), causing microglial nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain-like receptors protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation and inflammatory responses and producing neurotoxicity.ObjectiveTo explore the role of STAT3 regulated NLRP3 inflammasomes in the inflammatory response of mouse microglia cell line (BV2) cells induced by maltol aluminum [Al(mal)3].MethodsBV2 cells were assigned to five groups: one control group, three Al(mal)3 exposure groups (low, medium, and high doses at 40, 80, and 160 μmol·L−1 Al(mal)3 respectively), and one C188-9 (STAT3 antagonist) intervention group [10 μmol·L−1 C188-9 +160 μmol·L−1 Al(mal)3]. Cell viability was detected by CCK8. The expression of M1/M2 type markers, i.e. CD68/CD206, STAT3, p-STAT3, NLRP3, cleaved-casepase-1, and apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC) in BV2 cells were detected by Western blotting, and proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18, and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were determined by ELISA.ResultsThe results of cell viability assay showed that cell viability gradually decreased with the increase of Al(mal)3 dose. Compared with the control group, the cell viability of the Al(mal)3 high-dose group was decreased by 18% (P0.05). Compared with the control group, the expression level of NLRP3 protein increased by 75% in the Al(mal)3 high-dose group (P0.05).ConclusionAluminum can induce inflammatory responses in BV2 microglia and is predominantly pro-inflammatory, and the mechanism may involve STAT3 regulation of NLRP3 inflammasome secretion of inflammatory factors.

The root of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (SMB) has been widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases. However, the contents of secondary metabolites in the roots from different production areas are significantly different, and the impact of soil factors on this accumulation remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate the regularity of variation between the active components and soil factors through targeted metabolomics and chemical dosimetry. Soils were collected from five different cities (A, B, C, D, and E) and transplanted into the study area. The results showed that there were significant differences in the soil fertility characteristics and heavy metal pollution levels in different soils. Ten water- and twelve lipid-soluble metabolites were identified in SMBs grown in all soil types. SMBs from D cities exhibited the highest total tanshinone content (p < 0.05). The salvianolic acid B content in SMBs from E cities was the highest (p < 0.05). Interestingly, correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the accumulation of lipid-soluble and water-soluble metabolites. Double-matrix correlation analysis demonstrated that available potassium (AK) was significantly negatively correlated with salvianolic acid B (r = −0.80, p = 0.0004) and positively correlated with tanshinone IIA (r = 0.66, p = 0.008). Conversely, cadmium (Cd) and cuprum (Cu) were significantly positively and negatively correlated with salvianolic acid B (r = 0.96, p < 0.0001 and r = 0.72, p = 0.0024) and tanshinone IIA (r = 0.40, p = 0.14 and r = 0.73, p = 0.0018), respectively. Mantel’s test indicated that AK (r > 0.52, p < 0.001), Cu (r > 0.60, p < 0.005), and Cd (r > 0.31, p < 0.05) were the primary drivers of the differences in the active components of SMBs. These findings provide a theoretical framework for modulating targeted metabolites of SMB through soil factors, with significant implications for the cultivation and quality control of medicinal plants.

Abstract The colored calla lily is an ornamental floral plant native to southern Africa, belonging to the Zantedeschia genus of the Araceae family. We generated a high-quality chromosome-level genome of the colored calla lily, with a size of 1,154 Mb and a contig N50 of 42 Mb. We anchored 98.5% of the contigs (1,137 Mb) into 16 pseudo-chromosomes, and identified 60.18% of the sequences (694 Mb) as repetitive sequences. Functional annotations were assigned to 95.1% of the predicted protein-coding genes (36,165). Additionally, we annotated 469 miRNAs, 1,652 tRNAs, 10,033 rRNAs, and 1,677 snRNAs. Furthermore, Gypsy-type LTR retrotransposons insertions in the genome are the primary factor causing significant genome size variation in Araceae species. This high-quality genome assembly provides valuable resources for understanding genome size differences within the Araceae family and advancing genomic research on colored calla lily.

Developing multifunctional energy storage systems with high specific energy, high specific power and long cycling life has been the one of the most important research directions. Compared to batteries and traditional capacitors, supercapacitors possess more balanced performance with both high specific power and long cycle-life. Nevertheless, regular supercapacitors can only achieve energy storage without harvesting energy and the energy density is still not very high compared to batteries. Therefore, combining high specific energy and high specific power, long cycle-life and even fast self-charging into one cell has been a promising direction for future energy storage devices. The multifunctional hybrid supercapacitors like asymmetric supercapacitors, batteries/supercapacitors hybrid devices and self-charging hybrid supercapacitors have been widely studied recently. Carbon based electrodes are common materials used in all kinds of energy storage devices due to their fabulous electrical and mechanical properties. In this survey, the research progress of all kinds of hybrid supercapacitors using multiple effects and their working mechanisms are briefly reviewed. And their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The hybrid supercapacitors have great application potential for portable electronics, wearable devices and implantable devices in the future.

Abstract T-LAK-originated protein kinase (TOPK), a dual specificity serine/threonine kinase, is up-regulated and related to poor prognosis in many types of cancers. Y-box binding protein 1 (YB1) is a DNA/RNA binding protein and serves important roles in multiple cellular processes. Here, we reported that TOPK and YB1 were both highly expressed in esophageal cancer (EC) and correlated with poor prognosis. TOPK knockout effectively suppressed EC cell proliferation and these effects were reversible by rescuing YB1 expression. Notably, TOPK phosphorylated YB1 at Thr 89 (T89) and Ser 209 (S209) amino acid residues, then the phosphorylated YB1 bound with the promoter of the eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1 alpha 1 (eEF1A1) to activate its transcription. Consequently, the AKT/mTOR signal pathway was activated by up-regulated eEF1A1 protein. Importantly, TOPK inhibitor HI-TOPK-032 suppressed the EC cell proliferation and tumor growth by TOPK/YB1/eEF1A1 signal pathway in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, our study reveals that TOPK and YB1 are essential for the growth of EC, and TOPK inhibitors may be applied to retard cell proliferation in EC. This study highlights the promising therapeutic potential of TOPK as a target for treatment of EC.

Chromosome number and genome ploidy are crucial basic information for systematic evolutionary biology and genetics. Hemiboea, a genus of Gesneriaceae, with about 44 species, is mainly distributed in southern China, which have important medicinal and ornamental values. It is difficult to obtain suitable root tips for the chromosome preparation because of their small twining roots and small chromosomes. So far, only the chromosome numbers from three species of Hemiboea have been reported, while the chromosome numbers and ploidy of most species are unknown. The relationship between the pattern of chromosome number evolution and species evolution is also unclear. In this study, in order to explore the optimal conditions for chromosome preparation and the relationship between chromosome numbers and species evolution of Hemiboea, firstly, the root tips of six species (including H. subcapitata, H. longgangensis, H. longzhouensis, H. subacaulis var. jiangxiensis, H. follicularis and H. yongfuensis), which were generated by the method of hydroponic rooting for cutting leaves based on the characteristics of leaf cuttage propagation of plants in Hemboea, were used for the chromosome preparation experiments. Then, the effects of different experimental conditions on chromosome preparation were assessed. Next, the conditions were optimized and the chromosome counting was performed. Finally, the evolutionary history of chromosome numbers in Hemiboea and the related genera including Anna and Loxostigma were traced based on the molecular phylogenetic relationships, and the evolutionary pattern of chromosome numbers and relationships with species evolution were studied. The results were as follows: (1) The optimal conditions for karyotype preparation of the plants in Hemiboea were sampling during 9:30-10:00, dissociating for 10 min, and dyeing for 15 min. (2) All the six species of Hemiboea were diploid and with 32 chromosome numbers (2n=2x=32). (3) Except for a few species in the genus, the chromosome numbers of most species might be 2n=2x=32, and the variation of chromosome numbers might be caused by aneuploidy, which had no obvious relationship with the species evolution. This study sheds light on chromosome preparation of Hemiboea and other groups with similar leaf regeneration characteristics, and provides implications for the classification and phylogeny of this group.

Abstract Present indoor cultivation of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) only depends on artificial planting experience, so that flower number and stigma yield are seriously affected in case of cloudy or rainy days and temperature changes. In this study, a luminaire was used at 10-h photoperiod combined 450 nm blue LEDs with 660 nm broad-band red LEDs, which respectively had full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 15 nm and 85 nm, in a ratio of blue: red: far-red light = 20%: 62%: 18%. The influence of total daily light integral (TDLI) was evaluated on flowering characteristics, stigma quality, as well as leaf morphological characteristics. The results showed that flower number, daily flowering proportion, stigma dry weight and crocetin esters content were significantly correlated with TDLI (P

Gas therapy has been proven to be a promising and advantageous treatment option for cancers. Studies have shown that nitric oxide (NO) is one of the smallest structurally significant gas molecules with great potential to suppress cancer. However, there is controversy and concern about its use as it exhibits the opposite physiological effects based on its levels in the tumor. Therefore, the anti-cancer mechanism of NO is the key to cancer treatment, and rationally designed NO delivery systems are crucial to the success of NO biomedical applications. This review summarizes the endogenous production of NO, its physiological mechanisms of action, the application of NO in cancer treatment, and nano-delivery systems for delivering NO donors. Moreover, it briefly reviews challenges in delivering NO from different nanoparticles and the issues associated with its combination treatment strategies. The advantages and challenges of various NO delivery platforms are recapitulated for possible transformation into clinical applications.

With the development of computer vision and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) technology, visual object tracking has become an indispensable core technology for UAVs, and it has been widely used in both civil and military fields. Visual object tracking from the UAV perspective experiences interference from various complex conditions such as background clutter, occlusion, and being out of view, which can easily lead to tracking drift. Once tracking drift occurs, it will lead to almost complete failure of the subsequent tracking. Currently, few trackers have been designed to solve the tracking drift problem. Thus, this paper proposes a tracking algorithm based on motion prediction and block search to address the tracking drift problem caused by various complex conditions. Specifically, when the tracker experiences tracking drift, we first use a Kalman filter to predict the motion state of the target, and then use a block search module to relocate the target. In addition, to improve the tracker’s ability to adapt to changes in the target’s appearance and the environment, we propose a dynamic template updating network (DTUN) that allows the tracker to make appropriate template decisions based on various tracking conditions. We also introduce three tracking evaluation metrics: namely, average peak correlation energy, size change ratio, and tracking score. They serve as prior information for tracking status identification in the DTUN and the block prediction module. Extensive experiments and comparisons with many competitive algorithms on five aerial benchmarks, UAV20L, UAV123, UAVDT, DTB70, and VisDrone2018-SOT, demonstrate that our method achieves significant performance improvements. Especially in UAV20L long-term tracking, our method outperforms the baseline in terms of success rate and accuracy by 19.1% and 20.8%, respectively. This demonstrates the superior performance of our method in the task of long-term tracking from the UAV perspective, and we achieve a real-time speed of 43 FPS.

Leaf photosynthesis largely determines the daughter corm yields in vegetative growth for saffron (Crocus sativus L.). Most of the previous researches focus on the spectral response in various species, but research on saffron leaves at different leaf ages is lacking. In this study, the action spectrum based on photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and irradiance were distinguished and interpreted. The optical properties and photosynthetic performances of leaves were, respectively, investigated at two leaf ages, dependent on customized narrow-band LED spotlights from 380 nm to 780 nm with an interval of 20 nm and a band width of 10 nm. The younger leaves were characterized by higher reflectance and transmittance values at 500−600 nm, resulting in lower absorptance compared to the older leaves. The spectral response curves including the action spectrum and quantum yield for younger leaves were higher than the older, but their relative curves displayed coincidence. The spectral response curves exhibited two peaks at 440 and 640 nm, but no obvious troughs between 500 and 600 nm were observed. Nevertheless, the photosynthetic energy efficiencies of spotlights demonstrated very low values in the green/yellow region. Accordingly, more attention should be paid to green and yellow LED lighting during the vegetative stage for saffron, as well as improving their manufacturing technology.

Ganoderma lucidum, renowned as an essential edible and medicinal mushroom in China, remains shrouded in limited understanding concerning the intrinsic mechanisms governing the accumulation of active components and potential protein expression across its diverse developmental stages. Accordingly, this study employed a meticulous integration of metabolomics and proteomics techniques to scrutinize the dynamic alterations in metabolite accumulation and protein expression in G. lucidum throughout its growth phases. The metabolomics analysis unveiled elevated levels of triterpenoids, steroids, and polyphenolic compounds during the budding stage (BS) of mushroom growth, with prominent compounds including Diplazium and Ganoderenic acids E, H, and I, alongside key steroids such as cholesterol and 4,4-dimethyl-5alpha-cholesta-8,14,24-trien-3beta-ol. Additionally, nutrients such as polysaccharides, flavonoids, and purines exhibited heightened presence during the maturation stage (FS) of ascospores. Proteomic scrutiny demonstrated the modulation of triterpenoid synthesis by the CYP450, HMGR, HMGS, and ERG protein families, all exhibiting a decline as G. lucidum progressed, except for the ARE family, which displayed an upward trajectory. Therefore, BS is recommended as the best harvesting period for G. lucidum. This investigation contributes novel insights into the holistic exploitation of G. lucidum.

Background Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi), have gained approval for treating patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3), a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), plays a role in inhibiting tumorigenesis through regulating DNA repair genes. This study aimed to investigate the association between the anti-prostate cancer (PCa) effect of niraparib, a representative PARPi, and MEG3 expression, as well as explore the downstream pathway involved. Methods The levels of MEG3, miR-181-5p, GATA binding protein 6 (GATA6) in clinical samples from PCa patients were accessed by RT-qPCR. PC3 cells were treated with niraparib, and the expression of MEG3, miR-181-5p, GATA6 expression was tested. PC3 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were tested by CCK-8, wound healing, and Transwell assays, respectively. The bindings between miR-181-5p and MEG3/GATA6 were determined by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Furthermore, rescue experiments were conducted to investigate the underlying mechanism of MEG3/miR-181-5p/GATA6 axis in PCa progression. Additionally, mice were injected with PC3 cells transfected with sh-MEG3 and treated with niraparib, and the xenograft tumor growth was observed. Results MEG3 and GATA6 were upregulated and miR-181-5p was downregulated in PCa patients. Niraparib treatment substantially upregulated MEG3 and GATA6, and downregulated miR-181-5p expression in PCa cells. Niraparib effectively restrained PC3 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. MiR-181-5p targeted to MEG3, and the inhibitory effects of MEG3 overexpression on PC3 cell proliferation and metastasis were abrogated by miR-181-5p overexpression. Moreover, GATA6 was identified as a target of miR-181-5p, and GATA6 silencing abolished the inhibitory effects of miR-181-5p inhibition on PC3 cell proliferation and metastasis. Besides, MEG3 silencing could abrogate niraparib-mediated tumor growth inhibition in mice. Conclusions Niraparib restrains prostate cancer cell proliferation and metastasis and tumor growth in mice by regulating the lncRNA MEG3/miR-181-5p/GATA6 pathway.

In utilizing a variable-structure multiple-model (VSMM) algorithm for kinematic state estimation, the core step is the model set design. This study aims to refine the existing expected-mode augmentation (EMA) algorithm, a method of model set design. First, the OTSU algorithm is employed to determine an adaptive threshold, which in turn allows for a reasonable partition of the basic model set. Next, a subset of possible models is preserved, reactivating models adjacent to the one with the highest prediction probability, eliminating improbable models, and yielding an augmented expected mode. Additionally, the study leverages the translation properties of radial functions and inverse trigonometric function formulas to derive a maneuvering model for star- convex extended targets under uniformly accelerated conditions. In order to assess the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and the validity of the established maneuvering model, simulation experiments were carried out in both fixed and random scenarios. The proposed algorithm demonstrates improved performance when compared to the interactive multiple-model algorithm and the unmodified EMA algorithm.

BackgroundOccupational aluminum exposure may associate with cognitive impairment in workers. At present, brain functional imaging data are not available for evaluating cognitive dysfunction in workers with occupational exposure to aluminum. The role of brain functional connectivity in cognitive decline associated with occupational aluminum exposure is not clear yet. ObjectiveTo explore potential mediating effect of brain functional connectivity value on cognitive decline induced by occupational aluminum exposure, to assess the relationship between cognitive impairment and brain functional connectivity, and to identify appropriate imaging evidence of early cognitive changes induced by occupational aluminum exposure. MethodsThis study used a subset data from a previous cross-sectional survey. Based on the data of aluminum-exposed workers, over 40 years old, aluminum-exposed working years >1 year, Montreal International Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (Beijing version) score

Objective Hypocalcemia after parathyroidectomy (PTX) results in tetany, diarrhea, cardiac arrhythmia, and even sudden death. However, a meta-analysis or systematic evaluation of risk factors with the occurrence and development of hypocalcemia in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) after PTX has never been performed.Methods A thorough search of electronic databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and EMBASE, was performed to retrieve relevant studies from database inception to June 2021. Quality of the included studies was assessed by two independent reviewers using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 16.0 were used for meta-analysis. The random-effects model was adopted to calculate the 95% CIs (I2> 50% or p 7 points. Risk factors significantly related to hypocalcemia in patients with SHPT after PTX were preoperative serum calcium (OR 0.19, 95%CI 0.11–0.31), preoperative alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.01–1.02), and preoperative intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) (OR 1.38, 95%CI 1.20–1.58). Meanwhile, age (OR 0.97, 95%CI 0.87–1.10) was not significantly correlated with hypocalcemia after PTX.Conclusions Based on the current evidence, preoperative serum calcium, preoperative ALP, and preoperative iPTH were significant predictors of hypocalcemia in patients with SHPT after PTX. More attention should be given to patients with these risk factors for the prevention of postoperative hypocalcemia.

Developing low-cost rolled Mg alloys with both high strength and ductility is desirable, while the improved strength is generally accompanied with decreased ductility. Here, by using rotated hard-plate rolling (RHPR) with a total thickness reduction of ∼85%, we obtained a Mg−8Al−0.5Zn−0.8Ce (wt.%, AZ80−0.8Ce) alloy with a high strength-ductility synergy, i.e., the yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation-to-failure (EF) are ∼308 MPa, ∼360 MPa and ∼13.8%, respectively. It reveals that the high YS is mainly originated from grain boundary strengthening (∼212 MPa), followed by dislocation strengthening (∼43 MPa) and precipitation hardening (∼25 MPa). It is found that a relatively homogeneous fine grain structure containing a large fraction (∼62%) of low angle boundaries (LABs) is achieved in the RHPRed alloy, which is benefit for the high tensile EF value. It demonstrates that LABs have important contributions to strengthening and homogenizing tensile deformation process, leading to the simultaneous high strength and high EF. Our work provides a new insight for fabrication of low-cost high performance Mg alloys with an excellent strength-ductility synergy.

BackgroundOccupational aluminum exposure is closely related to cognitive impairment, and alcohol consumption is also closely related to cognitive dysfunction.ObjectiveTo explore the effects of types of alcohol consumption on cognitive function of occupational aluminum exposed workers.MethodsA total of 181 workers aged from 23 to 56 years were selected by cluster sampling method in an electrolytic aluminum workshop of an aluminum plant in a region and in a maintenance workshop of another plant in the same region from July to August, 2019. Venous blood was collected, and plasma aluminum concentration was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The study subjects were divided into low and high exposure groups based on the median blood aluminum level and type of work. Their basic information was collected by occupational health examination. Workers' cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale-Beijing Edition. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between plasma aluminum concentration and cognitive impairment, and between the types of alcohol consumption (including Baijiu, red wine, and beer) and cognitive impairment, Unconditional logistic regression was used to fit multiplicative interaction model as well as additive interaction model of plasma aluminum concentration and the types of alcohol consumption, and to calculate the relative excess relative risk due to interaction (RERI) and attributable proportion due to interaction (AP).ResultsThe M (P25, P75) concentrations of plasma aluminum were 40.01 (25.05, 60.56) µg·L−1 in the total study subjects, 25.16 (17.13, 34.78) µg·L−1 in the low exposure group and 60.56 (47.40, 68.53) µg·L−1 in the high exposure group. After adjusting the type of alcohol consumption, drinking, age, duration of exposure to aluminum, education, marital status, and smoking, the odds ratios for impairments of attention, language expression, and overall cognitive function in the high exposure group were 4.295 (95%CI: 1.912-9.648), 5.687 (95%CI: 1.355-23.867), and 2.720 (95%CI: 1.225-6.040) times of the low exposure group respectively. Besides, after adjusting blood aluminum concentration, total alcohol consumption, age, duration of exposure to aluminum, education, marital status, and smoking, the risk of attention impairment of the Baijiu drinkers was 2.613 (95%CI: 1.054 to 6.837) times of the non-Baijiu drinkers; the risks of impairment of visuospatial abilities and execution functions, language expression, delayed recall, and overall cognitive function of the beer drinkers were 3.165 (95%CI: 1.285-7.797), 17.898 (95%CI: 1.590-201.480), 3.118 (95%CI: 1.215-8.003), and 3.824 (95%CI: 1.736-8.423) times of the non-beer drinkers. There were both additive [RERI (95%CI): 1.745 (1.394-2.097), AP (95%CI): 0.415 (0.201-0.630)] and multiplicative (OR=3.591, 95%CI: 1.393-9.255) interactions between Baijiu intake and plasma aluminum concentration levels on the attention domain. The cognitive impairment attributed to the interactive effects of drinking Baijiu and plasma aluminum concentration in individuals with attention impairment accounted for 41.5%. There were both additive [RERI (95%CI): 5.955 (0.562-11.328), AP (95%CI): 0.829 (0.577-1.081)] and multiplicative (OR=42.174, 95%CI: 5.469-325.252) interactions between beer drinking and plasma aluminum concentration on the overall cognitive function. Among the individuals with overall cognitive impairment, the cognitive impairment caused by the interaction of beer drinking and plasma aluminum concentration accounted for 82.9%.ConclusionOccupation aluminum exposed workers' attention, language expression, and overall cognitive function are closely related to their plasma aluminum concentration. Plasma aluminum concentrations have interactions with Baijiu and beer consumption on cognitive impairment of workers.

B cells and the humoral immunity are important players in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. BAFF (also known as BLYS) and a proliferation-inducing ligand APRIL are required for the maintenance of the B-cell pool and humoral immunity. BAFF and APRIL can promote B-cell differentiation, maturation, and plasma cell antibody secretion. BAFF/APRIL overexpression has been identified in several autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, IgA nephropathy, etc. Telitacicept, a novel fully human TACI-Fc fusion protein that binds both BAFF and APRIL, was approved in China in March 2021 for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus at a recommended dose of 160 mg/w subcutaneously and is in clinical trials for the treatment of multiple indications in other autoimmune diseases. In this review, we explored telitacicept’s mechanism of action and clinical data. In addition, the immune features of autoimmune nephropathy were discussed, emphasizing lupus nephritis, IgA nephropathy, and membranous nephropathy.

Abstract Training on shooting technique can effectively improve the score in football games. This paper constructed a kinetic model of the football during its flight based on the Newton's second law after analyzing the force during flying and proposed to solve the model with numerical simulation before drawing the simulation trajectories of a flying football. The results showed that the kinetic model effectively simulated the flight trajectory of the football. The further the distance of the shot was, the lower the average hit rate of the football was, and the more the football flight trajectory deviated from the reference trajectory; however, after the training assisted by the kinetic model, not only the average hit rate was improved, but also the average deviation of the flight trajectory was reduced.

Macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue is a key pathological factor inducing adipose tissue dysfunction and contributing to obesity-induced inflammation and metabolic disorders. In this review, we aim to present the most recent research on macrophage heterogeneity in adipose tissue, with a focus on the molecular targets applied to macrophages as potential therapeutics for metabolic diseases. We begin by discussing the recruitment of macrophages and their roles in adipose tissue. While resident adipose tissue macrophages display an anti-inflammatory phenotype and promote the development of metabolically favorable beige adipose tissue, an increase in pro-inflammatory macrophages in adipose tissue has negative effects on adipose tissue function, including inhibition of adipogenesis, promotion of inflammation, insulin resistance, and fibrosis. Then, we presented the identities of the newly discovered adipose tissue macrophage subtypes (e.g. metabolically activated macrophages, CD9+ macrophages, lipid-associated macrophages, DARC+ macrophages, and MFehi macrophages), the majority of which are located in crown-like structures within adipose tissue during obesity. Finally, we discussed macrophage-targeting strategies to ameliorate obesity-related inflammation and metabolic abnormalities, with a focus on transcriptional factors such as PPARγ, KLF4, NFATc3, and HoxA5, which promote macrophage anti-inflammatory M2 polarization, as well as TLR4/NF-κB-mediated inflammatory pathways that activate pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages. In addition, a number of intracellular metabolic pathways closely associated with glucose metabolism, oxidative stress, nutrient sensing, and circadian clock regulation were examined. Understanding the complexities of macrophage plasticity and functionality may open up new avenues for the development of macrophage-based treatments for obesity and other metabolic diseases.

Abstract Background Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) remains a common complication in many patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Kidney Disease Improve Global Outcomes (KDIGO) 2017 guidelines suggest that parathyroidectomy (PTX) should be performed in severe SHPT patients with chronic kidney disease stage 3a-stage 5D. In the present study, we observed the efficacy of ultrasonic scalpel for PTX in SHPT patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Methods A total of 74 patients on maintenance hemodialysis who underwent PTX (34 with traditional electrocautery and 40 with an ultrasonic scalpel) were observed between August 2020 and August 2021 at Xiangyang Central Hospital (Hubei University of Arts and Science). Baseline demographic and clinic characteristics were collected pre- and post-PTX. Moreover, the postoperative complications and operation time were assessed between the two groups. Results The univariate analysis showed that there was no statistical significance in weight, dialysis duration, serum potassium, serum calcium, serum magnesium, alkaline phosphate, triglyceride, and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) before and after PTX between the two groups (P > 0.05). The operation time in the ultrasonic scalpel group was significantly decreased compared with the traditional electrocautery group (P

To improve the low responsivity of the silicon avalanche photodiode in the near-ultraviolet wavelength range, we designed a near-ultraviolet highly responsive Si-APD basic structure with a multiplication layer neighboring the photosensitive surface through the analysis of the optical absorption characteristics, junction breakdown characteristics, and avalanche multiplication characteristics. The dark current and electric field distribution of the device were investigated. Meanwhile, the structural parameters of the surface non-depleted layer, multiplication layer, and absorption layer were optimized. It was found that the breakdown voltage of the device is 21.07 V. At an applied bias voltage of 20.02 V, the device exhibits a responsivity of 6.79–14.51 A/W in the wavelength range of 300–400 nm. These results provide valuable insights for the design of silicon avalanche photodiode with high responsivity in the near-ultraviolet range.

Taking Mesona blumes as the research object, the effects of microwave power, microwave intermittent time, drying point and drying temperature on the extraction rate of polysaccharides were studied with the microwave intermittent hot air drying method. The effects of different drying methods on the extraction rate and gel quality of Box-Behnken were studied. The results showed that the optimal process was as follows: The microwave power was 403 W, the microwave intermittent time was 60 s, the moisture content at the conversion point was 42%, the hot air drying temperature was 74 ℃, and the extraction rate of Mesona blumes polysaccharide was 13.60%. The extraction rate of polysaccharides from the microwave intermittent hot air drying was higher than the heat pump dried (12.36%) and sun- cure dried (12.78%). The drying time was only 1.44% to 16.67% of the latter two drying methods. The hardness of the gel samples (516.60±8.54) g, elasticity (0.83±0.01) and recovery (0.33±0.01) were all moderate. In the gel the cohesion (0.48±0.01) was slightly smaller, the adhesive viscosity (359.68±11.56) g and chewiness (285.54±13.21) g were higher, and the texture characteristics and sensory score of the gel samples were better. Comprehensive comparison, the microwave intermittent-hot air combined drying was more suitable for Mesona blumes drying.

Visible light communication has attracted significant attention due to advantages such as high transmission speed, good security, high confidentiality, environmental protection, and lack of need for spectrum authorization. Herein, the problem of absorption of light in the visible band in thin silicon films is examined, and a dual composite nanostructure array based on nanoholes of two sizes is proposed to increase visible light absorption. Light absorptivity was determined to be greater than 80% at wavelengths between 400 and 678 nm. Moreover, using finite-difference time-domain numerical simulations, the distributions of the electric field at specific wavelengths were obtained, the propagation modes at these wavelengths were examined, and the effect of these modes was analyzed according to the electric field distributions. The proposed dual composite nanostructured silicon film can be used in photovoltaic devices to improve visible light absorption.

Ectopic secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH) is a rare cause of hypercalcemia in malignancy patients. A 56-year-old woman with life-threatening hypercalcemia was caused by poorly-differentiated endometrial carcinoma secreting PTH with concomitant nodular goiter mimic parathyroid tumors. The elevated level of PTH and calcium decreased immediately after cytoreductive surgery (CRS). The pathology confirmed mismatch repair (MMR)-deficient endometrial carcinoma with PTH expression. The patient received four-course chemotherapy and one-course immunotherapy after CRS. The disease progression led to multiple organ failure and death about five months after CRS. To our knowledge, this is the first case of hypercalcemia caused by MMR-deficient endometrial carcinoma with ectopic PTH secreting and the first report of malignancy associated hypercalcemia complicated with nodular goiter.

In the present paper, resonance characteristics of the vapor bubble oscillating in an acoustic field are investigated analytically. The analytical solution of the non-dimensional perturbation of the instantaneous bubble radius during the transient process in the initial oscillation stage is explicitly obtained and physically analyzed at the resonance situation based on the Laplace transform method. And the typical oscillation behaviors obtained from the analytical solution are thoroughly exhibited and analyzed in the time and frequency domains. In addition, the corresponding oscillation behaviors at the non-resonance situation are also investigated for the purpose of comparisons. Through our investigation, several essential conclusions can be drawn as follows: (1) The analytical solution of the non-dimensional perturbation of the instantaneous bubble radius can be divided into four terms according to the physical meaning. Among them, it is the term related to the acoustic field that causes the progressively violent bubble oscillation. (2) The vapor bubble with a smaller equilibrium radius could respond faster and more significantly to the acoustic field during the oscillation. (3) The bubble oscillation characteristics always exhibit significant differences at the resonance and non-resonance situations in both the time and frequency domains, even if the difference between the natural frequency of the oscillating vapor bubble and the angular frequency of the acoustic field is greatly small.

In recent years, the consumption of red beetroots has increased significantly due to its good taste, high nutritional value and abundant active compounds. Red beetroot is prone to spoilage due to its high moisture content, making it perishable. Vacuum microwave drying is a gentle drying method by inducing fast water evaporation from food products at low temperature, which can improves the product quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of vacuum microwave drying parameters, including microwave power (500, 1000, and 1500 W) and vacuum degree (50, 70, and 90 KPa), on the physicochemical properties (drying time, rehydration ratio, color change, and contents of betalain and total phenolic) of red beetroots. The results showed that microwave power and vacuum degree had significant effects on the physicochemical properties of red beetroots. All the red beetroots after vacuum microwave drying had higher lightness (L*), lower redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) than that of fresh red beetroots. The drying time, rehydration ratio, betacyanin content and betaxanthin content of red beetroots decreased significantly with the increase of microwave power (P < 0.05), while the rehydration ratio, color parameters (a*, b*, and chroma values), betacyanin content and betaxanthin content of red beetroots significantly increased with the increase of vacuum degree (P < 0.05). Compared with other microwave powers, the red beetroots dried at 500 W showed longer drying time, higher rehydration ratio, more yellowish hue, and higher contents of betacyanin and betaxanthin. The lowest values of total color difference (∆E) and hue angle (H°) of dried red beetroots were obtained at microwave power of 1500 W. The dried red beetroots obtained at 90 KPa had the shortest drying time, the highest rehydration ratio, the best color, and the highest contents of betacyanin and betaxanthin. Meanwhile, the red beetroots dried at 50 KPa had the highest total phenolic content (12.47 ± 0.09 mg GAE/g). Based on the physicochemical properties of red beetroots, vacuum microwave drying at low microwave powers and high vacuum degree appears to be a suitable method for drying red beetroots.

PurposeTo determine whether gross tumor volume (GTV) of adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction (AEG) corresponding to cT and cN stages measured on CT could help quantitatively determine resectability.Materials and methods343 consecutive patients with AEG, including 279 and 64 randomly enrolled in training cohort (TC) and validation cohort (VC), respectively, underwent preoperative contrast-enhanced CT. Univariate and multivariate analyses for TC were performed to determine factors associated with resectability. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were to determine if GTV corresponding to cT and cN stages could help determine resectability. For VC, Cohen’s Kappa tests were to assess performances of the ROC models.ResultscT stage, cN stage and GTV were independently associated with resectability of AEG with odds ratios of 4.715, 4.534 and 1.107, respectively. For differentiating resectable and unresectable AEG, ROC analyses showed that cutoff GTV of 32.77 cm3 in stage cT1-4N0-3 with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.901. Particularly, cutoffs of 27.67 and 32.77 cm3 in stages cT3 and cT4 obtained AUC values of 0.860 and 0.890, respectively; and cutoffs of 27.09, 33.32 and 37.39 cm3 in stages cN1, cN2 and cN3 obtained AUC values of 0.852, 0.821 and 0.902, respectively. In VC, Cohen’s Kappa tests verified that the ROC models had good performance in distinguishing between resectable and unresectable AEG (all Cohen’s K values > 0.72).ConclusionsGTV, cT and cN stages could be independent determinants of resectability of AEG. And GTV corresponding to cT and cN stages can help quantitatively determine resectability.

Ginseng is an important medicinal plant benefiting human health for thousands of years. Root disease is the main cause of ginseng yield loss. It is difficult to detect ginseng root disease by manual observation on the changes of leaves, as it takes a long time until symptoms appear on leaves after the infection on roots. In order to detect root diseases at early stages and limit their further spread, an efficient and non-destructive testing (NDT) method is urgently needed. Hyperspectral remote sensing technology was performed in this study to discern whether ginseng roots were diseased. Hyperspectral reflectance of leaves at 325-1,075 nm were collected from the ginsengs with no symptoms on leaves at visual. These spectra were divided into healthy and diseased groups according to the symptoms on roots after harvest. The hyperspectral data were used to construct machine learning classification models including random forest, extreme random tree (ET), adaptive boosting and gradient boosting decision tree respectively to identify diseased ginsengs, while calculating the vegetation indices and analyzing the region of specific spectral bands. The precision rates of the ET model preprocessed by savitzky golay method for the identification of healthy and diseased ginsengs reached 99% and 98%, respectively. Combined with the preliminary analysis of band importance, vegetation indices and physiological characteristics, 690-726 nm was screened out as a specific band for early detection of ginseng root diseases. Therefore, underground root diseases can be effectively detected at an early stage by leaf hyperspectral reflectance. The NDT method for early detection of ginsengs root diseases is proposed in this study. The method is helpful in the prevention and control of root diseases of ginsengs to prevent the reduction of ginseng yield.