Search

Abstract Background Among the neurological complications of influenza in children, the most severe is acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE), with a high mortality rate and neurological sequelae. ANE is characterized by rapid progression to death within 1–2 days from onset. However, the knowledge about the early diagnosis of ANE is limited, which is often misdiagnosed as simple seizures/convulsions or mild acute influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE). Objective To develop and validate an early prediction model to discriminate the ANE from two common neurological complications, seizures/convulsions and mild IAE in children with influenza. Methods This retrospective case-control study included patients with ANE (median age 3.8 (2.3,5.4) years), seizures/convulsions alone (median age 2.6 (1.7,4.3) years), or mild IAE (median age 2.8 (1.5,6.1) years) at a tertiary pediatric medical center in China between November 2012 to January 2020. The random forest algorithm was used to screen the characteristics and construct a prediction model. Results Of the 433 patients, 278 (64.2%) had seizures/convulsions alone, 106 (24.5%) had mild IAE, and 49 (11.3%) had ANE. The discrimination performance of the model was satisfactory, with an accuracy above 0.80 from both model development (84.2%) and internal validation (88.2%). Seizures/convulsions were less likely to be wrongly classified (3.7%, 2/54), but mild IAE (22.7%, 5/22) was prone to be misdiagnosed as seizures/convulsions, and a small proportion (4.5%, 1/22) of them was prone to be misdiagnosed as ANE. Of the children with ANE, 22.2% (2/9) were misdiagnosed as mild IAE, and none were misdiagnosed as seizures/convulsions. Conclusion This model can distinguish the ANE from seizures/convulsions with high accuracy and from mild IAE close to 80% accuracy, providing valuable information for the early management of children with influenza.

Objectives: Infection by carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) is a serious clinical problem worldwide. However, the molecular epidemiology of the clinical isolates varies depending on the region. This study was conducted to analyse the resistance phenotype and clarify the genetic and epidemiological properties of CRPA clinical isolates from southeast Shanxi, China. Methods: Fifty-seven isolates of CRPA were collected from a hospital in this region. These isolates were reidentified by MALDI-TOF and subjected to whole-genome sequencing by next-generation sequencing. Phylogenetic trees were constructed based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), after which multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was performed and antimicrobial resistance genes were identified. Results: All the 57 CRPA isolates carried at least one kind of gene encoding carbapenemase, such as blaIMP-1, blaIMP-10, blaOXA-10, blaOXA-395, blaOXA-396, blaOXA-485, blaOXA-486, blaOXA-488, blaOXA-494, and blaOXA-50. The isolates harboured AIM-1, CMY-51, mecD, and NmcR genes and carried one kind of Pseudomonas-derived cephalosporinase (PDC) β-lactamase-encoding gene, such as blaPCD-1 to blaPCD-3, blaPCD-5, or blaPCD-7 to blaPCD-10. Two isolates were found to harbour the aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme genes aadA1 and aadA7; however, no isolates were found to harbour genes encoding 16S rRNA methylase or quinolone resistance-related genes. These CRPA isolates belonged to various sequence types (STs), two of which, namely, ST235 and ST277, were high-risk types. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that CRPA isolates carrying resistance genes with unique regional characteristics are spreading in this region, with a high diversity of STs, especially in high-risk clones. These findings highlight the necessity for further measures to prevent CRPA spread in Shanxi.

The potential anti-allergic properties of tea have been demonstrated in studies supporting theanine and catechin. However, research on tea polysaccharides' anti-allergic properties has been limited. In this study, we extracted red-edge tea crude polysaccharide (RETPS) and evaluated its anti-allergic activity using the mast cell, passive cutaneous anaphylaxis, and passive systemic anaphylaxis models. We purified RETPS using the DEAE-52 cellulose column, analyzed its composition and structural characteristics, and compared the anti-allergic properties of different polysaccharide fractions. The purified components RETPS-3 and RETPS-4 displayed higher galacturonic acid content and lower molecular weight (106.61 kDa and 53.95 kDa, respectively) compared to RETPS (310.54 kDa). In addition, RETPS-3 and RETPS-4 demonstrated superior anti-allergic activity than RETPS in mice's passive cutaneous and systemic allergic reactions. Our findings provide evidence of the anti-allergic potential of tea polysaccharides and offer a theoretical foundation for developing tea polysaccharides as a functional anti-allergic food product.

The long-legged fly Dolichopus galeatus Loew, 1871 belongs to the subfamily Dolichopodinae (Diptera: Dolichopodidae). This work presents the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of D. galeatus for the first time. The mitogenome has a total length of 15,268 bp, 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs) that make up the genome. All genes have comparable positions and strands to those found in earlier reported fly mitogenomes. The nucleotide composition is tilted toward A and T, which account for 75.1% of the total. Phylogenetic approach shows that Lichtwardtia is the sister group of Dolichopus and that the Dolichopodidae are monophyletic.

High-carbon–chromium martensitic stainless steel (MSS) is widely used in many fields due to its excellent mechanical properties, while the coarse eutectic carbide in MSS deteriorates corrosion resistance. In this work, nitrogen was added to the MSS to improve corrosion resistance. The effects of nitrogen on the microstructure and corrosion resistance of MSS were systematically studied. The results showed that the addition of nitrogen promoted the development of Cr2N and reversed austenite, effectively inhibiting the formation of δ-ferrite. Therefore, the durability of the passivation film was improved, the passivation zone was expanded, and the susceptibility to metastable pitting was decreased. As a consequence, nearly two orders of magnitude have been achieved in the pitting potential (Epit) of MSS containing nitrogen, and the polarization resistance value (Rp) has gone up from 4.05 kΩ·cm2 to 1.24 × 102 kΩ·cm2. This means that in a corrosive environment, nitrogen-treated MSS stainless steel is less likely to form pitting pits, which further extends the service life of the material.

This study aimed to elucidate the response of soil microbial communities to saline soil amelioration via biological organic fertilizer. A year-long experiment was conducted on coastal saline soil, employing water and fertilizer strategies. Three treatments were compared: dry field (control, CK), paddy field (W), and combined dry and irrigated fields with biological organic fertilizer (BW). Soil DNA was extracted and sequenced using high-throughput methods, revealing significant reductions in soil electrical conductivity (EC) and pH with W and BW treatments. Moreover, the BW treatment notably increased soil organic carbon content by 17.2%, as well as soil urease and alkaline phosphatase activity. Fungal community richness increased, with the BW treatment showing a 36% rise in the ACE index and a 24% increase in the Shannon index, while the Simpson index decreased by 59%. Dominant fungal phyla were Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Basidiomycota, with Basidiomycota prevailing at the genus level. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that soil pH, EC, and organic carbon were key determinants of fungal community distribution, with the BW treatment correlating negatively with pH and salt and positively with soil organic carbon (SOC). Fungal functional groups varied among treatments, with saprophytic fungi predominating, but the BW treatment showed a higher relative abundance of animal pathogenic fungi. In summary, the integration of biological organic fertilizer with flooding ameliorates soil properties and influences the changes in soil fungal community structure and function in the short term. These results could enhance the scientific basis for the efficient utilization and development of saline soil resources in coastal areas.

ABSTRACTOur previous studies reported that viridicatol isolated from the deep-sea-derived fungus Penicillium griseofulvum could regulate the stabilisation of mast cells to relieve food allergy. To understand the molecular role of viridicatol in stabilising mast cells, transcriptomes of viridicatol-treated RBL-2H3 cells were analysed by RNA-sequencing. There were 128 differentially expressed genes in activated RBL-2H3 cells with or without viridicatol treatment. The mast cell activation-related genes were significantly reduced by treatment with viridicatol through RT-qPCR analysis. Moreover, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis indicated that viridicatol was important in mast cell stabilisation by affecting MAPK and JAK-STAT signalling pathways. Additionally, molecular docking and western blot analysis revealed that the phosphorylated JNK, ERK, P38, and STAT6 proteins were inhibited by viridicatol. Taken together, viridicatol has the potential to be used as a new type of anti-food allergic functional material via controlling MAPK and JAK-STAT signalling pathways of mast cells.

Abstract Background China has a double burden of diabetes mellitus and tuberculosis. Diabetes mellitus and tuberculosis are both important risk factors for Aspergillus infection. Aspergillus lentulus is an emerging fungal pathogen in China and invasive aspergillosis due to A. lentulus is associated with high mortality. Case presentation A 79-year-old man was admitted to our hospital, complaining of a 7-day history of fever. Five days before admission, he was diagnosed with pulmonary infection at a local hospital, but his symptoms did not relieve after antibiotic therapy. The patient was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus two months ago. About 20 days ago, he began to present chest tightness and shortness of breath after physical activity. After admission, he developed continuous fever and rapid respiratory deterioration, and finally died after his family abandoned treatment. Pulmonary coinfection with M. tuberculosis and A. lentulus was identified by metagenome next-generation sequencing (mNGS) from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Conclusions Clinicians and laboratories should be alert to the emerging A. lentulus infection in China due to its drug-resistance and high mortality. In comparison with conventional methods, mNGS has a great advantage for the diagnosis of mixed pulmonary infection.

Austenitic stainless steel has high toughness and plasticity; however, it tends to exhibit low yield strength, which severely limits the widespread application of this steel. It can be strengthened by cold working; however, this will cause many defects in the structure. Therefore, annealing treatment must be carried out before use. In this paper, the effects of annealing treatment at different temperatures and times on the microstructure and mechanical properties of cold-rolled 305 stainless steel sheet were studied and the theoretical mechanism was further analyzed to provide better theoretical guidance for production and application. It was found that the microstructure grains obtained by annealing at 850 °C for 30 s were finer and more uniform, and the mechanical properties were also the best, which met the requirements of strong plasticity. Therefore, the rolling and annealing experiments could be carried out again under this annealing condition, and the requirements of the finished product could be finally obtained. At this time, the thickness of the plate was about 0.15 mm, the yield strength was 1238 MPa, and the permeability was below 1.02, which met the production requirements of the metal mask plate.

Background: Seafood allergy is a significant global health concern that greatly impacts a patient’s quality of life. The intervention efficacy of oral immunotherapy (OIT), an emerging intervention strategy, for seafood allergy remains controversial. This study aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of slightly processed allergen/meat from fish and crustacea in OIT, both in mouse models and clinical patients. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed in four mainstream databases and the EBSCOhost database to identify all relevant case–control and cohort studies. The aim was to elucidate the intervention efficacy, encompassing various processing methods and assessing the efficacy of multiple major allergens in OIT. Results: The meta-analysis included five case–control studies on crustacean allergens in mouse models and 11 cohort studies on meat from fish and crustacea in clinical patients for final quantitative assessments. In mouse models, crustacean allergen substantially decreased the anaphylactic score after OIT treatment (mean difference (MD) = −1.30, p < 0.01). Subgroup analyses with low-level heterogeneities provided more reliable results for crab species (MD = −0.63, p < 0.01, I2 = 0), arginine kinase allergen (MD = −0.83, p < 0.01, I2 = 0), and Maillard reaction processing method (MD = −0.65, p < 0.01, I2 = 29%), respectively. In clinical patients, the main meta-analysis showed that the slightly processed meat significantly increased the incidence rate of oral tolerance (OT, incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 2.90, p < 0.01). Subgroup analyses for fish meat (IRR = 2.79, p < 0.01) and a simple cooking treatment (IRR = 2.36, p = 0.01) also demonstrated a substantial increase in the incidence rate of OT. Sensitivity and meta-regression analyses successfully identified specific studies contributing to heterogeneity in mouse models and clinical patients, although these studies did not impact the overall significant pooled effects. Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides preliminary evidence for the high intervention efficacy of slightly processed allergen/meat from fish and crustacea in OIT, both in mouse models and clinical patients. The Maillard reaction and cooking processing methods may emerge as potentially effective approaches to treating allergen/meat in OIT for clinical patients, offering a promising and specific treatment strategy for seafood allergy. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously, and further supporting evidence is necessary.

Although the application of biological materials has shown potential in improving the environment of salinized soil, the impact on the transformation of soil phosphorus forms in salinized soil, especially when combined with B. mucilaginosus (BM), has rarely been studied. Therefore, this study investigated soil’s properties and phosphorus forms, as well as their relationship, in salinized soil after the application of different biological materials, including rice straw (RS), biochar (B), acidified biochar (AB), BM, RS+BM, B+BM, and AB+BM. A sequential extraction procedure was employed to determine the soil organic/inorganic phosphorus forms (Po/Pi). In our study, the contents of the soil’s resin-P, NaHCO3-Pi, NaOH-Pi, and HCl-P increased by 50–341.66%, 4.08–184.63%, 37.45–163.45%, and 10.19–38.29%, respectively, with the application of the biological materials compared to with conventional fertilization (CK1). However, the contents of the soil’s NaHCO3-Po, NaOH-Po, and residual-P significantly decreased in comparison to with CK1, particularly in the soils that received a combined application with biological materials and BM. Furthermore, the results from the statistical analysis revealed that the application of biological materials could increase the level of soil stable phosphorus, facilitate the transformation from soil stable phosphorus and soil unstable Po to soil unstable Pi, and enhance the effectiveness of soil phosphorus, especially when combined with BM, particularly in soil with AB+BM.

Abstract An experimental study was conducted to investigate the phenomenon of UAV attitude instability caused by large vibrations affecting single‐rotor UAV airborne equipment. Appropriate measurement points were selected to collect vibration signals from the unmanned aerial platform during takeoff and flight of the drone. The time‐domain response and power spectral density of the unmanned aerial platform were then obtained. Establish a dynamic model of the vibration reduction system for an unmanned aerial platform and design a two‐stage vibration reduction structure for the unmanned aerial platform. Through field flight tests of unmanned aerial vehicles, it has been demonstrated that the maximum time domain response of the platform after vibration reduction is 8.75 g (less than 50 g), and the maximum root mean square value of the power spectral density (PSD) is 1.82 g (less than 3 g). The designed secondary vibration reduction structure can serve as a reference for the design of vibration reduction in unmanned aerial vehicles.

In order to explore the effects of different drying methods on the functional characteristics and the internal mechanism of egg white protein (EWP), egg white protein powder was prepared by spray drying or vacuum freeze drying, respectively. The protein structure, physicochemical properties and functional properties of spray dried egg white powder (EWP-P) and freeze dried egg white powder (EWP-D) were studied. The results showed that compared with the liquid egg white (EWP-C), spray drying could greatly decrease the endogenous fluorescence intensity of EWP, while improve the surface hydrophobicity and free sulfhydryl group content. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the α-helix, β-fold and β-turn of EWP-P were 16.30%, 25.72% and 40.23%, respectively, and EWP-D were 20.43%, 24.32% and 35.69%, respectively. Under different pH, the solubility of EWP-D was higher than EWP-P, and the surface tension was lower than EWP-P. In addition, the contact angle of EWP-P was 99.62°, which was higher than EWP-D (65.97°), indicating that spray drying could significantly improve the hydrophobicity of EWP. The emulsifying ability index, emulsifying stability index and foaming characteristic of EWP-D were higher than EWP-P at different pH values, but the foaming stability of EWP-D was lower. The results of fluorescence inverted microscope and confocal laser scanning microscope showed that the liquid droplets of EWP-D emulsion were smaller and more uniform, and the emulsion stability was higher than EWP-P. In conclusion, EWP-P had higher contents of β-fold structures and free sulfhydryl groups on the surface, and higher surface hydrophobicity, which resulted in the better gel properties. EWP-D had lower surface hydrophobicity, smaller surface tension and greater solubility, thus possessed the better emulsifying capacity and foaming characteristic.

Buckwheat protein isolate (BPI) was extracted from buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.) by alkali solubilization and acidic precipitation, following by spray-drying or vacuum freeze-drying to prepare protein powder. The effects of transglutaminase (TGase) and drying methods on physicochemical and gelling properties of buckwheat protein isolate were investigated. The results showed that the protein components of freeze-dried buckwheat protein isolate (FBPI) were similar to BPI, whereas the degradation of 13S globulin was observed in spray-dried buckwheat protein isolate (SBPI). The α-helix contents of FBPI and SBPI were 22.10% and 20.00%, with corresponding β-sheet contents of 19.40% and 19.80% respectively, indicating the transformation of disordered structure in BPI after spray-drying or vacuum freeze-drying. As compared with BPI, SBPI possessed the higher surface hydrophobicity and more uniform particle with a small size, but lower solubility and water holding capacity, while FBPI exhibited similar physicochemical properties to BPI. The average particle sizes of FBPI and SBPI increased from 213.01 and 192.55 nm to 2289.01 and 1439.67 nm after TGase addition respectively, which due to the intermolecular crosslinking reaction. The potentials of BPI, FBPI and SBPI were −15.93, −29.43 and −29.35 mV, respectively, suggesting that drying treatment could further improve the stability of protein solution. Compared with SBPI, G' of BPI and FBPI decreased continuously during the heating process, implied that the gel structures of BPI and FBPI could be destroyed by heating. After pretreatment by heating and then cooling down, FBPI showed a significantly (P

Shellfish products, which have high nutritional value, delicious taste and unique flavor, are loved by consumers. However, their fishy odor hinders the development of shellfish industry. Therefore, the determination and deodorization of fishy odor compounds from shellfish has become one of the hot spots of researchers. In this paper, the determination methods including sensory evaluation, electronic nose, and headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of fishy odor compounds from shellfish, as well as deodorization technology such as physical, chemical, and biological methods are reviewed. Furthermore, the future research direction of deodorization technology of shellfish is prospected. Because the relationship between the fishy odor compounds and sensory characteristics of shellfish has not been deeply studied, and the nutrients are easy to be lost in the traditional liquid deodorization technology, it will be the focus to explore the deodorization mechanism from the molecular structure level and develop efficient and non-destructive deodorization materials and technology in the future.

Bacteria contamination in Auricularia auricular culture bags reduces yield and increases the risk of food safety. In this study, 5 species of bacteria, mainly gram-positive bacteria including three species of Bacillus spp., Arthrobacter arilaitensis and Staphylococcus warneri, were isolated and identified from bacteria-contaminated A. auricular culture bags. An in silico predicted antimicrobial peptide from the β-1,3-glucan-binding protein sequence of Penaeus vannamei, designated PvGBP2 (FLKLGRKSRYGMLKL), was screened and its antibacterial effect and mechanism of action on the isolated Bacillus spp. explored. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of PvGBP2 on Bacillus spp. were 15.6–31.25 μg/mL. Peptide PvGBP2 could inhibit Bacillus subtilis in A. auricular culture bags to maintain growth and yield of A. auricular. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that PvGBP2 kills bacteria by perforating the cell wall, destroying membrane integrity and resulting in the leakage of intracellular solutes. In addition, PvGBP2 inhibits biofilm formation by B. subtilis by 90.6 % at 1 × MIC. Thus, peptide PvGBP2 could be potentially applied as an antibacterial agent to control bacterial infection of A. auricular cultivation and the spread of foodborne pathogens.

Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is one of the key enzymes involved in blood pressure regulation. Conventional purification method for ACE2 was complicated and with low efficacy. Thus, it is necessary to optimize the purification method to provide reference for the research of ACE2. In this study, porcine kidney was used as raw material, and ACE2 was purified by acid precipitation, ammonium sulfate precipitation, column chromatographies of DEAE-Sepharose, Q-Sepharose and Phenyl Sepharose. The effects of temperature, pH, metal ions, and inhibitors on the activity of ACE2 were explored, and PAS staining was adopted to verify whether it is glycoprotein or not. The results showed that the molecular weight of purified ACE2 was about 98 kDa, with purification folds of 149.8, and yield of 0.1%. Purified protein was identified by mass spectrometry, and 41 peptides were obtained which were identical to the amino acid sequence of porcine ACE2. ACE2 was a metalloproteinase, its optimum pH was 7.0 and optimum temperature was 40 ℃. Metal ion Zn2+ could activate its activity while Cu2+, Fe3+ and Cd2+ inhibited it. The results of circular dichroism spectrum showed that the denaturation temperature of ACE2 was 67.5 ℃, and its secondary structure irreversibly changed after heating. Porcine ACE2 was a glycoprotein as revealed by PAS staining. This study would provide a reference for effective purification of natural ACE2 and is also helpful to promote the development of functional foods targeting ACE2.

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) has essential functions, such as nourishing and supporting the neural retina, and is of vital importance in the pathogenesis of age-related retinal degeneration. However, the exact molecular changes of RPE during aging remain poorly understood. Here, we isolated human primary RPE (hRPE) cells from 18 eye donors distributed over a wide age range (10–67 years old). A quantitative proteomic analysis was performed to analyze changes in their intracellular and secreted proteins. Age-group related subtypes and age-associated proteins were revealed and potential age-associated mechanisms were validated in ARPE-19 and hRPE cells. The results of proteomic data analysis and verifications suggest that RNF123- and RNF149-related protein ubiquitination plays an important role in protecting hRPE cells from oxidative damage during aging. In older hRPE cells, apoptotic signaling-related pathways were up-regulated, and endoplasmic reticulum organization was down-regulated both in the intracellular and secreted proteomes. Our work paints a detailed molecular picture of hRPE cells during the aging process and provides new insights into the molecular characteristics of RPE during aging and under other related clinical retinal conditions.

To investigate the effect of endogenous protease on the texture of Yesso scallop muscle during cold storage, the texture and protein change related indexes of Yesso scallop muscle was measured during 4 ℃ cold storage 7 d with a purpose to identify the functions of proteinases. The results showed that the hardness, springiness, chewiness and gumminess generally decreased during the whole cold storage process. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that muscular proteins began to degrade obviously on the third day. In terms of enzyme activity, serine proteinase (SP) activity began to decrease sharply after 2 days of cold storage. Serine proteinase was purified from the muscle of Yesso scallop by ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration and hydrophobic chromatography. SDS-PAGE and gelatin zymogram showed that in native condition SP was in homodimer form with molecular weight of 52 kDa. The optimum pH of SP was 9.0 and the optimum temperature was 37 ℃. SP specifically hydrolyzes substrates containing arginine or lysine residues at P1 position on the carboxyl side. Serine protease specific inhibitors including PMSF, Leupeptin, Pefabloc SC and Benzamidine could inhibit the activity of SP by 97%, 98%, 90% and 85%, respectively. Metal ions Fe2+, Zn2+ and Cu2+ could also significantly suppress the activity of SP. SP could effectively degrade scallop myofibrillar at 37 ℃, which delivered a reference for revealing the effect of SP on the quality of Yesso scallop muscle protein.

The iterative upgrading of digital technology and the implementation of “carbon-peaking and carbon neutrality” national strategy provide an opportunity for the synergistic integration of digital economy and green economy in China, thus, whether the development of digital economy can curb urban carbon emission intensity (CEI) remains to be answered. Based on the panel data of 110 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) region from 2011 to 2020, this paper investigated the impact of digital economy on CEI by using the dual fixed-effect model, the mediating mechanism model and the spatial Durbin model. The main results are as follows: (1) The development of digital economy in the YREB region can lower down CEI, promote the rationalization and upgrading of industrial structure, and improve cities’ green innovation capacity; (2) CEI was reduced through the intermediary effect of industrial structure optimization and upgrading and green technology innovation; (3) Digital economy shows a significant positive spatial correlation, and exerts a spatial spillover effect of reducing CEI in surrounding cities with obvious spatial heterogeneity; (4) Digital economy has a stronger inhibitory impact on CEI in the downstream cities and cities within the urban agglomerations; (5) In addition to digital infrastructure, the remaining components of digital economy, directly and indirectly, diminish CEI. At last, according to the research findings, suggestions for digital economy development in the YREB region are put forward.

Background: Observational studies have implied a potential correlation between allergic diseases and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the relationship is still inconclusive as it is likely to be interfered with by substantial confounding factors and potential reverse causality. The present study aimed to investigate causal correlation of the two diseases by a Mendelian randomization (MR) study and further elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods: With the biggest summary datasets of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in the East Asian population, we conducted a two-sample, bidirectional MR study to assess the causal correlation between shrimp allergy (SA) and MDD. Subsequently, we identified the pleiotropic genes’ susceptibility to the two diseases at whole-genome and tissue-specific levels, respectively. Enriched GO sets and KEGG pathways were also discovered to elucidate the potential underlying mechanisms. Results: With the most suitable MR method, SA was identified as a causal risk factor for MDD based on three different groups of independent genetic instruments, respectively (p < 2.81 × 10−2). In contrast, we did not observe a significant causal effect of MDD on SA. The GWAS-pairwise program successfully identified seven pleiotropic genetic variants (PPA3 > 0.8), indicating that the two diseases indeed have a shared genetic basis. At a whole-genome level, the MAGMA program identified 44 pleiotropic genes, which were enriched in allergy-related pathways, such as antigen processing and presentation pathway (p = 1.46 × 10−2). In brain-specific tissue, the S-MultiXcan program found 17 pleiotropic genes that were significantly enriched in immune-related pathways and GO sets, including asthma-related pathway, T-cell activation-related, and major histocompatibility complex protein-related GO sets. Regarding whole-blood tissue, the program identified six pleiotropic genes that are significantly enriched in tolerance induction-related GO sets. Conclusions: The present study for the first time indicated a significant causal effect of SA on the occurrence of MDD, but the reverse was not true. Enrichment analyses of pleiotropic genes at whole-genome and tissue-specific levels implied the involvement of allergy and immune-related pathways in the shared genetic mechanism of the two diseases. Elucidating the causal effect and the acting direction may be beneficial in reducing the incidence rate of MDD for the massive group of SA patients in the East Asian region.

Tidal flats in eastern China have undergone various transformations into other land-use types. Understanding the impact of land-use conversion on soil properties and microbial communities is crucial for effective ecological conservation efforts. In this study, we compared soil chemical properties and the diversity, composition, and ecological functions of soil bacterial and fungal communities across four land-use types: natural bare land (BL), unused reclaimed tidal land (Phragmites, PL), agricultural land (maize, ML), and shelterbelt land (SL), utilizing next-generation sequencing technology. The results indicated that soil electrical conductivity decreased, while soil organic carbon (SOC) and nutrient contents increased in ML and SL compared to BL and PL. The bacterial Chao1 and fungal Chao1 and Shannon values vary across different land-use types. A higher relative abundance of Acidobacteriota, specifically RB41, was found in ML compared to BL. Principal coordinate and PerMANOVA analysis showed that the composition of bacterial and fungal communities differed significantly across the four land-use types. SOC explained the most variance in both bacterial and fungal communities. Carbon-related functional genes and fungal guilds exhibit greater diversity across the four land-use types compared to nitrogen-related functional genes. In conclusion, the transformation of natural land-use types to managed one greatly altered soil chemical and microbial properties. Our study offers foundational insights into the microbial communities in the typical land-use types of Eastern China’s coastal area. Future studies should emphasize the quantification of human interventions and their impact on soil microbial communities and ecological functions.

To prepare Eucheuma spinosum sulfated polysaccharides with low viscosity, high solubility and high bioavailability, fermented Eucheuma spinosum sulfate polysaccharides (F-ESP) was prepared by fermenting Lactobacillus rhamnoides, a common probiotic bacteria in fermented food, response surface methodology was used to optimize the preparation process with the yield of crude polysaccharide as the index. Low temperature freeze-thaw Eucheuma spinosum sulfate polysaccharide (L-ESP) was used as control. After purification by DEAE-52 column chromatography, the contents of total sugar, reducing sugar, sulfate and other substances and monosaccharide composition were determined, and the chemical composition of F-ESP was analyzed. The physical properties of F-ESP were characterized by viscosity, solubility, molecular weight and microstructure. The functional group structure of F-ESP was analyzed by infrared spectroscopy. The antiallergic activity of F-ESP was evaluated by Rat Basophilic Leukemia-2H3 (RBL-2H3) degranulation assay. When the ratio of material to liquid was 1:70, the inoculation amount was 5%, and the fermentation time was 24 h, the yield of crude polysaccharide was the highest (41.70%±2.00%). The purified F-ESP-3 monosaccharide structure was mainly composed of galactose, and the total sugar content was 97.77%±1.10%. The sulfate content was 28.40%±1.40%. Compared with L-ESP-3, the reducing sugar content of F-ESP-3 (7.87%±0.09%) was significantly higher, the molecular weight (33.58 kD) was significantly decreased (P

Cra a 4 is a heat stable allergen in oyster, the effect of Maillard reaction on the immunoreactivity and structure of Cra a 4 was investigated. Firstly, Cra a 4 was cloned, expressed and identified. The purified Cra a 4 was incubated with xylose at 100 °C, pH 8.5 for 30 min or with glucose for 60 min. After Maillard reaction, the IgE-binding activity of Cra a 4 and in vitro digested samples was reduced by about 50%. The unfold α-helix and higher surface hydrophobicity of glycated Cra a 4 were identified as the reason for hypo-immunoreactivity. The higher frequency of lysine (13%) in the primary structure and exposure on the surface of the spatial structure was attributed to the hypo-immunoreactivity of Cra a 4 after Maillard reaction. It comprehensively evaluated the effects of Maillard reaction on Cra a 4 and provids new methods for the industrial production of hypoallergenic oyster. The modified Cra a 4 by Maillard reaction could be a hypoallergenic therapeutic agent for allergy to oyster.

In order to enhance tribological performance of both water-based and oil-based lubricant, the SiO2 nanoscale ionic liquid (NIL), an amphiphilic lubricant additive, was prepared by using a sulfuric acid terminated organo-silane as corona and polyether amine as canopy. Various analytical techniques were used to characterize the SiO2 NIL and stability of the nanolubricants. A ball-on-disk tribometer was adopted to investigate the lubrication enhancement of the SiO2 NIL in both water-based and oil-based lubricants. The results show that the SiO2 NIL can reduce the coefficient of friction (COF) and wear in these two lubricant groups, especially in the water-based lubricant. The lubrication mechanisms are ascribed to the polishing, ball bearing and mending effects of the SiO2 NIL.

BackgroundProstate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common tumors and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men. The discovery of novel biomarkers for PCa diagnosis in the early stage, as well as discriminating aggressive PCa from non-aggressive PCa continue to pose a challenge. The aim of this study was to identify serum proteins that were sensitive and specific enough to detect early-stage and aggressive PCa.MethodsThe serum proteomic profiling of patients with PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) was comprehensively analyzed using data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry (DIA-MS), and the bioinformatics analysis was performed. The differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) of interest were further verified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoturbidimetry assay.ResultsStatistically significant difference in abundance showed 56 DEPs between early-stage PCa and BPH and 47 DEPs between aggressive and non-aggressive PCa patients. In addition, the verification results showed that serum L-selectin concentration was significantly higher (p

The non/hypo-response rate of the hepatitis B vaccine among hemodialysis (HD) patients is still high, it is of great significance to explore the influencing factors and their relationships. To study the related factors and their relationships using logistic regression model and Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) decision tree model. A randomized controlled trial was conducted between February 2014 and May 2015 in China. HD patients being serologically negative for HBsAg and anti-HBs were randomly assigned to receive three intramuscular injections of the standard dose (20 µg) or high dose (60 µg) of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine at months 0, 1, and 6. Those with anti-HBs concentrations 4 times per 2 weeks) (OR = 1.918, 95%CI: 1.015–3.626) had a significant risk of non/hypo-response. While the CHAID analysis showed that gender, dose, and dialysis frequency were influencing factors of non/hypo-response, and gender is most important. The interaction between gender and dialysis frequency had the greatest effect on immunization, and followed by the interaction between dialysis frequency and vaccine dose. Taken together, gender, dose and dialysis frequency were influencing factors of hepatitis B vaccine in HD patients.

Background and aim: The effect of structural viral protein 1 (VP1) on neurological damage caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection is unclear. This study aimed to explore the transcriptome changes in EV infected patients and the role of VP1 on the cell secretion pathway of neuron cells. Methods: In our cohort, EV infected patients were enrolled, and RNA-seq analysis was used to evaluate the distinct transcript patterns of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The EV71 VP1-overexpressing vector (pEGFP-c3-VP1) was generated and transfected into neuron cells. The relationship between Glutamate Rich 3 (ERICH3) and methyltransferase Zinc Finger CCCH-Type Containing 13 (ZC3H13) and their effect on the serotonin (5-HT) release of neuron cells were explored using small interfering RNA. The expression of ERICH3 and ZC3H13 and concentration of 5-HT were determined using real-time PCR, Western blot, and ELISA, respectively. Result: The expression of ERICH3 and ZC3H13 were significantly upregulated in EV infected patients with neurological symptoms compared to those without (P

PurposeTo study the long-term photoreceptor changes and to evaluate the effects of topical application of a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (CAI) in a mouse model of X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS).MethodsConventional electroretinograms (ERGs) and dark-adapted 10-Hz flicker ERGs were recorded in control and Rs1−/Y mice generated with CRISPR/Cas9. ON-pathway blocker 2-amino-4-phosphobutyric acid (APB) was injected intravitreally. Morphology was evaluated with histology and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Mice were treated with a CAI inhibitor brinzolamide eye drops (10 mg/ml) three times a day for 3 months. OCT and ERG findings at 1, 4, and 10 months were analyzed.ResultsNegative ERGs and retinal cavities were evident in Rs1−/Y mice. Both a-wave and b-wave amplitudes decreased with age when compared with age-matched controls. The APB-isolated a-wave (a′) amplitudes of Rs1−/Y mice were reduced in all age groups. In dark-adapted 10-Hz flicker ERG, the amplitude-intensity curve of Rs1−/Y mice shifted down. The thickness of ONL and IS/OS decreased in Rs1−/Y mice. CAI reduced the splitting retinal cavities but didn't affect the ERG.ConclusionsIn addition to post receptoral impairments, photoreceptor cells underwent progressive dysfunction since early age in Rs1−/Y mice. Long-term CAI treatment improved the shrinkage of the splitting retinal cavity, while no functional improvement was observed.

Nowadays, the time lag between vulnerability discovery and the timely remediation of the vulnerability is extremely important to the current state of cybersecurity. Unfortunately, the silent security patch presents a significant challenge. Despite related work having been conducted in this area, the patch identification lacks interpretability. To solve this problem, this paper first proposes a trusted multi-view security patch identification system called TMVDPatch. The system obtains evidence from message commit and code diff views respectively, and models the uncertainty of each view based on the D-S evidence theory, thereby providing credible and interpretable security patch identification results. On this basis, this paper performs weighted training on the original evidence based on the grey relational analysis method to improve the ability to make credible decisions based on multi-views. Experimental results show that the multi-view learning method exhibits excellent capabilities in terms of the complementary information provided by control dependency and data dependency, and the model shows strong robustness across different hyperparameter settings. TMVDPatch outperforms other models in all evaluation metrics, achieving an accuracy of 85.29% and a F1 score of 0.9001, clearly verifying the superiority of TMVDPatch in terms of accuracy, scientificity, and reliability.

Insects are important components of biodiversity and play significant roles in the steppe ecosystem. They are abundant, easy to sample, and sensitive to changing conditions, making them useful indicators of environmental changes. This study aims to describe patterns (α and β) of insect diversity across two steppe types (a typical steppe and a desert steppe) along the Eastern Eurasian Steppe Transect (EEST), as well as evaluate the effects of environmental variables in determining these patterns and the influence of plant diversity alterations on these effects. To this end, we collected 5244 individual insects and found an n-shaped diversity distribution along the latitudinal gradient and a significant difference in insect communities across the two steppe types. Further, the Mantel test and path analysis indicate that climate and grazing activities combine to influence insect diversity, and these effects are mediated through plant diversity, strongly supporting the role of bottom-up effects in situations of climatic and grazing pattern changes. Moreover, the contribution of plant diversity varied with steppe types and insect functional groups, with greater effects seen in the typical steppe and herbivorous insects. This indicated the importance of protecting species diversity in steppes through managing plant diversity and assessments of local environmental factors such as grazing intensity and temperature.

Inflammation is a major regulator of drug-metabolizing enzymes (DMEs), therefore contributing to the interindividual variability of drug effects. However, whether prenatal inflammation affects DMEs expression in offspring remains obscure. This study investigated the effects of prenatal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure on hepatic expression of inflammatory-related genes, nuclear receptors, and DMEs in offspring mice. Prenatal LPS exposure on gestational day (GD) 10 led to higher expression of NF-κB, Pxr, and Cyp2b10, while lower expression of Car, Ahr, Cyp3a11, and Ugt1a1 in postnatal day (PD) 30 offspring. However, multiple doses of LPS exposure on GD10-14 resulted in higher levels of inflammatory-related genes, Cyp1a2, and Cyp2b10, and lower levels of Pxr and Cyp3a11 in PD30 offspring liver. For PD60 offspring, decreased hepatic expression of NF-κB and IL-6, and increased expression of Pxr and Cyp3a11 were seen in single-dose LPS groups, whereas opposite results were observed in the multiple-dose LPS groups. Notably, enhanced H3K4me3 levels in the PXR response elements of the Cyp3a11 promoter were observed in the liver of PD60 offspring mice from dams treated with multiple doses of LPS during pregnancy. Overall, this study suggests that parental LPS exposure could persistently alter the hepatic expression of DMEs, and histone modifications may contribute to the long-term effects.

Controlled-release urea (CRU) is widely adopted to improve yields and nitrogen use efficiencies (NUEs) in rice. However, there are few studies on the effects of the mixed application of CRU and normal urea (at different N ratios) on rice yield, nitrogen efficiency, and grain quality. A series of simplified fertilization modes (SFMs) were set up in 2018–2019. CRU with release periods of 80 days and 120 days were mixed with urea at N ratios of 7:3, 6:4, 5:5, 4:6, and 3:7 and applied during the rice-growing season. We determined the rice yield, dry matter accumulation, NUEs, and grain quality. The yields of SFM_80_6/4 (CRU with release periods of 80 days were mixed with urea at N ratios of 6:4) and SFM_120_5/5 (CRU with release periods of 120 days were mixed with urea at N ratios of 5:5) were 3.69% and 4.39% higher than that of fractionated urea (FU), respectively, across 2018 and 2019. Combining the application of controlled-release urea and normal urea improved the dry matter accumulation, nitrogen accumulation, and nitrogen uptake rate when compared with FU. SFMs improved the processing quality and appearance quality of rice grains and did not reduce the cooking and eating quality. SFM_80_6/4 and SFM_120_5/5 are a one-time fertilization mode with high yield, high efficiency, and good grain quality, which is worthy of further promotion and application.

The co-rotating twin screw extruder is widely used in the modification， granulating， premix and other production of engineering plastics. The co-rotating gearbox is one of the important components of the extruder， the output phase of which is a key parameter for the capacity of the extruder. The formation mechanism of deviation of gearbox output phase is analyzed， and the effective measure of assembly adjustment is proposed. Some reference for the research and design of similar transmission system is provided.

It is challenging to design complex structures and calculate their dimensions only on the basis of theory. This issue was resolved efficiently by the FEM. Using the applicable test, the mechanical properties of the materials used in the damper are estimated, effectively guiding the design of the device and boosting its vibration-reducing performance. A large-load unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) airborne radar is the subject of this research article. According to particular use case, vibration dampers for the radar-mounting platform are designed using passive vibration isolation technology to reduce aircraft vibration transmission to the radar. A conference paper has already presented prior research on the same topic. Earlier research confirmed the vibration-isolating efficacy of the T-type rubber isolator, which can greatly improve the operational conditions of the airborne radar. In contrast, earlier studies relied more on experimental validation and did not use numerical simulations. This research’s primary objective is the development of a T-type rubber isolator, whose vibration reduction performance is proven using FEM and experiments. Utilizing a suitable simulation analysis method to investigate the vibration reduction of an unmanned aerial vehicle’s (UAV) airborne component is a crucial technical task. By comparing multiple material models, a more precise model for characterizing rubber was developed.

The traditional process of alumina production by acid method was to neutralize the aluminum chloride solution obtained by acid leaching for preparing aluminum hydroxide, and then calcined to produce alumina. This process not only had many processes, but also had high energy consumption. In this paper, the properties of alumina prepared by pyrolysis of aluminum chloride solution were studied by chemical composition analysis, XRD and SEM. Thermodynamics of the pyrolysis process was analyzed. The effects of temperature and time on the pyrolysis properties of aluminum chloride solution were investigated. The results showed that it would be completely feasible according to thermodynamic calculation of the pyrolysis reactions of aluminum chloride solution. Meanwhile with the increasing of temperature and pyrolysis time, the residual chlorine content decreased gradually, and the particle size of the product decreased and tended to be uniform. The prolongation of pyrolysis time promoted the pyrolysis process of aluminum chloride solution and contributed to the formation of Al2O3 phase.

Background Pneumonia is a common acute lower respiratory infection in children and elders. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have recently been uncovered to play important roles in pneumonia. However, the function and mechanism of circ_0038467 in pneumonia remain elusive. Methods Cell viability and apoptosis were determined using the Cell Counting Kit‐8 (CCK‐8) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The levels of interleukin 6 (IL‐6), IL‐8 and IL‐1β were detected by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Western blot analysis was performed to assess the expression of related proteins. Circ_0038467 was characterized by Ribonuclease R (RNase) digestion and subcellular localization assays. The levels of circ_0038467 and miR‐338‐3p were evaluated by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR). The direct interaction between circ_0038467 and miR‐338‐3p was validated by the dual‐luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays. Results Our data indicated that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced an inflammatory injury in 16HBE cells by repressing cell viability and enhancing cell apoptosis and proinflammatory cytokines production. Circ_0038467 was upregulated and miR‐338‐3p was downregulated in LPS‐treated 16HBE cells. Circ_0038467 knockdown or miR‐338‐3p overexpression attenuated LPS‐induced 16HBE cell inflammatory injury. Moreover, circ_0038467 acted as a sponge of miR‐338‐3p in 16HBE cells. MiR‐338‐3p mediated the alleviated effect of circ_0038467 knockdown on LPS‐induced 16HBE cell inflammatory injury. Additionally, the Janus kinase/ signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK/STAT3) signaling pathway was involved in the circ_0038467/miR‐338‐3p axis‐mediated regulation in LPS‐induced 16HBE cell inflammatory injury. Conclusions The current work had led to the identification of circ_0038467 knockdown that alleviated LPS‐induced inflammatory injury in 16HBE cells at least partly through sponging miR‐338‐3p and regulating JAK/STAT3 pathway, highlighting novel molecular targets for the treatment of pneumonia.

Virtual machines (VMs) have become the predominant paradigm for deploying applications, and flash-based caches are widely deployed for VMs to improve their performance. However, due to the semantics of journaling in the VMs' file system are transparent to flash caches, traditional flash caching with journaling induces inefficient logging I/O traffic to the shared storage server and duplicated caching in flash, which not only underutilizes flash caches but also aggravates their wearout. This paper presents JCache, a journaling-aware flash caching solution to address these problems. First, JCache proposes the virtual journal device design to receive and deliver the journaling semantics in the VMs to the cache manager so as to optimize the VM's journaling. Second, JCache proposes a cache-only logging mechanism, which transparently uses the persistent flash caches as the journal area and does cache-only logging to safely eliminate the logging I/O traffic to the shared storage server. Third, JCache proposes the logical caching mechanism, which eliminates the duplicated flash caching induced by logging I/Os and in-place updates to mitigate the wearout of flash caches. Evaluations show that JCache improves the application performance by up to 11.4× and reduces the flash cache writes by up to 42% compared to traditional flash caching solutions.

Abstract Background Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a type of malignant gastrointestinal tumor. Long non-coding RNA MCM3AP antisense RNA 1 (MCM3AP-AS1) has been reported to stimulate proliferation, migration and invasion in several types of tumors. However, the role of MCM3AP-AS1 in PC remains unclear. Methods MCM3AP-AS1, microRNA miR-138-5p (miR-138-5p) and FOXK1 levels were detected using quantitative real time PCR. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were analyzed. Dual luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm the relationship between MCM3AP-AS1 and miR-138-5p, between miR-138-5p and FOXK1. Protein levels were identified using western blot analysis. Results MCM3AP-AS1 overexpression promoted proliferation, migration and invasion in PC cells. MCM3AP-AS1 silencing showed a suppressive effect on cell growth in PC cells. Moreover, MCM3AP-AS1 knockdown suppressed tumor growth in mice. Dual luciferase reporter assay demonstrated MCM3AP-AS1 could sponge microRNA-138-5p (miR-138-5p), and FOXK1 could bind with miR-138-5p. Positive correlation between MCM3AP-AS1 and FOXK1 was testified, as well as negative correlation between miR-138-5p and FOXK1. MCM3AP-AS1 promoted FOXK1 expression by targeting miR-138-5p, and MCM3AP-AS1 facilitated growth and invasion in PC cells by FOXK1. Conclusion MCM3AP-AS1 promoted growth and migration through modulating miR-138-5p/FOXK1 axis in PC, providing insights into MCM3AP-AS1/miR-138-5p/FOXK1 axis as novel candidates for PC therapy from bench to clinic.

Little is known about the particular changes of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation in enterovirus (EV) infection among children with neurologic symptoms. Here, we determined the characterization of EV associated m6A RNA methylation in this population. A prospective cohort study was conducted from 2018/2 to 2019/12 at the Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center. We included EV infected children with and without neurological symptoms. High-throughput m(6)A-RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) and RNA-seq analysis were used to evaluate the m6A RNA methylation and transcript expression of cerebrospinal fluid samples. The functional annotation and pathways of differentially methylated m6A genes with synchronously differential expression were analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). Seven patients were enrolled in the control group, and 13 cases were in the neurological symptoms (NS) group. A total of 3472 differentially expressed genes and 957 m6A modified genes were identified. A conjoint analysis of MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq data found 1064 genes with significant changes in both the m6A modifications and mRNA levels. The different m6A RNA methylation was increased in the transcriptome’s CDS regions but decreased in both the 3′UTRs and stop codon among the NS group. Functional annotation like the “oxidative phosphorylation” gene pathway, “Parkinson’s disease” and GO terms like “respiratory electron transport chain,” “cellular metabolic process,” and “oxidation-reduction process” was enriched in symptomatic patients. Our study elucidated the changes of RNA m6A methylation patterns and related cellular functions and signaling pathways in EV patients with neurologic symptoms.

Salt-affected soils frequently experience leaching and desalination issues, which severely restrict plant growth and water uptake. Hence, in this experiment, four treatments including CG (no amendments addition); OF (organic fertilizer addition); OH (organic fertilizer and Hekang amendment addition); and OB (organic fertilizer and fulvic acid addition) were designed to examine the effect of organic amendment on soil chemical properties, water and salt transport, and soil desalination laws of coastal saline soil. The results showed that the addition of organic amendments significantly reduced soil pH (8.47–8.52) and salt content (2.06–2.34 g kg−1), while increasing soil organic matter content, available phosphorus, and available potassium. OH treatment has a higher available phosphorus content than other treatments. OH and OB treatments elevated the soil desalination ratio (32.95% and 32.12%, respectively) by raising the leaching volume and leaching rate. Organic amendments significantly promoted Na+ (4.5–32%) and SO42− (12–27%) leaching compared to CG. Organic treatments, particularly OB treatment, not only increased the content of soil organic matter and available nutrients but also promoted salt ion leaching, improved soil permeability and increased soil desalination and water leaching rates. Our results may provide a theoretical basis for revealing the desalination law of coastal saline soil.

Rubber shock absorbers are widely used to reduce vibration in aerospace load devices due to their high damping characteristics. However, due to the material nonlinearity of rubber and high temperature, the accurate numerical simulation and practical application of rubber shock absorbers face difficulties and challenges. In this paper, taking a T-type rubber shock absorber as an example, according to the correlation data obtained from the performance test of rubber materials, a constitutive model of rubber materials is established for its hyperelasticity-viscoelasticity simulation analysis. On this basis, the rubber shock absorber was used to carry out the numerical simulation and experimental verification of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR). The results show that when the rubber constitutive model is used for simulation analysis, the obtained acceleration response curve on the UAV LiDAR is in good agreement with the test results, which effectively confirms the accuracy of the numerical simulation, and successfully verifies that the rubber shock absorber is suitable for vibration reduction of UAV LiDAR. At the same time, this method also provides a practical and effective solution for the vibration reduction design of rubber shock absorbers.

In recent years, foodborne diseases caused by Escherichia coli are a major threat to the food industry and consumers. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and ultrasound both have good inhibitory effects on E. coli. In this work, the mechanism of action and synergistic effect of an in silico predicted AMP, designated as TGH2 (AEFLREKLGDKCTDRHV), from the C-terminal sequence of Tegillarca granosa hemoglobin, combined with low-intensity ultrasound was explored. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of TGH2 on E. coli decreased by 4-fold to 31.25 μg/mL under 0.3 W/cm2 ultrasound treatment, while the time kill curve analysis showed that low-intensity ultrasound combined with peptide TGH2 had an enhanced synergistic bactericidal effect after 0.5 h. The permeability on E. coli cell membrane increased progressively during combined treatment with peptide TGH2 and low-intensity ultrasound, resulting in the leakage of intracellular solutes, as shown by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Structural analysis using circular dichroism (CD) revealed that peptide TGH2 has an α-helical structure, showing a slight untwisting effect under 0.3 W/cm2 ultrasound treatment for 0.5 h. The findings here provide new insight into the potential application of ultrasound and AMPs combination in food preservation.

Otubain 2 (OTUB2), a deubiquitinating enzyme, overexpression is considered to predict poor outcome in various cancers. However, the function and potential regulatory mechanisms of OTUB2 in gastric cancer (GC) progression remains unclear. To determine how OTUB2 participate in GC progression, the gain and loss of-function experiments were conducted in vivo and in vitro. We found that OTUB2 was upregulated in GC samples (n=140) and cells. Moreover, the overall, first progression and post progression survival rates of GC patients with high OTUB2 expression showed a poorer prognosis than that in those patients with low OTUB2 expression. Down-regulation of OTUB2 suppressed sphere formation and reduced expression of stem cell markers in GC cells. Furthermore, OTUB2-silenced GC cells also showed a decreased proliferation, invasion, migration, and in vivo tumorigenic ability. However, OTUB2 overexpression showed the opposite effects. Notably, we demonstrated that OTUB2 increased lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A (KDM1A) expression through deubiquitination. KDM1A, a demethylase known to promote demethylation of downstream genes, was identified to promote the maintenance of cancer stem cell characteristics. Moreover, the alterations caused by OTUB2 overexpression were partly inversed by KDM1A knockdown and in turn KDM1A overexpression reversed the changes induced by OTUB2 shRNA. Taken together, we demonstrate that OTUB2 may serve as a vital driver in GC tumorigenesis by enhancing KDM1A-mediated stem cell-like properties.

BackgroundSubmicroscopic segmental imbalances detected by array-comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) were discovered to be common in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients with t(9;22) as the sole chromosomal anomaly. To confirm the findings of the previous study and expand the investigation, additional CML patients with t(9;22) as the sole chromosomal anomaly were recruited and copy number variants (CNVs) were searched for.MethodsKaryotyping tests were performed on 106 CML patients during January 2010–September 2019 in our Genetics Laboratory. Eighty-four (79.2%) patients had the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome as the sole chromosomal anomaly. Only 49(58.3%) of these 84 patients had sufficient marrow or leukemia blood materials to additionally be included in the array-CGH analysis. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was carried out to confirm the genes covered by the deleted or duplicated regions of the CNVs.Results11(22.4%) out of the 49 patients were found to have one to three somatic segmental somatic segmental (CNVs), including fourteen deletions and three duplications. The common region associated with deletions was on 9q33.3-34.12. Identified in five (45.5%) of the 11 positive patients with segmental CNVs, the deletions ranged from 106 kb to 4.1 Mb in size. Two (18.2%) cases had a deletion in the ABL1-BCR fusion gene on der (9), while three (27.3%) cases had a deletion in the ASS1 gene. The remaining CNVs were randomly distributed on different autosomes.ConclusionSubtle genomic CNVs are relatively common in CML patients without cytogenetically visible additional chromosomal aberrations (ACAs). Long-term studies investigating the potential impact on patient prognosis and treatment outcome is underway.

The protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks can be regarded as powerful platforms to elucidate the principle and mechanism of cellular organization. Uncovering protein complexes from PPI networks will lead to a better understanding of the science of biological function in cellular systems. In recent decades, numerous computational algorithms have been developed to identify protein complexes. However, the majority of them primarily concern the topological structure of PPI networks and lack of the consideration for the native organized structure among protein complexes. The PPI networks generated by high-throughput technology include a fraction of false protein interactions which make it difficult to identify protein complexes efficiently. To tackle these challenges, we propose a novel semi-supervised protein complex detection model based on non-negative matrix tri-factorization, which not only considers topological structure of a PPI network but also makes full use of available high quality known protein pairs with must-link constraints. We propose non-overlapping (NSSNMTF) and overlapping (OSSNMTF) protein complex detection algorithms to identify the significant protein complexes with clear module structures from PPI networks. In addition, the proposed two protein complex detection algorithms outperform a diverse range of state-of-the-art protein complex identification algorithms on both synthetic networks and human related PPI networks.

In this contribution, a series of isothermal compression tests for the 825 nickel-based alloy were performed using a Gleeble-3800 computer-controlled thermomechanical simulator at the compression temperature range of 850 °C to 1150 °C and the strain rate range of 0.14 s−1 to 2.72 s−1. The hot deformation equation of the alloy is derived from the piecewise model based on the theory of work hardening-dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization (DRX), respectively. Comparisons between the predicted and experimental data indicate that the proposed constitutive model had a highly accurate prediction. The deformation rate and temperature effect were associated with microstructural change, and the evolution of the microstructure was analyzed through electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The dislocation densities of the alloy at the deformation of 850 °C and 2.72 s−1 is higher than at the other deformation, the higher dislocation density is the higher stored energy and the higher degree of DRX. As well, two types of DRX nucleation mechanisms have been identified: discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) and continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX). Changes in grain boundary have significant effect on the DRX nucleation of the alloy, twin boundaries act as potential barriers limiting dislocation slip and motion and eventually leading to the accumulation of dislocation during plastic deformation. This study identified that the major contribution which results in the growth of new twins in DRX grains is the new boundary of Σ3 twins.

Nitrogen fertilizer is essential for rice growth and development, and topdressing nitrogen fertilizer at panicle stage has a huge impact on rice grain quality. However, the effect of panicle nitrogen fertilizer (PNF) on starch physicochemical properties and fine structure remain unclear. In this study, four PNF levels (0, 60, 120, 180 kg N ha−1) were grown with the same basal and tiller fertilizer (150 kg N ha−1). The starch physicochemical properties, fine structure, texture properties and eating quality of two japonica rice were determined. We found that the content of total protein, crude fat and amylose between superior and inferior grains were significantly different. Compared with inferior grains, superior grains had low relative crystallinity, good pasting characteristics and outstanding eating quality. With the increase of nitrogen application rates, the starch volume mean diameter was lower; the average chain length of amylopectin was longer; and the relative crystallinity of starch was higher. The changes above in starch structure resulted in an increase in starch solubility, swelling power and gelatinization enthalpy, and led to a decrease in retrogradation enthalpy, retrogradation percentage and pasting viscosity, consequently contributing to the increase in hardness and stickiness of rice and the deterioration of taste value. These results indicated that topdressing PNF lengthened the amylopectin chain, decreased starch granule size, enhanced crystallization stability and increased gelatinization enthalpy, which were the direct reasons for the deterioration of cooking and eating quality.

Nitrogen fertilizer is an important agronomic measure to regulate rice yield and grain quality. Grain filling is crucial for the formation of rice yield and grain quality. However, there are few studies on the effects of excessive nitrogen application (ENA) on grain filling rate and grain quality. A two-year field experiment was conducted to reveal the difference in grain filling characteristics and grain quality of superior grains (SG) and inferior grains (IG), as well as their responses to nitrogen fertilizer. We determined the grain appearance, the rice yield, the grain filling characteristics of SG and IG, and grain quality. We found that with the increasing nitrogen application level, grain yield of both varieties first increased and then decreased. The average yield of excessive nitrogen application (345 kg N ha−1) was 2.68–6.31% lower than that of appropriate nitrogen application (270 kg N ha−1). ENA reduced the grain filling rate by 12.7–25.8%, and the grain filling rate of SG was higher than that of IG. Increasing nitrogen application increased the processing quality and appearance quality of rice grain, but ENA deteriorated the appearance quality, eating quality and nutritional quality. The amylose content and taste value of SS were 3.1–9.7% and 7.1–20.2% higher than those of IS, respectively. The protein components of SG were lower than those of IG. Taken together, our results revealed that ENA leads to the lowering of rice grain yield and grain quality by suppressed grain filling of inferior grains.