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Background: Hemerocallis citrina Baroni (daylily) is a horticultural ornamental plant and vegetable with various applications as a raw material in traditional Chinese medicine and as a flavouring agent. Daylily contains many functional substances and is rich in lecithin, which is mostly composed of glycerophospholipids. To study the comprehensive dynamic changes in glycerophospholipid during daylily flowering and the underlying signalling mechanisms, we performed comprehensive, time-resolved lipidomic and transcriptomic analyses of 'Datong Huanghua 6' daylily. Results: Labelling with PKH67 fluorescent antibodies clearly and effectively helped visualise lipid changes in daylily, while relative conductivity and malonaldehyde content detection revealed that the early stages of flowering were controllable processes; however, differences became non-significant after 18 h, indicating cellular damage. In addition, phospholipase D (PLD) and lipoxygenase (LOX) activities increased throughout the flowering process, suggesting that lipid hydrolysis and oxidation had intensified. Lipidomics identified 558 lipids that changed during flowering, with the most different lipids found 12 h before and 12 h after flowering. Transcriptome analysis identified 13 key functional genes and enzymes in the glycerophospholipid metabolic pathway. The two-way orthogonal partial least squares analysis showed that diacylglycerol diphosphate phosphatase correlated strongly and positively with phosphatidic acid (PA)(22:0/18:2), PA(34:2), PA(34:4), and diacylglycerol(18:2/21:0) but negatively with phospholipase C. In addition, ethanolamine phosphotransferase gene and phospholipid-N-methyltransferase gene correlated positively with phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)(16:0/18:2), PE(16:0/18:3), PE(33:2), and lysophosphatidylcholine (16:0) but negatively with PE(34:1). Conclusions: Overall, this study elucidated changes in the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway during the daylily flowering process, as well as characteristic genes, thus providing a basis for future studies of glycerophospholipids and signal transduction in daylilies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) are a powerful tool for system modeling, which can be used for static and dynamic analysis. However, traditional FCMs are usually learned by gradient-based methods, and the adopted sigmoid nonlinear activation function frequently causes gradient saturation. These two shortcomings set a limit on the modeling accuracy. To overcome those problems, we propose in this paper a new FCM with two improvements. First, the rectified linear unit (ReLu) activation function is adopted to replace the sigmoid function. Second, a newly proposed quasi-oppositional bare bone imperialist competition algorithm (QBBICA) is used to learn the FCM. The improved FCM is used to predict the employment rate of graduates from Liren College, Yanshan University. Experimental results show that the improved FCM is effective in employment rate prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zone A in Nanpu Sag of Bohai Bay has the characteristics of multiple provenances, multiple sedimentary systems, fast phase transition, many faults, a short fault distance, thin reservoirs and rapid lateral changes. At present, due to the low resolution of seismic data and thin sand layer of the target formation, it is difficult to depict the channel sand body, and it is also difficult to meet the requirements of accurately implementing low amplitude structures, reservoir prediction and well location deployment. When a seismic wave propagates in the stratum, it has the characteristics of multi-scale, multi-resolution and multi-directionality, while the Curvelet transform has the advantage of expressing these characteristics. In this paper, according to the geological characteristics and seismic response characteristics of continental thin interbedded strata in zone A, the seismic data are first transformed to the Curvelet domain. Then, the formation absorption and seismic wave attenuation are compensated in the Curvelet domain. Lastly, the data mentioned above are inversely transformed into the time–space domain. This paper presents the method and process of using the Curvelet transform to enhance the resolution of seismic data in thin interbedded strata. The application of a theoretical model and field data show that this method can effectively enhance the resolution of seismic data while maintaining a high signal-to-noise ratio. The innovative use of this method in zone A lays the foundation for the follow-up work of this structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovarian cancer is known as the second leading cause of gynecologic cancer-associated deaths in women worldwide. Developing new and effective compounds to alleviate chemoresistance is an urgent priority in ovarian cancer. Here, we aimed to reveal the biological function and underlying mechanisms of phellopterin, a naturally sourced ingredient of Angelica dahurica, in ovarian cancer progression as well as evaluate the therapeutic potential of phellopterin in ovarian cancer patients. In this investigation, we found that phellopterin mitigated DNA replication and induced cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and DNA damage, attenuating cell proliferation and chemoresistance of ovarian cancer. Interestingly, bioinformatics analyses of data from our RNA sequencing and The Cancer Genome Atlas ovarian cancer dataset suggested that phellopterin presented anti-cancer activities in ovarian cancer cells by modulating signals affecting ovarian cancer progression and identified phellopterin as a potential compound in improving ovarian cancer patients' prognosis. In addition, the C-Type Lectin Domain Containing 5A (CLEC5A) was demonstrated as a downstream effector of phellopterin and involved in a positive PU.1/CLEC5A/PI3K-AKT feedback loop. Interestingly, phellopterin might inactivate the positive feedback circuit to suppress ovarian cancer progression. Collectively, our investigation revealed that phellopterin mitigated ovarian cancer proliferation and chemoresistance through suppressing the PU.1/CLEC5A/PI3K-AKT feedback loop, and predicted phellopterin as a new and effective cytotoxic drug and CLEC5A as a potential target for the treatment of ovarian cancer. • Phellopterin presented cytotoxic activities in ovarian cancer cells. • Phellopterin attenuated ovarian cancer proliferation and chemoresistance. • Phellopterin inactivated the PU.1/CLEC5A/PI3K-AKT feedback loop. • Phellopterin was predicted as an effective cytotoxic drug in ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an agonist to innate immune system, Salmonella flagellin has been proven to be a potent adjuvant either admixed or genetically fused with antigens and applied to a variety of vaccines against infectious diseases. However, relatively little is known about its carrier–adjuvant effect for conjugate vaccine. Conjugation is an effective approach often used to make haptens such as some peptides and polysaccharides immunogenic and in some cases used to make poor immunogens more immunogenic. In the current study, Salmonella flagellin was tested for its carrier–adjuvant effect in a peptide conjugation. The recombinant Salmonella flagellin (rFliC) purified from Escherichia coli was firstly modified by maleimide groups, then coupled with a synthetic peptide (EXP153:CDNNLVSGP) that is a B-cell epitope derived from Plasmodium falciparum exported protein-1 to generate the conjugate of EXP153–rFliC. Bioactivity assay showed that both chemical modification and conjugation did not apparently impair the TLR5-ligand activity of rFliC. EXP153–rFliC was used to immunize BALB/c mice via subcutaneous route, and the sera obtained from immunized mice were examined by ELISA and IFA. While no detectable antibody responses were induced by the peptide admixed with rFliC, the robust peptide-specific antibody responses were observed in mice immunized with the peptide conjugated to rFliC in the absence of any additional adjuvant. The immune sera induced by the conjugate recognized the native protein of malaria parasite. The data obtained from this study demonstrate the carrier–adjuvant activity of Salmonella flagellin in peptide conjugate immunization and indicate its promising application for conjugate vaccine research and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Optimal extraction lecithin conditions: 90% ethanol, 1:20 material-solvent ratio, 30 min, 40°C • Highest lecithin content was obtained in the flower bud, specifically the stamen • Contents in freeze-dried flower buds higher than those in oven-dried/sun-dried buds • The best harvest period for daylily is between 18 h before flowering and bloom (0 h) • Lecithin synthesis in daylily was controlled by both the Kenndy de novo pathway and the triple sequential methylation pathway Hemerocallis citrina Baroni (daylily) is an important flower plant, consumed as food and used in traditional Chinese medicine. The daylily flower bud is rich in several functional substances, and lecithin is the most important among them. However, the optimum conditions for extracting lecithin from daylily flower buds are yet to be determined. The objective of this study was to examine the differences in the lecithin contents in daylily, identify the key enzymes and genes involved in lecithin synthesis, and establish the optimal conditions for lecithin extraction and detection by high-performance liquid chromatography. Initial treatment with acetone before ethanol extraction significantly increased the quantity of lecithin extracted compared with that extracted by direct ethanol extraction. The optimum lecithin extraction conditions were as follows: 90% ethanol concentration, 1:20 material-to-solvent ratio, 30 min extraction time, and 40°C extraction temperature. The highest lecithin content was obtained from the flower bud, specifically the stamen (3.49 mg/g). Additionally, the best harvest period for daylily flower buds with regards to lecithin content and nutritional quality was between 18 h before flowering and bloom (0 h). The lecithin content in freeze-dried daylily flower buds was higher than that in oven-dried and sun-dried flower buds. Among the varieties examined, Xiushan Huanghua (H0177) had the highest lecithin content (3.99 mg/g). Furthermore, the activity of phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEAMT) was significantly higher than that of other enzymes involved in lecithin synthesis. Additionally, genes involved in lecithin synthesis were significantly expressed in the flower buds at different developmental stages. Overall, the findings of this study contribute to the understanding of lecithin synthesis in daylily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human keratinocyte primary cultures are commonly established by tissue dissociation and often rely on feeder cell supports and culture medium that is not defined. Further, contamination by unwanted fibroblasts can be problematic. Here, we developed a skin explant method for growing primary keratinocytes that was rapid, simple, and reliably generated keratinocyte cultures free of fibroblast contamination. The process capitalized on the observation that fibroblasts migrate out of adult skin explants later than epidermal cells, allowing the early harvesting of keratinocytes by trypsinization. When grown subsequently in defined medium in the absence of feeder cells, the explant-derived cells grew rapidly and could be cultured for multiple passages. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that a high percentage of cells harvested from the explant outgrowths expressed K15, while very few expressed the differentiation marker K10. Cells that were stained while migrating out from explants strongly expressed markers associated with progenitor cells, including p63, K15 and CD133, and displayed intense K6 expression, indicative of activated keratinocytes in wound-healing epidermis. By replenishing the explants with fresh medium after harvesting, further epidermal outgrowths could be obtained, offering the possibility of greatly increased keratinocyte yields for clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate prediction of employment rate of graduated students can greatly help education authorities to make informed decisions as well as for universities to adjust their teaching plans. Unfortunately, prediction of the employment rate of graduated students is still a difficult problem because the historical employment rate data exhibits fluctuations. In this paper, a new method is proposed for employment rate prediction using fractional gray GM(1,1|$$ \mid $$sin) model, which aims to alleviate the effect of data fluctuation on prediction accuracy and increase the contribution of new data in the prediction procedure. To further decrease prediction error, a Fourier series is adopted to model the residual series. The proposed model, called Fourier Fractional GM(1,1|$$ \mid $$sin) Model (FFGMsin), is used to predict the employment rate of graduated students of Yanshan University from 2010 to 2019. Results show that the proposed method can obtain more accurate prediction results than GM(1,1) model and its variants. © 2024 Institute of Electrical Engineer of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine dynamic optical service restoration on a large-scale ROADM network operated by China Telecom in the middle and lower Yangtze River region of China. A WSON-based GMPLS/ ASON control plane, deployed across the network, drives execution of restoration operations. A network survivability analysis (NSA) tool is used for simulation-based assessment of link failure impacts and expected service restoration performance. Evolutions in wavelength utilization, when operating dynamic restoration on a large set of services and over a range of concurrent fiber cut numbers and placements across the network, are examined in detail through NSA-based analysis. The results are partly verified through live network experiments conducted during network commissioning operations. Observations of other restoration performance aspects, such as service times to restore, are also discussed. We show that with dynamic restoration, full service restorability can remain achievable even in the face of four or more concurrent fiber cuts. We describe how findings from NSA-based analyses may be used to influence network planning or to partially prescribe control plane restoration actions to improve service times to restore, and reduce restoration conflicts and failures. We posit that the best such improvements may be available when NSA is operated in concert with centralized path computation applications (e.g., PCE and T-SDN controllers). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periprocedural myocardial injury is a prognostically important complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, it still remains unclear whether and how intensive atorvastatin therapy attenuates the unfavorable inflammatory responses of monocytes associated with PCI. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of intensive atorvastatin therapy on inflammatory responses of monocytes in Chinese patients with unstable angina who received PCI in order to explore the potential anti-inflammatory mechanism. Ninety-six patients with unstable angina were randomly assigned to atorvastatin 80 mg (intensive) or atorvastatin 20 mg (conventional) treatment at a 1:1 ratio. Creatine kinase MB (CK-MB), cTnI, hs-CRP, and IL-6 were assessed, and circulating CD14 monocytes were simultaneously obtained using CD14 MicroBeads 2 h before and 24 h after PCI. Plasma levels of CK-MB, cTnI, hs-CRP, and IL-6 were higher in the conventional dose group versus those in the intensive dose group following PCI. Furthermore, intensive atorvastatin treatment markedly reduced the expressions and responses of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), TLR4, and CCR2 of CD14 monocytes versus the conventional dose group and significantly increased the activated peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) γ in the CD14 monocytes post-PCI. Notably, the changes in responses of TLR2, TLR4, and CCR2 of CD14 monocytes between the two groups were all reversed by PPARγ antagonist and augmented by PPARγ agonist. In conclusion, a single high (80 mg) loading dose of atorvastatin reduced the inflammatory response in Chinese patients with unstable angina following PCI. The anti-inflammatory role of intensive atorvastatin was possibly due to attenuation of inflammatory response in monocytes via PPARγ activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We studied development and senescence in daylily flowers over a 24 h period. • The loss of cell wall material and cohesion was associated with senescence. • Pectin-specific epitopes showed that the cell wall pectin had been remodeled. • Demethylesterification of the pectin was evident when the outer tepals opened. • The number of pectin side chains was greatly reduced during senescence. Ephemeral flower deaths occur within 24 h of flowering in the genus Hemerocallis. The senescence of plant organs is owing to the loss of cell wall cohesion. Pectin is the most structurally complex plant cell wall polysaccharide and has an important role in cell-to-cell adhesion. In this study, we used histological stains, immunolocalization and pectin characterization analyses to examine the dynamic changes in pectin in Hemerocallis citrina 'Datonghuanghua' tepals at eight stages (S1–S8). The pectin-specific antibodies JIM5 and JIM7, which hybridize to differently esterified regions of the homogalacturonan (HG) backbone, showed that demethylesterification of HG-type pectins was evident after the outer tepals had opened. Before flower opening, these two antibodies labelled tissue continuously across the cell wall, and the cells were round and tightly packed. The labeling of highly esterified epitopes recognized by JIM7 became deformed when the outer tepals opened. However, 12 h after blooming, low-and high-esterified epitope signals were disrupted near the vascular cylinder, and air space then appeared until these signals disappeared. labeling with the antibody LM5, which is specific for the (1 → 4)-β galactan side chains of rhamnogalacturonan-I, was disrupted near the vascular cylinder at the same stage. Moreover, the contents of neutral sugars in pectin analyses showed that galactose decreased significantly at 12 h after blooming. Three enzymes were involved in pectin remodeling at different developmental phases. The activities of pectin methylesterase continued to increase after the outer tepals opened and reached a significant peak at 12 h after blooming. The activities of polygalacturonase and pectate lyase also increased, but the difference was not significant. Our findings revealed that demethylesterification of HG-type pectins was evident after the outer tepals opened, and this remodeling greatly facilitated their degradation by pectic enzymes. The loss of cell wall material and cohesion that accompanied the activities of pectic enzymes was associated with senescence. Therefore, remodeling of the pectin in cell walls of the tepals is necessary for the occurrence of senescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]