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AIM: To investigate the effects of placement of the absorbable packing material Nasopore around the anastomosis site on postoperative re-bleeding, discomfort, and on the success rate of endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy(En-DCR).METHODS: Prospective randomized controlled study. A total of 101 patients(101 eyes)diagnosed with chronic dacryocystitis that underwent En-DCR in the ophthalmology department, Renmin Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine from November 2020 to October 2021 were collected. The patients were randomly divided into two groups according to whether they were packed with Nasopore at the end of operation, namely, the packed group(49 eyes)and the non-packed group(52 eyes). The postoperative follow-up was 9 mo, the degree of re-bleeding, discomfort, and postoperative success rate(including anatomical success rate and functional success rate)were compared between the two groups of patients.RESULTS: This study included 94 patients, including 45(45 eyes)and 49(49 eyes)in packed group and non-packed group, respectively. The En-DCR was performed successfully in all patients. Postoperative re-bleeding occurred in 1 eye(2%)in the packed group, and 9 eyes(18%)in the non-packed group(P0.05). The postoperative functional success rate was 89%(40/45)in the packed group and 86%(42/49)in the non-packed group(P>0.05). Other complications such as orbital fat prolapse, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, sinusitis, visual impairment and double vision were not observed in all patients during the follow-up.CONCLUSION: Nasal packing absorbable material Nasopore around the anastomosis at the end of En-DCR operation can reduce postoperative re-bleeding and postoperative discomfort of patients, and it has no obvious effect on the postoperative success rate.

Abstract Background Nanoplastics, are emerging pollutants, present a potential hazard to food security and human health. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (Nano-TiO2), serving as nano-fertilizer in agriculture, may be important in alleviating polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs) toxicity. Results Here, we performed transcriptomic, metabolomic and physiological analyzes to identify the role of Nano-TiO2 in regulating the metabolic processes in PSNPs-stressed maize seedlings (Zea mays L.). The growth inhibition by PSNPs stress was partially relieved by Nano-TiO2. Furthermore, when considering the outcomes obtained from RNA-seq, enzyme activity, and metabolite content analyses, it becomes evident that Nano-TiO2 significantly enhance carbon and nitrogen metabolism levels in plants. In comparison to plants that were not subjected to Nano-TiO2, plants exposed to Nano-TiO2 exhibited enhanced capabilities in maintaining higher rates of photosynthesis, sucrose synthesis, nitrogen assimilation, and protein synthesis under stressful conditions. Meanwhile, Nano-TiO2 alleviated the oxidative damage by modulating the antioxidant systems. Interestingly, we also found that Nano-TiO2 significantly enhanced the endogenous melatonin levels in maize seedlings. P-chlorophenylalanine (p-CPA, a melatonin synthesis inhibitor) declined Nano-TiO2-induced PSNPs tolerance. Conclusions Taken together, our data show that melatonin is involved in Nano-TiO2-induced growth promotion in maize through the regulation of carbon and nitrogen metabolism. Graphical Abstract

In this paper, promising but simple schemes are investigated to enhance the micro-bunching of relativistic electron beams for coherent harmonic generation (CHG) by using phase merging effects. In contrast to the standard CHG scheme, two specially designed dispersion sections (DSs) are adopted with the DS-modulator–DS configuration. The phase space of the e beam is appropriately coupled in the first DS, and the electrons within one seed wavelength can merge to the same phase with a matched second DS. Micro-bunching of the e beam can thus be enhanced by a large margin with much higher-harmonic components. Taking e beams from laser wakefield accelerators (LWFAs) as an example, start-to-end simulations are performed to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed schemes with several configurations. The beam current can be optimized to several tens to hundreds of kiloamperes, and the radiation power reaches hundreds of megawatts in the extreme ultraviolet regime within a 3.5 m-long beamline. The proposed schemes offer new opportunities for future compact free-electron lasers driven by LWFAs and provides prospects for truly compact and widely applicable systems.

Summary: The strategy of lowering cholesterol levels by promoting cholesterol excretion is still lacking, and few molecular targets act on multiple cholesterol metabolic processes. In this study, we find that Nogo-B deficiency/inhibition simultaneously promotes hepatic uptake of cholesterol and cholesterol excretion. Nogo-B deficiency decreases cholesterol levels by activating ATP-binding cassette transporters (ABCs), apolipoprotein E (ApoE), and low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) expression. We discover that Nogo-B interacts with liver X receptor α (LXRα), and Nogo-B deficiency inhibits ubiquitination degradation of LXRα, thereby enhancing its function on cholesterol excretion. Decreased cellular cholesterol levels further activate SREBP2 and LDLR expression, thereby promoting hepatic uptake of cholesterol. Nogo-B inhibition decreases atherosclerotic plaques and cholesterol levels in mice, and Nogo-B levels are correlated to cholesterol levels in human plasma. In this study, Nogo-B deficiency/inhibition not only promotes hepatic uptake of blood cholesterol but also facilitates cholesterol excretion. This study reports a strategy to lower cholesterol levels by inhibiting Nogo-B expression to promote hepatic cholesterol uptake and cholesterol excretion.

Abstract Sepsis is an infection‐triggered, rapidly progressive systemic inflammatory syndrome with a high mortality rate. Currently, there are no promising therapeutic strategies for managing this disease in the clinic. Heparanase plays a crucial role in the pathology of sepsis, and its inhibition can significantly relieve related symptoms. Here, a novel heparanase inhibitor CV122 is rationally designed and synthesized, and its therapeutic potential for sepsis with Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Cecal Ligation and Puncture (CLP)‐induced sepsis mouse models are evaluated. It is found that CV122 potently inhibits heparanase activity in vitro, protects cell surface glycocalyx structure, and reduces the expression of adhesion molecules. In vivo, CV122 significantly reduces the systemic levels of proinflammatory cytokines, prevents organ damage, improves vitality, and efficiently protects mice from sepsis‐induced death. Mechanistically, CV122 inhibits the activity of heparanase, reduces its expression in the lungs, and protects glycocalyx structure of lung tissue. It is also found that CV122 provides effective protection from organ damage and death caused by Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) infection. These results suggest that CV122 is a potential drug candidate for sepsis therapy targeting heparanase by inhibiting cytokine storm.

Abstract Background This study evaluates the impact of corneal power on the accuracy of 14 newer intraocular lens (IOL) calculation formulas in cataract surgery. The aim is to assess how these formulas perform across different corneal curvature ranges, thereby guiding more precise IOL selection. Methods In this retrospective case series, 336 eyes from 336 patients who underwent cataract surgery were studied. The cohort was divided into three groups according to preoperative corneal power. Key metrics analyzed included mean prediction error (PE), standard deviation of PE (SD), mean absolute prediction error (MAE), median absolute error (MedAE), and the percentage of eyes with PE within ± 0.25 D, 0.50 D, ± 0.75 D, ± 1.00 D and ± 2.00 D. Results In the flat K group (Km

In mammals, 17-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 (Hsd17b2) enzyme specifically catalyzes the oxidation of the C17 hydroxyl group and efficiently regulates the activities of estrogens and androgens to prevent diseases induced by hormone disorders. However, the functions of the hsd17b2 gene involved in animal sex differentiation are still largely unclear. The ricefield eel (Monopterus albus), a protogynous hermaphroditic fish with a small genome size (2n = 24), is usually used as an ideal model to study the mechanism of sex differentiation in vertebrates. Therefore, in this study, hsd17b2 gene cDNA was cloned and its mRNA expression profiles were determined in the ricefield eel. The cloned cDNA fragment of hsd17b2 was 1230 bp, including an open reading frame of 1107 bp, encoding 368 amino acid residues with conserved catalytic subunits. Moreover, real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis showed that hsd17b2 mRNA expressed strongly in the ovaries at early developmental stages, weakly in liver and intestine, and barely in testis and other tissues. In particular, hsd17b2 mRNA expression was found to peak in ovaries of young fish and ovotestis at the early stage, and eventually declined in gonads from the late ovotestis to testis. Likewise, chemical in situ hybridization results indicated that the hsd17b2 mRNA signals were primarily detected in the cytoplasm of oogonia and oocytes at stage I–II, subsequently concentrated in the granulosa cells around the oocytes at stage Ⅲ–Ⅳ, but undetectable in mature oocytes and male germ cells. Intriguingly, in ricefield eel ovaries, hsd17b2 mRNA expression could be significantly reduced by 17β-estradiol (E2) or tamoxifen (17β-estradiol inhibitor, E2I) induction at a low concentration (10 ng/mL) and increased by E2I induction at a high concentration (100 ng/mL). On the other hand, both the melatonin (MT) and flutamide (androgen inhibitor, AI) induction could significantly decrease hsd17b2 mRNA expression in the ovary of ricefield eel. This study provides a clue for demonstrating the mechanism of sexual differentiation in fish. The findings of our study imply that the hsd17b2 gene could be a key regulator in sexual differentiation and modulate sex reversal in the ricefield eel and other hermaphroditic fishes.

Summary: Somatic mutations contribute to cancer development by altering the activity of enhancers. In the study, a total of 135 mutation-driven enhancers, which displayed significant chromatin accessibility changes, were identified as candidate risk factors for breast cancer (BRCA). Furthermore, we identified four mutation-driven enhancers as independent prognostic factors for BRCA subtypes. In Her2 subtype, enhancer G > C mutation was associated with poorer prognosis through influencing its potential target genes FBXW9, TRIR, and WDR83. We identified aminoglutethimide and quinpirole as candidate drugs targeting the mutated enhancer. In normal subtype, enhancer G > A mutation was associated with poorer prognosis through influencing its target genes ALOX15B, LINC00324, and MPDU1. We identified eight candidate drugs such as erastin, colforsin, and STOCK1N-35874 targeting the mutated enhancer. Our findings suggest that somatic mutations contribute to breast cancer subtype progression by altering enhancer activity, which could be potential candidates for cancer therapy.

The fruits of Siraitia grosvenorii (S. grosvenorii) have attracted a lot of scientific interest as part of the current healthy diet. S. grosvenorii has diverse health-promoting effects, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, respiratory modulation, metabolic modulation, antitumor, and neuroprotective effects, as well as gastrointestinal function modulation. As a plant resource, S. grosvenorii has broad application prospects, which promotes the development of the horticultural industry. Moreover, Mogroside has attracted much attention as an important active ingredient of S. grosvenorii. This review provides an in-depth exploration of the distribution, chemical composition, health benefits, and application of S. grosvenorii, particularly Mogroside. This comprehensive exploration highlights the important therapeutic potential of S. grosvenorii, prompting further research into its applications. As value-added functional ingredients, S. grosvenorii and its constituents have significant potential for disease prevention and are widely used in the development of food and health supplements.

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the behavior of Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) on fresh-cut cucumbers. Fresh-cut cucumber samples were inoculated with a mixture of six strains of L. monocytogenes. The inoculated samples were stored at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 °C. The results demonstrated that L. monocytogenes was able to grow on fresh-cut cucumbers at all the evaluated temperatures, although its growth decreased but was not inhibited at 5 °C. An extreme storage temperature of 35 °C considerably reduced the lag time. L. monocytogenes growth on fresh-cut cucumbers was controlled for several days by storage at a low temperature, mainly at 5 °C. Thus, this product should only be stored at low temperatures. The growth process was fitted by the Baranyi model, with the specific growth rates equally well-fitted to the Ratkowsky square-root model. The R-square and mean square error values for the corresponding Ratkowsky square-root models were 0.97 (R2 > 0.95) and 0.02, respectively. The Baranyi and Ratkowsky square-root models exhibited good relevancy. The predictive models developed in this study can be used to estimate the risk assessment of L. monocytogenes on fresh-cut cucumber.

Citrus fruits, renowned for their abundant of phytochemicals and bioactive compounds, hold a prominent position as commercially grown fruits with health-promoting properties. In this context, tangerine peel (Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, CRP) is garnering attention as a byproduct of citrus fruits. Within the framework of the circular economy, CRP has emerged as a focal point due to its potential health benefits. CRP, extracted from Citrus reticulata cv. and aged for over three years, has attracted increasing attention for its diverse health-promoting effects, including its anticancer, cardiovascular-protecting, gastrointestinal-modulating, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties. Moreover, CRP positively impacts skeletal health and various physiological functions. This review delves into the therapeutic effects and molecular mechanisms of CRP. The substantial therapeutic potential of CRP highlights the need for further research into its applications in both food and medicine. As a value-added functional ingredient, CRP and its constituents are extensively utilized in the development of food and health supplements, such as teas, porridges, and traditional medicinal formulations.

Both melatonin and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) mitigate chromium (Cr) toxicity in plants, but the specific interaction between melatonin and H2S in Cr detoxification remains unclear. In this study, the interaction between melatonin and H2S in Cr detoxification was elucidated by measuring cell wall polysaccharide metabolism and antioxidant enzyme activity in maize. The findings revealed that exposure to Cr stress (100 μM K2Cr2O7) resulted in the upregulation of L-/D-cysteine desulfhydrase (LCD/DCD) gene expression, leading to a 77.8% and 27.3% increase in endogenous H2S levels in maize leaves and roots, respectively. Similarly, the endogenous melatonin system is activated in response to Cr stress. We found that melatonin had a significant impact on the relative expression of LCD/DCD, leading to a 103.3% and 116.7% increase in endogenous H2S levels in maize leaves and roots, respectively. In contrast, NaHS had minimal effects on the relative mRNA expression of serotonin-Nacetyltransferase (SNAT) and endogenous melatonin levels. The production of H2S induced by melatonin is accompanied by an increase in Cr tolerance, as evidenced by elevated gene expression, elevated cell wall polysaccharide content, increased pectin methylesterase activity, and improved antioxidant enzyme activity. The scavenging of H2S decreases the melatonin-induced Cr tolerance, while the inhibitor of melatonin synthesis, p-chlorophenylalanine (p-CPA), has minimal impact on H2S-induced Cr tolerance. In conclusion, our findings suggest that H2S serves as a downstream signaling molecule involved in melatonin-induced Cr tolerance in maize.

Oxidative stress significantly contributes to ageing and disease, with antioxidants holding promise in mitigating its effects. Functional foods rich in flavonoids offer a potential strategy to mitigate oxidative damage by free radicals. We investigated the protective effects of mulberry leaf flavonoids (MLF) against H2O2-induced oxidative damage in HepG2 cells. It assessed the inhibitory effect of MLF (62.5–500 μg/mL) on H2O2-induced oxidative damage by analyzing cellular morphology and oxidative stress markers, including ROS production, mitochondrial membrane potential, antioxidant enzyme levels, MDA, and apoptosis-related proteins. The results demonstrated that MLF prevented spiny cell formation triggered by 750 μM H2O2 and significantly reduced ROS levels, restored mitochondrial membrane potential, decreased lactate dehydrogenase and alanine transaminase leakage, and reduced MDA content induced by H2O2. MLF also modulated antioxidant enzymes and attenuated oxidative damage to HepG2 cell DNA, as confirmed by staining techniques. These findings indicate the potential of MLF as a hepatoprotective agent against oxidative damage in HepG2 cells.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a novel gas signaling molecule, has been shown to enhance plant resistance to various abiotic stresses. Here, we investigated the effect of sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, a H2S donor) on the growth, photosynthetic parameters, and enzyme activities related to carbon and nitrogen metabolism, as well as the levels of carbohydrates and nitrogen metabolites in foxtail millet seedlings subjected to drought stress conditions in pots. The findings revealed that drought stress led to a significant 41.2% decline in the total dry weight (DW) after 12 days of treatment, whereas plants treated with NaHS showed a lesser reduction of 18.7% in total DW. Under drought stress, exogenous NaHS was found to enhance carbon metabolism in foxtail millet seedlings by significantly enhancing photosynthetic capacity, starch, and sucrose content. Additionally, exogenous NaHS was observed to improve nitrogen metabolism by substantially increasing soluble protein content, nitrogen assimilate activity, and synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds in foxtail millet seedlings. In summary, the exogenous application of NaHS stimulated seedling growth and enhanced drought resistance in foxtail millet by modulating carbon and nitrogen metabolism processes affected by drought stress.

Abstract The zinc finger proteins (ZNFs) mediated transcriptional regulation is critical for cell fate transition. However, it is still unclear how the ZNFs realize their specific regulatory roles in the stage-specific determination of cardiomyocyte differentiation. Here, we reported that the zinc fingers and homeoboxes 1 (Zhx1) protein, transiently expressed during the cell fate transition from mesoderm to cardiac progenitors, was indispensable for the proper cardiomyocyte differentiation of mouse and human embryonic stem cells. Moreover, Zhx1 majorly promoted the specification of cardiac progenitors via interacting with hnRNPA1 and co-activated the transcription of a wide range of genes. In-depth mechanistic studies showed that Zhx1 was bound with hnRNPA1 by the amino acid residues (Thr111–His120) of the second Znf domain, thus participating in the formation of cardiac progenitors. Together, our study highlights the unrevealed interaction of Zhx1/hnRNPA1 for activating gene transcription during cardiac progenitor specification and also provides new evidence for the specificity of cell fate determination in cardiomyocyte differentiation.

The severe interface reaction, which has been a challenging problem in graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) reinforced Ti6Al4V (TC4) matrix composites, results in poor mechanical and tribological properties. Herein, GNPs/TC4 composites exhibited excellent wear resistance by introducing the in-situ TiB whiskers (TiBw) on the interface between GNPs and matrix. This work highlights the mechanical and tribological properties of GNPs/TC4 composites by diminishing the interface reaction and strengthening the interface bonding through the in-situ formed TiBw.

The need for naturally occurring constituents is driven by the rise in the cancer prevalence and the unpleasant side effects associated with chemotherapeutics. Triptolide, the primary active component of “Tripterygium Wilfordii”, has exploited for biological mechanisms and therapeutic potential against various tumors. Based on the recent pre-clinical investigations, triptolide is linked to the induction of death of cancerous cells by triggering cellular apoptosis via inhibiting heat shock protein expression (HSP70), and cyclin dependent kinase (CDKs) by up regulating expression of P21. MKP1, histone methyl transferases and RNA polymerases have all recently identified as potential targets of triptolide in cells. Autophagy, AKT signaling pathway and various pathways involving targeted proteins such as A-disintegrin & metalloprotease-10 (ADAM10), Polycystin-2 (PC-2), dCTP pyro-phosphatase 1 (DCTP1), peroxiredoxin-I (Prx-I), TAK1 binding protein (TAB1), kinase subunit (DNA–PKcs) and the xeroderma-pigmentosum B (XPB or ERCC3) have been exploited. Besides that, triptolide is responsible for enhancing the effectiveness of various chemotherapeutics. In addition, several triptolide moieties, including minnelide and LLDT8, have progressed in investigations on humans for the treatment of cancer. Targeted strategies, such as triptolide conjugation with ligands or triptolide loaded nano-carriers, are efficient techniques to confront toxicities associated with triptolide. We expect and anticipate that advances in near future, regarding combination therapies of triptolide, might be beneficial against cancerous cells.

AbstractVisual tracking is an essential process for performing automated cell manipulation tasks. However, Real-time accurate cell tracking in FluidFM is challenging due to probe occlusion during manipulation. This study presents a correlation filtering-based tracking method for real-time, high-precision position tracking of cells and probes. In this method, a target template update strategy is proposed to realize cell tracking under probe occlusion, which abandons the use of pixel values in the occlusion area and reduces the interference of the occlusion area in model learning. Cell tracking and automated manipulation experiments were carried out to validate the proposed method. The Experimental results show that the proposed tracking method can accurately measure the positions of occlusion cells and probe. Furthermore, combined with the precise force control of the FluidFM’s probe, the automated cell Pick & Place experiments was accomplished with high accuracy and robustness.

We propose a novel approach for generating a high-density, spatially periodic narrow electron beam comb (EBC) from a plasma grating induced by the interference of two intense laser pulses in subcritical-density plasma. We employ particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations to investigate the effects of cross-propagating laser pulses with specific angles overlapping in a subcritical plasma. This overlap results in the formation of a transverse standing wave, leading to a spatially periodic high-density modulation known as a plasma grating. The electron density peak within the grating can reach several times the background plasma density. The charge imbalance between electrons and ions in the electron density peaks causes mutual repulsion among the electrons, resulting in Coulomb expansion and acceleration of the electrons. As a result, some electrons expand into vacuum, forming a periodic narrow EBC with an individual beam width in the nanoscale range. To further explore the formation of the nanoscale EBC, we conduct additional PIC simulations to study the dependence on various laser parameters. Overall, our proposed method offers a promising and controlled approach to generate tunable narrow EBCs with high density.

Heart failure is the leading cause of death worldwide. Compound Danshen Dripping Pill (CDDP) or CDDP combined with simvastatin has been widely used to treat patients with myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular diseases in China. However, the effect of CDDP on hypercholesterolemia/atherosclerosis-induced heart failure is unknown. We constructed a new model of heart failure induced by hypercholesterolemia/atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and LDL receptor (LDLR) dual deficient (ApoE–/–LDLR–/–) mice and investigated the effect of CDDP or CDDP plus a low dose of simvastatin on the heart failure. CDDP or CDDP plus a low dose of simvastatin inhibited heart injury by multiple actions including anti-myocardial dysfunction and anti-fibrosis. Mechanistically, both Wnt and lysine-specific demethylase 4A (KDM4A) pathways were significantly activated in mice with heart injury. Conversely, CDDP or CDDP plus a low dose of simvastatin inhibited Wnt pathway by markedly up-regulating expression of Wnt inhibitors. While the anti-inflammation and anti-oxidative stress by CDDP were achieved by inhibiting KDM4A expression and activity. In addition, CDDP attenuated simvastatin-induced myolysis in skeletal muscle. Taken together, our study suggests that CDDP or CDDP plus a low dose of simvastatin can be an effective therapy to reduce hypercholesterolemia/atherosclerosis-induced heart failure.

The thermal comfort of passengers in the carriage cannot be ignored. Thus, this research aims to establish a prediction model for the thermal comfort of the internal environment of a subway car and find the optimal input combination in establishing the prediction model of the predicted mean vote (PMV) index. Data-driven modeling utilizes data from experiments and questionnaires conducted in Nanjing Metro. Support vector machine (SVM), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), and logistic regression (LR) were used to build four models. This research aims to select the most appropriate input variables for the predictive model. All possible combinations of 11 input variables were used to determine the most accurate model, with variable selection for each model comprising 102 350 iterations. In the PMV prediction, the RF model was the best when using the correlation coefficients square (R2) as the evaluation indicator (R2: 0.7680, mean squared error (MSE): 0.2868). The variables include clothing temperature (CT), convective heat transfer coefficient between the surface of the human body and the environment (CHTC), black bulb temperature (BBT), and thermal resistance of clothes (TROC). The RF model with MSE as the evaluation index also had the highest accuracy (R2: 0.7676, MSE: 0.2836). The variables include clothing surface area coefficient (CSAC), CT, BBT, and air velocity (AV). The results show that the RF model can efficiently predict the PMV of the subway car environment.

Fermented Chinese mustard greens are popular fermented vegetable foods in Guangdong Province, China. In this study, the quality characteristics and microbial composition of fermented Chinese mustard greens from different regions, including Shantou (ST), Meizhou (MZ), Yunfu (YF), and Guangzhou (GZ), were evaluated. The colour and texture of fermented Chinese mustard greens were significantly different from those of ST, MZ, YF, and GZ. L* values were 48.62, 42.30, 32.43, and 34.02 in the stem parts of ST, MZ, YF, and GZ, respectively. The chewiness value was greater in GZ (131.26 N) than in MZ (53.25 N), YF (39.99 N), and GZ (24.22 N) zones. The microbial community structure determined by high-throughput sequencing (HTS) demonstrated that Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Campilobacterota were the predominant phyla. Lactobacillus was the most predominant microorganism in the MZ and GZ samples and accounted for a greater proportion of the microorganisms in the ST and YF samples. In addition to Lactobacillus, the relative abundances of Cobetia and Weissella were greater in the ST group, while those of Halomonas and Pediococcus were greater in the YF group. There was a significant correlation between the microbial composition and quality indices (colour and texture) among the samples from the four regions. The quality of the fermented Chinese mustard greens in MZ and GZ was significantly different from that of other samples in ST and YF. The Lactobacillus genus (Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus selangorensis) in MZ and GZ contributed to changes in colour (b*, C*, L*, a*) and texture (firmness and chewiness). This study provided a comprehensive correlation between quality and microbial composition of fermented Chinese mustard greens from different regions in Guangdong Province. The evaluation and correlation between quality and microbiota are helpful for guiding future improvements in fermentation processes and manufacturing high-quality fermented Chinese mustard greens.

Although zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have demonstrated promising anticancer activity, their therapeutic performances are frequently influenced by the synthesis routes and associated distinct physicochemical characteristics. Herein, ZnO NPs were synthesized through a cost-effective flame spray pyrolysis-assisted approach and their selective anticancer effects and underlying intrinsic apoptosis signaling pathway in human gastric carcinoma cell line (AGS) were examined. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) investigations were used to characterize the synthesized ZnO NPs. Afterwards, AGS and normal fibroblast cells (L-929) were treated with various concentrations of ZnO NPs, and cell proliferation was examined by the MTT assay to determine the IC50 concentration of NPs. Furthermore, the quantification of ROS and apoptosis was done by fluorometer and flow cytometry assays. Additionally, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity assays were performed to evaluate the oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity mediated by ZnO NPs against AGS cells. Moreover, caspase-3/-8/-9 activity and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) assays were done. Finally, the expression levels of p53, Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-9/-8/-3, and cytochrome c were assessed by quantitative real time PCR and western blot analyses to explore the probable mitochondrial apoptosis signaling pathway induced by ZnO NPs in AGS cells. The results showed that ZnO NPs with an absorption maximum at 350 nm, an average size of 70 nm, a hydrodynamic radius of 92.89 nm, and a zeta potential of −43.13 mV potentially and selectively inhibited the proliferation of AGS cells in comparison with L-929 cells through a remarkable increase in the production of ROS, induction of apoptosis, reduction of SOD and CAT activity, activation of caspase-9/-3, and MMP disruption. Moreover, ZnO NPs triggered up-regulation of p53, Bax, caspase-9/-3, cytochrome c and down-regulation of Bcl-2 at mRNA and protein levels. This study suggests that synthesized ZnO NPs through flame spray pyrolysis can induce selective anticancer effects against gastric cancer cells via intrinsic apoptosis signaling pathway.

Increasing pollution has significantly threatened the Antarctic ecosystem. The contamination of hydrocarbons has drawn a considerable amount of attention owing to their toxicity, recalcitrance, and persistence. Considering the Antarctic Treaty, only indigenous species are allowed to bioremediate the contaminated environment. However, the knowledge of the ecological role, physiology, function, and genomics of endemic hydrocarbon consumers is still limited. Here, we investigated the dynamics of phenanthrene-consuming communities derived from the Antarctic soil and found that Variovorax, Rhodocyclaceae, and Hydrogenophaga were differentiated in all the phenanthrene-consuming subcultures. We isolated a pure culture of the key hydrocarbon consumer Variovorax sp. strain N23. Moreover, the result of the polyphasic approach suggested that strain N23 represents a novel species of the genus Variovorax. In addition, the genomic characteristics of this strain revealed incomplete degradation pathways for diverse hydrocarbons. Overall, this study reveals the relatively weak hydrocarbon-degrading potential of the indigenous bacteria and suggests the need for more careful protection of the Antarctic ecosystem.

Abstract Purpose To systematically compare and rank ocular measurements with optical and ultrasound biometers based on big data. Methods PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library and the US trial registry ( www.ClinicalTrial.gov ) were used to systematically search trials published up to October 22nd, 2020. We included comparative studies reporting the following parameters measured by at least two devices: axial length (AL), flattest meridian keratometry (Kf), steepest meridian keratometry (Ks), mean keratometry (Km), astigmatism (AST), astigmatism vectors J0 and J45, anterior chamber depth (ACD), aqueous depth (AQD), central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal diameter (CD) and lens thickness (LT). A network-based big data analysis was conducted using STATA version 13.1. Results Across 129 studies involving 17,181 eyes, 12 optical biometers and two ultrasound biometers (with both contact and immersion techniques) were identified. A network meta-analysis for AL and ACD measurements found that statistically significant differences existed when contact ultrasound biometry was compared with the optical biometers. There were no statistically significant differences among the four swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) based devices (IOLMaster 700, OA-2000, Argos and ANTERION). As for Ks, Km and CD, statistically significant differences were found when the Pentacam AXL was compared with the IOLMaster and IOLMaster 500. There were statistically significant differences for CCT when the OA-2000 was compared to Pentacam AXL, IOLMaster 700, Lenstar, AL-Scan and Galilei G6. Conclusion For AL and ACD, contact ultrasound biometry obtains the lower values compared with optical biometers. The Pentacam AXL achieves the lowest values for keratometry and CD. The smallest value for CCT measurement is found with the OA-2000.

Abstract Biallelic variants in Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) are the main pathogenic factor of congenital absence of the vas deferens (CAVD), including congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD) and congenital unilateral absence of the vas deferens (CUAVD). However, there are few reports about the correlation between CFTR variant and outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART) in CAVD patients of China. In this study, 104 patients with CAVD were recruited in Central China, and provided gene detection by the whole-exome sequencing, among them 69% (72/104) carried at least one variant in CFTR and one carried adhesion G protein-coupled receptor G2 (ADGRG2) variant. A total of 81 CAVD patients were treated with ART, of which 21 and 60 carried none or at least one variant in CFTR, respectively. The fertilization rate, cleavage rate, effective embryo rate, implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate per fresh embryo transfer were compared between patients with and without CFTR variants. It was found that the ART outcomes had no significant difference whether the patients carried the CFTR variant or not. In addition, all of the offspring were healthy after follow-up. In conclusion, rare CFTR variants may play a major role in patients with CAVD in Central China, which were greatly different from other descent. There was no significant difference in ART outcomes in CAVD patients with or without CFTR variants. The limitations of this study were that there was no statistical analysis of the sperm quality through TESA and conclusions were relatively limited due to the small sample size of the study.

Brain metastasis occurs in approximately 30% of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and is closely associated with poor prognosis, recurrence, and death. However, dynamic gene regulation and molecular mechanism driving LUAD progression remain poorly understood. In this study, we performed a comprehensive single-cell transcriptome analysis using data from normal, early stage, advanced stage, and brain metastasis LUAD. Our single-cell-level analysis reveals the cellular composition heterogeneity at different stages during LUAD progression. We identified stage-specific risk genes that could contribute to LUAD progression and metastasis by reprogramming immune-related and metabolic-related functions. We constructed an early advanced metastatic dysregulated network and revealed the dynamic changes in gene regulations during LUAD progression. We identified 6 early advanced (HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQB1, SFTPB, SFTPC, PLA2G1B, and FOLR1), 8 advanced metastasis (RPS15, RPS11, RPL13A, RPS24, HLA-DRB5, LYPLA1, KCNJ15, and PSMA3), and 2 common risk genes in different stages (SFTPD and HLA-DRA) as prognostic markers in LUAD. Particularly, decreased expression of HLA-DRA, HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQB1, and HLA-DRB5 refer poor prognosis in LUAD by controlling antigen processing and presentation and T cell activation. Increased expression of PSMA3 and LYPLA1 refer poor prognosis by reprogramming fatty acid metabolism and RNA catabolic process. Our findings will help further understanding the pathobiology of brain metastases in LUAD.

Channels and sewers are commonly used to collect sewage during extensively rural areas. The sewage and bacterial characteristics of rural sewage collection systems can influence their operation and maintenance performance which further affect appropriate system decision. In this study, eight rural sewage collection systems (four each of channels and sewers) were applied to evaluate the sewage quality, bacterial characteristics, and their differences of two kinds of collection systems. The results indicate that significantly distinction existed between the rural sewage collection systems of channels and sewers. Sewage in channels had higher suspended solid (SS) concentration but lower sulfide concentration than that in sewers. The SS, sulfate, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal capacity in channels was nearly 3.5, 4.0, and 0.6 times than those in sewers. At least 14 genera and 18 species of bacteria showed significantly distinction between channels and sewers even their main phylum, genus, and species of bacteria communities was Proteobacteria (∼70.3%), Acinetobacter (∼22.3%), and Pseudomonas fragi (∼13.8%), respectively. The structural characteristics and bacterial function caused the difference between channels and sewers. Overall, this study revealed the intrinsic and essential differences of channels and sewers, providing basic and meaningful data for rural sewage collection systems decision. HIGHLIGHTS Sewage quality and bacterial characteristics of channels and sewers were significantly different.; Channels had better SS and sulfate removal abilities but lower COD removal abilities.; Fourteen genera and 18 species of bacteria showed significant distinction between channels and sewers.; Structural characteristics and bacterial function caused the difference between channels and sewers.;

The immature phenotype of embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (ESC-CMs) limits their application. However, the molecular mechanisms of cardiomyocyte maturation remain largely unexplored. This study found that overexpression of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-Cmarr, which was highly expressed in cardiomyocytes, promoted the maturation change and physiological maturation of mouse ESC-CMs (mESC-CMs). Moreover, transplantation of cardiac patch overexpressing Cmarr exhibited better retention of mESC-CMs, reduced infarct area by enhancing vascular density in the host heart, and improved cardiac function in mice after myocardial infarction. Mechanism studies identified that Cmarr acted as a competitive endogenous RNA to impede the repression of miR-540-3p on Dtna expression and promoted the binding of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) and yes-associated protein (YAP), which in turn reduced the proportion of nuclear YAP and the expression of YAP target genes. Therefore, this study revealed the function and mechanism of Cmarr in promoting cardiomyocyte maturation and provided a lncRNA that can be used as a functional factor in the construction of cardiac patches for the treatment of myocardial infarction.

Abstract Background Genomic studies of colorectal cancer have revealed the complex genomic heterogeneity of the tumor. The acquisition and selection of genomic alterations may be critical to understanding the initiation and progression of this disease. Methods In this study, we have systematically characterized the clonal architecture of 97 driver genes in 536 colorectal cancer patients from TCGA. Results A high proportion of clonal mutations in 93 driver genes were observed. 40 genes showed significant associations between their clonality and multiple clinicopathologic factors. Kaplan–Meier analysis suggested that the mutation clonality of ANK1, CASP8, SMAD2, and ARID1A had a significant impact on the CRC patients' outcomes. Multivariable analysis revealed that subclonal ANK1 mutations, clonal CASP8 mutations, and clonal SMAD2 mutations independently predicted for shorter overall survival after adjusting for clinicopathological factors. The poor outcome of the subclonal ANK1 mutation may be caused by upregulation of IL4I1, IDO1, IFNG and MAPK12 which showed potential roles in tumor immune evasion through accumulation of immunosuppressive cells such as regulatory T cells and myeloid derived suppressor cells. Conclusion These results suggested that the clonality of driver genes could act as prognostic markers and potential therapeutic targets in human colorectal cancer.

In this study, the total synthesis of osajin, scandenone and their analogues have been accomplished. The key synthetic steps include aldol/intramolecular iodoetherification/elimination sequence reactions and a Suzuki coupling reaction to assemble the tricyclic core, chemoselective propargylation and Claisen rearrangement reactions to obtain natural compounds. In addition, we also designed and synthesized twenty-five natural product analogues. All synthetic compounds were screened for anti-inflammatory activity against tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Collectively, Compound 39e and 39d were considered as promising lead compounds for further development.

The proportion of highways in infrastructure investment is growing and playing a significant role. It has many advantages in all aspects of social life and has become a timely subject of recent research. However, the existing literature lacks a systematic review of the current research status of highway investment. Thus, this study aims to conduct a scientometric analysis of the existing literature on highway investment to provide an overview of its current state of research. Using the Web of Science Core Collection database, this study conducted searches and screenings of 614 documents related to highway investment from 2013 to 2023. Subsequently, VOSviewer software was employed to perform a visual analysis of source journals, authors, countries/regions, article citations, and keywords. The results reveal that Transportation Research Record is identified as the most influential journal in the field of highway investment. Bullock, Darcy M. has published the greatest number of articles. In addition, the United States has published the largest number of studies and contributed significantly to the advancement of highway investment. Benjamin Faber has received the highest number of citations and normalized citations. Through co-occurring keywords analysis, keywords such as “risk”, “influence”, “investment decision”, and “infrastructure investment” receive more attention. The findings of this research can contribute to providing researchers and scholars with a more comprehensive understanding of the current research status of highway investment and its key issues.

AIM:To compare the accuracy of Toric intraocular lens(IOL)alignment using the Verion image guided system and conventional manual marker. METHODS:Prospective randomized controlled study. A total of 56 eyes of 47 age-related cataract patients who underwent phacoemulsification combined with Toric IOL implantation in our hospital from June 2016 to December 2019 were randomly divided into two groups:In the image-guided group, Verion navigation system collected anterior segmental images before surgery, and Toric target was set to 27 eyes in axial direction. In the marker group, Toric target was marked at 0° and 180° levels before surgery, and Toric target was marked in 29 eyes in axial direction according to the labeling ring. At 1h, 1wk, 1 and 3mo postoperatively, the anterior segment of patients with dilated pupil was photographed. Photoshop software was used to analyze the deviation between the actual axial direction and the target axial direction of the two groups, and the patients' naked eye visual acuity(UCDVA), best corrected visual acuity(BCDVA)and residual astigmatism were recorded. RESULTS: At 1h and 3mo postoperatively, the deviation between the actual axis and the target axis of IOL in the navigation group was less than that in the marker group(1.5°±1.8° vs 3.1°±2.1°; 1.9°±1.6° vs 3.3°±2.4°, all P

Low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs) are derived from heparin through chemical or enzymatic cleavage with an average molecular weight (Mw) of 2000–8000 Da. They exhibit more selective activities and advantages over heparin, causing fewer side effects, such as bleeding and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Due to different preparation methods, LMWHs have diverse structures and extensive biological activities. In this review, we describe the basic preparation methods in this field and compare the main principles and advantages of these specific methods in detail. Importantly, we focus on the non-anticoagulant pharmacological effects of LMWHs and their conjugates, such as preventing glycocalyx shedding, anti-inflammatory, antiviral infection, anti-fibrosis, inhibiting angiogenesis, inhibiting cell adhesion and improving endothelial function. LMWHs are effective in various diseases at the animal level, including cancer, some viral diseases, fibrotic diseases, and obstetric diseases. Finally, we briefly summarize their usage and potential applications in the clinic to promote the development and utilization of LMWHs.

The current epidemic, population growth, and decreasing arable lands lead to a severe food crisis, which calls for productive and efficient agricultural methods to ensure a sustainable food supply for mankind. Crop monitoring is considered to be a potential solution for the improvement of food production. Current crop monitoring combines agriculture methodologies with other advanced technologies, including sensing technology, geographical information systems (GIS), Internet of Things (IoT), information and communication technology (ICT), robotics, and drone techniques to increase production with low labor cost. The high-throughput plant phenotyping is crucial for crop monitoring on the data acquisition of large-scale crop characteristics. The high-throughput plant phenotyping studies aim to achieve fast and precise large-scale crop monitoring techniques with minimum environmental impact by applying special plant phenotyping platforms. The phenotyping platforms are integrated with various sensors and data communication systems, which can help to achieve automatic data acquisition and transmission. This paper reviews the current high-throughput plant phenotyping development in crop monitoring, including sensors, communication protocols, data management, and plant phenotyping platforms. State-of-art challenges are reviewed and discussed. Also, the paper provides discussions on the current situation, upcoming challenges, and possible future trends for researchers in this field.

A single-shot measurement of electron emittance was experimentally accomplished using a focused transfer line with a dipole. The betatron phase of electrons based on laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is energy dependent owing to the coupling of the longitudinal acceleration field and the transverse focusing (defocusing) field in the bubble. The phase space presents slice information after phase compensation relative to the center energy. Fitting the transverse size of the electron beam at different energy slices in the energy spectrum measured 0.27 mm mrad in the experiment. The diagnosis of slice emittance facilitates local electron quality manipulation, which is important for the development of LWFA-based free electron lasers. The quasi-3D particle-in-cell simulations matched the experimental results and analysis well.

IntroductionEnsiling whole-crop oat (Avena sativa L.) has attracted a growing interest in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The study aimed to investigate the microbial community and chemical composition of fresh and ensiling oat harvested from six different elevations of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.MethodThe oat (A. sativa L. cv. Qingyin No. 1) was planted in six different sites across Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (BM, Bomi County; BY, Bayi County; DZ, Dazi County; BR, Biru County; SC, Suo County; SN, Seni County), where the elevations were in the range of 2,800–4,500 m above sea level (a. s. l.). Oat was harvested at the milk stage and ensiled for 90 days.ResultsThe highest crude protein (CP) and lowest water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) were observed in fresh oat of SN and BM, respectively, however, no distinct gradient trend in WSC and CP concentrations along the elevation gradient. The lowest LAB counts in fresh oat from the highest elevational regions of SN. After 90 days of ensiling, the pH in all oat silages was lower than 4.2, and silages from SC and SN showed a lower pH and butyric acid concentration, and higher lactic acid (LA) concentration than silages of other regions. The oat silage from BR showed the lowest LA concentration and the highest pH. The bimodal distributions of fungal and bacterial richness in fresh oat along the elevation gradient were observed, while the elevation gradients did not affect the fungal Shannon index in fresh oat. Dioszegia, Cladosporium, and Vishniacozyma were the prevalent fungal genus in fresh oat, while Wickerhamomyces, Candida, and Saccharomyces dominated the fungal communities of silages. Wickerhamomyces and Candida were the dominant genera in oat silages from BM and SC, respectively. Erwinia, Paenibacillus, Pseudomonas, Leuconostoc, and Exiguobacterium dominated the bacterial community of fresh oat, while Lactobacillus and Kosakonia were the dominant bacterial genus in oat silages. Pantoea was the most dominant bacterial genus in fresh oat from low-elevational regions (BM, BY, and DZ). Oat from SN exhibited the best fermentation quality although fresh oat of SN hosted the lowest LAB counts, indicating that high-efficient LAB might be present in fresh oat sampled from high altitudes.

Breast cancer is a cancer of high complexity and heterogeneity, with differences in prognosis and survival among patients of different subtypes. Copy number variations (CNVs) within enhancers are crucial drivers of tumorigenesis by influencing expression of their targets. In this study, we performed an integrative approach to identify CNA-driven enhancers and their effect on expression of target genes in four breast cancer subtypes by integrating expression data, copy number data and H3K27ac data. We identified 672, 555, 531, 361 CNA-driven enhancer-gene pairs and 280, 189, 113 and 98 CNA-driven enhancer-lncRNA pairs in the Basal-like, Her2, LumA and LumB subtypes, respectively. We then reconstructed a CNV-driven enhancer-lncRNA-mRNA regulatory network in each subtype. Functional analysis showed CNA-driven enhancers play an important role in the progression of breast cancer subtypes by influencing P53 signaling pathway, PPAR signaling pathway, systemic lupus erythematosus and MAPK signaling pathway in the Basal-like, Her2, LumA and LumB subtypes, respectively. We characterized the potentially prognostic value of target genes of CNV-driven enhancer and lncRNA-mRNA pairs in the subtype-specific network. We identified MUM1 and AC016876.1 as prognostic biomarkers in LumA and Basal-like subtypes, respectively. Higher expression of MUM1 with an amplified enhancer exhibited poorer prognosis in LumA patients. Lower expression of AC016876.1 with a deleted enhancer exhibited poorer survival outcomes of Basal-like patients. We also identified enhancer-related lncRNA-mRNA pairs as prognostic biomarkers, including AC012313.2-MUM1 in the LumA, AC026471.4-PLK5 in the LumB, AC027307.2-OAZ1 in the Basal-like and AC022431.1-HCN2 in the Her2 subtypes. Finally, our results highlighted target genes of CNA-driven enhancers and enhancer-related lncRNA-mRNA pairs could act as prognostic markers and potential therapeutic targets in breast cancer subtypes.

Sepsis after trauma increases the risk of mortality rate for patients in intensive care unit (ICUs). Currently, it is difficult to predict outcomes in individual patients with sepsis due to the complexity of causative pathogens and the lack of specific treatment. This study aimed to identify metabolomic biomarkers in patients with multiple trauma and those with multiple trauma accompanied with sepsis. Therefore, the metabolic profiles of healthy persons designated as normal controls (NC), multiple trauma patients (MT), and multiple trauma complicated with sepsis (MTS) (30 cases in each group) were analyzed with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS)-based untargeted plasma metabolomics using collected plasma samples. The differential metabolites were enriched in amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, glycometabolism and nucleotide metabolism. Then, nine potential biomarkers, namely, acrylic acid, 5-amino-3-oxohexanoate, 3b-hydroxy-5-cholenoic acid, cytidine, succinic acid semialdehyde, PE [P-18:1(9Z)/16:1(9Z)], sphinganine, uracil, and uridine, were found to be correlated with clinical variables and validated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Finally, the three potential biomarkers succinic acid semialdehyde, uracil and uridine were validated and can be applied in the clinical diagnosis of multiple traumas complicated with sepsis.

2,4,6-triiodophenol (TIP), a novel type of halophenolic disinfection byproducts, has been widely detected in water bodies, even in drinking water. Recently, TIP has drawn increasing concerns on account of considerable developmental toxicity towards lower organisms and cytotoxicity for mammalian cells. However, it remains unknown about its toxicity on mammalian pre-implantation embryos. Here, by exposing mouse zygotes derived in vitro fertilization to TIP, which ranged from 5 to 50 μM, we found that TIP impaired the quality of pre-implantation mouse embryos in a dose-dependent manner, inducing decline of both total and trophectoderm cell numbers, enhancing caspase 3/7 activity and reactive oxygen species generation, though it did not decrease blastocyst formation efficiency. For the sake that only high qualified embryos are able to implant in endometrium and generate health body finally, we applied a previously modified in vitro culture system to assess TIP-exposed blastocysts’ further developmental potency beyond pre-implantation stage. Surprisingly, although the exposed dose was only 5 μM and TIP was removed as soon as the zygotes reached blastocyst stage, these blastocysts still nearly lost their implantation and egg cylinder formation ability, exhibiting abnormal embryonic lineage differentiation pattern as well. Therefore, our study not only entirely shows TIP embryonic toxicity on mouse pre-implantation embryos, but also proposes a model to evaluate embryotoxicity from the zygote to egg cylinder stage.

Human extended pluripotent stem cell (hEPS) is a novel type of pluripotent stem cell, which possesses bi-potency towards both embryonic and extraembryonic lineages. Here, we generated a hEPS cell line (hEPS1-iCas9-B) from the cell line named hEPS1, carrying a doxycycline-inducible Cas9 expression cassette along with a constitutive reverse tetracycline transactivator (M2rtTA) expression cassette at the AAVS1 locus, thus we could efficiently generate genetically modified hEPS for studies. This cell lined remained self-renewal, differentiation potential and normal karyotype. Meanwhile, it showed robust transcriptional expression of Cas9 with doxycycline induction and could target the site where the sgRNA guided.

Ovarian carcinomas (OCs) represent a heterogeneous group of neoplasms consisting of several entities with pathogenesis, molecular profiles, multiple risk factors, and outcomes. OC has been regarded as the most lethal cancer among women all around the world. There are at least five main types of OCs classified by the fifth edition of the World Health Organization of tumors: high-/low-grade serous carcinoma, mucinous carcinoma, clear cell carcinoma, and endometrioid carcinoma. With the improved knowledge of genome-wide association study (GWAS) and expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analyses, the knowledge of genomic landscape of complex diseases has been uncovered in large measure. Moreover, pathway analyses also play an important role in exploring the underlying mechanism of complex diseases by providing curated pathway models and information about molecular dynamics and cellular processes. To investigate OCs deeper, we introduced a novel disease susceptible gene prediction method, XGBG, which could be used in identifying OC-related genes based on different omics data and deep learning methods. We first employed the graph convolutional network (GCN) to reconstruct the gene features based on both gene feature and network topological structure. Then, a boosting method is utilized to predict OC susceptible genes. As a result, our model achieved a high AUC of 0.7541 and an AUPR of 0.8051, which indicates the effectiveness of the XGPG. Based on the newly predicted OC susceptible genes, we gathered and researched related literatures to provide strong support to the results, which may help in understanding the pathogenesis and mechanisms of the disease.

Phenolic compounds are secondary metabolites and widely distributed in higher plants. When plants are subjected to injury stress, the rapid synthesis of more phenols is induced to result in injury defense response for wound healing and repair. Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables undergo substantial mechanical injury caused by pre-preparations such as peeling, coring, cutting and slicing. These processing operations lead to activate the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds as secondary metabolite. Phenolic compounds are important sources of antioxidant activity in fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. The wound-induced biosynthesis and accumulation of phenolic compounds in fresh-cut fruits and vegetables have been widely reported in recent years. This article provides a brief overview of research published over the last decade on the phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. It is suggested that fresh-cut processing as mechanical wounding stress can be used as an effective way to improve the nutritional composition and function of fresh-cut produces.

To study the influence of rotational speed on the performance of hydraulic turbine in turbine mode (T-type turbine), the performance of turbine at different rotational speed was predicted through theoretical analysis, based on the Navier-Stokes equation and standard k-ε turbulence model, numerical simulation was used to study the performance of turbine at different rotational speed. The head loss, pressure distribution, turbulence kinetic energy, and unsteady pressure pulsation were also clarified. The results shows that with the increase of rotational speed, the high efficiency area of turbine gradually becomes wider, and there is little difference of the maximum efficiency at different rotational speeds. Under the optimal working condition, the pressure difference between inlet and outlet increase gradually, and turbulent kinetic energy of runner also increase. The inlet circulation increases with the increase of rotational speed, the outlet circulation increases with the increase of speed under small flow conditions, and decreases with the increase of rotational speed under large flow conditions. The study of pressure pulsation shows that the increase of rotating speed can effectively reduce the pressure pulsation in the runner. When the rotating speed is 2100 r/min, the amplitude of pressure pulsation at P7 is 10.39% lower than that at 900 r/min. Considering the hydraulic characteristics and the pulsation characteristics, it is recommended that the hydraulic turbine operates at or above the rated speed as far as possible.

Abstract Background To compare the difference in central corneal thickness (CCT) measurements in normal eyes between a rotating Scheimpflug camera combined with a Placido-disk corneal topographer (Sirius, CSO, Italy) and ultrasound pachymetry (USP). Methods A systematic literature search was conducted for relevant studies published on PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to August 1st, 2019. Primary outcome measures were CCT measurements between Sirius and USP. A random effects model was used to pool CCT measurements. Results A total of twelve studies involving 862 eyes were included in this meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found CCT measurements between Sirius and USP to be statistically significantly different (P

Fresh-cut potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) are a favorite product on account of their freshness, convenience, and health benefits. However, cutting causes potatoes to lose their protective tissue and suffer mechanical damage, which greatly increases the quality deterioration and safety risk of potatoes. The background microorganism and foodborne pathogens on fresh-cut potatoes might rapidly grow during transportation, processing, and marketing, and cause high health risks for consumers. In this study, the quality and safety of fresh-cut potatoes coated with an alginate-based edible coating containing thyme essential oil (AEC-TEO) was evaluated during a storage period of 16 days at 4 °C. Samples were coated with AEC-TEO at different concentrations (0, 0.05, 0.35, and 0.65%, v/v). The quality characteristics of fresh-cut potatoes including color, weight loss, firmness, and sensory attributes were evaluated over 4 days. The viability of the background microorganism of fresh-cut potatoes and artificially inoculated bacteria involving Listeria monocytogenes (LM) was measured every 4 days. The research showed that treatment with AEC-TEO at a 0.05% concentration was the most beneficial for maintaining quality and inhibiting the microorganism of fresh-cut potatoes. The increase in L and firmness was 10.55 and 8.24 N, respectively, and the decrease in browning was 4.19 compared to that in the control. Sensory attributes represent an assessment between “indifferent” and “like a little”. The reductions in total plate counts, total coliform counts, yeast and mold counts, and Lactobacillus counts were 2.41 log cfu/g, 1.37 log cfu/g, 1.21 log cfu/g, and 2 log cfu/g, and Listeria monocytogenes decreased by 3.63 log cfu/g on fresh-cut potatoes after 16 days. Therefore, AEC-TEO effectively improved the quality of fresh-cut potatoes and, to a certain extent, prolonged their shelf life. This represents a potential application prospect for the preservation of fresh-cut potatoes.

Cancer is a heterogeneous disease that is driven by the accumulation of both genetic and nongenetic alterations, so integrating multiomics data and extracting effective information from them is expected to be an effective way to predict cancer driver genes. In this paper, we first generate comprehensive instructive features for each gene from genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic levels together with protein–protein interaction (PPI)-networks-derived attributes and then propose a novel semisupervised deep graph learning framework GGraphSAGE to predict cancer driver genes according to the impact of the alterations on a biological system. When applied to eight tumor types, experimental results suggest that GGraphSAGE outperforms several state-of-the-art computational methods for driver genes identification. Moreover, it broadens our current understanding of cancer driver genes from multiomics level and identifies driver genes specific to the tumor type rather than pan-cancer. We expect GGraphSAGE to open new avenues in precision medicine and even further predict drivers for other complex diseases.

More and more individuals and enterprises outsource data and applications to cloud servers in recent years. Since the public cloud servers are not completely trusted, users usually encrypt important data before sending it to cloud servers. As a result, ciphertext retrieval technology has gradually become a research hotspot. In the existing related schemes, there are some defects such as not supporting “multiple owners” mode and multi-keyword retrieval, having low retrieval efficiency, accuracy and security, and difficult data updating. Hence, we propose an efficient Ciphertext Retrieval scheme based on Homomorphic encryption for Multiple data owners in hybrid cloud (CRHM), in which the public cloud server and the private cloud server cooperate to perform the ciphertext retrieval. In CRHM, an encrypted balanced binary index tree structure and a homomorphic encryption method based on large integer operations are designed to support “multiple owners” mode and multi-keyword ranked retrieval. The security analysis shows that CRHM can effectively guarantee the privacy and security of user file and retrieval, and the performance evaluation demonstrates that compared with the existing related schemes, CRHM has high efficiency in the index generation and retrieval processes, while keeps relatively high retrieval accuracy.

In the poultry slaughtering, accurate viscera positioning is essential to reduce the damage of internal organs. The introduction of machine vision technique can help to locate the viscera and can provide new direction for the poultry evisceration. After a midline abdominal incision of the poultry, the internal organs are taken out from the poultry that placed on the conveyor line by the parallel robot. Based on machine vision, the recognition accuracy of opened poultry viscera directly affects the level of visceral damage and residue caused by gripping manipulator. However, visceral positioning is often influenced by different noise in the abdominal cavity, such as mucous membranes and blood stains. Thus, the image segmentation of poultry viscera is a complex process, and it is challenging to remove the noise. In general, existing image segmentation methods can hardly segment visceral regions well. To strengthen the anti-noise ability, we proposed an improved region-based active contour method with the level-set formulation. This method combined with several operations of color space conversion and top-low-hat transformation, which could extract the viscera contour and precisely removed the noise. The results showed that recognition accuracy of the heart-liver area and fat area in the viscera are 98.98% and 99.75%, respectively, while the overall viscera for poultry was 98.96%. The results of this experiment suggested that the proposed image segmentation algorithm could achieve the required accuracy for poultry viscera detection. Thus, the proposed visceral contour recognition method could be applied in poultry processing, providing critical information to guide the robot for automated evisceration.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) exerts a global challenge to public health. Genetic heritability is one of the most vital contributing factors in the pathophysiology of CAD. Co-expression network analysis is an applicable and robust method for the interpretation of biological interaction from microarray data. Previous CAD studies have focused on peripheral blood samples since the processes of CAD may vary from tissue to blood. It is therefore necessary to find biomarkers for CAD in heart tissues; their association also requires further illustration.Materials and Methods: To filter for causal genes, an analysis of microarray expression profiles, GSE12504 and GSE22253, was performed with weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Co-expression modules were constructed after batch effect removal and data normalization. The results showed that 7 co-expression modules with 8,525 genes and 1,210 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Furthermore, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were conducted. Four major pathways in CAD tissue and hub genes were addressed in the Hybrid Mouse Diversity Panel (HMDP) and Human Protein Atlas (HPA), and isoproterenol (ISO)/doxycycline (DOX)-induced heart toxicity models were used to validate the hub genes. Lastly, the hub genes and risk variants were verified in the CAD cohort and in genome-wide association studies (GWAS).Results: The results showed that RNF181 and eight other hub genes are perturbed during CAD in heart tissues. Additionally, the expression of RNF181 was validated using RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining in two cardiotoxicity mouse models. The association was further verified in the CAD patient cohort and in GWAS.Conclusion: Our findings illustrated for the first time that the E3 ubiquitination ligase protein RNF181 may serve as a potential biomarker in CAD, but further in vivo validation is warranted.