Search

AbstractThe meaning in life (MIL) in adolescence is crucial in the developmental process of life. Anchored in the Integrated Model of Meaning Making and the Dual-Systems Model of Meaning, the present study aimed to explore the MIL profiles among Chinese rural adolescents and their characteristics, as well as the role of depression, well-being, character strengths, and academic encouragement in differentiating the MIL profiles. A sample of 579 adolescents from rural China (Mean age = 15.33, SD = 1.69, aged from 12 to 19, female = 56.47%) participated in the survey. Latent profile analysis examined six dimensions of MIL: search for meaning, presence of meaning, need for meaning, meaning confusion, meaning anxiety, and meaning avoidance. Four profiles with different meaning characteristics were revealed: Meaning Oriented profile (18.48%), Bewildered profile (17.62%), Perfunctory profile (51.47%), and Indifferent profile (12.44%). The Meaning Oriented profile had the highest well-being scores and the lowest depression scores compared to the other three profiles. Adolescents with higher character strengths or academic encouragement were less likely to be in the other three profiles than in the Meaning-Oriented profile. The current findings suggest the need for targeted intervention strategies for adolescents with different MIL profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few-shot text style transfer faces two main challenges: The first challenge is the limited availability of reference style text, while the second challenge is the varying degrees of differences between the style reference image and the source image. Existing methods mainly focus on the influence of local style and global style feature extraction on text style, but they ignore the crucial role played by the difference between the style reference image and the source image on style characteristics, especially in Chinese, which has its own unique ideograph structure. To address this issue, this paper proposes Layer Similarity Guiding Few-shot Chinese Style Transfer (LSG-FCST). LSG-FCST can not only build a transfer network by encoding the content and style characteristics from low-level to high-level semantics, but it can also discover the similarity characteristics between the style reference image and the source image through the attention mechanism. Furthermore, LSG-FCST can integrate the style features generated by the similarity features of different layers and generate the target image through asymmetric decoding. In the self-built text image dataset, we consider three types of visibility situations for the test images in the training set: seen fonts unseen characters, unseen fonts seen characters, and unseen fonts unseen characters. The experiments show that LSG-FCST outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. The code and dataset can be accessed at https://github.com/LYM1111/LSG-FCST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophages can undergo M1-like proinflammatory polarization with low oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and high glycolytic activities or M2-like anti-inflammatory polarization with the opposite metabolic activities. Here we show that M1-like macrophages induced by hepatitis B virus (HBV) display high OXPHOS and low glycolytic activities. This atypical metabolism induced by HBV attenuates the antiviral response of M1-like macrophages and is mediated by HBV e antigen (HBeAg), which induces death receptor 5 (DR5) via toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) to induce death-associated protein 3 (DAP3). DAP3 then induces the expression of mitochondrial genes to promote OXPHOS. HBeAg also enhances the expression of glutaminases and increases the level of glutamate, which is converted to α-ketoglutarate, an important metabolic intermediate of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, to promote OXPHOS. The induction of DR5 by HBeAg leads to apoptosis of M1-like and M2-like macrophages, although HBeAg also induces pyroptosis of the former. These findings reveal novel activities of HBeAg, which can reprogram mitochondrial metabolism and trigger different programmed cell death responses of macrophages depending on their phenotypes to promote HBV persistence. Author summary: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes chronic infection in approximately 300 million people in the world, resulting in nearly 1 million deaths per year. How HBV establishes chronic infection in patients is an interesting question. Hepatic macrophages play important role in HBV clearance and persistence. They can be induced by external stimuli to display different metabolic activities. Here we demonstrates that HBV can reprogram the metabolism of macrophages to induce oxidative phosphorylation to attenuate their anti-HBV activities and in the meantime differentially regulate programmed cell deaths of macrophages based on their phenotypes. These results provide important information for understanding the mechanism of HBV persistence and pathogenesis and offer a new avenue for the development of novel treatments for HBV patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical composition is a critical factor for determining the efficacy of any traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and can be used as an indicator of commercial quality. To develop a new strategy for discovering potential quality markers (Q-markers) of TCM by integrating ultra-performance liquid chromatography-Q-extractive orbitrap/mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-Extractive Orbitrap/MS), chemometric analysis, and network pharmacology, using Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. (S. chinensis) as an example. The chemical profiling of S. chinensis was performed using UPLC-Q-Extractive Orbitrap/MS, followed by identification of hepatoprotective Q-markers through a comprehensive understanding of chemometric analysis and virtual target prediction of network pharmacology. Six compounds were considered potent candidates for Q-markers, which were identified as schisandrol A (6), angeloylgomisin H (10), schisantherin A (17), schisantherin B (18), schisandrin A (23), and schisandrin C (26). All Q-markers exhibited significant hepatoprotective activity, as evidenced by in vitro experiments. Subsequently, a method for simultaneous quantification was established and employed to analyse seven batches of S. chinensis. Therefore, the integrated approach of UPLC-Q-Extractive Orbitrap/MS, chemometrics, and network pharmacology proved to be an effective strategy for the discovery of Q-markers that can assist in assessing the overall chemical consistency of samples and provide a basis for quality evaluation of the material basis of S. chinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Detecting human cancers through cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in blood is a sensitive and non-invasive option. However, capturing multiple forms of epigenetic information remains a technical and financial challenge. Methods: To address this, we developed multimodal epigenetic sequencing analysis (MESA), a flexible and sensitive approach to capturing and integrating a diverse range of epigenetic features in cfDNA using a single experimental assay, i.e., non-disruptive bisulfite-free methylation sequencing, such as Enzymatic Methyl-seq. MESA enables simultaneous inference of four epigenetic modalities: cfDNA methylation, nucleosome occupancy, nucleosome fuzziness, and windowed protection score for regions surrounding gene promoters and polyadenylation sites. Results: When applied to 690 cfDNA samples from 3 colorectal cancer clinical cohorts, MESA's novel modalities, which include nucleosome fuzziness, and genomic features, including polyadenylation sites, improve cancer detection beyond the traditional epigenetic markers of promoter DNA methylation. Conclusions: Together, MESA stands as a major advancement in the field by utilizing comprehensive and complementary epigenetic profiles of cfDNA for effective non-invasive cancer detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing Cashmere production can add value because it is the primary product of Cashmere goats. Recent years, peoples find miRNAs are crucial in regulating the development of hair follicle. Following Solexa sequencing, many miRNAs were distinguishingly expressed in telogen skin samples of goats and sheep in earlier study. But the method through which miR-21 controls the growth of hair follicles is still ambiguous. Bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the target genes of miR-21. The mRNA level of miR-21 in telogen Cashmere goat skins was higher than in anagen, according to the results of qRT-PCR, and the target genes expressed similarly with miR-21. Western blot showed similar trend, the protein expression of FGF18 and SMAD7 were lower in anagen samples. The Dual-Luciferase reporter assay confirmed miRNA-21's relationship with its target gene, and the consequences indicated found FGF18 and SMAD7 have positive correlations with miR-21. Western blot and qRT-PCR distinguished the expression of protein and mRNA in miR-21 and its target genes. According to the consequence, we found that target genes expression was increased by miR-21 in HaCaT cells. This study identified that miR-21 might take part in the development of Cashmere goat's hair follicles by targeting FGF18 and SMAD7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria play important roles in the synthesis of ATP, the production of reactive oxygen species, and the regulation of innate immune response and apoptosis. Many viruses perturb mitochondrial activities to promote their replication and cause cell damage. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a hepatotropic virus that can cause severe liver diseases, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This virus can also alter mitochondrial functions and metabolism to promote its replication and persistence. In this report, we summarize recent research progress on the interaction between HBV and mitochondrial metabolism, as well as the effect this interaction has on HBV replication and persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Understanding changes in the behaviour of threatened species responding to rapidly increasing human disturbances is critical for biodiversity conservation. Here, we synthesize a meta‐analysis of the cumulative effect of human disturbances on the behaviour of global threatened terrestrial mammals. Location: Global terrestrial ecosystem. Time Period: Data collected from 1993 to 2021. Major Taxa Studied: Terrestrial mammals. Results: There were significant differences in behavioural changes among categories of human disturbances (i.e. biological invasion, climate change, grazing, habitat degradation, protection management, road traffic and tourism). The effect size of road traffic on behavioural change was the largest and particularly led habitat selection to be more specialized. The effect size for habitat degradation on foraging behaviour was the largest, and the effect mainly led to a shorter time spent in foraging and a change in food selection. Changes to behaviour increased with human disturbance intensity and varied among species according to their functional traits including body mass, food habits, migration and group type. Climate change, grazing, road traffic and tourism had a greater effect on larger species. The effect size for habitat degradation on omnivorous species was the largest, while carnivorous and solitary species were more sensitive to tourism, and migratory species were especially vulnerable to climate changes. Main Conclusions: The diverse human disturbances interact with disturbance intensity, and some species' functional traits significantly affected the behavioural change in threatened terrestrial mammals. Such behavioural changes away from predisturbance patterns may have consequences for their fitness and community interactions. The management and conservation of threatened species should incorporate knowledge of their behavioural responses to human disturbance and take into account the potential ecological consequences for biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MiRNAs as a series of small noncoding RNAs that play a crucial part in regulating coat color and hair follicle development. In the previous Solexa sequencing experiments, there were many miRNAs expressed differentially in alpacas with different coat color, including miR-193b.But the mechanism of miR-193b in mammalian pigmentation is still unknown. In this study, bioinformatics analysis showed that WNT10A and GNAI2 might be the target genes of miR-193b. qRT-PCR showed the expression of miR-193b in white Cashmere goats' skins was obviously lower than that in browns, and the expression of WNT10A and GNAI2 were similar with miR-193b. The protein levels of WNT10A and GNAI2 indicated the same findings. Furthermore, the expression of WNT10A and GNAI2 in keratinocytes were analyzed from mRNA and protein levels, the results manifested that the group of overexpression of miR-193b in HaCaT cells increased the expressions of target genes, and miR-193b inhibition group reduced expressions. Luciferase report assays confirmed that the targeting relationship between miR-193b and target genes (WNT10A and GNAI2), the results showed that miR-193b was positively correlated with target genes. These experimental data showed that miR-193b might participate in adjustment of coat color in skin tissue of Cashmere goat by targeting WNT10A and GNAI2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high cost of feed and nitrogen pollution caused by high-protein diets have become major challenges restricting sustainable development in China's animal husbandry sector. Properly reducing protein levels and improving protein utilization in feed are effective approaches to solving this problem. To determine the optimal dose of methionine hydroxyl analogue chelated zinc (MHA-Zn) in broiler diets with a 1.5% reduction in crude protein (CP), a total of 216 1-day-old broilers were randomly assigned into 4 groups (each group consisted of 3 replications with 18 broilers per replicate), and growth and development indexes were assessed after 42 days. The broilers in control group were fed a basic diet, whereas those in the three test groups were fed diets with a 1.5% reduction in CP. The results showed no significant difference in the edible parts of broilers between low-protein (LP) diet group (90 mg/kg MHA-Zn) and normal diet group (p > 0.05), and adding 90 mg/kg MHA-Zn to LP diet significantly improved ileum morphology and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrient (p < 0.01; p < 0.05). A 16S rRNA sequencing analysis indicated that supplementing the LP diet with 90 mg/kg MHA-Zn was adequate for production performance of broilers and promoted beneficial bacteria in the cecum (Lactobacillus, Butyricoccus, Oscillospira, etc.) (p < 0.01). In summary, adding an optimal dose of organic zinc (90 mg/kg MHA-Zn) in low protein diets led to enhanced production performance of broilers and optimized cecum microbiota. Additionally, the reduction of crude protein consumption in broiler production proved to be a cost-effective measure, while also mitigated nitrogen pollutant emissions in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to previous research, turmeric seeds exhibit anti-inflammatory, anti-malignancy, and anti-aging properties due to an abundance of terpinen-4-ol (T4O). Although it is still unclear how T4O works on glioma cells, limited data exist regarding its specific effects. In order to determine whether or not glioma cell lines U251, U87, and LN229 are viable, CCK8 was used as an assay and a colony formation assay was performed using different concentrations of T4O (0, 1, 2, and 4 μM). The effect of T4O on the proliferation of glioma cell line U251 was detected through the subcutaneous implantation of the tumor model. Through high-throughput sequencing, a bioinformatic analysis, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reactions, we identified the key signaling pathways and targets of T4O. Finally, for the measurement of the cellular ferroptosis levels, we examined the relationship between T4O, ferroptosis, and JUN and the malignant biological properties of glioma cells. T4O significantly inhibited glioma cell growth and colony formation and induced ferroptosis in the glioma cells. T4O inhibited the subcutaneous tumor proliferation of the glioma cells in vivo. T4O suppressed JUN transcription and significantly reduced its expression in the glioma cells. The T4O treatment inhibited GPX4 transcription through JUN. The overexpression of JUN suppressed ferroptosis in the cells rescued through T4O treatment. Taken together, our data suggest that the natural product T4O exerts its anti-cancer effects by inducing JUN/GPX4-dependent ferroptosis and inhibiting cell proliferation, and T4O will hope-fully serve as a prospective compound for glioma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the insufficient energy for reverse circulation fishing tools in complex structure wells, it is necessary to further optimize the design of the tools to improve the impurity salvage efficiency. In this work, a three‐dimensional (3D) flow field simulation model of reverse circulation fishing tool with venturi negative pressure is employed to identify the vortex zone of circulation channel and to investigate the negative pressure and jet velocity distribution around the spray nozzle based on the ANSYS‐CFX. The effects of the spray angle, diameter of the suction nozzle, and the nonstructural parameters on negative pressure and jet velocity are investigated through sensitivity analysis. As revealed from the results, there may be an optimum value for the spray angle, and the nozzle jet direction can indeed affect the propagation and attenuation of the bottom hole flow field greatly. The combination of the inner diameter of the nozzle outlet and that of the nozzle inlet (Φ + Φ′ = 3 mm + 6 mm) is the best design solution when the negative pressure at the nozzle outlet can be the highest. The negative pressure and jet velocity increase with the increasement of the inlet flow rate. The comparative analysis of different bottom hole impurity mass in the cases of the borehole inner diameter 5′ and 8.5″ on the salvage efficiency are conducted numerically. It is observed that the impurity mass salvaged and salvage time are not directly related to its total amount, but only related to the flow rate of the sucked fluid flow. The impurity salvage efficiency can be as high as 95.4%, which meets the engineering requirements in the field. This work improves the working performance of the reverse circulation fishing tool and provides theoretical guidance for well washing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To examine the factors that influence meaning in life (MiL) in patients with advanced lung cancer who are undergoing radiochemotherapy. Methods: A cross‐sectional, multivariate stepwise regression analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine factors influencing MiL in 231 patients with lung cancer in an oncology department of a tertiary hospital in China. Their mood state, family care, social support, and psychological distress were measured. Results: Sex, marital status, and family income significantly affected MiL (p <.05). MiL was significantly correlated (p <.01) with psychological distress (r = −.203), and most significantly (F = 66.883, p <.01; 46.2% of MiL) with mood state (r = −.631), family care (r =.384), and social support (r =.410). Conclusion: To enhance MiL, nurses need to consider patients' mood states and family/social support, as well as tailor patient care toward different sexes and backgrounds. Clinical staff should pay attention to the psychological changes, family care, and social support of patients with advanced lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempted to solve the problem of conventional standard display devices encountering difficulties in displaying high dynamic range (HDR) images by proposing a modified tone-mapping operator (TMO) based on the image color appearance model (iCAM06). The proposed model, called iCAM06-m, combined iCAM06 and a multi-scale enhancement algorithm to correct the chroma of images by compensating for saturation and hue drift. Subsequently, a subjective evaluation experiment was conducted to assess iCAM06-m considering other three TMOs by rating the tone mapped images. Finally, the objective and subjective evaluation results were compared and analyzed. The results confirmed the better performance of the proposed iCAM06-m. Furthermore, the chroma compensation effectively alleviated the problem of saturation reduction and hue drift in iCAM06 for HDR image tone-mapping. In addition, the introduction of multi-scale decomposition enhanced the image details and sharpness. Thus, the proposed algorithm can overcome the shortcomings of other algorithms and is a good candidate for a general purpose TMO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have applied the "ideation-to-action" theories and the buffering hypothesis of resilience to suicide in early adolescents, and existing research is primarily cross-sectional. This study examined the interactions between risk factors (i.e., thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and hopelessness), protective factors (i.e., resilience, self-efficacy, and subjective happiness), and suicidal potential (i.e., family distress, anxious-impulsive depression, and suicidal ideation or acts) in early adolescents. The participants (N = 1615; 55.6% females; Mage = 10.93, SDage = 1.14, range: 9–15) who were recruited from four primary and four secondary schools in Hong Kong completed the survey in 2020 and 2021. The contemporaneous networks suggested that perceived burdensomeness and hopelessness were positively associated with suicidal potential. Protective factors were negatively associated with risk factors studied and suicidal potential. The node with the greatest centrality strength was anxious-impulsive depression. The nodes most likely to connect with other constructs were self-efficacy and hopelessness. A temporal network suggested the predictive effect of hopelessness and the protective effect of subjective happiness on future suicidal ideation or acts. Moreover, self-efficacy was found to buffer the impact of hopelessness on future suicidal ideation or acts. These findings highlighted the contribution of hopelessness to suicidal potential among early adolescents and the buffering effects of subjective happiness and self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has a high mortality and incidence rate. The therapeutic efficacy of LUAD varies with the individual heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment (TME). It is necessary to explore more biomarkers and targets to improve the prognosis of patients. Ubiquitination pathways are involved in the biological process of regulating the anti-tumor immunity of immune cells and immunosuppression of tumor cells in the TME of patients. In this study, we clarified the characteristics of ubiquitin-related gene pairs (UbRGPs) and identified the relationship between the status of the TME and UbRGPs of patients with LUAD. A prognostic signature based on six UbRGPs was established, which performed well in predicting the immune infiltration and tumor mutation burden (TMB) in the TME and the response of LUAD to immuno-, chemo-, and targeted therapy. In conclusion, the UbRGPs signature is an independent prognostic indicator and has great potential in assisting the clinical therapy for patients with LUAD. Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a common pathological type of lung cancer worldwide, and new biomarkers are urgently required to guide more effective individualized therapy for patients. Ubiquitin-related genes (UbRGs) partially participate in the initiation and progression of lung cancer. In this study, we used ubiquitin-related gene pairs (UbRGPs) in tumor tissues to access the function of UbRGs in overall survival, immunocyte infiltration, and tumor mutation burden (TMB) of patients with LUAD from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. In addition, we constructed a prognostic signature based on six UbRGPs and evaluated its performance in an internal (TCGA testing set) and an external validation set (GSE13213). The prognostic signature revealed that risk scores were negatively correlated with the overall survival, immunocyte infiltration, and expression of immune checkpoint inhibitor-related genes and positively correlated with the TMB. Patients in the high-risk group showed higher sensitivity to partially targeted and chemotherapeutic drugs than those in the low-risk group. This study contributes to the understanding of the characteristics of UbRGPs in LUAD and provides guidance for effective immuno-, chemo-, and targeted therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the observed changes of the climate system since the 1950s are unprecedented, and there is a high level of confidence in the conclusion that greenhouse gases (GHGs) have caused a substantial part of the observed global warming. In the meantime, we need to consider model errors, which are usually accumulated in long-term integration as a result of imperfect physical and numerical representations, when attributing climate changes using model simulations. Here, we present a new method of piecewise integration (PWI) with simulation corrected by observation at each step, to identify model error-induced biases of global warming in the Community Earth System Model (CESM). To confirm the hypothesis of constant model bias under different external forcing, we turn the original CESM into a less low-cloud version and take its historical and GHGs-fixed simulations as our "observations". In the PWI historical and GHGs-fixed runs of the original CESM from 1958 to 2005, we use the difference between "historical observation" and PWI historical run to correct both PWI runs at the end of each 1-day step. The results show that the PWI can effectively reduce model's cumulative errors and present a GHGs-induced global warming trend of 0.688 ℃ (48 yr)−1, which is very close to the "observational" trend of 0.683 ℃ (48 yr)−1, confirming the hypothesis of constant model bias under different external forcing. The continuous runs, as usually done by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) models, present a much higher GHGs-induced global warming trend of 0.887 ℃ (48 yr)−1, which means that the model overestimates the GHGs' role in global warming trend by 32.3% compared to our "observations". Global distribution of this model bias is also discussed. The PWI method provides a new way to correct model biases in analyzing relative contributions of anthropogenic and natural radiative forcings to global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A xylanase-producing strain, identified as Streptomyces sp. T7, was isolated from soil by our lab. The endo-β-1,4-xylanase (xynST7) gene was found in the genome sequence of strain T7, which was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. XynST7 belonged to the glycoside hydrolase family 10, with a molecular mass of approximately 47 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature of XynST7 were pH 6.0 and 60 °C, respectively, and it showed wide pH and temperature adaptability and stability, retaining more than half of its enzyme activity between pH 5.0 and 11.0 below 80 °C. XynST7 showed only endo-β-1,4-xylanase activity without cellulase- or β-xylosidase activity, and it showed maximal hydrolysis for corncob xylan in all the test substrates. Then, XynST7 was used for the production of xylo-oligosaccharides (XOSs) by hydrolyzing xylan extracted from raw corncobs. The maximum yield of the XOS was 8.61 ± 0.13 mg/mL using 15 U/mL of XynST7 and 1.5% corncob xylan after 10 h of incubation at 60 °C. The resulting hydrolysate products mainly consisted of xylobiose and xylotriose. These data indicated that XynST7 might by a promising tool for various industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To compare the efficacy of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) and totally implantable venous-access ports (TIVAPs) for chemotherapy of pediatric patients with malignant tumors. A total of 96 children with malignant tumors who received catheterization of PICCs or TIVAPs for chemotherapy from May 2020 to May 2021 in Department of Pediatric Oncology of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University were selected. Then, the pathological features of disease, the age of children, the indwelling time, the incidence of postoperative complications, and the satisfaction degree were compared between the two groups. The age of children in the TIVAP group was younger than that in the PICC group (P < 0.05). The indwelling time in the TIVAP group was 7.2 ± 2.757 months,which was significantly longer than 5.65 ± 2.058 months in the PICC group (P < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications in the TIVAP group without systemic or local infection was markedly lower than that in the PICC group (P < 0.05). The satisfaction degree of patients in the TIVAP group without unsatisfied was markedly higher than that in the PICC group (P < 0.05). TIVAPs may be the first choice for chemotherapy of children with malignant tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radial jet drilling (RJD) is a key technology to improve the development efficiency of low-permeability oil and gas resources. In order to seek a reasonable hydraulic engineering parameter combination of hydraulic radial jet drilling, to obtain the optimal hydraulic energy distribution, a jet radial horizontal drilling simulation experiment system of the casing windowing is designed. A sequence of experimental investigations focused on engineering parameters of pump displacement, rotating speed, and frequency of high-pressure plunger pump is performed, and the operability and the feasibility of the experiment are verified. To evaluate the maximum drillable length and the self-propelled force of a jet nozzle, a 3D numerical model based on ANSYS-CFX is developed to evaluate the effects of the inlet flow displacement, the flow rates ratio K , and the angle ratio F : B of the forward orifice and backward orifice of the jet nozzle on its maximum drillable length and self-propelled force by sensitivity analysis. Finally, the comparison of numerical simulation results (Ln), mathematical results (Lm), and experiment results (Le) of the maximum drillable length are presented. It is observed that the simulation results are consistent with the experiment results with an average accuracy of 97.07%. Therefore, the proposed numerical model has a good performance in predicting the maximum drillable length of the multiorifice nozzle. The research results can provide theoretical guidance for improving the rock breaking and drilling capability of radial jet drilling technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the intricacies of nutrient cycling and advance grassland restoration strategies, this study delves into the varying responses of leaf, litter, and root ecological stoichiometries to different durations of grazing exclosure (GE) on the ecologically vital Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in eastern China. The investigation encompassed GE durations of 0 (seasonal grazing), 13, 22, and 39 years, revealing pivotal alterations in ecological stoichiometries. Notably, GE markedly augmented leaf and root carbon (C) levels and the carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio, while diminishing leaf and root nitrogen (N), and root N to phosphorus (N:P) ratios. Intriguingly, with prolonged GE, root C and C:N exhibited a minor decline, and root N slightly increased, albeit remaining significantly lower than in seasonally grazed areas. Leaf N, along with litter P, C:P, and N:P ratios, displayed remarkable stability over time. This suggests that ecological stoichiometries of different plant components responded differently to GE duration. Across plant components, soil NH 4 + N emerged as a predominant factor influencing their stoichiometries, underscoring the complex interplay between vegetation and soil. There was the interconnectedness of C, N, and P among leaf, litter, and roots, highlighting understanding of these elements' cycles. This research, the first of its kind to assess the impact of extensive GE durations on leaf, litter, and root ecological stoichiometries on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, offers insights for understanding ecological stoichiometries at the ecosystem level or between the above-ground part and below-ground part and for alpine grassland management. • Response of leaf, litter, and root stoichiometries to GE durations was examined. • Leaf and root stoichiometries were relatively sensitive to GE durations. • Leaf and root C and C:N increased but N and P decreased as GE duration extended. • Litter P, C:P, and N:P varied little across GE durations. • Leaf, litter, and root ecological stoichiometries were mainly regulated by NH 4 + N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the expansion of human activities and increasingly effective protection of biodiversity, human-wildlife conflicts (HWCs) are increasing. Determining the patterns and causes of HWCs at the landscape scale is important for the design and implementation of effective management actions. We used in-house questionnaires, combined with data from insurance companies and other sources, to take the Tibetan Plateau as an example to reveal the pattern and potential causes of HWCs. Livestock predation and house break-ins were the most common types of conflict on the plateau, and wolves (Canis lupus) (56.9 %) and bears (Ursus arctos) (35.8 %) were the main culprits. In the pastoral zone, 65.3 % of conflicts were caused by wolves, more than in other regions, and bears accounted for 20.8 %. Bears were responsible for house break-ins in crop-dominated zones (60.5 %), while they preyed on livestock in mixed crop and pasture zones (80.0 %). Differences in forest cover between regions are likely to be the cause of this, with bears preying more on livestock in areas with greater forest cover. Livestock loss caused by wolves increased, and those caused by bears decreased, with increase in elevation. Households with more livestock experienced a greater incidence of HWCs. Livestock losses were lower in counties with higher gross regional product per capita, and economic development likewise influenced the occurrence of HWCs. Our research findings provide a fundamental understanding of the patterns of HWC, which can inform the development of evidence-based policies and strategies for effectively addressing HWCs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radial jet drilling (RJD) technology is typically developed to open multiple lateral micro‐holes from a main wellbore to the formation. The multiple groups of 3D numerical models of radial micro‐holes through a main well are built by incorporating the pore hydro‐mechanical coupling effects. A number of sensitivity analyses were conducted on the effects of the radial jetting azimuth, the stress anisotropy, and the elastic anisotropy on the rock fracture initiation of the micro‐holes. As revealed from the results, the fracture initiation from the micro‐hole exhibited the diversified characteristics with the increase in the jetting azimuth of the micro‐hole. On the whole, the fracture initiation point was concentrated at the maximum principal stress. Thus, the jetting azimuth of the nozzle was recommended to be designed in the interval of 0°‐30°. A higher elastic modulus anisotropy ratio K and a lower Poisson's ratio anisotropy ratio K′ caused the significant rigidity characteristics of the rock, which increased the possibility of fracture initiation in the horizontal direction; a lower elastic modulus anisotropy ratio K and a higher Poisson's ratio anisotropy ratio K′ caused the strong rigidity characteristics, so the rock could not easily fracture in the vertical direction. Several suggestions were given that the rock is easy to be broken by selecting a smaller jetting azimuth angle and a more significant in‐situ stress difference. The numerical simulation results agree well with field experiment results, with an average accuracy of 97.17%. The proposed numerical model has a good performance in predicting the fracture initiation pressure of the radial micro‐hole in anisotropy formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhesus macaque is a unique nonhuman primate model for human evolutionary and translational study, but the error-prone gene models critically limit its applications. Here, we de novo defined full-length macaque gene models based on single molecule, long-read transcriptome sequencing in four macaque tissues (frontal cortex, cerebellum, heart and testis). Overall, 8 588 227 poly(A)-bearing complementary DNA reads with a mean length of 14 106 nt were generated to compile the backbone of macaque transcripts, with the fine-scale structures further refined by RNA sequencing and cap analysis gene expression sequencing data. In total, 51 605 macaque gene models were accurately defined, covering 89.7% of macaque or 75.7% of human orthologous genes. Based on the full-length gene models, we performed a human–macaque comparative analysis on polyadenylation (PA) regulation. Using macaque and mouse as outgroup species, we identified 79 distal PA events newly originated in humans and found that the strengthening of the distal PA sites, rather than the weakening of the proximal sites, predominantly contributes to the origination of these human-specific isoforms. Notably, these isoforms are selectively constrained in general and contribute to the temporospatially specific reduction of gene expression, through the tinkering of previously existed mechanisms of nuclear retention and microRNA (miRNA) regulation. Overall, the protocol and resource highlight the application of bioinformatics in integrating multilayer genomics data to provide an intact reference for model animal studies, and the isoform switching detected may constitute a hitherto underestimated regulatory layer in shaping the human-specific transcriptome and phenotypic changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a broader study that focused on understanding rural college students for equity and personal growth in higher education, this paper presents Ying's story of learning and living as a female college student from rural China. Adopting the thinking tools of habitus and reflexivity, the paper aims to understand the constraints Ying has gone through in China's higher education and her various response amidst them. The findings illustrate how the intersectionality of rural dispositions and gender has put her at a disadvantage and how she constantly mediates her surroundings through internal conversations. The paper discusses the intricate interplay between habitus and reflexivity during the mediation. The conclusion affirms the relevance of both habitus and reflexivity in our understanding of the rural student's educational experiences and argues for the role of education and society in challenging the social structure and promoting social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study applied the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity to construct an index of social work professional identity. Methods: The data were obtained from a longitudinal study of social work in China in 2019. Exploratory structural equation modeling and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis were used to confirm the factor structure. Independent samples t test was adopted to test the difference among different groups. Results: The four-factor (i.e., social, role, target, and action perceptions) index of social work professional identity showed acceptable reliability and good validity. Measurement invariance was observed across different groups (i.e., gender, education background, professional certification, job position, and work seniority). Differences were observed on professional identity among different genders, educational backgrounds, and professional certification groups. Conclusions: The index of social work professional identity can contribute to policymaking, educational curriculum design, and evidence-based interventions aimed at promoting professional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A soluble melanin pigment produced by Streptomyces sp. ZL-24 was purified and named StrSM. The elemental analysis of StrSM showed it consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The spectrum analysis, including ultraviolet–visible absorption spectrum, Fourier-transform infrared spectrum, and pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, indicated that StrSM might be pyomelanin. High performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography–mass spectra analysis of intermediate metabolite showed the presence of homogentisic acid (HGA). Moreover, the enzyme 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, involved in HGA biosynthesis, showed high activity during melanin production. Subsequently, a tyrosinase gene (melC2) and hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase gene double mutant demonstrated StrSM is pyomelanin. In vitro bioactivity assay showed that StrSM had excellent protective capability against SH-SY5Y cell oxidative injury. To our knowledge, the results firstly provide comprehensive data on Streptomyces pyomelanin identification and a promising candidate compound to treat oxidative injury of neurocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Drosophila eye has been an important model to understand principles of differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis and tissue morphogenesis. However, a single cell RNA sequence resource that captures gene expression dynamics from the initiation of differentiation to the specification of different cell types in the larval eye disc is lacking. Here, we report transcriptomic data from 13,000 cells that cover six developmental stages of the larval eye. Our data show cell clusters that correspond to all major cell types present in the eye disc ranging from the initiation of the morphogenetic furrow to the differentiation of each photoreceptor cell type as well as early cone cells. We identify dozens of cell type-specific genes whose function in different aspects of eye development have not been reported. These single cell data will greatly aid research groups studying different aspects of early eye development and will facilitate a deeper understanding of the larval eye as a model system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Limited studies have reported the relationship between intestinal flora dysbiosis and clinical characteristics in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). However, the structure and characteristics of gut microbiota in PCOS have not been fully elucidated. Objective: To analyze the composition of the Intestinal flora population in normal-weight women with PCOS and insulin resistance(IR) compared to PCOS alone and healthy women. Methods: A total of 14 PCOS patients with insulin resistant(PCOS-IR) and 12 PCOS alone (PCOS-NIR), and 10 age- and body mass index-matched healthy control women (HC). BMI: 18.5–23.9 kg/m2. The bacterial 16 S rDNA V3-V4 fragment was amplified and sequenced. Then, the sequencing data were analyzed for species annotation, community diversity, and inter-group differences, to explore gut microbial characteristics of the subjects and their correlation with clinical parameters. Results: No significant difference in diversity was observed between PCOA and sample cluster analysis among the three groups (Beta-diversity) and Alpha-diversity. The relative abundance of Rothia, Ruminococcus, and Enterococcus was significantly higher in the PCOS-IR group than in the other two groups (P < 0.05), while that of Prevotella was dramatically decreased (P < 0.05). The abundance of Enterococcus was positively correlated with waist circumference, hip circumference, diastolic blood pressure, and insulin resistance index. Meanwhile, Rothia abundance is positively associated with waist circumference and free fatty acids. Conclusions: The gut microbial composition of PCOS patients with insulin resistance is different from that of PCOS alone and healthy women. The difference is correlated with the clinical characteristics of PCOS, with regards to insulin resistance, abdominal obesity, free fatty acids, and other indicators. PCOS-IR patients have an increased abundance of Enterococcus which potentially the intestinal environment of the host by enriching the metabolic pathways related to insulin resistance, causing the occurrence and development of PCOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edaravone can induce differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into neuron-like cells and replace lost cells by transplanting neuron-like cells to repair spinal cord injury (SCI). In this study, BMSCs were derived from the bone marrow of male Wistar rats (4 weeks old) through density gradient centrifugation (1.073 g/mL), and the cell purity of BMSCs was up to 95%. The combined injection of basic fibroblast growth factor and edaravone was conducted to differentiate BMSCs into neuron-like cells. In this study, 120 male Wistar rats were used to establish the model of semitransverse SCI; on the seventh day, neuron-like cells were labeled by BrdU and then injected into the epicenter of the injury of rats. On the 14th day after cell transplantation, the biotin dextran amine (BDA) fluorescent agent was used to track the repair of nerve damage. At 7, 14, 21, and 30 days after SCI, the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor scale method was used to measure the functional recovery of hind limbs in rats. Additionally, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, Nissl staining, immunohistochemistry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Western blotting, and Real-time quantitative reverse transcripion PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to observe the regeneration of nerve cells. In the edaravone+BMSC group, behavioral analysis of locomotor function showed that functional recovery was significantly enhanced after transplantation of the cells, BrdU-positive cells could be observed scattered in the injured area and extended to both the head and tail, and the BDA tracer shows that the edaravone+BMSC group emits more fluorescent signals. Additionally, H&E staining, Nissl staining, and immunohistochemistry revealed that the space of spinal cord tissue was attenuated and the neurons were increased. Western blotting and qRT-PCR showed that the expression levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), Nestin, and neurofilament 200 (NF) were increased, while the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was decreased. TEM showed that cytoplasmic edema was reduced, mitochondrial vacuoles were attenuated, and nuclear chromatin concentration was declined after transplantation of neuron-like cells. Moreover, with the extension of time of edaravone+BMSC transplantation, the structures of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum tended to be normal. In summary, the induced differentiation of BMSC transplantation can significantly promote the functional repair of SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strain improvement of Streptomyces dengpaensis XZHG99T was performed by combined UV mutagenesis and ribosome engineering, as well as fermentation optimization for enhanced angucycline production (rabelomycin and saquayamycin B1). First, four streptomycin-resistant mutants were obtained after screening of UV mutagenesis and ribosome engineering. Then a rpsL mutant (HTT7) with higher productivity of rabelomycin and saquayamycin B1 was selected according to genetic screening and HPLC/LC-MS analyses, whose maximum titers of rabelomycin and saquayamycin B1 were 3.6 ± 0.02 mg/L and 7.5 ± 0.04 mg/L, respectively, about fourfold higher than those produced by XZHG99T. Next, fermentation optimization of HTT7 was successively carried out by single-factor experiments in shake flasks. The titers of rabelomycin and saquayamycin B1 were increased to 11.2 ± 0.04 mg/L and 20.5 ± 0.02 mg/L after optimization of shake flask fermentation conditions, respectively, which was increased about sixfold compared with those produced by XZHG99T. Finally, the titers of rabelomycin and saquayamycin B1 reached 15.7 ± 0.05 mg/L and 39.9 ± 0.05 mg/L after the scaled-up fermentation, which was 7.8-fold and 11.4-fold higher than those produced by XZHG99T, respectively. These data demonstrate that the combined empirical strain-breeding approaches are still an effective and convenient pathway to improve strain production ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

\n Birth order differences in personality have been studied for almost a hundred years. However, most studies have been conducted in Western cultural contexts, while few studies have addressed the associations between birth order and personality in East Asian cultural contexts. In this study, we examined how birth order influences the Big Five personality traits using a representative Chinese sample (N = 14,148). Both between- and within-family designs were used to examine the associations between birth order and the Big Five personality traits. The results indicated that the impacts of birth order on the Big Five personality traits were not statistically significant and were negligible. We conclude that birth order has no lasting impact on the Big Five personality traits in the Chinese cultural context.What factors cause children in a family to develop different personality traits? One popular belief in society is that birth order plays a significant role in shaping siblings' personality traits. Extensive research conducted by academics over the past century has explored the relationship between birth order and personality traits, but the findings remain inconclusive. It is important to note that most of the existing research has focused on Western cultural contexts. In an effort to shed light on this topic from a different cultural perspective, this study examined the impact of birth order on personality traits within the Chinese cultural context. The findings of this study indicated that birth order did not have any significant effect on Chinese personality traits. Therefore, the effect of birth order on personality traits may just be a social prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DJ-1 has been confirmed to have neuroprotective effects. Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent programmed cell death mode associated with ischemic stroke. The ATF4/HSPA5 pathway has been shown to play an important role in the regulation of ferroptosis. To explore the role and possible mechanism of DJ-1 in regulating ferroptosis in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. In this study, Middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) was used to simulate cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo. Detected ferroptosis-related indicators and observed mitochondrial morphology in brain tissue using transmission electron microscopy. ATF4 was subsequently interfered to observe the effect of DJ-1 on ferroptosis. The results suggest that after interfering with DJ-1, the iron content and malondialdehyde (MDA) content of ferroptosis-related indicators increased, the GSH content decreased, and the mitochondrial structure was severely damaged. We then found that DJ-1 attenuated ferroptosis following ATF4 reduction. In this study, we found that the neuroprotective effect of DJ-1 is related to the inhibition of ferroptosis, and its molecular mechanism is closely related to the ATF4/HSPA5 pathway, which may play a key role in inhibiting brain ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) ferroptosis. • DJ-1 regulates ferroptosis in MCAO/R. • DJ-1 has a protective effect on mitochondrial morphological structure. • DJ-1 exerts neuroprotective effects by inhibiting ferroptosis by the ATF4/HSPA5 signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi‐orifice nozzle is the primary actuator of radial jet drilling for the stimulation of unconventional and low‐permeability reservoirs. This research developed a 3D flow field simulation model to investigate the self‐propelled force of a multi‐orifice nozzle based on ANSYS‐CFX. To evaluate the self‐propelled ability of the nozzle, investigation was performed on the effects of the angle, number, the diameter of the forward and backward orifices of the multi‐orifice nozzle, and the diameter of the micro‐hole in the radial well on its self‐propelled ability by sensitivity analysis. The results revealed that the self‐propelled force slightly increased with the angle of forward orifice increasing, and decreased with the angle of backward orifice increasing; and that the self‐propelled force had a tendency to decrease significantly with the number of forward orifices increasing, and increased slightly with the number of backward orifices increasing. The self‐propelled forces for different combinations of forward and backward orifices were obtained by the simulation method, which agreed well with those obtained by the calculation method, with an average accuracy of 95.82%. It was observed that the self‐propelled force increased substantially as the value of K (d2/d1) increased, but tended to slow down when the flow rate was within a certain range. Besides, with the increase in the diameter of the micro‐hole, the self‐propelled force reduced, and increased substantially as the inlet flow rate increased, but tended to slow down as the inlet flow rate further increased. Thus, to ensure the self‐propelled ability of the jet nozzle, a set of optimal structural parameters can be used to generate the target self‐propelled ability. The research improves the working performance of multi‐orifice nozzles and provides theoretical guidance for hydraulic radial jet drilling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining the most Stimulated Reservoir Volume (SRV) by forming a complex fracture network is the prerequisite for shale gas hydraulic fracturing. In this paper, a coupled DFN–DEM model is presented based on a realistic discrete fracture network from fracturing treatment, to simulate the complex interactions between a created hydraulic fracture and a natural fracture system in shale. The sensitivity analysis of numerical simulation was performed to investigate the effects of hydraulic fracture length, multi‐fracture spacing, and internal friction angle on the stimulation reservoir area. The simulation results revealed that regardless of the DFN distribution and the length of hydraulic fracture, shear failure always tracked on the existing natural fracture plane. The amount and depth of the natural fracture shear into formation increased as the hydraulic fracture grew in length. Moreover, the actual dynamic morphology of fracture network was the radial or dendritic. A drastic change of permeability along the distance from injection may stimulate the fracture networks especially near the wellbore. For the multi‐fracture, the opening of the second fracture was able to stabilize the sheared fractures at the tip of the initial fracture. The shear failure area around the second fracture tended to increase with the growth of the length of the second fracture. Fracture network connectivity in the system is better for the optimal fracture spacing, and then fluid penetration during injection will influence the permeability evolution during stimulation. The stimulation reservoir area of the fracture network and the natural fracture friction angle had a quadratic relationship. Finally, the results by the data from field measurement in Sichuan, China verified that the proposed coupled DFN–DEM model had an accuracy up to 91.7%. The research results provide a reference for predicting the development of fracture network far away for multistage fracturing treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OSW‐1 is a natural compound extracted from the bulbs of Ornithogalum saundersiae in 1992. It has been shown strong antitumor activities in various cancer cells. However, the effects of OSW‐1 on tumor growth and metastasis in breast cancer are still poorly understood. In our research, we showed that OSW‐1 had a strong anticancer effect on breast cancer cells, but lower toxicity to normal cells. Accordingly, it also revealed significant inhibition of tumor growth by OSW‐1 in xenograft model. In addition, we performed Annexin V/PI‐labeled flow cytometric assay and TUNEL assay and showed that OSW‐1 inhibited tumor growth by inducing apoptosis. Furthermore, we carried out transwell assays and found that OSW‐1 significantly repressed the migratory and invasive capabilities of triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells via mediating epithelial‐mesenchymal transition. Besides, OSW‐1 also could inhibit metastasis in an orthotopic model and resulted in a longer survival compared with control group. Finally, we performed RNA‐sequencing and cellular functions to investigate the molecular mechanism of how OSW‐1 inhibits TNBC, and identified NFATc2 may as a pivotal factor for OSW‐1‐mediated effects on cell death, tumor growth, invasion, and migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data interpolation and principal component transformation (PCT) were used to compute the discarding points of a frying oil by measuring the physicochemical parameters—acid value, carbonyl value, and total polar compounds. Herein, the discarding point refers to the time point (associated with the value of each physicochemical parameter) at which the frying oil should be discarded. First, a primary visual analysis was performed for the obtained data by using line charts. Second, a curve interpolation method was used to compute the discarding points for each parameter and thus determine the discarding points for the frying oil. At 190, 205, and 220°C, the frying oil reached the discarding points at 22.1, 17.7, and 13 hr, respectively. The discarding area was also visualized on the corresponding surfaces for the originally obtained data and the interpolated data to investigate the discarding points. Third, the PCT was conducted for the three parameters at each temperature; the discarding point estimation for the three parameters could be reduced to the estimation from the first principal component (FPC), thereby simplifying this process. At 190, 205, and 220°C, the frying oil reached the discarding points when the FPCs were 10.4524, 6.2881, and −1.7629 at the time points 22.1, 17.7, and 13 hr, respectively. Finally, a verification experiment revealed that the correlation between the results obtained by our interpolation method or PCT and the verified data was higher than 0.98, which demonstrates the effectiveness of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer has been notorious for its lack of advance in clinical therapy, urging for effective therapeutic targets. WD repeat-containing protein 74 (WDR74) has previously been implicated in tumorigenesis, but its mechanistic functions remain not well understood. Herein, WDR74 expression was observed to be increased upon lung cancer progression from healthy normal tissues to the primary cancer and further to the metastatic cancer. Through gain- and loss-of-function approaches, we found that WDR74 regulated lung cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, chemoresistance and cell aggressiveness in vitro. Moreover, a xenograft mouse model disclosed that WDR74 knockout inhibited lung cancer growth and metastasis, whereas WDR74 overexpression reciprocally enhanced these characteristics. Mechanistically, WDR74 promoted nuclear β-catenin accumulation and drove downstream Wnt-responsive genes, thus revealing that WDR74 activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Collectively, WDR74 inducing nuclear β-catenin accumulation and driving the downstream Wnt-responsive genes expression facilitates lung cancer growth and metastasis. WDR74 can serve as a candidate target for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer in clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CD16a (FcγRIIIa) mediates the antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and is important for anti-tumor activities of many therapeutic antibodies. Bispecific antibody targeting natural killer (NK) cells has been studied for cancer therapy. In this work, anti-CD16a single-domain antibodies were identified from hCD16a immunized camel. Bispecific antibodies are then constructed by fusing these single domain antibodies with an anti-CEA single domain antibody. These bispecific antibodies can recruite NK cells to kill CEA-positive tumor cells, and inhibit tumor growth in vivo, suggesting that these anti-CD16a single domain antibodies are powerful tools to engaging NK cells for cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Identification of biosynthetic gene cluster for eupenifeldin in Phoma sp. • Characterization of humulene synthetase EupE. • Identification of a CYP450 enzyme EupD required for humulene hydroxylation. • The biosynthetic pathway of eupenifeldin was partially proposed. Eupenifeldin, a bistropolone meroterpenoid, was first discovered as an antitumor agent from the fungus Eupenicillium brefeldianum. We also isolated this compound and a new congener from a strain of Phoma sp. (CGMCC 10481), and evaluated their antitumor effects. Eupenifeldin showed potent in vitro anti-glioma activity. This tropolone-humulene-tropolone meroterpenoid could be originated from two units of tropolone orthoquinone methides and a 10-hydroxyhumulene moiety via hetero-Diels-Alder reactions. To explore the biosynthesis of this class of tropolonic sesquiterpenes, the genome of a eupenifeldin-producing Phoma sp. was sequenced and analyzed. The biosynthetic gene cluster of eupenifeldin (eup) was identified and partially validated by genomic analysis, gene disruption, and product analysis. A nonreducing polyketide synthase EupA, a FAD-dependent monooxygenase EupB, and a non-heme Fe (II)-dependent dioxygenase EupC, were identified as the enzymes responsible for tropolone formation. While the terpene cyclase EupE of an unknown family was characterized to catalyze humulene formation, and a cytochrome P450 enzyme EupD was responsible for hydroxylation of humulene. This study sheds light on the biosynthesis of eupenifeldin, and paves the way to further decipher its biosynthetic pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is characterized by a high prevalence of drug resistance; how to effectively treat it is still a major clinical challenge. Our previous experiments confirmed that ompA , which is one of the most well-characterized virulence factors, may be dependent on the caspase-1 pathway-stimulated expression of NLRP3 inflammasome to enhance inflammation. TLRs (i.e., TLR2, etc.) is the initiating signal for NLRP3 inflammasome activation; how it relates to ompA in its underlying pathogenic mechanism is not clear. In this study, we proofed that ompA promoted NLRP3 inflammasome activation while the TLR2-NF-κB pathway was also activated after A. baumannii infection. Additionally, the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome-associated proteins and genes was inhibited by silencing TLR2 and NLRP3. This indicated that ompA might depend on the TLR2-NF-κB pathway to assemble and activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. O mpA promoted the assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome through the TLR2-NF-κB pathway and inhibited the degradation of caspase-1 by the proteasome so that a large number of mature IL-1β/IL-18 and other proinflammatory factors were released extracellularly to enhance the body's inflammatory response. Taken together, the results of the joint pre-study confirmed a novel TLR2-NF-κB/NLRP3/caspase-1-modulated mechanism underpinning ompA activity, the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway may be as a potential immunomodulatory target against A. baumannii infections. • Our previous experiments confirmed that outer membrane protein A (ompA) may be dependent on the caspase-1-pathway-stimulated expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome to enhance inflammation. • Following, we demonstrated the activation of the TLR 2 -NF-κB pathway was also enhanced when ompA promoted inflammasome activation after A. baumannii infection. • This study of the joint pre-study revealed that ompA promotes the assembly of NLRP3 inflammasome through TLR 2 -NF-κB signaling pathway, and inhibits the degradation of caspase-1 by the proteasome, so that a large number of mature IL-1β/IL-18 and other proinflammatory factors are released into the extracellular to expand the inflammatory injury of the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activity can affect the vegetation types and sedimentary records of a region. In this study, we used multiproxy records from a 140-cm sediment profile, including pollen, charcoal, organic carbon, conductivity, and hydrochemical analyses, to reconstruct a vegetation history for Alahake Saline Lake in northern Xinjiang, China. Fossil charcoal pieces (≥100 μm) were used to reconstruct fire history from the sedimentary record. A significant change in the presence of charcoal indicated an increasing occurrence of fire in the Alahake landscape over the past 4730 years. A peak charcoal concentration occurred at a depth of 0–28 cm, indicating intensified human activity since 790 cal. yr BP. For the same period, pollen assemblages revealed some distinct regional vegetation changes; from 4730 to 3600 cal. yr BP, the landscape was relatively rich in tree species and other vegetation types; from 3600–790 cal. yr BP, trees began to decline while the abundance of Chenopodiaceae increased sharply, indicating environmental degradation. The occurrence of Betula spp. (birch) pollen decreased markedly up to 410 cal. yr BP, suggesting the progressive disappearance of birch trees from the landscape, and the salinity of the lake increased (conductivity peaked above 14.16 ms/cm). High lake salinity and increasing anthropogenic activity have been the two most important factors driving historical changes in the abundance of birch in the Alahake Saline Lake region over the past 790 years. The results of this study are of significance for biodiversity conservation planning and wetland protection in semi-arid and arid areas of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the structure of the Chinese Person–Environment Fit Scale for Creativity (PEFSC) and its classification role. This scale evaluates creativity from the personal dimension, environmental dimension, and their fit. A total of 298 native Chinese employees (aged 17–50 years) from 59 organizations participated in this study. They completed the PEFSC, Creative Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the acceptable goodness of fit of the two-factor correlated model of PEFSC. Positive and significant correlations were observed among person–environment fit creativity, creative self-efficacy, and perceived organizational support. Regression analysis indicated that creative self-efficacy and perceived organizational support exhibited differences in the personal and environmental dimensions. Analysis of variance and post-hoc tests showed that creative self-efficacy and perceived organizational support were higher in the group of individuals with high person–environment fit than in the misfit and low-fit groups. This study indicated that PEFSC can be used to measure person–environment fit for creativity effectively and classify highly creative individuals in the Chinese workplace context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Tungsten is of extraordinarily high concentrations in the geothermal waters discharging from several representative Tibetan magmatic hydrothermal systems (up to 1103 μg/L), which are also characterized by exceptionally high W/Mo molar ratios (up to 1182). The geochemical origins of the tungsten in these geothermal waters were investigated, with a comparison to those from Rehai, the sole magmatic hydrothermal system in Yunnan, which is another major part of the Yunnan-Sichuan-Tibet Geothermal Province of China. The results show that the lithology of reservoir host rocks is the primary factor controlling the tungsten concentrations of the geothermal waters, although the contribution of magmatic fluid input cannot be ruled out. In this study, the geothermal waters are generally rich in sulfide, and therefore the molybdenum in the reservoir fluids has been substantially precipitated as the form of molybdenite; in contrast, the reservoir fluids are well undersaturated with respect to tungstenite which is much more soluble than molybdenite. Thus the neutral/alkaline hot springs, i.e. the evolved reservoir fluids, have high W/Mo molar ratios as well. In the hot spring sediments, the distribution pattern of tungsten is quite different. The concentrations of tungsten are the highest in the sediments with high iron concentrations collected from the acid hot spring vents and outflow channels. The adsorption of aqueous tungsten onto iron-bearing minerals, like goethite or pyrite, is favorable at acid pH values and thereby responsible for the very high tungsten concentrations of these acid hot spring sediments. The proportions of thiotungstates in total tungsten are quite low for all the hot springs, as indicated by thermodynamic calculations, suggesting that thiolation of tungstate has little impacts on the environmental transport and fate of geothermal tungsten in the investigated hydrothermal areas. This is the first study to report the tungsten geochemistry of hot springs in mainland China. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Very high W concentrations are observed in some geothermal waters from YST. • Vastly different W/Mo ratios of the YST waters are ascribed to their various geneses. • Fe-bearing minerals in hot spring sediments are the major sink for geothermal W. • Low pH is favorable for the adsorption of geothermal W onto Fe-bearing minerals. • Immobilization of geothermal W was little affected by its polymerization/thiolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A melanin-producing strain was identified as Streptomyces sp. ZL-24 by phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. Based on single factor experiment, NiCl 2 , FeSO 4 and soy peptone were selected as significant variables of melanin production. Subsequent biochemical and RT-qPCR analyses revealed that melanin production was markedly driven by moderate levels of ferrous and nickel ions. The central composite design indicated that the optimal medium was composed of 3.05 mM NiCl 2 , 1.33 g/L FeSO 4 and 20.31 g/L soy peptone. The maximum production of the insoluble melanin (189.90 mg/L) was obtained using 3% (v/v) inoculation size in the medium of pH 7.0 at 30 °C for 5 days. Under this optimal condition, an indigenous plate culture system was standardized and used to produce soluble melanin. The resulting pure melanin pigment was up to 4.24 g/L, which set a new record of soluble melanin production. Bioactivity assay in vitro showed that both melanin pigments had strong antimicrobial, anti-biofilm and antioxidant activity. To our best knowledge, the results provide novel data on soluble melanin production, and identify an excellent candidate for anti-biofilm application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this study, four polypyridyl ruthenium(II) complexes, namely, [(L 1) 2 RuL 2 ]·2ClO 4 (1 : L 1 = phen, L 2 = o -TFPIP, 2 : L 1 = bpy, L 2 = o -TFPIP, 3 : L 1 = phen, L 2 = o -MOPIP, and 4 : L 1 = bpy, L 2 = o -MOPIP), were synthesized with different phenanthroimidazole derivatives, and their inhibitory activities were tested against various cancer cells. Among the Ru(II) complexes, 1 excellently inhibited the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of HepG2 cell. Importantly, 1 was mainly distributed in the cell mitochondria and markedly induced the dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential, possibly attributing to DNA damage induced by the Ru(II) complexes. Synthetic Ru(II) complexes can suppress the growth of tumor cells in zebrafish xenograft model with low toxicity at effective concentrations. These results inspired us to further develop polypyridyl ruthenium(II) complexes as potential potent inhibitors against liver cancer. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • The Ru(II) complexes based on phenanthroline ligand with a large aromatic planar structure suppress growth on HepG2 cells. • The synthetic Ru(II) polypyridyl complex exhibit a classic regular octahedral single-crystal structure. • The Ru(II) complexes effectively suppress the growth of HepG2 cells in zebrafish liver cancer xenografts model. • The Ru(II) complexes inhibit HepG2 cells growth through induced MMP dissipation activates DNA damage-mediated apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have drawn great attentions due to the abundance of sodium and their similar electrochemical principles to that of lithium-ion batteries. However, larger ionic radius of Na+ greatly retards Na+ transport and causes severe volume expansion. Therefore, delicate design of anodes for SIBs that can reversibly accommodate sodium ions is a crucial, but challenging task. In this paper, we rationally engineer a hybrid composite featured with ZnSe nanoparticles uniformly wrapped in three-dimensional (3D) porous nitrogen-doped carbon matrix (ZnSe NP@p-NC). The synthesis is achieved through the domination of the self-template-induced reaction between Zn-based zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) nanododecahedra and Se powder at an elevated temperature. Due to the structural and compositional merits, including a 3D porous structure, the uniform distribution of the small-size ZnSe nanoparticles, and graphitic carbon matrix, these unique ZnSe NP@p-NC popcorn balls display a high sodium-storage performance, including cycling stability (181.7 mAh g−1 after 2000 cycles at 10 A g−1), rate capability, and initial Coulombic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The goal of this study was to provide information on the representation of pollen taxa and the human impact on vegetation by exploring the relationship between modern pollen and vegetation in the central and western regions of Yunnan Province of China. A total of 120 modern pollen samples were collected throughout the study area. The surface pollen assemblage was divided into eight pollen zones (Zones I–VIII) based on vegetation types. We analyzed the palynology and determined the hemeroby levels of each zone in the area. Our results showed that human activity is one of the most important factors that can result in the damage of natural vegetation and increase anthropochory and secondary plants. The hemeroby levels of the surface pollen samples were mainly euhemerobic except for Zones I, II, and VI, which indicates a strong and continuous anthropogenic influence in the central and western regions of Yunnan Province in recent decades. The lowest hemeroby values were observed in Zone I samples, which were collected from Mengla and Jinghong. These areas are in the Xishuangbanna region, which is the most biodiverse region in China and has been well preserved since 1959. Therefore, the extent of human influence of a region can be estimated from the degree of hemeroby established from pollen data, which can be used in the future for nature conservation. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • The hemeroby and pollen data are two good bio-indicators of human disturbance and impact. • Largely euhemerobic surface hemeroby levels indicate continuous human impact. • Strong human impacts influence modern vegetation in the midwestern Yunnan Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]