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This study investigates the differential effects of monolingual (L1 or L2) and bilingual (L1+L2) subtitles on students' receptive vocabulary acquisition. In light of the widespread use of bilingual subtitles in videos in language classrooms with limited supportive literature available, this study aims at examining the pedagogical effects of bilingual subtitles on receptive vocabulary acquisition in the L2 classroom. A seven-week quasi-experimental study was conducted among four year-3 English-major classes in a Chinese university: three treatment groups and one control group. Adopting a counterbalanced design, students in the treatment classes were exposed to three types of subtitles within three videos. They were then tested on recall and recognition of the vocabulary target items encountered in the videos. The results demonstrate a significant advantage for bilingual subtitling in videos in terms of students' vocabulary recognition and recall at post-test, and this advantage is maintained at the delayed post-test. Implications of the study are discussed in the context of current pedagogical practices such as a wider L1 use in the L2 classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Morphological characteristics and metabolite profiles of hemp exhibit distinct responses to varying light intensities. • Amino acids, soluble protein, carbohydrates, and plant growth influenced by light intensity. • Desired metabolites contents can be achieved by changing light intensity. • Optimum light intensity could be valuable in the pharmaceutical and nutritional field. Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a high-yielding cash crop with strong stress resistance, and its fibrous and metabolic profile holds significant development potential. In this study, we measured various agronomic traits, amino acids, saccharides, and their derivatives under four different light intensities (30 μmol·m−2·s−1, 80 μmol·m−2·s−1, 130 μmol·m−2·s−1, 180 μmol·m−2·s−1). Results showed that plant height decreased with increasing light intensity and reached a minimum at 180 μmol·m−2·s−1, which was 27 % less than the control treatment. Further, stem diameter increased by 52 %, leaf fresh weight by 130 %, stem fresh weight by 116 %, and root fresh weight by 264 % were at their maximum at 130 μmol·m−2·s−1. Plant dry weight of leaf (113 %), stem (214 %), and root (427 %) were also found to be maximum at 130 μmol·m−2·s−1. Metabolic results revealed that the free amino acid content was 10 %, 61 %, and 60 % higher under 30 μmol·m−2·s−1 compared to 80, 130, and 180 μmol·m−2·s−1. Additionally, soluble protein contents were 42 %, 81 %, and 77 % higher under 30 μmol·m−2·s−1 compared to 80, 130, and 180 μmol·m−2·s−1. In contrast, the soluble sugar contents were 42 %, 61 %, and 75 % higher than in the other three treatments. In conclusion, industrial hemp morphological characteristics and metabolite profiles exhibit distinct responses to different light intensities. To achieve desired outcomes, it is imperative to carefully choose an optimized light intensity specifically tailored to align with the defined objectives. These findings provide a foundation for a deeper understanding of the characteristics of industrial hemp, optimizing cultivation techniques, and investigating the impact of light intensity on industrial hemp vegetative period growth, amino acids, and saccharides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) is a complex process that occurs when blood flow is restored after myocardium infarction (MI) with exacerbated tissue damage. Macrophages, essential cell type of the immune response, play an important role in MIRI. Macrophage subpopulations, namely M1 and M2, are distinguished by distinct phenotypes and functions. In MIRI, macrophages infiltrate in infarcted area, shaping the inflammatory response and influencing tissue healing. Resident cardiac macrophages interact with monocyte-derived macrophages in MIRI, and influence injury progression. Key factors including chemokines, cytokines, and toll-like receptors modulate macrophage behavior in MIRI. This review aims to address recent findings on the classification and the roles of macrophages in the myocardium, spanning from MI to subsequent MIRI, and highlights various signaling pathways implicated in macrophage polarization underlining the complexity of MIRI. This article will shed light on developing advanced therapeutic strategies for MIRI management. • Modulation of macrophage polarization as a potential target for treating Myocardial Ischemia Reperfusion Injury (MIRI). • Summary for cell types of macrophages and their function. • Localization & phenotypes of macrophages in myocardial tissue. • Conclusion for recent researches of the potential mechanism of macrophages during myocardial infarction (MI) & MIRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The X C O factor is defined as X C O = N (H 2) / W 12 C O . It is useful for estimating cloud mass. However, there is only limited research on how the X C O factor varies within a single cloud. Employing 12 C O (J = 1-0) and 13 C O (J = 1-0) spectral data, we computed an X C O factor of 3.6 × 10 20 cm − 2 (K km s−1)−1 for luminous gas of the N55 region. Our analysis revealed a V-shaped correlation between the X C O factor and H 2 column densities, while the relationship with excitation temperature exhibited obscurity. This suggests that the CO-to- H 2 conversion is not consistent on small scale (∼1 pc). Additionally, we found that star formation activity has little influence on the variability in the X C O factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the optimal germination temperature for Pyrus ussuriensis seeds and whether they experienced the phenomenon of thermodormancy and its inciting factors, several germination tests were conducted using non-dormant P. ussuriensis seeds for comparison. The results showed that the highest germination rate of P. ussuriensis seeds was reached at a constant temperature of 5 °C and variable temperature (night/day) of 5 °C/10 °C. Constant temperatures of 25 °C for three days induced thermodormancy, triggering significant drops in seeding emergence. Thermodormancy was related to the inhibitory effect of endogenous substances in the seed coat and an elevated abscisic acid concentration. The embryo, by contrast, remained non-dormant. Thermodormant and non-dormant seed embryos showed higher germination rates than dormant seed embryos when applied exogenous abscisic acid and gibberellic acid. We found that P. ussuriensis seeds showed thermodormancy; thus, during early spring sowing, high temperatures should be avoided to prevent low seed germination capacity. Additionally, applying exogenous gibberellic acid, shading and increasing soil moisture can be helpful to enhance the species seed germination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Feminization of health workforce has been globally documented, but it has not been investigated in China. This study aims to analyze changes in the gendered composition of health workforce and explore the trend in different types of health workforce, health organizations and majors within China's health system. Methods: The data were collected from China Health Statistical Yearbook from 2002 to 2020. We focused on health professionals including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists in health organizations. Trend analysis was employed to examine the change in the ratio of female health workforce over 18 years. The estimated average annual percent change (AAPC) was estimated, and the reciprocals of variances for the female ratios were used as weights. Results: In China, health professionals increased from 4.7 million in 2002 to 10.68 million in 2020. Health professionals per 1000 population increased from 3.41 in 2002 to 7.57 in 2020. The ratio of female health professionals significantly increased from 63.85% in 2002 to 72.4% in 2020 (AAPC = 1.04%, 95% CI 0.96–1.11%, P < 0.001). Female doctors and pharmacists increased 4.7 and 7.9 percentage points from 2002 to 2020. Female health workers at township health centers, village clinics, centers for disease control and prevention had higher annual increase rate (AAPC = 1.67%, 2.25% and 1.33%, respectively) than those at hospital (0.70%) and community health center (0.5%). Female doctors in traditional Chinese medicine, dentistry and public health had higher annual increase rate (AAPC = 1.82%, 1.53% and 1.91%, respectively) than female clinical doctor (0.64%). Conclusions: More women are participating in the healthcare sector in China. However, socially lower-ranked positions have been feminizing faster, which could be due to the inherent and structural gender norms restricting women's career. More collective and comprehensive system-level actions will be needed to foster a gender-equitable environment for health workforce at all levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater plays a critical water resources role in arid and semi-arid areas. Quantitative evaluation of groundwater recharge is crucial in hydrogeological investigations. Under the complex hydrogeological and climatic conditions in China's arid and semi-arid regions, groundwater recharge shows significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity. Although there has been much research, including hydrochemical analysis, isotope tracing, in-situ tests and numerical simulations, accurate quantitative groundwater recharge is still a great challenge. This paper reviews the progress in research on groundwater recharge in arid and semi-arid regions of China, focusing on the principles and current applications of the main techniques, as well as the achievements in nine typical arid and semi-arid regions (Tarim Basin, Junggar Basin, Shule River Basin, Heihe River Basin, Yinchuan Plain, Badain Jaran Desert, Loess Plateau, Ordos Plateau, North China Plain). The paper reveals that the chloride mass balance method is a popular method to estimate groundwater recharge rate, whereas stable isotopes and hydrochemistry analyses, as well as the joint use of both, have been widely used in the understanding of groundwater recharge processes and mechanisms in the arid and semi-arid regions of China. Numerical modeling and remote sensing technology will become important approaches to quantify large-scale groundwater recharge. It is also suggested that various estimation methods should be used in combination, in order to improve the reliability of recharge estimates. Furthermore, this review shows that the theoretical research so far still cannot meet the needs of regional development, and the paper highlights some scientific problems that need to be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the effects of curing agent ratio, asphalt content, and crosslinking degree on the properties and distribution of epoxy asphalt with a compound system of dicarboxylic acid and acid anhydride, epoxy asphalt molecular models with two asphalt contents of 25% and 65% and three curing agent ratios of 10:1, 5:1 and 1:1 were constructed by Materials Studio. Various epoxy resin crosslinking degrees were further realised by Perl language crosslinking script. Glass transition temperatures were calculated to characterise low temperature flexibility. Energy systems and interaction energy were simulated to characterise the compatibility of epoxy asphalt. The radial distribution function (RDF) was calculated to observe the composition distribution of epoxy asphalt. The results show that the raise of the crosslinking degree and the proportion of anhydride curing agent increased the Tg of epoxy asphalt, impairing the low temperature performance. The increase in asphalt content was beneficial to the stability of the epoxy asphalt. Resin-based epoxy asphalt had stronger interaction between epoxy resin phase and asphalt phase, and the interaction energies both reached the maximum values at crosslinking degree of around 25%. Resin-based and asphalt-based epoxy asphalt had the most notable composition difference in the distribution of asphaltenes and acid anhydrides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria are key cytoplasmic organelles in eukaryotic cells that generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) through the electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number (mtDNAcn) is considered a biomarker for both mitochondrial quantity and function as well as cellular oxidative stress level. Previous epidemiologic findings revealed that weight gain, higher body mass index (BMI), smoking, and high insulinemic potential of lifestyle were associated with lower leukocyte mtDNAcn. Carnitines are a group of compounds that play a critical role in energy production. We quantified the associations of plasma L-carnitine levels with leukocyte mtDNAcn. We then examined the association between mtDNAcn and L-carnitine (HMDB0000062) in 538 U.S. men without cancers, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease at blood collection from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS). We found a significant inverse association between L-carnitine and mtDNAcn (ρ = −0.1, P = 0.02). This implies that the carnitine metabolic pathway may be associated with mitochondrial function and oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: China initiated a health system reform in 2009 to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2020. While the effectiveness of health-system reforms has been studied, equity in health-service utilization and financial burden remains underexplored. This study evaluated whether the health system reform has improved the equity in utilization and financial burden of health services among patients with hypertension in China. Methods: We obtained data from four waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted between 2011 and 2018. The main outcome variables were outpatient and inpatient service utilization rates and catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) for patients with hypertension. The Standardized Concentration Index (CI) was used to measure the changing equity in health service utilization and affordability. Results: Outpatient service utilization was relatively equal among patients with varying socioeconomic statuses (SESs) (CI: 0.041 in 2011 and 0.064 in 2018). Inpatient service utilization inequity improved from CI 0.144 in 2011 to CI 0.066 in 2018. CHE incidence increased from 15.6% in 2011 to 24.2% in 2018. CI for CHE declined from -0.069 in 2011 to -0.012 in 2015 but increased to -0.063 in 2018. Conclusions: Health insurance expansion and poverty alleviation policies promoted equity in inpatient service utilization for hypertensive patients. However, the financial burden for the poor requires further attention through reimbursement policy adjustments for outpatient services in primary care settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: China has made intensive efforts to eliminate extreme poverty by 2020. This paper aims to evaluate the changes in health service needs, utilization, and medical expenses for poor people during the poverty alleviation period. Methods: The study used data from national health services surveys in 2013 and 2018. The poor people were identified and certified by the local government. Health service needs, utilization, medical expenses, and reimbursement rates were analyzed and compared between 2013 and 2018, between the poor and the non-poor groups. Results: People living in poverty were usually elderly, illiterate, and unemployed. The poor people had a significantly higher two-week morbidity rate and a higher prevalence of chorionic non-communicable diseases than the non-poor group. For both the poor and non-poor, health service needs increased between 2013 and 2018. Accordingly, the poor people had more use of outpatient and inpatient services. The annual inpatient admission rates were 20.8% and 13.1% for the poor and non-poor, respectively, in 2018. The average medical expenses per inpatient admission were much lower for the poor than for the non-poor. Out-of-pocket (OOP) payment share decreased from 41.9% to 2013 to 31.9% in 2018 for the poor, while for the non-poor, the OOP rate was much higher (45.4%) and had no significant changes between the two surveys. The reduction in the OOP share occurred mostly in rural areas. Conclusions: Poverty alleviation in China may have positive effect in improving poor people's access to health services, and reducing their financial burden due to illness and health service utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multimorbidity is posing an enormous burden to health systems, especially for primary healthcare system. While primary care teams (PCTs) are believed to have potentials to improve quality of primary health care (PHC), less is known about their impact on the quality of care for people with multimorbidity. We assessed the characteristics of PCTs and their impact on the quality of care for people with multimorbidity and the mechanisms. Methods: We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, ProQuest for published studies from January 2000 to October 2021 for studies in English. Following through PRISMA guidelines, two reviewers independently abstracted data and reconciled by consensus with a third reviewer. Titles, abstracts, and full texts were evaluated to identify relevant studies. Studies were categorized by types of interventions, the impact of interventions on outcome measures, and mechanisms of interventions. Results: Seventeen studies (13 RCT, 3 cohort studies, and 1 non-randomized trial) were identified. PCTs were summarized into three types—upward PCTs, downward PCTs and traditional PCTs according to the skill mix. The upward PCTs included primary care workers and specialists from upper-level hospitals, downward PCTs involving primary care workers and lay health workers, and traditional PCTs involving physicians and care managers. PCTs improved patients' mental and psychological health outcomes greatly, and also improved patients' perceptions towards care including satisfaction with care, sense of improvement, and patient-centeredness. PCTs also improved the process of care and changed providers' behaviors. However, PCTs showed mixed effects on clinical outcome measures. Conclusions: PCTs have improved mental and psychological health outcomes, the process of care, patients' care experiences, and satisfaction towards care for patients with multimorbidity. The effect of PCTs on clinical outcomes and changes in patient behaviors need to be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperature has severely affected plant growth and development, resulting in reduced production of crops worldwide, especially wheat. Alternative splicing (AS), a crucial post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism, is involved in the growth and development of eukaryotes and the adaptation to environmental changes. Previous transcriptome data suggested that heat shock transcription factor (Hsf) TaHsfA2-7 may form different transcripts by AS. However, it remains unclear whether this post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism of TaHsfA2-7 is related to thermotolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Here, we identified a novel splice variant, TaHsfA2-7-AS, which was induced by high temperature and played a positive role in thermotolerance regulation in wheat. Moreover, TaHsfA2-7-AS is predicted to encode a small truncated TaHsfA2-7 isoform, retaining only part of the DNA-binding domain (DBD). TaHsfA2-7-AS is constitutively expressed in various tissues of wheat. Notably, the expression level of TaHsfA2-7-AS is significantly up-regulated by heat shock (HS) during flowering and grain-filling stages in wheat. Further studies showed that TaHsfA2-7-AS was localized in the nucleus but lacked transcriptional activation activity. Ectopic expression of TaHsfA2-7-AS in yeast exhibited improved thermotolerance. Compared to non-transgenic plants, overexpression of TaHsfA2-7-AS in Arabidopsis results in enhanced tolerance to heat stress. Simultaneously, we also found that TaHsfA1 is directly involved in the transcriptional regulation of TaHsfA2-7 and TaHsfA2-7-AS. In summary, our findings demonstrate the function of TaHsfA2-7-AS splicing variant in response to heat stress and establish a link between regulatory mechanisms of AS and the improvement of thermotolerance in wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical and chemical properties of three kinds of laminations relative to the bonding properties of three-layer hybrid cross-laminated timber (CLT) were studied. The density of the parallel layer lamination of CLT was 640.47±61.85 kg/m3 , and the perpendicular layer laminations for CLT larch wood, poplar, and oriented strand board (OSB) were 392.51±40.14 , 343.73±17.16 , and 384.41±12.93 kg/m3. Block shear bond strength (BBS), wood failure percentage (WFP), and delamination rate (DR) of the hybrid CLT specimens were also determined. The results showed that the three kinds of hybrid CLT prepared with polyurethane (PUR) adhesive had good bonding properties under 1.2 MPa of bonding pressure. The BBS values of CLT with larch wood, poplar hybrid, and OSB hybrid were 2.32, 2.41, and 1.98 MPa, respectively; furthermore, their WFPs were all greater than 80%, and their DRs were 9.32%, 0.37%, and 0.11%, respectively. Regarding the relationship between perpendicular layer material properties and bonding properties, analysis revealed that delamination performance was strongly correlated with pH, buffer capacity, and the surface free energy of the perpendicular layer, whereas the WFP and BBS values had a strong correlation with pH and buffer capacity. Density was determined to be unrelated to bonding performance in the CLT prepared in this experiment. Microscopic analysis of the bonding line proves that the PUR adhesive can effectively penetrate into three different laminations under a bonding pressure of 1.2 MPa and form enough nails to ensure bonding strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term dietary fat intake is thought to affect metabolism and pregnancy of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients, and the type of fatty acids one consumes plays an important role. Previous studies mostly used questionnaires to analyze the type and proportion of fatty acids. This prospective study included 91 PCOS patients. Serum fatty acids were measured by the gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry method before ovulation induction. We compared the fatty acids between the pregnancy group and the nonpregnancy group and explored the influence of the fatty acids on live births and pregnancy loss. Nervonic acid was lower in the pregnancy group than in the nonpregnancy group (0.25% vs. 0.30%, p =.017). The following trans-fatty acids were significantly lower in the pregnancy group than in the nonpregnancy group: trans-10-heptadecenoic acid, trans-vaccenic acid, trans-11-eicosenoic acid, and brassidic acid. The level of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the live birth group was significantly higher than the pregnancy loss group (16.95% vs. 15.10%, p =.039). Among individual PUFAs, the levels of linoleic acid (p =.043), docosapentaenoic acid (p =.024), alpha-linolenic acid (p =.042), and eicosapentaenoic acid (p =.035) were higher in the live birth group than in the pregnancy loss group. After adjusting for infertility duration, age, and body mass index, our findings suggested an inverse association between pregnancy and nervonic acid, trans-10-heptadecenoic acid, trans-vaccenic acid, trans-11-eicosenoic acid, and brassidic acid and pregnancy. Our findings indicate that polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with live birth in PCOS patients. Serum trans-fatty acids and nervonic acid might be risk factors for nonpregnancy. The mechanism of the influence of different fatty acids on pregnancy and live birth merits further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underground power cables are prone to electrical tree aging and additives loss due to the harsh working environment. In this work, the thermal aged cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables were restored by injecting a newly synthesized voltage stabilizer containing hydrolyzable siloxane groups. The voltage stabilizer functionalized siloxane groups greatly enhanced the electrical tree initiation voltage, significantly reduced the direct current (DC) conductivity and dielectric loss factor. The results of scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) indicated that the voltage stabilizer molecules were distributed in the electrical tree channels of the restored cables. After secondary thermal aging at 150 °C for 360 h, the characteristic electrical tree initiation voltage of the restored cable reached 12.10 kV, which was 66.90% higher than that of the unrestored cable. This indicated that the migration of voltage stabilizers could be inhibited by introducing hydrolyzable groups. This investigation provided a new approach to improve the migration resistance of the voltage stabilizer and the inhibitory effect of the rejuvenation liquid on the electrical tree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, molecular dynamics, full factorial experimental design and molecular docking were used to determine the toxic effects of pesticides on pests (Tetranychus telarius, Lygus lucorum and Helicoverpa armigera) and bees (North Chinese bee) in a cotton field, and an insecticide collocation scheme with the bi-directional selectivity was devised. Firstly, the main insecticides for three stages of cotton growth were identified under the lateral mixing condition. Insecticides for the first phase included abamectin (avermectin B1a and B1b), acetamiprid (N-(N-cyano-ethylimine)-N-methyl-2-chloropyridine-5-methylamine), dicofol (1,1-bis(p-Chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethanol) and cypermethrin ((RS)-α-cyano-3-phenoxyebenzyl(SR)-3-(2,2-dichloroyl)-2,2-dimethyl cyclopropane carboxylic acid ester); the insecticides available in the second phase included cypermethrin ((RS)-α-cyano-3-phenoxyebenzyl(SR)-3-(2,2-dichloroyl)-2,2-dimethyl cyclopropane carboxylic acid ester), phoxim (O,O-diethyl-O-α-cyanophenylbenzylamine thiophosphate ester), deltamethrin ((R,cis)-2,2-dimethyl-3-(2,2-dibromovinylcyclopropane ester)-cyano-diphenyl ether) and abamectin (avermectin B1a and B1b). In third phase, cypermethrin ((RS)-α-cyano-3-phenoxyebenzyl(SR)-3-(2,2-dichloroyl)-2,2-dimethyl cyclopropane carboxylic acid ester), and deltamethrin ((R,cis)-2,2-dimethyl-3-(2,2-dibromovinylcyclopropane ester) -cyano-diphenyl ether) were included. Different insecticide application schemes were designed according to whether the application cycle and sequence were considered. The molecular dynamics simulation method was used to determine the effects of different insecticide application schemes on pests and bees. After the simulation, the simplified mixed-weighted model carried out each application scheme. In the case of lateral mixing, the combination of avermectin + acetamiprid + trichlorobacitol + cypermethrin + phoxim + deltamethrin was selected as the optimal application program, which reduced bee toxicity by 98.77% and increased insect toxicity by 55.84%. Whereas in the case of longitudinal residue, avermectin + cypermethrin + deltamethrin was selected. This combination reduced the harm to bees by 126.55% and increased the toxicity to target pests by 34.23%. Finally, by calculating the resultant force from different types of non-bonded forces, the mechanism of the effect of the optimal application scheme on bees and pests under two scenarios was analyzed. The optimally combined scheme prepared by screening could provide the bi-directional selectivity to bees and pests. This study provides an important reference for reducing the environmental problems caused by pesticide application in farmland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic colitis exacerbates neuroinflammation, contributing to cognitive impairment during aging, but the mechanism remains unclear. The polarity distribution of astrocytic aquaporin 4 (AQP4) is crucial for the glymphatic system, which is responsible for metabolite clearance in the brain. Physical exercise (PE) improves cognition in the aged. This study aims to investigate the protective mechanism of exercise in colitis-associated cognitive impairment. To establish a chronic colitis model, 18-month-old C57BL/6 J female mice received periodic oral administration of 1% wt/vol dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in drinking water. The mice in the exercise group received four weeks of voluntary wheel exercise. High-throughput sequencing was conducted to screen for differentially expressed genes. Two-photon imaging was performed to investigate the function of the astrocytic calcium activity and in vivo intervention with TRPV4 inhibitor HC-067047. Further, GSK1016790A (GSK1), a TRPV4 agonist, was daily intraperitoneally injected during the exercise period to study the involvement of TRPV4 in PE protection. Colitis pathology was confirmed by histopathology. The novel object recognition (NOR) test, Morris water maze test (MWM), and open field test were performed to measure colitis-induced cognition and anxiety-like behavior. In vivo two-photon imaging and ex vivo imaging of fluorescent CSF tracers to evaluate the function of the glymphatic system. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the Aβ deposition, polarity distribution of astrocytic AQP4, and astrocytic phenotype. Serum and brain levels of the inflammatory cytokines were tested by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The brain TUNEL assay was used to assess DNA damage. Expression of critical molecules was detected using Western blotting. Voluntary exercise alleviates cognitive impairment and anxiety-like behavior in aged mice with chronic colitis, providing neuroprotection against neuronal damage and apoptosis. Additionally, voluntary exercise promotes the brain clearance of Aβ via increased glymphatic clearance. Mechanistically, exercise-induced beneficial effects may be attributed, in part, to the inhibition of TRPV4 expression and TRPV4-related calcium hyperactivity, subsequent promotion of AQP4 polarization, and modulation of astrocyte phenotype. The present study reveals a novel role of voluntary exercise in alleviating colitis-related cognitive impairment and anxiety disorder, which is mediated by the promotion of AQP4 polarization and glymphatic clearance of Aβ via inhibition of TRPV4-induced astrocytic calcium hyperactivity. • Voluntary exercise improves glymphatic clearance function and ameliorates colitis-associated cognitive impairment. • Voluntary exercise promotes the astrocytic AQP4 polarity and anti-inflammatory response. • Voluntary exercise inhibits TRPV4-induced astrocytic calcium hyperactivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1 Survey-weighted crude prevalence of taste (left) and smell (right) alterations among different populations defined by diabetes and diabetes-related comorbidities in NHANES 2011-2014 Graph: Fig. We thus aim to examine and compare the associations between smell and taste alterations and diabetes/prediabetes with and without comorbidities by utilizing the nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected between 2011 and 2014. Keywords: Taste; Smell; diabetes; prediabetes; comorbidities; The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) EN Taste Smell diabetes prediabetes comorbidities The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) 429 433 5 02/23/22 20220301 NES 220301 Introduction Taste and smell alterations can significantly affect the quality of life and pose potential dangers in daily life. [Extracted from the article]

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), a new type of rehabilitation technology, pick up nerve cell signals, identify and classify their activities, and convert them into computer-recognized instructions. This technique has been widely used in the rehabilitation of stroke patients in recent years and appears to promote motor function recovery after stroke. At present, the application of BCI in poststroke cognitive impairment is increasing, which is a common complication that also affects the rehabilitation process. This paper reviews the promise and potential drawbacks of using BCI to treat poststroke cognitive impairment, providing a solid theoretical basis for the application of BCI in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), a new type of rehabilitation technology, pick up nerve cell signals, identify and classify their activities, and convert them into computer-recognized instructions. This technique has been widely used in the rehabilitation of stroke patients in recent years and appears to promote motor function recovery after stroke. At present, the application of BCI in poststroke cognitive impairment is increasing, which is a common complication that also affects the rehabilitation process. This paper reviews the promise and potential drawbacks of using BCI to treat poststroke cognitive impairment, providing a solid theoretical basis for the application of BCI in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raining is a common weather condition, and may seriously degrade the performances of outdoor computer vision systems, such as surveillance and autonomous navigation. Rain streaks may exhibit diverse appearances in the captured images, depending on their distances from the camera. For example, sparse rain streaks near the camera lens may appear as continuous and translucent strips, while distant densely accumulated rain streaks are more like fog and mist. Existing rain removal methods are mainly based on a single input image. However, on a single image, it is difficult to estimate a reliable depth map for rain removal. A light field image (LFI) records abundant structural and texture information of the target scene by capturing multi-perspective sub-aperture views with a single exposure. With a LFI, it is easier to estimate the depth maps, and rain streak locations across sub-aperture views are highly correlated. We observe that rain streaks usually have different slops and/or chromaic values, compared with the background scene, along the epipolar plane images (EPIs) of an LFI. Thus, we propose to make use of 3D EPIs to detect rain streaks and restore the background. To this end, we propose a novel GAN architecture to remove rain streaks from an LFI. Our method takes as input a 3D EPI, i.e., a stacked of sub-aperture views along the same row of a rainy LFI. It first estimates the disparity maps for the 3D EPI by utilizing an auto-encoder based depth estimation sub-network. The disparity maps concatenated with the input sub-aperture views are then fed into a non-local residual block, and two branched autoencoder sub-networks are used to extract rain-streaks and recover rain-free sub-aperture views. Extensive experiments conducted on both synthetic real-world-like LFIs and real-world LFIs demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the tremendous benefits of cloud computing, organizations are highly motivated to store electronic records on clouds. However, outsourcing data to cloud servers separates it from physical control, resulting in data privacy disclosure. Although encryption enhances data confidentiality, it also complicates the execution of encrypted database operations. In this paper, we propose a multi-user shared searchable encryption scheme that supports multi-user selective authorization and secure access to encrypted databases. First, we apply the Diffie-Hellman protocol to a trapdoor generate algorithm to facilitate fine-grained search control without incremental conversions. Second, we utilize a private key to generate an encrypted index by bilinear mapping, which makes it impossible for an adversary to obtain trapdoor keywords by traversing the keyword space and to carry out keyword guessing attacks. Third, we use double-layered encryption to encrypt a symmetric decryption key. Only the proxies whose attributes are matched with the access control list can obtain the key of decrypted data. Through theoretical security analysis and experimental verifications, we show that our scheme can provide secure and efficacious ciphertext retrieval without the support of a secure channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • GHG emissions and microbial community characteristics of underground WWTPs. • The construction of WWTPs affects GHG emissions. • GHG emissions from WWTPs are underestimated by 8–28 times. • The emission rate of CH 4 in the capped anaerobic tank is 2–8 times that of the uncapped one. Large quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are emitted into the atmosphere during wastewater treatment. In this study, GHG and microbial samples were collected from four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and their differences and relationships were assessed. The study showed that, compared with conventionally constructed WWTPs, well-established gas collection systems in underground WWTPs facilitate comprehensive collection and accurate accounting of GHGs. In aboveground WWTPs, capped anoxic ponds promote methane production releasing it at 2–8 times the rate of uncapped emissions, in contrast to nitrous oxide emissions. Moreover, a stable subsurface environment allows for smaller fluctuations in daily GHG emissions and higher microbial diversity and abundance. This study highlights differences in GHG emission fluxes and microbial communities in differently constructed WWTPs, which are useful for control and accurate accounting of GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic inflammation is a key driver for colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC). It has been reported that inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, could promote CAC. Zinc finger protein 70 (ZNF70) is involved in multiple biological processes. Here, we identified a previously unknown role for ZNF70 regulates macrophages IL-1β secretion to promote HCT116 proliferation in CAC, and investigated its underlying mechanism. We showed ZNF70 is much higher expressed in CAC tumor tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues in clinical CAC samples. Further experiments showed ZNF70 promoted macrophages IL-1β secretion and HCT116 proliferation. In LPS/ATP-stimulated THP-1 cells, we found ZNF70 activated NLRP3 inflammasome, resulting in robust IL-1β secretion. Interestingly, we discovered the ZnF domain of ZNF70 could interact with NLRP3 and decrease the K48-linked ubiquitination of NLRP3. Moreover, ZNF70 could activate STAT3, thereby promoting IL-1β synthesis. Noteworthy, ZNF70 enhanced proliferation by upregulating STAT3 activation in HCT116 cells cultured in the conditioned medium of THP-1 macrophages treated with LPS/ATP. Finally, the vivo observations were confirmed using AAV-mediated ZNF70 knockdown, which improved colitis-associated colorectal cancer in the AOM/DSS model. The correlation between ZNF70 expression and overall survival/IL-1β expression in colorectal cancer was verified by TCGA database. Taken together, ZNF70 regulates macrophages IL-1β secretion to promote the HCT116 cells proliferation via activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and STAT3 pathway, suggesting that ZNF70 may be a promising preventive target for treating in CAC. [Display omitted] • ZNF70 is much higher expressed in colitis-associated colorectal cancer tumor tissues. • ZNF70 regulates IL-1β secretion via NLRP3 inflammasome and STAT3 in macrophages. • ZNF70 regulates macrophages IL-1β secretion to promote HCT116 cells proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A major challenge of prospective cohort studies is attrition in follow-up surveys. This study investigated attrition in a prospective cohort comprised of medical graduates in China. We described status of attrition, identified participants with higher possibility of attrition, and examined if attrition affect the estimation of the key outcome measures.Methods: The cohort study recruited 3,620 new medical graduates from four medical universities in central and western China between 2015 and 2019. Online follow-up surveys were conducted on an annual basis. Follow-up status was defined as complete (meaning that the participant completed all the follow-up surveys) and incomplete, while incomplete follow-up was further divided into 'always-out', 'rejoin' and 'other'. Multivariable logistic and linear regressions were used to examine factors predicting attrition and the influence on the outcome measures of career development.Results: 2364 (65.3%) participants completed all follow-up surveys. For those with incomplete follow-up, 520 (14.4%) were 'always-out', 276 (7.6%) rejoined in the 2020 survey. Willingness to participate in residency training (OR=0.80, 95%CI[0.66 - 0.98]) and willingness to provide sensitive information in the baseline survey predicted a lower rate of attrition (providing scores for university entrance exam OR=0.82, 95%CI[0.69 - 0.97]]; providing contact information (OR=0.46, 95%CI[0.32 - 0.66]); providing household income (OR=0.60, 95%CI[0.43 - 0.84]). Participants with compulsory rural service (OR=1.52, 95%CI[1.05 - 2.19]) and those providing university entrance scores (OR=1.64, 95%CI[1.15-2.33)) were more likely to rejoin in the follow-up survey. These factors associated with follow-up status did not have significant impact on key outcome measures of career development.Conclusions: Graduates who were unwilling to participate in residency training or not providing sensitive information should be targeted early in the cohort study to reduce attrition. More information about the study should be provided to those graduates early to facilitate their understanding of the meaning in participation. On the contrary, medical graduates with compulsory rural service and those who provided university entrance scores were more likely to rejoin in the cohort. The research team should invest more effort in contacting those graduates and returned them to the cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A major challenge of prospective cohort studies is attrition in follow-up surveys. This study investigated attrition in a prospective cohort comprised of medical graduates in China. We described status of attrition, identified participants with higher possibility of attrition, and examined if attrition affect the estimation of the key outcome measures. Methods: The cohort study recruited 3,620 new medical graduates from four medical universities in central and western China between 2015 and 2019. Online follow-up surveys were conducted on an annual basis. Follow-up status was defined as complete (meaning that the participant completed all the follow-up surveys) and incomplete, while incomplete follow-up was further divided into 'always-out', 'rejoin' and 'other'. Multivariable logistic and linear regressions were used to examine factors predicting attrition and the influence on the outcome measures of career development. Results: 2364 (65.3%) participants completed all follow-up surveys. For those with incomplete follow-up, 520 (14.4%) were 'always-out', 276 (7.6%) rejoined in the 2020 survey. Willingness to participate in residency training (OR=0.80, 95%CI[0.66 - 0.98]) and willingness to provide sensitive information in the baseline survey predicted a lower rate of attrition (providing scores for university entrance exam OR=0.82, 95%CI[0.69 - 0.97]]; providing contact information (OR=0.46, 95%CI[0.32 - 0.66]); providing household income (OR=0.60, 95%CI[0.43 - 0.84]). Participants with compulsory rural service (OR=1.52, 95%CI[1.05 - 2.19]) and those providing university entrance scores (OR=1.64, 95%CI[1.15-2.33)) were more likely to rejoin in the follow-up survey. These factors associated with follow-up status did not have significant impact on key outcome measures of career development. Conclusions: Graduates who were unwilling to participate in residency training or not providing sensitive information should be targeted early in the cohort study to reduce attrition. More information about the study should be provided to those graduates early to facilitate their understanding of the meaning in participation. On the contrary, medical graduates with compulsory rural service and those who provided university entrance scores were more likely to rejoin in the cohort. The research team should invest more effort in contacting those graduates and returned them to the cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Copy number variation (CNVs) is a key factor in breast cancer development. This study determined prognostic molecular characteristics to predict breast cancer through performing a comprehensive analysis of copy number and gene expression data. Methods: Breast cancer expression profiles, CNV and complete information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset were collected. Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) chip data sets (GSE20685 and GSE31448) containing breast cancer samples were used as external validation sets. Univariate survival COX analysis, multivariate survival COX analysis, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), Chi square, Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival curve and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were applied to build a gene signature model and assess its performance. Results: A total of 649 CNV related-differentially expressed gene obtained from TCGA-breast cancer dataset were related to several cancer pathways and functions. A prognostic gene sets with 9 genes were developed to stratify patients into high-risk and low-risk groups, and its prognostic performance was verified in two independent patient cohorts (n = 327, 246). The result uncovered that 9-gene signature could independently predict breast cancer prognosis. Lower mutation of PIK3CA and higher mutation of TP53 and CDH1 were found in samples with high-risk score compared with samples with low-risk score. Patients in the high-risk group showed higher immune score, malignant clinical features than those in the low-risk group. The 9-gene signature developed in this study achieved a higher AUC. Conclusion: The current research established a 5-CNV gene signature to evaluate prognosis of breast cancer patients, which may innovate clinical application of prognostic assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracellular glutamine represents an important energy source for many cancer cells and its metabolism is intimately involved in maintaining redox homeostasis. The heightened metabolic activity within tumor tissues can result in glutamine deficiency, necessitating metabolic reprogramming responses. Here, dual mechanisms involving the stress‐responsive transcription factor DDIT3 (DNA damage induced transcript 3) that establishes an interrelationship between glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration are revealed. DDIT3 is induced during glutamine deprivation to promote glycolysis and adenosine triphosphate production via suppression of the negative glycolytic regulator TIGAR. In concert, a proportion of the DDIT3 pool translocates to the mitochondria and suppresses oxidative phosphorylation through LONP1‐mediated down‐regulation of COQ9 and COX4. This in turn dampens the sustained levels of reactive oxygen species that follow glutamine withdrawal. Together these mechanisms constitute an adaptive survival mechanism permitting tumor cells to survive metabolic stress induced by glutamine starvation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-doping construction technology overcomes the difficulties of demanding construction requirements of warm-mix epoxy asphalt mixture (EAM) that limit its application, and it provides a new idea for the scaled application of EAM. To provide reliable support for the application of an epoxy asphalt ultrathin overlay (EAUTO), warm-mix EAM was prepared by simulating the post-doping method in the lab, and the Marshall molding method with reduced specimen thickness was considered. EAUTO moisture susceptibility, raveling resistance, and cracking resistance were evaluated to verify the feasibility of EAUTO molding. Furthermore, EAUTO long-term skid resistance and stripping resistance were analyzed in detail. The results showed that thin-layer molding solves the problem of the inappropriateness of conventional Marshall stability equipment for EAM and has cost-saving and efficiency advantages. The recommended molding parameters for the warm-mix EAUTO were 25 blows/face and a thickness of 30.0±0.6 mm. Despite the reduction in specimen thickness, moisture damage resistance and raveling resistance of the thin-layer EAM specimens were slightly attenuated compared with the original specimens but were acceptable, and the mechanical properties were still better than those of SBS-modified asphalt. Regarding cracking resistance, the evaluation results for the thin-layer specimens demonstrate consistency with those of the original specimens. Additionally, the cracking resistance of gap-graded mixes was better than that of dense-graded ones. The EAUTO showed excellent long-term stripping resistance and skid resistance durability compared with asphalt modified with styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS). However, it is worth noting that the traditional texture depth was not suitable as a separate indicator for evaluating long-term skid resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Biochar and compost reduced Zn and Cd but obviously increased As and Cu. • Compost decreased AMO activity and increased AOB amoA abundance. • Appling biochar and compost stimulated AOB rather than AOA. • AOB abundance positively correlated with the NO 3 −-N. • AMO activity had significant correlation with EC and WSC. Heavy metal pollution affects soil ecological function. Biochar and compost can effectively remediate heavy metals and increase soil nutrients. The effects and mechanisms of biochar and compost amendments on soil nitrogen cycle function in heavy-metal contaminated soils are not fully understood. This study examined how biochar, compost, and their integrated use affected ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in heavy metal polluted soil. Quantitative PCR was used to determine the abundance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB). Ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) activity was evaluated by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results showed that compost rather than biochar improved nitrogen conversion in soil. Biochar, compost, or their integrated application significantly reduced the effective Zn and Cd speciation. Adding compost obviously increased As and Cu effective speciation, bacterial 16S rRNA abundance, and AMO activity. AOB, stimulated by compost addition, was significantly more abundant than AOA throughout remediation. Correlation analysis showed that AOB abundance positively correlated with NO 3 −-N (r = 0.830, P < 0.01), and that AMO activity had significant correlation with EC (r = -0.908, P < 0.01) and water-soluble carbon (r = -0.868, P < 0.01). Those seem to be the most vital factors affecting AOB community and their function in heavy metal-polluted soil remediated by biochar and compost. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biophysical and biochemical instability of therapeutic proteins in the solution state may necessitate the development of products in the solid form, due to their enhanced stability. Lyophilization is a widely used method to ensure dry state stabilization of biological products. A commonly encountered issue is the pH shifts that can occur due to undesired crystallization of a buffer component, resulting in loss of protein activities. However, it is technically challenging to noninvasively investigate the physicochemical environment in the lyophile matrix. In this work, we demonstrate an approach based on solid-state NMR to investigate the microenvironmental acidity in lyophilized protein formulations, using histidine, a commonly used buffer agent, as a molecular probe. The solid-state acidity in the lyophilized matrix can be assessed by monitoring the chemical shift changes of histidine. The protonation and tautomeric states of histidine lyophilized at a range of pH values from 4.5 to 11.0 were identified from full 13C and 15N resonance assignments in one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR experiments. The results demonstrated a pH-dependence of histidine chemical shift in the amorphous state. Moreover, we successfully applied this protocol to investigate the microenvironmental pH in lyophilized formulations of the HPV vaccine and lactate dehydrogenase protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the effect of composite curing agent ratio on the photooxidative aging behavior of epoxy asphalt with an acidic composite curing system, three curing agent ratios of epoxy asphalt were prepared to obtain different cross-linking network densities. The prepared epoxy asphalt was subjected to photooxidation aging for 240 h at 60 ℃. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and elemental analysis tests were conducted to determine the evolution of chemical components during photooxidative aging. Based on the chemical components before and after aging, molecular models of photooxidation aged epoxy asphalt with different curing agent ratios were constructed. The mean square displacement (MSD) of oxygen atoms and the oxygen uptake of each component were calculated to study the diffusion behavior of oxygen atoms and the oxidation degree of each component under various cross-linking networks. Glass transition temperature (Tg) and interaction energy were determined to characterize the thermodynamic properties and interaction between asphalt phase and epoxy resin phase of epoxy asphalt before and after aging. The radial distribution function (RDF) was determined to simulate the distribution of asphaltene and epoxy resin crosslinked networks in different cross-linking networks. The results show that the formation of carbonyl groups, alcohol hydroxyl groups, and the fracture of methylene groups was observed during the photooxidative aging process of epoxy asphalt. The rise in the proportion of anhydride curing agents improved the stability of the chemical components in epoxy asphalt under photooxidation aging. High cross-linking density and methylene fracture weakened the diffusion ability of oxygen atoms in epoxy asphalt due to a reduction in free volume. In addition, photooxidation aging had a negative impact on the low-temperature performance and interaction between asphalt phase and epoxy resin phase of epoxy asphalt. However, a high content of acid anhydride alleviated the damage of photooxidation aging to low-temperature performance. Photooxidation aging developed the polar functional groups of epoxy asphalt, promoting the stacking of asphaltene under a high content of dicarboxylic acid curing agent, while breaking the stacking of asphaltene under a high content of acid anhydride curing agent. • High content of anhydride improved the stability of chemical components during aging. • The photooxidative aging process of epoxy asphalt was successfully simulated. • A dense cross-linked network resisted the diffusion of oxygen atoms effectively. • A dense cross-linking network benefited aging resistance of epoxy asphalt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the framework of partial unknown states, this paper studies the exponential stability problem of nonlinear systems. A novel event-triggered mechanism (ETM) just involving partial known states is designed to guarantee the exponential stability of considered system, where forced impulse with great freedom degree is introduced in ETM. What's more, the information of known states of the system is fetched and applied to supplement the unknown part at impulse instants. With the help of matrix analysis technique, some linear matrix inequalities (LMI) based sufficient conditions are presented from the perspective of the quantity of known and unknown states. Besides, our proposed conditions establish the relationship of event-triggered parameters, impulse interval, and impulse strength. Finally, expository examples and their numerical modeling are appeared to prove the availability of main results. • In this paper, we not only allow systems to have incomplete states, but also relax restrictions on unmeasurable states. • The event triggered mechanism just involves partial known states. • The forced impulse possesses a greater freedom degree. • Our proposed results improve and extend some recent publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Structure and intriguing optoelectronic properties of 2D g-C 3 N 4 are introduced. • Recent development in 2D g-C 3 N 4 based photodetectors with different device types are reviewed. • The practical challenges and future prospects of 2D g-C 3 N 4 for high performance photodetector are explored. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4) is a kind of low cost and environment-friendly 2D polymer semiconductor that exhibits a tunable band gap, high thermal stability, intriguing optoelectronic properties and broad device applications. However, there is hardly any review of g-C 3 N 4 ′s recent development in photodetection devices. Herein, we summarized the recent advances in the 2D g-C 3 N 4 based photodetector. Firstly, the structure and optoelectronic properties of 2D g-C 3 N 4 were introduced. Secondly, recent progress in 2D g-C 3 N 4 based photodetectors with different device types, such as 2D g-C 3 N 4 based photoconductor, hybrid nanostructure photodetector, photodiode, perovskite photodetector and piezo-phototronic photodetector were summarized. Finally, some major challenges and opportunities towards the practical optoelectronic device applications of 2D g-C 3 N 4 , which need be further investigated, had been discussed. As a pioneer, this review systematically presented the development of 2D g-C 3 N 4 based photodetector in the past years and highlighted their great potential in field of broadband, low-cost, fast-response and high-performance photodetectors. We hope that this review could guide the following development and research of g-C 3 N 4 based photodetectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The AR signaling pathway plays an important role in initiation and progression of many hormone-related cancers including prostate, bladder, kidney, lung, and breast cancer. However, the potential roles of androgen-responsive long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in hormone-related cancers remained unclear. In the present study, we identified 469 novel androgen-responsive lncRNAs using microarray data. After validating the accuracy of the array data, we constructed a transcriptional network which contained more than 30 transcriptional factors using ChIP-seq data to explore upstream regulators of androgen-responsive lncRNAs. Next, we conducted bioinformatics analysis to identify lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network. To explore the potential roles of androgen-responsive lncRNAs in hormone-related cancers, we performed coexpression network and PPI network analyses using TCGA data. GO and KEGG analyses showed these lncRNAs were mainly involved in regulating signal transduction, transcription, development, cell adhesion, immune response, cell differentiation, and MAPK signaling pathway. We also highlight the prognostic value of HPN-AS1, TPTEP1, and LINC00623 in cancer outcomes. Our results suggest that androgen-responsive lncRNAs played important roles in regulating hormone-related cancer progression and could be novel molecular biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probing form conversions of active pharmaceutical ingredients in solid dosages is critical for understanding the physicochemical stability of drug substances in formulations. The multicomponent and low drug loading nature of drug products often results in challenges to quantify the phase stability, at a low detection limit and with the chemical resolution that differentiate drug molecules and excipients, for routine laboratory techniques. Recent advancement of ultrafast magic angle spinning (UF-MAS) enables proton-detected solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) techniques to characterize pharmaceutical materials with enhanced resolution and sensitivity. This study demonstrates one of the first documented cases implementing 60 kHz UF-MAS techniques to quantify the minor content of pioglitazone free base (PIO-FB) in a binary system with its hydrochloride salt (PIO–HCl) and a multicomponent formulation with typical excipients. One-dimensional 1H methods can unambiguously differentiate the two forms and exhibit a limit of detection at 1.77% (w/w). Moreover, we extended it to a two-dimensional 1H–1H correlation for minimizing peak overlap and successfully quantifying approximately 2.0% (w/w) PIO-FB in a multicomponent formulation. These results have demonstrated that 1H ssNMR as a novel method to quantify solid dosages at a higher resolution and faster acquisition than conventional 13C techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of grape seed procyanidins (GSP) on growth performance, digestive enzyme activity, antioxidant enzyme activity and mRNA expression in weanling piglets. A total of 96 piglets (Pietrain × Large White) with an average initial body weight (BW) of 8.4 ± 1.7 kg were weaned at 28 days, and randomly divided into 4 groups. Four groups of animals were fed with a basic diet supplemented with various doses of GSP (0, 40, 70 and 100 mg/kg respectively) during the 28‐day treatment period. The results showed that the group receiving 40 mg/kg GSP significantly increased the average daily gain (ADG, p <.05) and decrease the feed/gain ratio (F/G, p <.05). Interestingly, the incidence of diarrhoea was significantly reduced in the groups of 40 and 70 mg/kg GSP, but it was increased in the group of 100 mg/kg GSP. Subsequent biochemical studies indicated that dietary GSP significantly increased the activities of digestive enzymes and antioxidant enzymes, including amylase (Amy), lipase(LPS, p <.05), glutathione peroxidase activity (GSH‐Px, p <.05), superoxide dismutase activity (SOD, p <.05) and total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC, p <.05) in serum, liver and muscle, increased the expression of GSH‐Px, SOD and CAT genes (p <.05) in the liver, and decreased the level of malondialdehyde (MDA, p <.05) in serum, liver and muscle. Taken together, these studies revealed that low GSP supplement in diets can improve growth performance of weaned piglets, which is associated with increased digestive and antioxidant enzyme activities and enhanced resistance to weanling stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, bacterial and archaeal communities in sediments from the adjacent waters of Rushan Bay were studied based on 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene. Illumina sequencing and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses were used to analyze the bacterial and archaeal community characteristics. The ecological analyses of sequences revealed that the diversity of bacterial communities was higher than that of archaeal communities. The abundance of bacterial 16S rRNA genes was observed to be greater than that of archaeal 16S rRNA genes. Proteobacteria and Piscirickettsiaceae were the most abundant bacterial phylum and family; Thaumarchaeota dominated the archaeal communities, and MGI in Thaumarchaeota and Halobacteria in Euryarchaeota were prevalent and the predominant archaeal class in this study. Temperature and ammonium concentration were related to the bacterial communities, whereas the nitrite concentration and ammonium concentration had a correlation with the archaeal communities; meanwhile, a complex combination of environmental factors might shape the bacterial and archaeal communities in this dynamic environment. Functional Annotation of Prokaryotic Taxa (FAPROTAX) analysis showed that most bacterial sequences were involved in chemoheterotrophy, sulfate respiration, respiration of sulfur compounds, aerobic nitrite oxidation and nitrification; for the archaeal communities, the essential ecological functions were chemoheterotrophy, other ecological functions such as aerobic ammonia oxidation and methanogenesis, were also predicted to be present in this study. The comparison of bacterial and archaeal communities in different environments suggest that similar conditions are hypothesized to give rise to similar microbial communities, and environmental conditions may contribute significantly to the bacterial and archaeal community structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally fermented yak yogurt as a Tibetan dairy product is high not only in nutrients but also in probiotics. A probiotic strain with a potential lipid reducing effect was isolated from yak yogurt. An animal model for hyperlipidemia was evaluated using the blood index and expression levels of lipid metabolism‐related proteins in mice to determine the effect of Lactobacillus casei YBJ02 (LC‐YBJ02) on lipid metabolism in hyperlipidemic mice and the underlying mechanism. LC‐YBJ02 at different concentrations exhibited certain inhibitory effects on the increase in blood lipid in mice. Particularly, high concentrations of LC‐YBJ02 can reduce the cholesterol, triglycerides, and low‐density lipoprotein content; however, no significant effect on the high‐density lipoprotein of the body has been reported. LC‐YBJ02 can effectively increase the reduction in cholesterol level by fecal excretion. In this study, the gene‐affecting mouse obesity was determined using experimental results in mice. The expression levels of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ (PPARγ), CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha (CEBP)/α, sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP)‐1c, and FAS could improve because of the high‐fat diet in kidney fat. Bacteria at different concentrations could also decrease these expression levels. Specifically, the high concentration of LC‐YBJ02 could suppress the expression of PPARγ, CEBP/α, and SREBP‐1c; however, the expression of FAS was not significantly inhibited. PPARγ and FAS expression levels in the liver were low, but no significant difference was indicated. CEBP/α and SREBP‐1c expression in mouse liver was further detected by Western blot analysis; CEBP/α was considerably low and could not be detected. On the basis of these results, LC‐YBJ02 could be used as probiotics through its lipid reduction effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the leader-following synchronization of time-delay neural networks with impulsive control involving delayed impulse. A comparison principle for systems with delayed impulses is proposed, where the effect of time delay in impulses is fully considered. Applying impulsive control theory, some sufficient conditions for synchronization of coupled time-delay neural networks via delayed impulses are derived analytically. An example is given to show the effectiveness of the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with their flexible mobility, are widely used in wireless communication systems to provide high-quality auxiliary computing offloading services, especially when the original communication infrastructure is not available. Although many researches nowadays are studying the computing offloading problem of UAVs, service caching is also an important topic that should be considered in the UAV computing offloading process. The service caching serves as a database or library on which tasks pre-deployed on UAVs depend, and the computing offloading of tasks is limited by the deployment of the service caching. A single UAV has insufficient storage resources to deploy all types of service caching resources. To address the above issues, we propose a cooperative offloading strategy considering service caching based on Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) named PPO-CO. First, we construct a system model and develop the collaborative offloading policy. The user's task can be accomplished either through collaborative offloading between UAVs or obtaining the required service caching resources through the remote service caching base station (RBS). Then, we format the policy as a complex nonlinear mixed integer programming optimization problem whose objective is to decrease the task execution delay and UAV energy consumption. Due to the challenge of solving the above problem, we solve it by PPO, a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm. Finally, to verify the effectiveness of the PPO-CO, we compare it with the PPO-based offloading strategy without collaboration (PPO-NO), Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic (A3C) and Deep Q Network (DQN) based offloading strategy, and the random offloading policy in different number of user and UAV, task sizes, and service caching deployment ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aldose reductase 2 (ALR2), an activated enzyme in the polyol pathway by hyperglycemia, has long been recognized as one of the most promising targets for complications of diabetes, especially in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). However, many of the ALR2 inhibitors have shown serious side effects due to poor selectivity over aldehyde reductase (ALR1). Herein, we describe the discovery of a series of benzothiadiazine acetic acid derivatives as potent and selective inhibitors against ALR2 and evaluation of their anti-DPN activities in vivo. Compound 15c, carrying a carbonyl group at the 3-position of the thiadiazine ring, showed high potent inhibition against ALR2 (IC50 = 33.19 nmol/L) and ∼16,109-fold selectivity for ALR2 over ALR1. Cytotoxicity assays ensured the primary biosafety of 15c. Further pharmacokinetic assay in rats indicated that 15c had a good pharmacokinetic feature (t 1/2 = 5.60 h, area under the plasma concentration time curve [AUC(0-t)] = 598.57 ± 216.5 μg/mL * h), which was superior to epalrestat (t 1/2 = 2.23 h, AUC[0-t] = 20.43 ± 3.7 μg/mL * h). Finally, in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model, 15c significantly increased the nerve conduction velocities of impaired sensory and motor nerves, achieved potent inhibition of d-sorbitol production in the sciatic nerves, and significantly increased the paw withdrawal mechanical threshold. By combining the above investigations, we propose that 15c might represent a promising lead compound for the discovery of an antidiabetic peripheral neuropathy drug. Article Highlights: Benzothiadiazine acetic acid derivatives show potent and selective inhibition against aldose reductase 2. The leading compounds 15a, 15c, and 15f had low cytotoxicity on the human-derived neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y and the primary dorsal root ganglion cells and had a good pharmacokinetic feature. Compound 15c significantly increased the nerve conduction velocities of impaired sensory nerves, decreased the d-sorbitol level in the sciatic nerves, and increased the paw withdrawal mechanical threshold. Compound 15c may serve as a potential antidiabetic peripheral neuropathy drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is an economic crop with high yield and stress resistance. Hemp metabolites have high medicinal value and development potential, which is applicable to treat a variety of incurable diseases particularly, phenolic and terpene compounds such as cannabidiol and cannabigerol. Due to the impact of these compounds on cytokine metabolism, cannabinoids are being investigated as a potential treatment against viral diseases. Light intensity greatly affects the synthesis of plant metabolites. In this study, the overall metabolic profile of industrial hemp 'Yunma 1′ was detected under 30 μmol.m−2s−1, 80 μmol.m−2s−1,130 μmol.m−2s−1 and 180 μmol.m−2s−1 light intensity based on UPLC-MS /MS wide-target metabolomics technology. The results suggested that different light intensities have different impact on hemp metabolic profile; additionally, the composition of lipids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, amino acids and their derivatives, organic acids, alkaloids, nucleotides and their derivatives, sugars and alcohols, vitamins, cannabinoids, coumarins, lignans, and terpenoidsannins and carbohydrates were found highest at 180 μmol.m−2s−1 light intensity. The content differences of two secondary metabolites i.e., spirodienone and iso-spirodienone (cannabispiradienone) were compared and results showed that 80 μmol.m−2.s−1 light intensity is most appropriate for the synthesis of spirodienone and iso-spirodienone. These findings provide a base for understanding the metabolic characteristics of specific secondary metabolites and the optimum conditions for their synthesis. • Effects of different light intensities on hemp metabolites contents were analyzed based on UPLC-MS/MS. • Mostly important metabolites contents found maximum at 180 μmolm−2s−1 intensity. • First time, two newly cannabispiradienone metabolites found at 80 μmol.m−2.s−1 light intensity in hemp. • Newly found cannabispiradienone can play a significant role in nutritional medical field. • Appropriate light intensity found in hemp to achieve maximum contents of different metabolites in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to quantify the effects of different body parts on sitting comfort, an ontology model for sitting comfort in "human—machine" system was established. In light of the subjectivity and arbitrariness issue of AHP, as well as the characteristic of entropy method be vulnerable to disturbed by extremum, a new weighting method was implemented which corrects subjective data with objective data, named AHP to limit entropy method. An overall comfort formula was created containing shoulder, back, waist, buttock, and thigh. Finally, three other vehicle's seats were tested as comparative verification, with a result showing that the weighted method was effective. And this method can provide an effective approach for evaluating sitting comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Sixteen treatments of soil contaminated by Cu, Pb, and Zn by the addition of a different percentage of biochar and compost were incubated for 120 days. The abundance of denitrifying genes such as narG , nirK , nirS and nosZ and the ammonia-oxidizing amoA genes of ammonia-oxidizing archaea/bacteria (AOA/AOB), soil nitrite reductase activity (S-NiR) and their shaping factors were also determined. The relationships between functional genes, S-NiR, and physico-chemical parameters were analyzed using the Pearson correlation method. The study found that the changes in physico-chemical parameters, including water-soluble organic carbon (WSC), nitrate (NO 3 −) and ammonium (NH 4 +), were predominant in different treatments. The abundance of nirK and narG genes is most sensitive to the changes in the properties of the soil sample. Bacterial 16S rDNA gene abundance was significantly affected by NO 3 − and S-NiR (P < 0.05). Nitrifying genes were mainly correlated to WSC and S-NiR, while denitrifying genes were associated with pH, electrical conductivity, NO 3 − and S-NiR. The systematic study for the relationship between the genes and the environmental parameters will help us to deep understand the biological mechanisms of nitrogen cycle in heavy metal contaminated soils remediated by biochar and compost. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Denitrifying/ammonia-oxidizing gene and nitrite reductase activity were determined. • The abundance of genes nirK and narG is most sensitive to the change of soil. • 16S rDNA was significantly affected by NO 3 −-N and S-NiR. • Nitrifying genes were mainly related to water soluble organic carbon and S-NiR. • Denitrifying genes were driven by pH, electrical conductivity, NO 3 −-N and S-NiR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jingfang granules (JF), one famous traditional Chinese formula in "She Sheng Zhong Miao Fang" written by Shi-Che Zhang during the Ming Dynasty era, has been widely used to prevent epidemic diseases in history and now was recommended for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China. However, the roles of JF against acute lung injury and its mechanisms remain unclear. Acute lung injury (ALI) and its progressive acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are a continuum of lung inflammatory disease with high morbidity and mortality in clinic, especially in COVID-19 patients. The present study aims to investigate the effect of JF on ALI and clarify its underlying mechanisms for clinical application in COVID-19 control. Bleomycin-induced ALI mice were given oral gavage daily for seven days with or without Jingfang granules (2, 4 g/kg). The body weight, lung wet/dry weight ratios, lung appearance and tissue histopathology were evaluated. Quantitative real-time PCR, biochemical bronchoalveolar lavage fluids analysis was used to determine the gene expression of proinflammation factor and infiltrated inflammatory cells in lung. Immunofluorescence image and western blot were used to detect the markers of alveolar macrophages (AMs), endothelial cell apoptosis and changes of CD200-CD200R pathway. Firstly, histopathological analysis showed that JF significantly attenuated pulmonary injury and inflammatory response in ALI mice. Then, cytokine detection, inflammatory cells assay, and JNKs and p38 pathway analysis indicated that the recruitment and activation of alveolar macrophages was the main reason to cause ALI and JF could reverse this variation. Next, immunofluorescence staining and TUNEL assay showed that JF upregulated the expression of CD200 and suppressed the apoptosis of alveolar endothelial cells. Finally, double immunofluorescence staining of CD200 and CD11c indicated that the seriously damaged tissue had the lower CD200 while more AMs infiltration, which was confirmed by RT-PCR analysis of CD200/CD200R. Jingfang granules can protect lung from acu te injury and mitigate the recruitment and overactive AMs-induced inflammation via CD200-CD200R immunoregulatory signal axis, which will provide an experimental basis for Jingfang granules clinical applications in COVID-19. [Display omitted] • Traditional Chinese medicine Jingfang granules (JF) protects lung from acute injury. • JF upregulates the expression of CD200 and suppressed the apoptosis of alveolar endothelial cells. • JF mitigates the recruitment and overactive AMs-induced inflammation via CD200-CD200R immunoregulatory signal axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Predicting the trajectory of surrounding agents in the next few seconds to alert drivers to avoid potential traffic accidents. • Consider the interactions between different agents and introduce an attention mechanism to implicitly quantify the interactions. • Consider the influence of historical trajectory information and introduce an attention mechanism to give different weights to historical trajectory information. We propose a Dual Attention model (DATP) for predicting the near-term trajectories of road agents. Our model includes an interaction attention module and a trajectory attention module. In the interaction attention module, a new hybrid CNN-LSTM network model is designed to model the interaction between different road agents and the attention mechanism is introduced to implicitly quantify the dynamic influence of interaction on the future trajectory of road-agents. The trajectory attention module uses an improved-LSTM network to encode the historical trajectory information. Then, the trajectory information and interaction information are fused into the prediction network to obtain the predicted near-term trajectory. We evaluate the performance of our model on the standard datasets. Comparison results indicate that DATP could achieve a more accurate prediction trajectory over 35% for heterogeneous road-agents. Furthermore, the results of ablation experiments show that our model has great contributions to the improvement of trajectory prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]