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Different sea cucumbers have different preferred habitats and seasonal changes, which is still lack of detailed research. This study selects two common tropical sea cucumbers (Holothuria edulis and Stichopus chloronotus) to explore the reasons that affect their habitat selection and seasonal changes, so as to provide support for the spatial planning of sea cucumbers reserve in coral reef area. The study area is a compound distribution area of living coral reefs and sandy bottom in the north of Wuzhizhou Island. The survey time is January, April–September, 2019. Three fixed transects (G, H, and Q) were selected to reveal the population ecological characteristics of them in the typical dry season (January, April, May, and June) and rainy season (July, August, and September). The variation range of density for H. edulis and S. chloronotus were 2.0–8.9 inds./10 m2 and 0.2–0.7 inds./10 m2, respectively. The population density in rainy season was significantly higher than that in dry season (P<0.05). H. edulis tends to be distributed in deeper water. The distribution of H. edulis was significant positively correlated with the sand coverage and sand continuity in G transect (P<0.05), and significant negatively correlated with live coral coverage in three transects (P<0.01). The shift from dry season to rainy season is a key factor affecting their habitat preference. In dry season, the preferred habitats of S. chloronotus are small rock (SR), sand (S), and small coral reef (SCR), while the H. edulis is S, SR, and dead coral rubbles (DCR). In rainy season, the preferred habitats of S. chloronotus are shift to SCR and SR, while the H. edulis is SCR, DCR, and sand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fishery-independent surveys can provide high-quality data and support fishery assessment and management. Optimization of sampling design is crucial to increase the quality of fishery surveys. Crab pots are important fishing gears used to catch crabs. We analyzed the impacts of sampling design of crab pots on the abundance of Portunus trituberculatus in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River estuary to the Hangzhou Bay and its adjacent waters in East China Sea. The crab pots were cylindrical, 240 mm in height and 600 mm in diameter of the iron ring. Our sampling designs (including fixed-station sampling, simple random sampling, stratified fixed-station sampling, and stratified random sampling), three number of stations (9, 16, and 24), and three numbers of crab pots (500, 1 000, and 3 000) were simulated and compared with the "true" abundance that obtained from bottom trawl surveys in the study area in 2007. The scenarios with 16 stations were set in stratification as a control group for comparison with unstratified designs. Results show that simple random sampling can obtain more stable results than fixed-station sampling in the abundance estimation of P. trituberculatus. In addition, stratified sampling resulted in more accurate abundance than unstratified sampling. The accuracy of the simulated results improved with the increase of the number of stations. No remarkable differences in the results were found among the scenarios of different number of crab pots at each station. However, resource-intensive areas exerted great impacts on simulation results. Thus, prior information or pre-survey results about resource abundance and density distribution are necessary. This study may serve as a reference for future sampling designs of crab pots of P. trituberculatus and other species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Minimizing drug leakage at off-target sites and triggering sufficient drug release in tumor tissue are major objectives for effective nanoparticle (NP)-based cancer therapy. The current covalent and cleavable drug-NP conjugation strategy is promising but lacks high controllability to realize tumor-specific release. As a proof-of-concept, the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-activatable thioketal (TK) bond was explored as the linkage between doxorubicin (DOX) and polyphosphoester (PPE- TK -DOX). The Ce6@PPE- TK -DOX NPs constructed by co-self-coassembly of PPE- TK -DOX and the photosensitizer Ce6 efficiently prevented premature drug leakage in the off-target tissue and cells because of the high stability of the TK bond under physiological conditions. Once circulating into the tumor site, the 660-nm red light was precisely employed to irradiate the tumor area under the guidance of fluorescence/magnetic resonance (MR) dual-model imaging, which can induce localized ROS generation, resulting in rapid cleavage of the TK bond. Consequently, the DOX prodrug was locoregionally released and activated, achieving tumor-specific drug delivery with high controllability by light. Such phototriggered prodrug release and activation at the desired site significantly enhanced the therapeutic efficacy and minimized the side effect, providing new avenues to develop drug delivery systems for remote on-demand drug delivery in vivo. Graphical abstract Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) shielding/deshielding at the desired site of action exhibits great advantages for nanocarrier-based on-demand drug delivery in vivo . However, the current PEG deshielding strategies were mainly designed for anticancer drug delivery; even so, their applications are also limited by tumor heterogeneity. As a proof-of-concept, we explored a photoinduced PEG deshielding nanocarrier TK-NP Ce6&PTX to circumvent the aforementioned challenge. The TK-NP Ce6&PTX encapsulating chlorin e6 (Ce6) and paclitaxel (PTX) was self-assembled from an innovative thioketal (TK) linkage-bridged diblock copolymer of PEG with poly(d, l -lactic acid) (PEG- TK -PLA). We demonstrated that the high PEGylation of TK-NP Ce6&PTX in blood helps the nanocarrier efficiently avoid rapid clearance and consequently prolongs its circulation time. At the desired site (tumor), 660-nm red light irradiation led to ROS generation in situ , which readily cleaved the TK linkage, resulting in PEG deshielding. Such photoinduced PEG deshielding at the desired site significantly enhances the cellular uptake of the nanocarriers, achieving on-demand drug delivery and superior therapeutic efficacy. More importantly, this strategy of photoinducing PEG deshielding of nanocarriers could potentially extend to a variety of therapeutic agents beyond anticancer drugs for on-demand delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Insufficient evidence currently exists regarding the relationship between eating frequency and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Thus, the objective of this study was to explore the association of at-home eating (AHE) and out-of-home eating (OHE) frequency with 10-year ASCVD risk. Methods: A total of 23,014 participants were included from the Henan Rural Cohort Study. A face-to-face questionnaire was used to acquire data on the frequency of OHE and AHE. The relationship of OHE and AHE frequency with 10-year ASCVD risk was evaluated by logistic regression. Mediation analysis was conducted to evaluate whether BMI mediated the association of OHE and AHE frequency with 10-year ASCVD risk. Results: The adjusted OR and 95% CI of 10-year ASCVD risk for participants who ate out 7 or more times a week was 2.012 (1.666, 2.429) compared with participants who had OHE 0 times. Compared to those who had AHE ≤ 11 times, the adjusted OR and 95% CI for the participants eating every meal at home (21 times) was 0.611 (0.486, 0.769). The relationship of OHE and AHE frequency with 10-year ASCVD risk was mediated by BMI, and the proportion of BMI explained was 25.3% and 36.6%. Conclusions: The OHE frequency was associated with increased 10-year ASCVD risk, while AHE was related to decreased 10-year ASCVD risk, and BMI may play a partial mediating role in the relationship. Implementing health promotion strategies that promote AHE and discourage frequent OHE may prove to be an effective approach to preventing and controlling ASCVD. Trial registration number: ChiCTR-OOC-15006699 (2015–07-06). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon layer-coated molybdenum dioxide nanoparticles exhibit strong photo-absorption in the near infrared (NIR) region with good photostability. The in vitro and in vivo experiments reveal that an excellent photothermal ablation induced from the nanoparticle agents under NIR irradiation can kill tumor cells not only at the cellular level but also in living organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital images can be large in size and contain sensitive information that needs protection. Compression using compressed sensing performs well, but the measurement matrix directly affects the signal compression and reconstruction performance. The good cryptographic characteristics of chaotic systems mean that using one to construct the measurement matrix has obvious advantages. However, existing low-dimensional chaotic systems have low complexity and generate sequences with poor randomness. Hence, a new six-dimensional non-degenerate discrete hyperchaotic system with six positive Lyapunov exponents is proposed in this paper. Using this chaotic system to design the measurement matrix can improve the performance of image compression and reconstruction. Because image encryption using compressed sensing cannot resist known- and chosen-plaintext attacks, the chaotic system proposed in this paper is introduced into the compressed sensing encryption framework. A scrambling algorithm and two-way diffusion algorithm for the plaintext are used to encrypt the measured value matrix. The security of the encryption system is further improved by generating the SHA-256 value of the original image to calculate the initial conditions of the chaotic map. A simulation and performance analysis shows that the proposed image compression-encryption scheme has high compression and reconstruction performance and the ability to resist known- and chosen-plaintext attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel nested photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with two guided modes regions is proposed, which can support 80 orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes over C wavelength band. The characteristics of designed nested PCF are systematically analyzed by using the finite element method (FEM). The results show that the isolation is kept above 40dB, the crosstalk between different guided modes regions can be neglected, and the dispersion is relatively flat, the nonlinear coefficient is lower than 2.65km−1W−1. Additionally, the confinement loss and effective mode field area of the designed nested PCF are also analyzed. In summary, the designed nested PCF has potential applications in the high capacity fiber communication of mode division multiplexing (MDM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A squeezed triangular lattice photonic crystal fiber (PCF) composed of elliptical air holes is presented in this paper. Full vector finite element method (FEM) is used to investigate the guiding property. By adjusting the size of air holes in cladding, the fiber offers a flat negative dispersion of -1343.46 ± 6.74 ps/(nm.km) over the wavelength bands of S+C+L+U. The birefringence can be on the order of 1 0 − 2 which reaches up to 3.72 × 1 0 − 2 at the wavelength of 1. 55 μ m. The proposed PCF may show some important applications in residual dispersion compensation and polarization maintaining fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence linking sleep timing and night sleep duration to dyslipidemia was limited and inconclusive, especially among low- and middle-income adults. The aims were to evaluate the associations between sleep timing, night sleep duration and dyslipidemia in a rural population. Based on the Henan Rural Cohort Study, a total of 37 164 participants were included. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to collect sleep information. Logistic regression and restrictive cubic splines were conducted to explore the associations. Of the 37 164 enrolled participants, 13881 suffered from dyslipidemia. Compared to the reference groups, people who went to sleep after 23:00 or woke up after 7:30 had higher prevalence of dyslipidemia, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)were 1.30 (1.20–1.41) and 1.34 (1.19–1.50). The adjusted OR (95%CI) of participants in the Late-sleep/Late-rise category compared to the Early-sleep/Early-rise category was 1.55 (1.08–1.23). Compared to the reference (7~≤8 h), the adjusted OR (95%CI) was 1.11 (1.03–1.20) for longer (>9 h) night sleep duration. Moreover, the combined effects of sleep duration (>9 h) with sleep time (22:00~) (OR = 1.46, 95%CI: 1.16–1.84), sleep duration (>9 h) with wake-up time (≥7:30) (OR = 1.28, 95%CI: 1.08–1.51), and sleep duration (>9 h) with the Late-sleep/Late-rise category (OR = 1.41, 95%CI: 1.14–1.75) increased the prevalence of dyslipidemia. Accordingly, our results indicate that delayed sleep timing and longer night sleep duration had independent and joint effects on higher risks of dyslipidemia in rural population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: There are large numbers of sea cucumbers naturally inhabiting tropical seas, which play an important ecological role in the habitat through their biological activity. However, despite the diversity of tropical sea cucumbers, until now there have been few studies on their exact eukaryotic food sources. In the present study, we systemically investigated the eukaryotic food sources of three sea cucumber species. We also study the differences of eukaryotic composition among three sea cucumber species and provide new insight into reasons for the differences. The reported information could be valuable in further biological and ecological studies of these species. In this study, the eukaryotic composition of gut contents in three tropical sea cucumber species, Stichopus monotuberculatus, S. chloronotus and Holothuria atra were surveyed and compared by metabarcoding analysis based on 18S rRNA gene V4 region. The sequences were assigned to 21.80 ± 1.07, 22.60 ± 0.68 and 22.40 ± 0.25 different phyla from the gut contents of S. monotuberculatus, S. chloronotus and H. atra, respectively, and those in sediment samples were assigned to 21.00 ± 1.67 phyla. The results of α-diversity showed that surface sediments had a greater eukaryotic diversity than gut contents, yet the guts of sea cucumbers had an enrichment effect on some microorganisms, including Diatomea and Apicomplex. A comparison of the gut eukaryotic community among the three species suggested that the feeding preference was different: S. monotuberculatus fed mainly on Diatomea and Arthropoda, and the other two species had higher Apicomplexa concentrations, which may be due to differences in the morphology of the tentacles and habitat preferences. Moreover, obvious different eukaryotic community composition in the gut contents of the three sea cucumber species and the surrounding sediments also might result from the animals' selective feeding for sediment patches. The current study filled in gaps about feeding mechanisms of tropical sea cucumbers and provided a basis for further exploring the mechanism about selective feeding and sea cucumber–sediment interaction in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few decades, more studies have suggested that the age at menarche (AAM) has continued to decline. However, the AAM for women in resource-constrained areas is not clear. Moreover, the association between the Chinese famine and AAM is still unclear in rural regions. The study aimed to investigate the secular trends of AAM for women born between 1935 and 2000 and to further explore the effect of famine on AAM in rural China. The study included 23,444 women participants from the baseline study of the Henan Rural Cohort study. Changing AAM over time was analysed using linear regressions. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to analyse the association between famine exposure and AAM subgroups. The age-standardised mean AAM was 14.74 years. The average AAM declined from 16.98 years for those born in 1935 to 13.87 years for those born in 2000, a decline of 0.077 years per 1 year and 0.729 years per decade. Compared to the reference group, women exposed to famine during foetal, early childhood, middle childhood, and late childhood were 1.376 (95% CI = 1.071–1.769), 1.848 (95% CI = 1.512–2.259), 2.084 (95% CI = 1.725–2.518), and 2.146 (95% CI = 1.788–2.576) times more likely to be ≥18 years AAM than women unexposed to famine, respectively. AAM showed a decreasing trend in rural China. Furthermore, both foetal and childhood famine exposure, especially in late childhood, were positively associated with increased AAM compared to unexposed famine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumors with a low level of pre-existing immune cell infiltration respond poorly to immune checkpoint therapies. Oncolytic viruses optimize immunotherapies by modulating the tumor microenvironment and affecting multiple steps in the cancer-immunity cycle, making them an attractive agent for combination strategies. We engineered an HSV-1-based oncolytic virus and investigated its antitumor effects in combination with the marketed PD-1 antibody Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in hPD-1 knock-in mice bearing non-immunogenic B16-F10 melanoma. Our results showed enhanced CD8+ and CD4+ T cell infiltration, IFN-γ secretion and PD-L1 expression in tumors, subsequently leading to the prolonged overall survival of mice. Systemic changes in lymphocyte cell proportions were also observed in the peripheral blood. In summary, these findings provide evidence that oncolytic viruses can be engineered as a potential platform for combination therapies, especially to treat tumors that are poorly responsive to immune checkpoint therapy. 1 An oncolytic virus VT09X optimizes the anti-PD-1 antibody therapy in low immunogenic melanoma. 2 Humanized PD-1 knock-in mice were used for in vivo study against melanoma. 3 Stimulation of TIL in local tumors and peripheral blood was performed. 4 Several molecule expressions relative to T cell response such as β2M and IFN-γ were evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the problems of the high complexity and low security of the existing image encryption algorithms, this paper proposes a dynamic key chaotic image encryption algorithm with low complexity and high security associated with plaintext. Firstly, the RGB components of the color image are read, and the RGB components are normalized to obtain the key that is closely related to the plaintext, and then the Arnold transform is used to stretch and fold the RGB components of the color image to change the position of the pixel points in space, so as to destroy the correlation between the adjacent pixel points of the image. Next, the generated sequences are independently encrypted with the Arnold-transformed RGB matrix. Finally, the three encrypted images are combined to obtain the final encrypted image. Since the key acquisition of this encryption algorithm is related to the plaintext, it is possible to achieve one key per image, so the key acquisition is dynamic. This encryption algorithm introduces chaotic mapping, so that the key space size is 10 180 . The key acquisition is closely related to the plaintext, which makes the ciphertext more random and resistant to differential attacks, and ensures that the ciphertext is more secure after encryption. The experiments show that the algorithm can encrypt the image effectively and can resist attack on the encrypted image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oncolytic viruses as cancer vaccines modulate the tumor microenvironment and act synergistically with immune checkpoint inhibitors to overcome resistance. Taking advantage of the loading capacity for exogenous genes, we generated a recombinant herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), HSV-aPD-1, carrying a full-length humanized anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody (anti-PD-1 mAb) that replicates and expresses anti-PD-1 mAbs in tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. Its anti-tumor effect was assessed in human PD-1 knock-in mice by analyzing tumor inhibition, cell populations and RNA expression in tumors, and serum cytokine levels. Enhanced anti-tumor immune responses and T-cell infiltration were induced by HSV-aPD-1 compared with unloaded virus or anti-PD-1 therapy in both MC38 and B16-F10 models, resulting in improved treatment efficacy in the latter. Moreover, compared with unloaded HSV-1 or HSV-1 loaded with GM-CSF/IL-2 combined with anti-PD-1 mAbs, HSV-aPD-1 displayed similar therapeutic control of tumor growth. Finally, tumor RNAseq analysis in the B16-F10 model showed upregulated IFN pathway and antigen processing and presentation genes, and downregulated angiogenesis and cell adhesion genes, which all contribute to tumor inhibition. These findings indicate the clinical potential of HSV-aPD-1 as monotherapy or combination therapy, especially in tumors resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objectives of this study are to conduct principle analysis of mix design and evaluate the performance of the Buton rock asphalt (BRA) modified Superpave mixture through wheel tracking test, freeze–thaw indirect tensile strength ratio test, bending beam test, dynamic modulus test, and flow number (FN) test. The results prove that the voids in mineral aggregate (VMA) and the initial asphalt content calculated using the new equations proposed by this study based on theoretical analysis are more accurate than those of the traditional Superpave’s empirical equations. The high temperature performance and the moisture damage resistance of the Superpave mixture modified with BRA were improved, but the low temperature performance was slightly declined comparing with the control mixture. The values of E ∗ /sinφ from dynamic modulus test of the BRA modified Superpave mixture were larger than those of the control mixture at various test temperatures and loading frequencies. In conclusion, the Superpave mixture modified by BRA has excellent high temperature performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near infrared (NIR) light-activated supersensitive drug release via photothermal conversion is of particular interest due to its advantages in spatial and temporal control. However, such supersensitive drug release is rarely reported for polymeric nanoparticles. In this study, polymeric nanoparticles observed with flowable core can achieve NIR-activated supersensitive drug release under the assistance of photothermal agent. It is demonstrated that only 5 s NIR irradiation (808 nm, 0.3 W cm−2) leads to 17.8% of doxorubicin (DOX) release, while its release is almost completely stopped when the NIR laser is switched off. In contrast, the control, poly( d, l-lactide) nanoparticles with rigid cores, do not exhibit such supersensitive effect. It is demonstrated that intraparticle temperature is notably increased during photothermal conversion by detecting fluorescein lifetime using a time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) technique, which is the main driving force for such supersensitive drug release from hydrophobic flow core. In contrast, rigid chain of nanoparticular core hinders drug diffusion. Furthermore, such NIR light-activated supersensitive drug release is demonstrated, which significantly enhances its anticancer efficacy, resulting in overcoming of the resistance of cancer cells against DOX treatment in vitro and in vivo. This simple and highly universal strategy provides a new approach to fabricate NIR light-activated supersensitive drug delivery systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The nanogel DOX@Mn-Alg achieved synergistic chemo/chemodynamic therapy. • The DOX@Mn-Alg self-supplied H 2 O 2 via overexpression of NOX2 and NOX4. • The DOX@Mn-Alg can boost systemic antitumor immune response. As an interesting alternative to traditional cancer therapies, chemodynamic therapy (CDT) can kill cancer cells via the conversion of endogenous hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) into highly toxic hydroxyl radicals (⋅OH). However, the slow release of catalyst ions and insufficient H 2 O 2 levels severely limit the performance of CDT. To address these issues, we explored the doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded manganese-alginate nanogel DOX@Mn-Alg with self-supplying H 2 O 2 capability by using a microfluidic chip. After internalization into tumor cells, DOX@Mn-Alg quickly releases DOX in a pH-responsive manner. The released DOX can not only kill tumor cells directly but also improve Mn2+-mediated CDT by supplying H 2 O 2 within the tumor cells. As a result, the DOX@Mn-Alg showed synergetic antitumor activity without causing distinct systemic toxicity, and also achieved T 1 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enhancement for cancer diagnosis. Moreover, DOX@Mn-Alg treatment can promote DC maturation and increase tumor infiltration of CD8+ T cells. It is believed that these Mn2+-chelating nanogels with the ability to self-supply H 2 O 2 can provide additional strategy for synergetic CDT therapy and also exhibit a promising potential for cancer immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: rs151290 in KCNQ1 and rs972283 in KLF14 have been evaluated in terms of risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the results are inconsistent. We performed an meta-analysis to assess the contributions of rs151290 in KCNQ1 and rs972283 in KLF14 to risk of T2DM. We searched the worldwide literature published from 2008 to 2013 in MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL and Chinese databases. Two reviewers extracted data independently using a standardized protocol, and any discrepancies were resolved by a third reviewer. Fixed- and random-effects meta-analyses were performed to pool the odds ratios (ORs). Publication bias and heterogeneity were examined. A total of 11 articles were included in the meta-analysis: 6 studies with 6696 cases and 7151 controls investigated rs151290 in KCNQ1, and 5 studies with 50,552 cases and 106,535 controls investigated rs972283 in KLF14. We obtained highly significant ORs for the risk allele C for rs151290 and the risk allele G for rs972283. The population attributable risk percentage for rs151290 and rs972283 was 6.83% and 4.18%, respectively. The risk allele C of rs151290 in KCNQ1 and risk allele G of rs972283 in KLF14 were both associated with increased risk of T2DM in a global population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• This was a large sample study of 538,500 individuals to investigate the prevalence of anxiety in students. • The prevalence of anxiety symptoms among chinese primary school students was higher at 13.4%. • After adjusting for potential confounders, school location, knowledge and protective practices of COVID-19 were found to be associated with anxiety symptoms. • Good knowledge of COVID-19 was associated with a lower prevalence rate, which was higher in rural areas, but there was little difference between levels of protection practice. This study was conducted on elementary school students in Henan Province, China, from February 4th to 11th, 2020, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. The purpose of the study was to examine the prevalence of anxiety among students and identify the related risk factors contributing to anxiety. Demographic information and psychological status were assessed by using self-reported measures. The generalized anxiety disorder tool (GAD-7) and a multiple logistic regression model were used to assess anxiety and identify potential influencing factors. Cross-sectional data indicated that the overall anxiety prevalence was 13.4%. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was highest among rural primary school students and lowest among city students. Three groups of students in different regions were surveyed, and the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was significantly higher among students with poor knowledge of COVID-19 than among students with good knowledge of COVID-19. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, it was found that location, knowledge, and practice were related to anxiety. This study showed that the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was higher among Chinese primary school students. The influencing factors found in this study may help relevant staff improve the mental health of children during the epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]