Search

Purpose: The genotype distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection varies greatly in different regions. This study aims to determine the prevalence and type-specific distribution of HPV among females from Chengdu and Aba in Sichuan Province, which differ in geographical location, economic status, and living habits. These can serve as evidence of epidemic patterns for future design and implementation of vaccination and screening programs. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 144 113 women who underwent cervical screening at Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital from January 2015 to September 2020. Meanwhile, 1799 samples from February 2018 to December 2021 were collected from Aba Maternal and Child Health Hospital. HPV DNA genotype testing was performed using real‐time PCR. The overall prevalence, annual trend, age-specific prevalence, and type distribution were analyzed. Results: The overall HPV prevalence was 22.51% in Chengdu. During 2015–2020, the highest prevalence rate was observed in 2018. Age-specific HPV distribution displayed a bimodal distribution among women aged ≤25 or ≥46 years old. The top three prevalent genotypes were HPV52, -16, and -58. Although the total prevalence of HPV in Aba was 14.23%, there was an upward trend from 2018 to 2021. However, no significant differences were identified in HPV infection rate across all age groups. HPV52, -53, and -16 were the major genotypes. Furthermore, single-type HPV infections and high-risk HPV infections were identified as the most common infection types in both regions. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the overall prevalence of HPV was still high in Chengdu and Aba. The age-specific prevalence distribution demonstrated different patterns. Non-vaccine-covered HR-HPV53, -51and LR-HPV81, -CP8304 were frequently detected, which was worth significant clinical attention. In summary, regional HPV screening provides valuable clinical guidance for cervical cancer prevention and vaccine selection in Western China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractVitamin B12 plays a role in DNA methylation, influencing the 1-carbon cycle; However, its effect on colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality remains uncertain. This study assessed the relationship between vitamin B12 intake and all-cause and cancer-specific mortality among CRC patients. We analyzed data from the NHANES from 1999 to 2018, using multivariable Cox regression, competing risk model, Kaplan-Meier survival curves, and stratified analysis with interaction effects. The studied involved 4,554 cancer patients (mean age 65.8 years, 47.6% males). Results from multivariate Cox regression indicated that each additional 1 mcg/day of dietary vitamin B12 independently increased the risk of all-cause (HR, 1.07; 95% CI: 1.04–1.09, p < 0.001) and cancer-specific mortality (HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.06; p < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier curves indicated a higher risk of all-cause mortality with increased vitamin B12 intake (Log rank p = 0.01). Subgroup analysis suggested that higher vitamin B12 intake correlated with increased all-cause mortality risk, especially in individuals with higher protein (HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.06; p = 0.019) or carbohydrate intake (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.05; p = 0.04). Thus, higher vitamin B12 intake correlates with increased all-cause and cancer-specific mortality in CRC patients, particularly those with higher protein or carbohydrate intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The assessment of skin aging through skin measurements faces limitations, making perceived age evaluation a more valuable and direct tool for assessing skin aging. Given that the aging process markedly affects the appearance of the eye contour, characterizing the eye region could be beneficial for perceived age assessment. This study aimed to analyze age‐correlated changes in the eye contour within the Chinese Han female population and to develop, validate, and apply a multiple linear regression model for predicting perceived age. Materials and methods: A naïve panel of 107 Chinese women assessed the perceived ages of 212 Chinese Han women. Instrumental analysis evaluated periorbital parameters, including palpebral fissure width (PFW), palpebral fissure height (PFH), acclivity of palpebral fissure (AX), angle of inner canthal (AEN), and angle of outer canthal (AEX). These parameters were used to construct a multiple linear regression model for predicting the perceived ages of Chinese Han women. A combined treatment using Fotona 4D and an anti‐aging eye cream, formulated with plant extracts, peptides, and antioxidants, was conducted to verify the cream's anti‐aging efficacy and safety. This eye cream was then tested in a large‐scale clinical trial involving 101 participants. The prediction model was employed in this trial to assess the perceived ages of the women after an 8‐week application of the eye cream. Results: All parameters were observed to decrease with age. An intergroup comparison indicated that eyelid aging in Chinese Han women accelerates beyond the age of 50. Consequently, a linear regression model was constructed and validated, with the perceived age being calculated as 183.159 ‐ 1.078 * AEN ‐ 4.487 * PFW + 6.061 * PFH ‐ 1.003 * AX ‐ 0.328 * AEX. The anti‐aging efficacy and safety of the eye cream were confirmed through combined treatment with Fotona 4D, showing improvements in wrinkles, elasticity, and dark circles under the eyes. In a large‐scale clinical evaluation using this eye cream, a perceived age prediction model was applied, suggesting that 8 weeks of use made participants appear 2.25 years younger. Conclusion: Our study developed and validated a multiple linear regression model to predict the perceived age of Chinese Han women. This model was successfully utilized in a large‐scale clinical evaluation of anti‐aging eye cream, revealing that 8 weeks of usage made participants appear 2.25 years younger. This method effectively bridges the gap between clinical research and consumer perceptions, explores the complex factors influencing perceived age, and aims to improve anti‐aging formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Examined the feasibility of CO 2 heat pump combined with rotor drying of banana slices. • Drying kinetics characteristics and drying quality of banana slices were investigated. • Low-humidity drying can shorten the drying time of low-temperature drying. • Low-temperature and low-humidity drying improves drying quality of banana slices. A CO 2 closed heat pump drying system combined with rotary dehumidification (HPRD) was investigated using both experimental and theoretical approaches. The advantages of HPRD over traditional CO 2 closed heat pump drying systems (THPSs) for drying banana slices were analyzed. After drying, the drying kinetics and quality of banana slices were investigated. The results demonstrated that HPRD reduced the banana slice drying time during low-temperature processing while retaining more color and vitamin C content than THPS. In particular, HPRD increased the drying rate of banana slices dried at low temperatures by up to 41 % compared to the rate obtained by THPS. In addition, it increased the vitamin C content by an average of 12 % and reduced the total color difference by an average of 16 %. And the specific moisture extraction rate of HPRD increases by 26 % compared to THPS. The highest-quality banana slices, which were 3 mm thick and dried by HPRD at 43 °C, maintained a high drying rate and high drying quality. The optimal model of Henderson & Pabis predicted the drying behavior within the experimental range. The results indicated that the drying rate and quality of banana slices dried at low temperatures using HPRD were superior to those dried using THPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel drug nanocarrier with a magnetic core and a metal organic framework (MOF) shell was constructed by in situ growth of a three-dimensional network ZIF-8 on the surface of carboxy-functionalized Fe3O4. The resulting drug delivery system (DDS) showed strong superparamagnetism, boasting exceptional magnetization saturation at 11.15 emu g−1, an impressive magnetocaloric effect of a temperature rise of 12.9 °C within 6 min at 20 A, and a significant T2-weighted MR-image property. The drug encapsulation ability was investigated by loading a model drug namely curcumol (CUR) into the nanocarriers through supercritical solution impregnation (SSI) technology. The resulting Fe3O4@ZIF-8-CUR achieved a maximum loading content of 2.2 wt%, which was 3.4 times higher than that obtained using the ethanol impregnation process. As expected, a continuous drug release behavior of Fe3O4@ZIF-8-CUR was observed. This study presents a state-of-the-art methodology for designing biocompatible DDSs with magnetic responsiveness for advanced drug delivery applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the linkage of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) gene polymorphisms with the pathogenesis of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: This meta‐analysis study systematically retrieved relevant studies from PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central, Wanfang Data, CNKI, and SinoMed up to November 2020. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the association between MMP gene polymorphisms and OA. Results: A total of nine case–control studies comprising 1719 knee OA patients and 1904 controls were included in this meta‐analysis. The results revealed that MMP‐1‐1607 (rs1799750) 1G/2G polymorphism was not significantly associated with knee OA risk in four genetic models (OR (95% CI): allele model: 0.89 (0.57, 1.40), p =.615); dominant mode: 0.82 (0.47, 1.44), p =.486; recessive model: 0.88 (0.49, 1.57), p =.659; homozygote model: 0.79 (0.34, 1.82), p =.576. The association was significant for dominant model of MMP‐3 C/T: 1.54 (1.10–2.15), p =.013, especially in Asian ethnicity (1.63 (1.11, 2.39), p =.013). Variants of MMP‐13 C/T polymorphism were associated with increased risk of knee OA development based on dominant model: 1.56 (1.19, 2.06), p =.001 and homozygote model: 2.12 (1.44, 3.13), p <.001, and there were significant associations between MMP‐13 C/T polymorphism and knee OA risk in Asian ethnicity under different genetic models (all p >.05). Conclusions: Present evidence suggested that the gene polymorphisms of MMP‐1‐1607 1G/2G may not be associated with the risk of OA. But, the dominant model of MMP‐3 and MMP‐13 polymorphisms in Asian ethnicity was significantly correlated with knee OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the effects of the socioeconomic status (SES) on literacy development of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) is limited. This study aimed to explore the SES's influence on literacy development of children with ID and possible mediating effects of home literacy environment (HLE) and the parent-child relationship. The subjects of this study were 390 children with ID from special needs schools in 14 regions of China, including 239 boys and 151 girls aged 7 to 15 years. This study adopted the network survey method, with parents of children with ID completing surveys on SES, HLE, literacy development, and the parent-child relationship. SES was found to positively predict literacy development of children with ID. Further, it was found that HLE played a mediating role in the prediction of literacy development by SES, and the parent-child relationship regulated the positive impact of HLE on literacy development. In conclusion, SES significantly influences literacy development of children with ID which is partially mediated by HLE. The parent-child relationship positively regulates the regression relationship between HLE and literacy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The skeletal system is crucial for supporting bodily functions, protecting vital organs, facilitating hematopoiesis, and storing essential minerals. Skeletal homeostasis, which includes aspects such as bone density, structural integrity, and regenerative processes, is essential for normal skeletal function. Autophagy, an intricate intracellular mechanism for degrading and recycling cellular components, plays a multifaceted role in bone metabolism. It involves sequestering cellular waste, damaged proteins, and organelles within autophagosomes, which are then degraded and recycled. Autophagy's impact on bone health varies depending on factors such as regulation, cell type, environmental cues, and physiological context. Despite being traditionally considered a cytoplasmic process, autophagy is subject to transcriptional and epigenetic regulation within the nucleus. However, the precise influence of epigenetic regulation, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA expression, on cellular fate remains incompletely understood. The interplay between autophagy and epigenetic modifications adds complexity to bone cell regulation. This article provides an in-depth exploration of the intricate interplay between these two regulatory paradigms, with a focus on the epigenetic control of autophagy in bone metabolism. Such an understanding enhances our knowledge of bone metabolism-related disorders and offers insights for the development of targeted therapeutic strategies. Graphical Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a cytoprotective peptide that plays a crucial role in gut growth and health. The study mainly explored the effects of EGF on the intestinal antioxidant capacity, inflammatory response, immune status in weaning piglets. Forty-two 21-day-old weaned piglets were randomly assigned to three treatments consisting of a same basic diet containing 0 (control), 200, or 400 µg/kg EGF, respectively. There were 14 replicates per treatment, and 7 piglets per treatment were sampled on days 7 and 14 of the experiment. Dietary supplementation of 200 µg/kg EGF increased the activity of super-oxide dismutase (SOD) during the entire experimental period. This supplementation decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content whereas it increased serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) content on day 7 post-weaning. Animals receiving the diet supplemented with 400 µg/kg EGF decreased concentration of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and tended to increase the level of secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) in the overall experimental period. In addition, the phosphorylation level of nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) p65 was higher for piglets fed EGF diet. In summary, EGF can enhance intestinal antioxidant capacity, decrease inflammatory response, and increase immune status in weaned piglets, suggesting that EGF has a positive role in piglet gut health. Key words: epidermal growth factor (EGF); antioxidant capacity; immunity; inflammation; weaning piglets [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) offers a non-invasive approach to examining abnormal brain connectivity associated with brain disorders. Graph neural network (GNN) gains popularity in fMRI representation learning and brain disorder analysis with powerful graph representation capabilities. Training a general GNN often necessitates a large-scale dataset from multiple imaging centers/sites, but centralizing multi-site data generally faces inherent challenges related to data privacy, security, and storage burden. Federated Learning (FL) enables collaborative model training without centralized multi-site fMRI data. Unfortunately, previous FL approaches for fMRI analysis often ignore site-specificity, including demographic factors such as age, gender, and education level. To this end, we propose a specificity-aware federated graph learning (SFGL) framework for rs-fMRI analysis and automated brain disorder identification, with a server and multiple clients/sites for federated model aggregation and prediction. At each client, our model consists of a shared and a personalized branch, where parameters of the shared branch are sent to the server while those of the personalized branch remain local. This can facilitate knowledge sharing among sites and also helps preserve site specificity. In the shared branch, we employ a spatio-temporal attention graph isomorphism network to learn dynamic fMRI representations. In the personalized branch, we integrate vectorized demographic information (i.e. , age, gender, and education years) and functional connectivity networks to preserve site-specific characteristics. Representations generated by the two branches are then fused for classification. Experimental results on two fMRI datasets with a total of 1218 subjects suggest that SFGL outperforms several state-of-the-art approaches. • A specificity-aware federated graph learning method was designed for fMRI analysis. • A personalized network was designed to employ imaging and non-imaging data. • Experiments on 1,218 subjects with fMRI suggest the superiority of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay of the enteric nervous system (ENS) and SIP syncytium (smooth muscle cells–interstitial cells of Cajal–PDGFRα+ cells) plays an important role in the regulation of gastrointestinal (GI) motility. This study aimed to investigate the dynamic regulatory mechanisms of the ENS-SIP system on colon motility during postnatal development. Colonic samples of postnatal 1-week-old (PW1), 3-week-old (PW3), and 5-week-old (PW5) mice were characterized by RNA sequencing, qPCR, Western blotting, isometric force recordings (IFR), and colonic motor complex (CMC) force measurements. Our study showed that the transcriptional expression of Pdgfrα, c-Kit, P2ry1, Nos1, and Slc18a3, and the protein expression of nNOS, c-Kit, and ANO1 significantly increased with age from PW1 to PW5. In PW1 and PW3 mice, colonic migrating movement was not fully developed. In PW5 mice, rhythmic CMCs were recorded, similar to the CMC pattern described previously in adult mice. The inhibition of nNOS revealed excitatory and non-propulsive responses which are normally suppressed due to ongoing nitrergic inhibition. During postnatal development, molecular data demonstrated the establishment and expansion of ICC and PDGFRα+ cells, along with nitrergic and cholinergic nerves and purinergic receptors. Our findings are important for understanding the role of the SIP syncytium in generating and establishing CMCs in postnatal, developing murine colons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Repeated exposure to UV generates excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and damages the enzymatic antioxidant defense system including quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in skin. Topical application of antioxidants may prevent the undesired damage of cellular proteins, lipids and DNA in skin. Dimethylmethoxy chromanol (DMC) is a bioinspired molecule, designed to be a structural analog to the γ–tocopherol that is naturally present in vegetables and plants. Turmeric root extract (TRE) is from a plant in South Asia extensively used as a food spice & vegetable, and its main components are turmerones. As both DMC and TRE are strong antioxidants with complementary antioxidation mechanisms, the aim of this study was to investigate the enhanced protective effects of their combination on oxidative damage in HaCaT cells following UVB exposure. Materials and methods: The effects of single and combined administrations of DMC and TRE on the SOD activity of HaCaT cells were evaluated by the SOD assay and qPCR. The NQO1 expression in the UVB‐treated HaCaT cells was analyzed by the Western Blot. Furthermore, a clinical test involving 24 subjects was conducted to evaluate the in vivo antioxidation efficacies of the serum formulated with the combination of DMC and TRE at the optimal weight ratio. Results: SOD assay showed that pretreating DMC or TRE alone could not preserve the impaired HaCaT SOD activity after UVB treatment. DMC and TRE at 1:1 weight ratio was the optimal combination to enhance the HaCaT SOD activity by approximately more than 1‐fold compared with either of the single treated groups. No enhancement effect was observed at other mixing ratios. The 1:1 weight ratio was further proved to be optimal as this combination boosted the NQO1 expression by more than 50%, whereas no boosting effect was observed at other mixing ratios. The clinical test of the serum containing this optimal antioxidant combination demonstrated promising in vivo antioxidation efficacies after 4‐week use, including 7.16% improvement in skin lightening, 18.29% reduction in skin redness, 35.68% decrease in TEWL, 19.05% increase in skin gloss and 32.04% enhancement in skin firmness. Conclusion: Collectively, our results indicated that the combination of DMC and TRE at 1:1 weight ratio attenuated the UV‐induced oxidative damage by synergistically boosting endogenous antioxidant enzyme activity in HaCaT cells. Therefore, this optimal antioxidant combination is a promising treatment to boost skin antioxidation defense system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: A systematic review of latest developments of untethered micro/nanorobots-based remote sensing systems with an emphasis on designing new coordinated control and sensing approaches. The propulsion/motion control, functionalization of micro/nanorobots, sensing mechanisms, and applications are reviewed based on the up-to-date works. The design and application of micro/nanorobot-based sensing platforms are discussed with the goal of building intelligent remote sensing systems. Untethered micro/nanorobots that can wirelessly control their motion and deformation state have gained enormous interest in remote sensing applications due to their unique motion characteristics in various media and diverse functionalities. Researchers are developing micro/nanorobots as innovative tools to improve sensing performance and miniaturize sensing systems, enabling in situ detection of substances that traditional sensing methods struggle to achieve. Over the past decade of development, significant research progress has been made in designing sensing strategies based on micro/nanorobots, employing various coordinated control and sensing approaches. This review summarizes the latest developments on micro/nanorobots for remote sensing applications by utilizing the self-generated signals of the robots, robot behavior, microrobotic manipulation, and robot-environment interactions. Providing recent studies and relevant applications in remote sensing, we also discuss the challenges and future perspectives facing micro/nanorobots-based intelligent sensing platforms to achieve sensing in complex environments, translating lab research achievements into widespread real applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The validation of satellite remote sensing surface reflectance products is aimed at comparing the reflectance pixel values of products with ground measurement values at the pixel scale. Due to the existence of surface heterogeneity, we cannot obtain the satellite pixel scale truth value through ground sampling, and only the satellite relative pixel scale truth value that closely approximates it can be acquired. The process of converting the point-scale spectrum of ground sampling into a pixel-scale spectrum will produce certain errors, known as point-to-pixel-scale conversion uncertainty, which is closely related to the type of sample area and the ground sampling method. In this study, we conducted research on the uncertainty of point-to-pixel-scale conversion generated via different ground sampling methods in the upscaling process. We utilized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hyperspectral images to invert the surface reflectance spectral curves of wheat, corn, bare soil, and soybeans at the pixel scale, and simulate the ground measurement spectra and satellite pixel scale ground truth of different sampling methods, so as to realize the quantitative calculation of the uncertainty of the ground truth at the satellite pixel scale. On this basis, we analyzed in depth the effects of the sampling method, measurement height, and number of spectra on the scale conversion uncertainty. The research results show that airborne hyperspectral images can accurately simulate the spectra of ground measurements, and can be used as an effective means of ground spectral sampling and uncertainty analysis. When using the systematic sampling method, the more the sampling points, the smaller the uncertainty. However, the uncertainty of scale conversion tends to stabilize when the number of sampling points is increased to a certain quantity. As the height of ground measurement increases, the number of spectra within the elementary sampling unit (ESU) increases, leading to smaller scale conversion uncertainties. The research results of this study will provide support for the subsequent optimization of ground sampling methods and the improvement of measurement efficiency and measurement accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal–organic nanoclusters(MOCs) are being increasingly used as prospective photoresist candidates for advanced nanoscale lithography technologies. However, insight into the irradiation‐induced solubility switching process remains unclear. Hereby, the theoretical study employing density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the alkene‐containing zirconium oxide MOC photoresists is reported, which is rationally synthesized accordingly, to disclose the mechanism of the nanoscale patterning driven by the switch of solubility from the acid‐catalyzed or electron‐triggered ligand dissociation. By evaluating the dependence of MOCs' imaging process on photoacid, lithographies of photoresists with and without photoacid generators after exposure to ultraviolet (UV), electron beam, and soft X‐ray, it is revealed that photoacid is essential in UV lithography, but it demonstrates little effect on exposure dose in high‐energy lithography. Furthermore, theoretical studies using DFT simulations to investigate the plausible photoacid‐catalyzed, electron‐triggered dissociation, and accompanying radical reaction are performed, and a mechanism is demonstrated that the nanoscale patterning of this type of MOCs is driven by the solubility switch resulting from dissociation‐induced strong electrostatic interaction and low‐energy barrier radical polymerization with other species. This study can give insights into the chemical mechanisms of patterning, and guide the rational design of photoresists to realize high resolution and high sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. CD47 has high levels of expression in malignant cancer cells, which binds to SIRP-α to release the "don't eat me" signal and prevents mononuclear macrophages from phagocytosing the cells. Resistance to drugs and metastases are potential barriers for prostate cancer endocrine therapy. Although immunotherapy for tumors has developed rapidly in the last few decades, its effectiveness in treating prostate cancer is unsatisfactory. Prostate cancer has a high-expression level of CD47. Therefore, a novel approach for potential immunotherapy may be provided by investigating the relationship among CD47 and the infiltration of immune cells in the prostate carcinoma. Methods. The GEPIA database was utilized to compare the abundance of CD47 in malignant tissues with tissues that were normal. Furthermore, the function of CD47 in prostate carcinoma was assessed by CancerSEA. The association among CD47 and the tumor microenvironment was assessed utilizing the TISCH single cell data database. By using TIMER, the connection among CD47 and immunological invasion of prostate cancer was explored. Moreover, macrophages were cocultured with mouse prostate cancer cell RM-1 blocked by CD47 antibody to observe the changes in phagocytosis efficiency in vitro. Results. Expression level of CD47 is upregulated in prostate carcinoma, and it is closely connected with prostate cancer's inadequate immune invasion. CD47 antibody blocking promotes macrophage phagocytosis of RM-1. Conclusion. Our research demonstrates a closely relationship among CD47 and the immunological microenvironment of prostate cancer, and blocking CD47 can promote macrophages to phagocytosis of prostate cancer cells. Therefore, CD47 may provide novel strategies for potential immunotherapy of prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significant impact of the home literacy environment (HLE) on the literacy development and educational achievements of typically developing (TD) children has been well documented. The focus of the current research is to gain insights into the HLE of children with autism spectrum disorders owing to their literacy difficulties. We used online questionnaires to collect data on the HLE, literacy development, reading interest, and parent–child relationship from the parents of 120 school-aged Chinese children with autism. The results confirmed that the HLE of autistic children predicts their literacy development not only directly but also indirectly, through reading interest and the parent–child relationship. The mediating effect accounted for more than half of the total effect. The study highlights that children with autism could benefit from stimulating HLE as well as their TD counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunosuppressive therapy (IST) consisting of antihuman thymocyte globulin and cyclosporine A is the first-line therapy for patients with severe aplastic anemia (AA) who are ineligible for undergoing bone marrow transplantation. The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlation between natural killer (NK) cells and response to IST in SAA patients. We retrospectively included 93 AA patients and detected NK cells in peripheral blood by flow cytometry. Both the proportion and absolute number of NK cells in newly diagnosed SAA patients were significantly lower than in controls, while the proportion and absolute number of NK cells in complete remission patients treated with IST were remarkably increased compared with treatment-naïve SAA patients. Additionally, the absolute number of NK cells at diagnosis was positively correlated with initial blood counts. For SAA patients receiving IST, the proportion of NK cells at baseline and 6 months was significantly higher in responders than in non-responders. Unexpectedly, we found that the increase in the proportion of NK cells at 6 months after IST was closely related to the recovery of hematopoiesis. ROC curve identified 7.3% of NK cells proportion at diagnosis as the cutoff value to predict response to IST. The response rate was higher in NK proportion high group than in NK proportion low group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis further confirmed the independent predictive value of NK cells proportion in assessing IST response. The proportion of NK cells at diagnosis may serve as a promising predictor of response to IST in patients with SAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have shown promising potential applications in advanced reactors due to the outstanding mechanical properties and irradiation tolerance at elevated temperatures. In this work, the novel low-activation Ti2ZrHfxV0.5Ta0.2 HEAs were designed and prepared to explore high-performance HEAs under irradiation. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the Ti2ZrHfxV0.5Ta0.2 HEAs before and after irradiation were investigated. The results showed that the unirradiated Ti2ZrHfxV0.5Ta0.2 HEAs displayed a single-phase BCC structure. The yield strength of the Ti2ZrHfxV0.5Ta0.2 HEAs increased gradually with the increase of Hf content without decreasing the plasticity at room and elevated temperatures. After irradiation, no obvious radiation-induced segregations or precipitations were found in the transmission electron microscope results of the representative Ti2ZrHfV0.5Ta0.2 HEA. The size and number density of the He bubbles in the Ti2ZrHfV0.5Ta0.2 HEA increased with the improvement of fluence at 1023 K. At the fluences of 1 × 1016 and 3 × 1016 ions/cm2, the irradiation hardening fractions of the Ti2ZrHfV0.5Ta0.2 HEA were 17.7% and 34.1%, respectively, which were lower than those of most reported conventional low-activation materials at similar He ion irradiation fluences. The Ti2ZrHfV0.5Ta0.2 HEA showed good comprehensive mechanical properties, structural stability, and irradiation hardening resistance at elevated temperatures, making it a promising structural material candidate for advanced nuclear energy systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intertidal zone is an important pathway for the transport of dissolved carbon across the land–ocean interface. Quantifying carbon transformation and export from the intertidal zone remains large uncertainties due to the natural heterogeneity and various driving mechanisms. Here, we used the 224Ra/228Th disequilibrium method to quantify porewater exchange and dissolved carbon export from intertidal sandy and muddy sediments, two main intertidal wetland types in the coast. Porewater exchange fluxes from sandy sediments ranged from 1.4 ± 0.1 to 1084 ± 53 L m−2 h−1, which gradually increased in the landward direction. Porewater exchange fluxes from mangrove muddy sediments ranged from 0 to 4.4 ± 0.7 L m−2 h−1. Advective porewater exchange was recognized as the dominant solute transport process in sandy sediments, whereas bioturbation may be the key process in mangrove muddy sediments. Furthermore, marine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was removed in sandy sediments, indicating that the sandy sediment acted as a sink of DOC, likely via aerobic remineralization. DOC consumption fluxes ranged from 3.7 ± 0.2 to 206 ± 9 mmol C m−2 d−1. The total consumption flux of DOC in the entire sandy beach was one order of magnitude higher than the globally maximum DOC removal flux in the upper ocean. Porewater-derived dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) export fluxes from sandy sediments ranged from 5.6 ± 0.3 to 883 ± 43 mmol C m−2 d−1. Nearly 50% of DIC export originated from the consumption of DOC. The rate constants for DOC transformation ranged from 0.009 to 0.155 h−1. In comparison, porewater-derived DOC and DIC export fluxes from muddy sediments were 25 ± 4 and 206 ± 30 mmol C m−2 d−1, respectively. Porewater-derived DIC export from sandy sediments was comparable or even higher than those from muddy sediments. These results showed that sandy sediments acted as a fast lane for marine DOC remineralization. Overall, both organic-poor sandy and organic-rich mangrove muddy sediments play important roles in the delivery of dissolved carbon to the ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Organophosphate (OP)-induced delayed neurological damage is attributed to permanent neuropathological lesions caused by irreversible OP-neurocyte interactions, without potent brain-targeted etiological antidotes to date. The development of alternative therapies to achieve intracerebral OP detoxification is urgently needed. Methods: We designed a brain-targeted nanoreactor by integrating enzyme immobilization and biomimetic membrane camouflaging protocols with careful characterization, and then examined its blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability both in vitro and in vivo. Subsequently, the oxidative stress parameters, neuroinflammatory factors, apoptotic proteins and histopathological changes were measured and neurobehavioral tests were performed. Results: The well-characterized nanoreactors exerted favourable BBB penetration capability both in vitro and in vivo, significantly inhibiting OP-induced intracerebral damage. At the cellular and tissue levels, nanoreactors obviously blocked oxidative stress, cellular apoptosis, inflammatory reactions and brain histopathological damage. Furthermore, nanoreactors radically prevented the occurrence of OP-induced delayed cognitive deficits and psychiatric abnormality. Conclusion: The nanoreactors significantly prevented the development of OP-induced delayed neurological damage, suggesting a potential brain-targeted etiological strategy to attenuate OP-related delayed neurological and neurobehavioral disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on the academic outcomes of children with intellectual disability (ID), and the role of parental participation and parental attitudes toward educational communicators in this process. A total of 305 children with ID from special needs schools and their parents and teachers in China completed the survey. A structural equation model was built to explore the relation between the factors. Results indicated SES not only positively predicts the academic outcomes, but also predicts academic outcomes through the chain mediation of parental participation and parental attitudes towards educational communicators. Findings show the robustness of the Family Investment Model in Chinese contexts. Moreover, the role of parental participation and parental attitudes towards educational communicators cannot be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reading interest plays an important role in predicting and regulating the literacy development of deaf children, but the family factors influencing their reading interest have not been previously explored. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of parents' education and home literacy environment (HLE) on reading interest of deaf children. Method: One hundred and thirty‐two deaf children from Grades 1 to 6 aged 8–15 from China participated in our study. The parents of these children completed our survey of parents' education, HLE and children's reading interest. These variables were then processed and analysed by correlation, regression analyses and structural equation modelling. Results: HLE played a complete intermediary role in the regression relationship between parents' education and reading interest of deaf children, and this effect had no significant difference between genders. Conclusions: Parents' education has a positive and predictive effect on reading interest of deaf children, while creating a high‐quality HLE may improve this effect. Highlights: What is already known about this topicMany studies on typically developing children have shown that parents' education has a significant impact on children's reading interest.HLE is generally believed as one of the important pathways to transform parents' education to children's reading achievement.Reading interest is closely related to children's reading achievement. What this paper addsParents' education influences reading interest of deaf children, which is mediated by HLE.The effects of parents' education and HLE on reading interest of deaf children are not significantly different between genders. Implications for theory, policy or practiceThe educational resources of parents of deaf children may have an impact on children's reading interest.Actively creating rich HLE for deaf children may improve children's reading interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Senecavirus A (SVA) is an emerging virus, causing vesicular disease in swine. SVA is a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA virus, which is the only member of the genus Senecavirus in the family Picornaviridae. SVA genome encodes 12 proteins: L, VP4, VP2, VP3, VP1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D. The VP1 to VP4 are structural proteins, and the others are nonstructural proteins. The replication of SVA in host cells is a complex process coordinated by an elaborate interplay between the structural and nonstructural proteins. Structural proteins are primarily involved in the invasion and assembly of virions. Nonstructural proteins modulate viral RNA translation and replication, and also take part in antagonizing the antiviral host response and in disrupting some cellular processes to allow virus replication. Here, we systematically reviewed the molecular functions of SVA structural and nonstructural proteins by reference to literatures of SVA itself and other picornaviruses. • Systematically summarizing characteristics of Senecavirus A (SVA). • Critically reviewing advances in research on all SVA proteins. • Comparing some proteins of SVA with those of other picornaviruses. • Providing perspectives on development of novel diagnostics and vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of Senecavirus A (SVA) was predicted to harbor two hairpin structures, hairpin-I and -II. The former is composed of two internal loops, one terminal loop and three stem regions; the latter comprises one internal loop, one terminal loop and two stem regions. In this study, we constructed a total of nine SVA cDNA clones, which contained different point mutations within a stem-formed motif in the hairpin-I or -II, for rescuing replication-competent viruses. Only three mutants were successfully rescued and moreover genetically stable during at least five serial passages. Computer-aided prediction showed these three mutants bearing either a wild-type or a wild-type-like hairpin-I in their individual 3′ UTRs. Neither wild-type nor wild-type-like hairpin-I could be computationally predicted to exist in 3′ UTRs of the other six unviable "viruses". The results suggested that the wild-type or wild-type-like hairpin-I was necessary in the 3′ UTR for SVA replication. • 3′ UTR of Senecavirus A (SVA) potentially had 2 hairpins, hairpin-I and –II. • Mutated SVA with putative wild-type or wild-type-like hairpin-I was viable. • Completely deformed hairpin-I caused failure of recovery of viable SVA. • Putative hairpin-II was unnecessary for SVA replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph embedding transforms high-dimensional graphs into a lower-dimensional vector space while preserving their structural information and properties. Context-sensitive graph embedding, in particular, performs well in tasks such as link prediction and ranking recommendations. However, existing context-sensitive graph embeddings have limitations: they require additional information, depend on community algorithms to capture multiple contexts, or fail to capture sufficient structural information. In this paper, we propose a novel Graph Embedding with Similarity Metric Learning (GESML). The core of GESML is to learn the optimal graph structure using an attention-based symmetric similarity metric function and establish association relationships between nodes through top-k pooling. Its primary advantage lies in not requiring additional features or multiple contexts, only using the symmetric similarity metric function and pooling operations to encode sufficient topological information for each node. Experimental results on three datasets involving link prediction and node-clustering tasks demonstrate that GESML significantly improves learning for all challenging tasks relative to a state-of-the-art (SOTA) baseline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aging is responsible for the majority of skin and soft tissue remolding in humans. Retinol and its derivatives or retinoids effectively intervene skin aging process. Nevertheless, retinoids usually induce skin intolerance, especially among the Chinese, and thus, their application to prevent skin aging is yet to be well accepted. The study of optimal composition and concentration of retinoids is necessary to offer strong antiaging efficacies with minimum irritations. Therefore, a better understanding of retinol and its derivatives is acutely needed to develop strategies to combat skin aging. Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine the optimal ratio of two retinol derivatives—hydroxypinacolone retinoate (HPR) and retinyl propionate (RP) in terms of dermal remodeling and skin aging prevention—and to investigate their synergistic antiaging effects both in vitro and in vivo. Methods: An in vitro human foreskin fibroblast (HFF‐1) cell model was established to evaluate the cell viability of HPR and/or RP treatment. In addition, the antiaging and retinol receptor genes expressions in HFF‐1 cells cotreated with HPR and RP were quantified. The in vivo adverse reaction evaluation of skincare serums containing various levels of retinol or the optimal HPR and RP combination termed Gravi‐A was performed by 24 h patch tests in 33 subjects prior to the clinical research. Last but not the least, clinical research with 42 Chinese urban women was conducted to assess the in vivo antiaging efficacy of the skincare serum containing this optimal retinoid combination. Results: The combination of HPR and RP at the weight ratio of 5:9 was shown to achieve the optimal in vitro antiaging performance. Coadministration of 5 μg/mL HPR and 9 μg/mL RP to HFF‐1 cells promoted their proliferation at 24 h and synergistically enhanced the expressions of type IV collagen, CRBP‐I, and RARB genes. In addition, the skincare serum containing HPR and RP combination at 5:9 weight ratio demonstrated superior in vivo anti‐wrinkle and skin elasticity improvement benefits without any adverse reactions, while retinol in the same concentration exerted much higher adverse effect. Skin wrinkles, skin smoothness, TEWL, skin elasticity R2 and R5 were improved by 8.3%, 11.9%, 25.7%, 14.5%, and 22.6%, respectively, after 8‐week use. Conclusion: Our results indicated the advanced antiaging effect of HPR and RP combination both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, little adverse effect was observed in this study, in comparison with retinol. This combination named as Gravi‐A is a potential therapeutic strategy to prevent skin aging, especially for Chinese women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

K+ channels of the Shaker family have been shown to play crucial roles in K+ uptake and transport. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is an important cash crop. In this study, the 24 Shaker family genes were identified in cotton. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that they were assigned to five clusters. Additionally, their chromosomal location, conserved motifs and gene structure were analyzed. The promoter of cotton Shaker K+ channel genes comprises drought-, low-temperature-, phytohormone-response elements, etc. As indicated by qRT-PCR (quantitative real-time PCR), cotton Shaker K+ channel genes responded to low K+ and NaCl, and especially dehydration stress, at the transcript level. Moreover, one of the Shaker K+ channel genes, GhKAT1aD, was characterized. This gene is localized in the plasma membrane and is predicted to contain six transmembrane segments. It restored the growth of the yeast mutant strain defective in K+ uptake, and silencing GhKAT1a via VIGS (virus-induced gene silencing) resulted in more severe symptoms of K+ deficiency in cotton leaves as well as a lower net K+ uptake rate. The results of this study showed the overall picture of the cotton Shaker K+ channel family regarding bioinformatics as well as the function of one of its members, which provide clues for future investigations of cotton K+ transport and molecular insights for breeding K+-efficient cotton varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective extravasation of therapeutic agents into solid tumors still faces huge challenges. Since the doubted effectiveness of enhanced penetration and retention effect, first-generation neutrophil cytopharmaceuticals with encapsulated drugs have been developed to improve the drug accumulation in tumors based on the active chemotaxis and extravasation of neutrophils. Herein, a new generation of neutrophil cytopharmaceuticals with enhanced tumor-specific extravasation is reported to satisfy more complex clinical demands. This neutrophil cytopharmaceutical is obtained by anchoring vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2)-targeting peptide K237 on neutrophil membrane after endocytosis of chemotherapeutics by neutrophils. Leveraging the cytokine-mediated active migration of neutrophils, the specific-recognition of K237 peptide to tumor vascular endothelium expedites the migration and enhances tight adhesion of neutrophils to vascular endothelium, thus improving the extravasation of therapeutic agents to target sites. Moreover, anti-angiogenesis effect from VEGFR2-blocking by K237 peptide achieves a cooperative tumor destruction with cytotoxic effects from released chemotherapeutics. This study demonstrates the great potential of enhanced proactive extravasation of cytopharmaceuticals via a cell-anchoring technology, leading to expedited drug infiltration and boosted therapeutic effects, which can be applied in other cell therapies to improve efficacy. A more powerful neutrophil cytopharmaceuticals with enhanced extravasation is developed to exhibit an accelerated targeting and extensive extravasation from tumor vessels, thus achieving more highly-efficient drug delivery and tumor killing. [Display omitted] • The enhanced tumor-extravasation is necessary for neutrophils cytopharmaceuticals. • Membrane-anchored K237 peptide expedites the neutrophils extravasation into tumor. • Neutrophils cytopharmaceuticals K237-PNEs performs synergistic antitumor effect. • Membrane-anchoring technic constructs new-generation of cytopharmaceuticals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploiting advanced patterning strategies and materials to achieve smaller sizes and higher precision is urgently and constantly pursued. In this work, to suppress the radiolytic low-energy secondary electron diffusion and accompanying unpredictable defects, we demonstrate a patterning control strategy to realize high-precision nanoscale fabrication through a quenching mechanism and achieve significant resolution and roughness enhancement in ∼10 nm patterning. [Display omitted] Nanopatterning is a well-established approach to fabricating nanostructures in electronics and optics, and exploiting patterning strategy to achieve smaller feature sizes and higher precision is urgently and constantly pursued. State-of-the-art extreme ultraviolet lithography and electron beam lithography have proven to produce smaller sizes. However, for such energetic radiation-based approaches, the serious diffusion behavior of the radiolytic low-energy secondary electrons will result in unpredictable defects in the unexposed matrix, limiting the ultimate resolution and hindering its potential in sub-10 nm patterning. Herein, we report significant progress in high-resolution patterning via suppressing of residues caused by secondary electron diffusion, and 10 nm line-space nanostructures are achieved by utilizing a free radical quencher in patterning a highly sensitive zirconium-containing photoresist. Lithography evaluation combined with theoretical calculation reveals this novel radical quencher approach can effectively suppress undesired electronic excitation and ionization reactions, thereby significantly improving resolution and edge roughness. By inhibiting secondary electron-induced active species, this quenching mechanism is found to increase the onset dose and effectively narrow the energy deposition; thus improving the patterning contrast and facilitating the acquisition of straight lines with sharp edges. This work provides a new perspective on active species diffusion control for higher precision nanoscale fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicinal plants play a vital role in herbal medical field and allopathic medicine field industry. Chemical and spectroscopic studies of Taraxacum officinale, Hyoscyamus niger, Ajuga bracteosa, Elaeagnus angustifolia, Camellia sinensis, and Berberis lyceum are conducted in this paper by using a 532-nm Nd:YAG laser in an open air environment. These medicinal plant's leaves, roots, seed, and flowers are used to treat a range of diseases by the locals. It is crucial to be able to distinguish between beneficial and detrimental metal elements in these plants. We demonstrated how various elements are categorized and how roots, leaves, seeds and flowers of same plants differ from each other on the basis of elemental analysis. Furthermore, for classification purpose, different classification models, partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), k-nearest neighbors (kNN), and principal component analysis (PCA) are used. We found silicon (Si), aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), manganese (Mn), phosphorous (P), and vanadium (V) in all of the medicinal plant samples with a molecular form of carbon and nitrogen band. We detected Ca, Mg, Si, and P as primary components in all of the plant samples, as well as V, Fe, Mn, Al, and Ti as essential medicinal metals, and additional trace elements like Si, Sr, and Al. The result's findings show that the PLS-DA classification model with single normal variate (SNV) preprocessing method is the most effective classification model for different types of plant samples. The average correct classification rate obtained for PLS-DA with SNV is 95%. Moreover, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was successfully employed to perform rapid, sensitive, and quantitative trace element analysis on medicinal herbs and plant samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colloidal microswarms have attracted increasing attention in the last decade due to their unique capabilities in various complex tasks. Thousands or even millions of tiny active agents are gathered with distinctive features and emerging behaviors, demonstrating fascinating equilibrium and non-equilibrium collective states. In recent studies, with the development of materials design, remote control strategies, and the understanding of pair interactions between building blocks, microswarms have shown advantages in manipulation and targeted delivery tasks with high adaptability and on-demand pattern transformation. This review focuses on the recent progress in active micro/nanoparticles (MNPs) in colloidal microswarms under the input of an external field, including the response of MNPs to external fields, MNP–MNP interactions, and MNP–environment interactions. A fundamental understanding of how building blocks behave in a collective system provides the foundation for designing microswarm systems with autonomy and intelligence, aiming for practical application in diverse environments. It is envisioned that colloidal microswarms will significantly impact active delivery and manipulation applications on small scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uterine hemangiopericytoma is extremely rare. This article describes a case of uterine hemangiopericytoma. The tumor involved the parauterine vein; extended into the inferior vena cava, right cardiac cavity, and pulmonary artery; and metastasized to the lungs. It was irregular in shape and exhibited the string‐of‐beads sign on echocardiography, and it was tightly attached to the right ventricular surface and pulmonary artery wall. The patient underwent tumor resection without adjuvant treatment. A pelvic nodule was found 3 months postoperatively and was considered a recurrent lesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a facile and scalable in situ polymerization strategy to selectively introduce the active quinone-based components across the carbon nanotube (CNT) surface. It can be observed that the optimized poly(anthraquinonyl sulfide) (PAQS)/CNT composites exhibit excellent activity and selectivity with a H2O2 yield ratio of approximately 91% at 0.5 V (vs. RHE), together with satisfactory stability at 0.5 V over 20 h. The electrocatalytic performance is correlated with the synergistic effect between PAQS and CNTs. That is, PAQS grafted with abundant quinone groups facilitates the 2 e− ORR process to produce H2O2, and the conductive CNT scaffold is beneficial for the uniform distribution of PAQS and ensures the fast electron transport through the composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jellyfish stings are the most common marine animal injuries worldwide, with approximately 150 million envenomation cases annually, and the victims may suffer from severe pain, itching, swelling, inflammation, arrhythmias, cardiac failure, or even death. Consequently, identification of effective first aid reagents for jellyfish envenoming is urgently needed. Here, we found that the polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) markedly antagonized the hemolytic toxicity, proteolytic activity, and cardiomyocyte toxicity of the jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai venom in vitro and could prevent and treat systemic envenoming caused by N. nomurai venom in vivo. Moreover, EGCG is a natural plant active ingredient and widely used as a food additive without toxic side effects. Hence, we suppose that EGCG might be an effective antagonist against systemic envenoming induced by jellyfish venom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature regarding the association between muscle strength and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality relies mostly on a single measurement of muscle strength but has seldomly focused on the accumulated exposure. This study explored the association between cumulative muscle strength and risks of CVD and all-cause mortality in middle-aged and older adults. A total of 6,972 patients from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, who underwent 3 repeated measurements of muscle strength over 4 years and were followed-up for another 3 years for CVD and all-cause mortality outcomes participated in this study. Muscle strength was evaluated by grip strength and chair-rising time. Cumulative muscle strength was calculated as the area under the curve. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were analyzed. The odds of CVD and all-cause mortality decreased as cumulative grip strength increased or cumulative chair-rising time decreased. For each 1 standard deviation (SD) increment in cumulative grip strength, the multivariable-adjusted OR for CVD and all-cause mortality were 0.81 (95% CI 0.73-0.91) and 0.85 (95% CI 0.73–0.99), respectively. For each 1 SD decrease in cumulative chair-rising time, the corresponding OR were 0.81 (95% CI 0.75–0.88) and 0.87 (95% CI 0.77–0.98), respectively. However, neither the change-slope of grip strength nor that of chair-rising time was related to decreased OR of CVD or of all-cause mortality. Cumulative muscle strength was associated with a reduced risk of CVD and all-cause mortality in middle-aged and older Chinese adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islet fibrosis is associated with the disruption of islet structure and contributes to β‐cell dysfunction, playing an essential role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Physical exercise has been shown to attenuate fibrosis in various organs; however, the effect of exercise on islet fibrosis has not been defined. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into four groups: normal diet sedentary [N‐Sed], normal diet + exercise [N‐Ex], high‐fat diet sedentary [H‐Sed], and high‐fat diet + exercise [H‐Ex]. After 60 weeks of exercise, 4452 islets from Masson‐stained slides were analyzed. Exercise led to a 68% and 45% reduction in islet fibrosis in the normal and high‐fat diet groups and was correlated with a lower serum blood glucose. Fibrotic islets were characterized by irregular shapes and substantial loss of β‐cell mass, which were significantly reduced in the exercise groups. Remarkably, the islets from exercised rats at week 60 were morphologically comparable to those of sedentary rats at 26 weeks. In addition, the protein and RNA levels of collagen and fibronectin, and the protein levels of hydroxyproline in the islets were also attenuated by exercise. This was accompanied by a significant reduction in inflammatory markers in the circulation Interleukin‐1 beta (IL‐1β)] and pancreas [IL‐1β, Tumor Necrosis Factor‐alpha, Transforming Growth Factor‐β, and Phosphorylated Nuclear Factor Kappa‐B p65 subunit], lower macrophage infiltration, and stellate cell activation in the islets of exercised rats. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that long‐term exercise preserves pancreatic islet structure and β‐cell mass through anti‐inflammatory and anti‐fibrotic actions, suggesting additional rationales for the success of exercise training in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes that should be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanism of Hydrogen-induced defects and cracking in Ti and Ti–Mo alloy was systematically analyzed from the perspective of microstructure. Results show that more hydrogen atoms can be dissolved in Ti–Mo alloy due to the existence of β phase, and the precipitation amount of hydride is reduced under the same hydrogen charging conditions. The analysis of positron annihilation results show that the solid solution of Mo element reduces the hydrogen induced defect concentration in the alloy and inhibit the combination of hydrogen and defects. At the same time, Mo atom can affect the electronic structure of Titanium hydrides, and then reduce the bonding between titanium atoms and hydrogen atoms, thereby reducing the formation of brittle titanium hydride. The reduction of hydride and hydrogen induced defect concentration significantly decrease the hardening rate of Ti–Mo alloy, thereby effectively reducing the hydrogen embrittlement sensitivity of titanium and inhibiting its hydrogen absorption cracking tendency. • The formation of β phase in Ti–Mo alloy improves the solubility of hydrogen, thereby reducing the precipitation of hydride. • The solid solution of Mo can affect the electronic structure of titanium hydride and weaken the bonding between Ti–H. • The solid solution of Mo can reduce the concentration of hydrogen-induced defects in Ti–Mo alloy. • Reducing the concentration of hydride and hydrogen induced defect can inhibit hydrogen absorption cracking tendency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cymbidium sinense represents a distinctive Orchidaceae plant that is more tolerant than other terrestrial orchids. Studies have shown that many members of the MYB transcription factor (TF) family, especially the R2R3-MYB subfamily, are responsive to drought stress. This study identified 103 CsMYBs; phylogenetic analysis classified these genes into 22 subgroups with Arabidopsis thaliana. Structural analysis showed that most CsMYB genes contained the same motifs, three exons and two introns, and showed a helix-turn-helix 3D structure in each R repeat. However, the members of subgroup 22 contained only one exon and no intron. Collinear analysis revealed that C. sinense had more orthologous R2R3-MYB genes with wheat than A. thaliana and rice. Ka/Ks ratios indicated that most CsMYB genes were under purifying negative selection pressure. Cis-acting elements analysis revealed that drought-related elements were mainly focused on subgroups 4, 8, 18, 20, 21, and 22, and Mol015419 (S20) contained the most. The transcriptome analysis results showed that expression patterns of most CsMYB genes were upregulated in leaves in response to slight drought stress and downregulated in roots. Among them, members in S8 and S20 significantly responded to drought stress in C. sinense. In addition, S14 and S17 also participated in these responses, and nine genes were selected for the real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) experiment. The results were roughly consistent with the transcriptome. Our results, thus, provide an important contribution to understanding the role of CsMYBs in stress-related metabolic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify whether Senecavirus A (SVA) has the potential of alternative translation, an extra G residue was inserted into an SVA cDNA clone, resultantly generating an "AU G AUG" motif. The second AUG is the authentic SVA initiation codon, whereas the first AU G is a putative one. Subsequently, eighteen nucleotides were inserted one by one between AU G and AUG for reconstructing cDNA clones. The test of virus recovery showed that three replication-competent SVAs, whose AU G /AUG-flanked sequences were not multiples of three nucleotides, were successfully rescued from their individual cDNA clones. The wild-type SVA possesses a UUUUU motif within the polyprotein-encoding region. Sanger sequencing showed that these three replication-competent SVAs harbored one or two extra U residues in the UUUUU motif, implying that polyprotein translation was initiated from the putative AU G , and the authentic AUG would be inactivated. This is probably attributed to the lack of ribosome scanning along an SVA genome. • Nineteen Senecavirus A (SVA) cDNA clones are reconstructed. • Each cDNA clone correspondingly contains an AUG-Nx-AUG (x = 1 to 19) motif. • SVAs can be rescued from cDNA clones, in which "x" is multiples of 3. • Three SVAs are rescued also from others, but show U- or UU-inserted genotype. • Viral translation is initiated from the IRES-proximal artificial AUG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The roles of medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols (MLCT) on health benefits under high fat diet (HFD) conditions remain in dispute. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of novel LaPLa-rich MLCT on the glycolipid metabolism and gut microbiota in HFD-fed mice when pork fat is half replaced with MLCT and palm stearin (PS). The results showed that although MLCT could increase the body weight in the mouse model, it can improve the energy utilization, regulate the glucose and lipid metabolism, and inhibit the occurrence of inflammation. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of gut microbiota indicated that PS and MLCT affected the overall structure of the gut microbiota to a varying extent and specifically changed the abundance of some operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Moreover, several OTUs belonging to the genera Dorea, Streptococcus, and g_Eryipelotrichaceae had a high correlation with obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorders of the host. Therefore, it can be seen that this new MLCT has different properties and functions from the previous traditional MLCT, and it can better combine the advantages of MLCT, lauric acid, and sn-2 palmitate, as well as the advantages of health function and metabolism. In summary, this study explored the effects of LaPLa-enriched lipids on glycolipid metabolism in mice, providing theoretical support for future studies on the efficacy of different types of conjugated lipids, intending to apply them to industrial production and subsequent development of related products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Magnolia, a traditional and important ornamental plant in urban greening, has been cultivated for about 2000 years in China for its elegant flower shape and gorgeous flower color. Most varieties of Magnolia bloom once a year in spring, whereas a few others, such as Magnolia liliiflora Desr. 'Hongyuanbao', also bloom for the second time in summer or early autumn. Such a twice flowering trait is desirable for its high ornamental value, while its underlying mechanism remains unclear. Methods: Paraffin section was used to show the flowering time and phenotypic changes of M. liliiflora 'Hongyuanbao' during the twice flowering periods from March 28 to August 25, 2018. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was then performed to explore the chemical metabolites through the twice flower bud differentiation process in 'Hongyuanbao', and the metabolites were screened and identified by orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis (KEGG) was used to reveal the relationship between the sugar metabolites and twice-flowering characteristic. To further investigate the potential role of sucrose and trehalose on flowering regulation of 'Hongyuanbao', the plants once finished the spring flowering were regularly sprayed with sucrose and trehalose solutions at 30 mM, 60 mM, and 90 mM concentrations from April 22, 2019. The flower bud differentiation processes of sprayed plants were observed and the expression patterns of the genes involved in sucrose and trehalose metabolic pathways were studied by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). Results: It showed that 'Hongyuanbao' could complete flower bud differentiation twice in a year and flowered in both spring and summer. The metabolites of flower bud differentiation had a significant variation between the first and second flower buds. Compared to the first flower bud differentiation process, the metabolites in the sucrose and trehalose metabolic pathways were significantly up-regulated during the second flower bud differentiation process. Besides that, the expression levels of a number of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) genes including MlTPS1, MlTPS5, MlTPS6, MlTPS7 and MlTPS9 were substantially increased in the second flower differentiation process compared with the first process. Exogenous treatments indicated that compared to the control plants (sprayed with water, CK), all three concentrations of trehalose could accelerate flowering and the effect of 60 mM concentration was the most significant. For the sucrose foliar spray, only the 60 mM concentration accelerated flowering compared with CK. It suggested that different concentration of trehalose and sucrose might have different effects. Expression analysis showed that sucrose treatment increased the transcription levels of MlTPS5 and MlTPS6, whereas trehalose treatment increased MlTPS1, showing that different MlTPS genes took part in sucrose and trehalose metabolic pathways respectively. The expression levels of a number of flowering-related genes, such as MlFT, MlLFY, and MlSPL were also increased in response to the sprays of sucrose and trehalose. Conclusions: We provide a novel insight into the effect of sucrose and trehalose on the flowering process in Magnolia. Under the different sugar contents treatments, the time of flower bud differentiation of Magnolia was advanced. Induced and accelerated flowering in response to sucrose and trehalose foliar spray, coupled with elevated expression of trehalose regulatory and response genes, suggests that secondary flower bud formation is a promoted by altered endogenous sucrose and trehalose levels. Those results give a new understanding of sucrose and trehalose on twice-flowering in Magnolia and provide a preliminary speculation for inducing and accelerating the flowering process in Magnolia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep embedded clustering is a popular unsupervised learning method owing to its outstanding performance in data-mining applications. However, existing methods ignore the difficulty in learning discriminative features via clustering due to the lack of supervision, which can be easily obtained in classification tasks. To alleviate this problem, we build a contrastive learning based deep embedded clustering method, i.e., CDEC. Specifically, our model adopts deep auto-encoders to learn a latent discriminative embedded clustering structure. To overcome the problem of lacking label information, the CDEC constructs positive samples and negative samples with the data reconstructed from the data itself and other data, respectively. By maximizing the distance between positive and negative ones, the CDEC can not only obtain the most representative features but also explore the discriminative features. Extensive experiments on several public datasets demonstrate that our method achieves the state-of-the-art clustering effectiveness. Our codes are available at: https://github.com/guoshuaiS/contrastive-deep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of cognitive impairment is rising globally, but there is no effective therapy. Recent studies showed that fucoidan (Fuc), a sulfated polysaccharide enriched in brown algae, is widely used due to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and prebiotic effects. However, the effects and mechanisms of Fuc on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neuronal cell damage and cognitive impairment in mice need to be explored further. In the present study, we found that Fuc treatment protected HT22 cells from LPS-induced damage by inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes. Fuc exerted neuroprotective effects in mice with LPS-induced cognitive impairment by ameliorating neuroinflammation, promoting neurogenesis, and reducing blood-brain barrier and intestinal barrier permeability. Mechanistically, Fuc supplement significantly restructured the gut microbiota composition, which may be related to glucose and fructose metabolism. In conclusion, Fuc ameliorated LPS-induced neuronal cell damage and cognitive impairment in mice, suggesting that Fuc may be a medicinal and food homologous functional agent to improve cognitive function. The possible mechanism by which Fucoidan ameliorates LPS-induced cognitive impairment in mice, especially by remodeling gut microbiota. [Display omitted] • Fuc protected HT22 cells from LPS-induced damage via the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome. • Fuc exerted neuroprotective effects on LPS-induced cognitive impairment by reducing BBB and gut permeability. • Fuc remodeled the gut microbiota, which may be related to glucose and fructose metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) is a tool for feature extraction, learning, and inference on graph data, widely applied in numerous scenarios. Despite the great success of GCN, it performs weakly under some application conditions, such as a multiple layers model or severely limited labeled nodes. In this paper, we propose a structural reinforcement-based graph convolutional network (SRGCN), which contains two essential techniques: structural reinforcement and semantic alignment. The model's core is to learn and reinforce structural information for nodes from both feature and graph perspectives and then expect the extracted semantic mappings to be similar by semantic alignment technique. The main advantage of SRGCN is structural reinforcement, i.e. the model improves the propagation of features in the graph by reinforcing the structural semantics. This method will alleviate the problems of over-smoothing and over-fitting. We evaluate the model on three standard datasets with node clustering tasks, and the experimental results demonstrate that SRGCN can outperform relative state-of-the-art (SOTA) baselines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business process recommendation can be used to simplify the working procedures of enterprises, avoid unnecessary expenses, and promote the development of enterprises. In the process of process recommendation, there are a lot of activities that are similar in structure and difficult to choose. Here, a process recommendation method based on cost constraints is proposed to solve the problem of difficult to distinguish similar processes. First, the business process is transformed into a labelled Petri net, and the execution probability of each transition is calculated according to the business process log. Then, the matrix used to represent Petri nets is constructed according to the adjacent relationship between transitions, and the matrix is made into the same dimension, and the similarity between matrices is calculated by biggest–smallest approach degree, and the set of Petri nets with similar structure is established. Finally, a cost constraint-based process recommendation method is proposed to find lower service cost items in similar process sets. In the experimental part, the feasibility of the method is compared and verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the effect of total factor productivity (TFP) and agglomeration on the choice of a firm to export directly or indirectly through an intermediary. Using Chinese firm-level textile industry data, we apply a spatial autoregressive probit model. We find agglomeration is several times more important than productivity for a firm choosing to export directly. The marginal effect of agglomeration, however, is decreasing as the number of neighbors increases beyond 10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) is an important cause of poor prognosis in patients with cerebral contusions. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the high-risk factors of PTE by summarizing and analyzing the baseline data, laboratory examination, and imaging features of patients with a cerebral contusion, and then developing a Nomogram prediction model and validating it. This study included 457 patients diagnosed with cerebral contusion who met the inclusion criteria from November 2016 to November 2019 at the Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital. All patients were assessed for seizure activity seven days after injury. Univariate analysis was used to determine the risk factors for PTE. Significant risk factors in univariate analysis were selected for binary logistic regression analysis. P < 0.05 was statistically significant. Based on the binary logistic regression analysis results, the prediction scoring system of PTE is established by Nomogram, and the line chart model is drawn. Finally, external validation was performed on 457 participants to assess its performance. Univariate and binary logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS software, and the independent predictors significantly associated with PTE were screened as Contusion site, Chronic alcohol use, Contusion volume, Skull fracture, Subdural hematoma (SDH), Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score, and Non late post-traumatic seizure (Non-LPTS). Based on this, a Nomogram model was developed. The prediction accuracy of our scoring system was C-index = 98.29%. The confidence interval of the C-index was 97.28% ~ 99.30%. Internal validation showed that the calibration plot of this model was close to the ideal line. This study developed and verified a highly accurate Nomogram model, which can be used to individualize PTE prediction in patients with a cerebral contusion. It can identify individuals at high risk of PTE and help us pay attention to prevention in advance. The model has a low cost and is easy to be popularized in the clinic. This model still has some limitations and deficiencies, which need to be verified and improved by future large-sample and multicenter prospective studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignant hematological malignancy with a poor prognosis. Risk stratification of patients with AML is mainly based on the characteristics of cytogenetics and molecular genetics; however, patients with favorable genetics may have a poor prognosis. Here, we focused on the activity changes of immunologic and hallmark gene sets in the AML population. Based on the enrichment score of gene sets by gene set variation analysis (GSVA), we identified three AML subtypes by the nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) algorithm in the TCGA cohort. AML patients in subgroup 1 had worse overall survival (OS) than subgroups 2 and 3 (P < 0.001). The median overall survival (mOS) of subgroups 1–3 was 0.4, 2.2, and 1.7 years, respectively. Clinical characteristics, including age and FAB classification, were significantly different among each subgroup. Using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression method, we discovered three prognostic gene sets and established the final prognostic model based on them. Patients in the high-risk group had significantly shorter OS than those in the low-risk group in the TCGA cohort (P < 0.001) with mOS of 2.2 and 0.7 years in the low- and high-risk groups, respectively. The results were further validated in the GSE146173 and GSE12417 cohorts. We further identified the key genes of prognostic gene sets using a protein-protein interaction network. In conclusion, the study established and validated a novel prognostic model for risk stratification in AML, which provides a new perspective for accurate prognosis assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) terrestrial-satellite laser communication uplink system based on optical spatial modulation with medium-based modulation (OSM-MBM) joint modulation. The Málaga(M) distribution is used to describe the combined effects of near-ground turbulent light intensity scintillation, beam wander and angle of arrival fluctuation. The closed expression of the bit error rate (BER) of the OSM-MBM joint modulation MIMO terrestrial-satellite laser communication uplink is derived. The simulation analyzes the influence of transmitting radius, receiving aperture, beam divergence, zenith angle and signal-to-noise ratio on the system error performance, and compares it with traditional modulation, media-based modulation and optical space modulation. Finally, the experiment is verified by Monte Carlo. This research provides a theoretical reference for the engineering realization of the modulation technology for the MIMO terrestrial-satellite laser communication uplink system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]