Search

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) has attracted wide attention due to its high toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation. In this study, a sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of PCP in seafood samples was developed and validated. The samples were ultrasonic extracted with acetonitrile containing 1% acetic acid-acetonitrile and followed by using a pass-through solid-phase extraction (SPE) cleanup on Captiva EMR-Lipid cartridges. The linearity of this method ranged from 1 to 1000 μg/L, with regression coefficients of >0.99. The detection limit and quantitation limit were 0.5 μg/kg and 1.0 μg/kg, respectively. The recoveries in different types of seafood samples ranged from 86.4% to 102.5%, and the intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 3.7% to 11.2% and 2.9% to 12.1%, respectively (n = 6). Finally, the method has been successfully utilized for the screening of PCP in 760 seafood samples from Zhejiang Province. PCP was detected in 5.8% of all seafood samples, with the largest portion of detections found in shellfish, accounting for approximately 60% of the total. The average concentrations detected ranged from 1.08 to 21.49 μg/kg. The non-carcinogenic risk indices for adults and children who consume PCP ranged from 10−4 to 10−3 magnitudes. All of these indices stayed significantly below 1, implying that the health risk from PCP in marine organisms to humans is minimal.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and fatal interstitial lung disease characterized by myofibroblast accumulation and extracellular matrix deposition, which lead to irreversible damage of the lung’s architecture and the formation of fibrotic lesions. IPF is also a sequela in serious patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The molecular mechanisms under pulmonary fibrosis remain unclear, and there is no satisfactory treatment currently available. Piceatannol (PIC) is a naturally occurring resveratrol analog found in a variety of dietary sources such as grapes, passion fruit, and white tea. It has been reported to inhibit liver fibroblast growth and exhibited various antitumor activities, although its role in pulmonary fibrosis has not been established yet. In the present study, we evaluated the anti-fibrotic role of PIC in bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice.Methods: Mice with BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis were treated with PIC, and fibrotic changes were measured by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining and hydroxyproline assay. Luciferase assay, Western blot assay, histological analysis, and immunofluorescence staining were used to evaluate the effect of PIC on fibroblast activation and autophagy in mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (NIH-3T3) and human lung fibroblast cells (HFL1). The anti-fibrotic mechanisms of PIC were either confirmed in vivo.Results: Our results showed that PIC significantly alleviated the bleomycin-induced collagen deposition and myofibroblast accumulation. In vitro and in vivo studies indicated that PIC plays a role in activating autophagy in the process of anti-fibroblast activation. Further mechanism studies demonstrated that PIC can promote autophagy via inhibiting the TGF-β1-Smad3/ERK/P38 signaling pathway, which leads to a decreased number of activated myofibroblasts.Conclusion: Our study demonstrated for the first time that PIC possesses the protective effects against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis due to the direct pulmonary protective effects which enhance the effect of autophagy in vitro and in vivo and finally leads to the decreased number of activated myofibroblasts. PIC may serve as a candidate compound for pulmonary fibrosis therapy and attenuates the sequelae of SARS-COV-2 pulmonary fibrosis.

In this paper, we selected Pt(en)Cl4, Pt(dach)Cl4, and Pt(bipy)Cl4 with gradually increasing ligands to explore the ligand effect on the properties of platinum(IV) anticancer drugs. The electronic structures and multiple drug properties of these three complexes were studied at the LSDA/SDD level using the density functional theory (DFT) method. By comparing the gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), electron affinity, atomic charge population, and natural bond orbital (NBO), we found that the order of reducibility is Pt(bipy)Cl4 > Pt(en)Cl4 > Pt(dach)Cl4. Our research can provide the theoretical basis for the development of anticancer drugs.

To obtain crystal products with ideal morphology and better quality, it is important to fully understand and grasp the affecting mechanism of solvents on crystal morphology. In this work, the interactions between solvent/solute molecules and different crystal faces of pyriproxyfen are investigated by a combination of experiments and molecular simulations. It is found that pyriproxyfen crystals grow into a lamellar morphology in methanol and ethanol, while the crystal grows into a three-dimensional shuttle morphology in n-butanol and n-heptane. Molecular simulations reveal that the molecular arrangement of crystal faces makes the alcohol hydroxyl adsorption sites exposed in different degrees, and the (002) face is more sensitive to alcohol hydroxyl than other faces. The adsorption of alcohol hydroxyl groups hinders the growth of crystal planes, so (002) and (102) faces become the main crystal planes in methanol and ethanol, and the lamellar crystal is formed. The developed knowledge of the growth mechanism based on the interaction between the solvent and crystal interface can be conducive to the further optimization of the pyriproxyfen crystal products.

Beckmann rearrangement of ketoxime catalyzed by acidic ionic liquid-N-methyl-imidazolium hydrosulfate was studied. Rearrangement of benzophenone oxime gave the desirable product with 45% yield at 90 °C. When co-catalyst P2O5 was added, the yield could be improved to 91%. The catalyst could be reused three cycles with the same efficiency. Finally, reactions of other ketoximes were also investigated.

In light of the challenges faced by existing protection methods when battery energy storage station (BESS) and various nonideal conditions emerge, enhanced Kullback–Leibler divergence-based time-domain pilot protection is put forward in this article. Given the discrepancy in current waveforms between internal and external faults, KLD is employed to quantify the degree of similarity between two current waveforms, enabling the accurate distinction between internal and external faults. To eliminate the asymmetry of KLD, improved KLD(IKLD) is introduced. Whereafter, a technique is proposed to convert the current sampling sequence into a probability distribution that can be utilized by IKLD. To counteract the negative influence of current transformer(CT) saturation on IKLD-based protection, the time-domain waveform features of summation current are adequately employed to develop an enhanced KLD(EKLD). Further, high and low thresholds are legitimately designed to ensure both dependability and security. The flowchart of EKLD-based pilot protection is described, and its effectiveness is extensively validated by variation in fault resistance, location, type and operating mode of BESS using PSCAD and a hardware-in-the-loop(HIL) testing platform. Additionally, proposed protection outclasses power frequency component-based current differential protection and some up-to-date presented time-domain protection methods.

ABSTRACTAs the melting of Arctic ice accelerates, the Arctic Passage continues to grow. Geopolitical influence has increased the strategic value of the Passage, attracting the attention of countries around the world. The geopolitical environment of the Arctic Passage is not affected by single factors but is instead determined by the combined effects of multiple factors. This paper analyses the multi-dimensional geopolitical environment factors of the Arctic Passage, and extracts features to construct a multi-dimensional geopolitical environment index system, which takes the Northern Sea Route as an example to construct the Arctic Passage Geo-potential Model, and quantitatively analyse the geo-potential for different states in Eurasia with the development and utilization of the Arctic Passage. This paper combines clustering and similarity analysis to explore the geo-spatial pattern of the Northern Sea Route, and identifies two interest groups that are represented by Russia and the United States. We further analyse the preference of stakeholders in the jurisdiction of the Northern Sea Route. This exploration addresses a gap in the current discussion on the Arctic Passage’s geopolitical environment, which only considers a single factor, and it helps to explore new methods and ideas that will assist the quantitative evaluation and pattern analysis of the Arctic Passage’s geopolitical environment, especially in Eurasia. Meanwhile, it will provide a comprehensive reference for the development and utilization of the Arctic Passage about the geopolitical environment patterns.

53BP1 is a well-established DNA damage repair factor that has recently emerged to critically regulate gene expression for tumor suppression and neural development. However, its precise function and regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we showed that phosphorylation of 53BP1 at serine 25 by ATM is required for neural progenitor cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation in cortical brain organoids. Dynamic phosphorylation of 53BP1-serine 25 controls 53BP1 target genes governing neuronal differentiation and function, cellular response to stress, and apoptosis. Mechanistically, ATM and RNF168 govern 53BP1's binding to gene loci to directly affect gene regulation, especially at genes for neuronal differentiation and maturation. 53BP1 serine 25 phosphorylation effectively impedes its binding to bivalent or H3K27me3-occupied promoters, especially at genes regulating H3K4 methylation, neuronal functions, and cell proliferation. Beyond 53BP1, ATM-dependent phosphorylation displays wide-ranging effects, regulating factors in neuronal differentiation, cytoskeleton, p53 regulation, as well as key signaling pathways such as ATM, BDNF, and WNT during cortical organoid differentiation. Together, our data suggest that the interplay between 53BP1 and ATM orchestrates essential genetic programs for cell morphogenesis, tissue organization, and developmental pathways crucial for human cortical development.

South Korea and China have implemented increasingly stringent mitigation measures to reduce the health risks from PM2.5 exposure, jointly conducting a ground-based air quality observation study in Northeast Asia. Dispersion normalized positive matrix factorization (DN-PMF) was used to identify PM2.5 sources in Seoul and Beijing and assess the effectiveness of the seasonal management programs (SMPs) through a comparative study. Samples were collected during three periods: January-December 2019, September 2020-May 2021, and July 2021-March 2022. In Seoul, ten sources were resolved (Secondary nitrate: 8.67 μg/m3, 34 %, Secondary sulfate: 5.67 μg/m3, 22 %, Motor vehicle: 1.83 μg/m3, 7.2 %, Biomass burning: 2.30 μg/m3, 9.1 %, Residual oil combustion: 1.66 μg/m3, 6.5 %, Industry: 2.15 μg/m3, 8.5 %, Incinerator: 1.39 μg/m3, 5.5 %, Coal combustion: 0.363 μg/m3, 1.4 %, Road dust/soil: 0.941 μg/m3, 3.7 %, Aged sea salt: 0.356 μg/m3, 1.4 %). The SMP significantly decreased PM2.5 mass concentrations and source contributions of motor vehicle, residual oil combustion, industry, coal combustion, and biomass burning sources (p-value

MgH2 is considered one of the most promising hydrogen storage materials because of its safety, high efficiency, high hydrogen storage quantity and low cost characteristics. But some shortcomings are still existed: high operating temperature and poor hydrogen absorption dynamics, which limit its application. Porous Ni3ZnC0.7/Ni loaded carbon nanotubes microspheres (NZC/Ni@CNT) is prepared by facile filtration and calcination method. Then the different amount of NZC/Ni@CNT (2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 wt%) is added to the MgH2 by ball milling. Among the three samples with different amount of NZC/Ni@CNT (2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 wt%), the MgH2-5 wt% NZC/Ni@CNT composite exhibits the best hydrogen storage performances. After testing, the MgH2-5 wt% NZC/Ni@CNT begins to release hydrogen at around 110 °C and hydrogen absorption capacity reaches 2.34 wt% H2 at 80 °C within 60 min. Moreover, the composite can release about 5.36 wt% H2 at 300 °C. In addition, hydrogen absorption and desorption activation energies of the MgH2-5 wt% NZC/Ni@CNT composite are reduced to 37.28 and 84.22 KJ/mol H2, respectively. The in situ generated Mg2NiH4/Mg2Ni can serve as a ''hydrogen pump'' that plays the main role in providing more activation sites and hydrogen diffusion channels which promotes H2 dissociation during hydrogen absorption process. In addition, the evenly dispersed Zn and MgZn2 in Mg and MgH2 could provide sites for Mg/MgH2 nucleation and hydrogen diffusion channel. This attempt clearly proved that the bimetallic carbide Ni3ZnC0.7 is a effective additive for the hydrogen storage performances modification of MgH2, and the facile synthesis of the Ni3ZnC0.7/Ni@CNT can provide directions of better designing high performance carbide catalysts for improving MgH2.

Heat stress can impair organismal growth by inducing ubiquitination, proteasome-mediated degradation, and subsequent cellular damage. Vitamin C (VC) has been shown to potentially mitigate the detrimental effects of abiotic stresses on cells. Nevertheless, the impact of heat stress on growth plate chondrocytes remains unclear, and the underlying protective mechanisms of VC in these cells warrant further investigation. In this study, we focused on pig thoracic vertebral chondrocytes (PTVCs) that are crucial for promoting the body’s longitudinal elongation and treated them with 41 °C heat stress for 24 h, under varying concentrations of VC. Our findings reveal that, while oxidative stress induced by heat triggers apoptosis and inhibits the ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathway, the addition of VC alleviates heat-stress-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis, mitigates cell cycle arrest, and promotes cellular viability. Furthermore, we demonstrate that VC enhances the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolysis pathway by promoting the expression of ubiquitin protein ligase E3A, which thereby stabilizes the ubiquitin-mediated degradation machinery, alleviates the apoptosis, and enhances cell proliferation. Our results suggest the involvement of the ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathway in the effects of VC on PTVCs under heat stress, and offer a potential strategy to make use of VC to ensure the skeletal growth of animals under high temperature pressures in summer or in tropical regions.

Castration is commonly used to reduce stink during boar production. In porcine adipose tissue, castration reduces androgen levels resulting in metabolic disorders and excessive fat deposition. However, the underlying detailed mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we constructed porcine preadipocyte models with and without androgen by adding testosterone exogenously. The fluorescence intensity of lipid droplet (LD) staining and the fatty acid synthetase (FASN) mRNA levels were lower in the testosterone-treated cells than in the untreated control cells. In contrast, the mRNA levels of adipose triglycerides lipase (ATGL) and androgen receptor (AR) were higher than in the testosterone-treated cells than in the control cells. Subsequently, transcriptomic sequencing of porcine preadipocytes incubated with and without testosterone showed that the mRNA expression levels of very long-chain fatty acid elongase 3 (ELOVL3), a key enzyme involved in fatty acids synthesis and metabolism, were high in control cells. The siRNA-mediated knockdown of ELOVL3 reduced LD accumulation and the mRNA levels of FASN and increased the mRNA levels of ATGL. Next, we conducted dual-luciferase reporter assays using wild-type and mutant ELOVL3 promoter reporters, which showed that the ELOVL3 promoter contained an androgen response element (ARE); furthermore, its transcription was negatively regulated by AR overexpression. In conclusion, our study reveals that testosterone inhibits fat deposition in porcine preadipocytes by suppressing ELOVL3 expression. Moreover, our study provides a theoretical basis for further studies on the mechanisms of fat deposition caused by castration.

Abstract Stem cell survival versus death is a developmentally programmed process essential for morphogenesis, sizing, and quality control of genome integrity and cell fates. Cell death is pervasive during development, but its programming is little known. Here, we report that Smad nuclear interacting protein 1 (SNIP1) promotes neural progenitor cell survival and neurogenesis and is, therefore, integral to brain development. The SNIP1-depleted brain exhibits dysplasia with robust induction of caspase 9-dependent apoptosis. Mechanistically, SNIP1 regulates target genes that promote cell survival and neurogenesis, and its activities are influenced by TGFβ and NFκB signaling pathways. Further, SNIP1 facilitates the genomic occupancy of Polycomb complex PRC2 and instructs H3K27me3 turnover at target genes. Depletion of PRC2 is sufficient to reduce apoptosis and brain dysplasia and to partially restore genetic programs in the SNIP1-depleted brain in vivo. These findings suggest a loci-specific regulation of PRC2 and H3K27 marks to toggle cell survival and death in the developing brain.

In early 2020, China experienced a mass outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). With an aim to evaluate the impact of emission variations on toxic element species in PM2.5 and the health risks associated with inhalation exposure during COVID-19, we collected PM2.5 filter samples in Beijing from January 1 to February 28, 2020. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) and a health risk (HR) assessment model were used to assess the health risks of the toxic elements and critical risk sources. The total concentration of eight toxic elements (Se, Cd, Pb, Zn, As, Cu, Ni, and Cr) in Beijing showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing: full lockdown (322.9 ng m−3) > pre-lockdown (264.2 ng m−3) > partial lockdown (245.3 ng m−3). During the lockdown period, stringent control measures resulted in significant reductions (6−20%) in Zn, Pb, Cd, and Ni levels, while concentrations of Se, As, Cu, and Cr were unexpectedly elevated (14−348%). A total of five sources was identified: traffic emission, coal combustion, dust emission, industrial emission and mixed source of biomass burning and firework combustion. Total carcinogenic risk (TCR) of the selected toxic elements exceeded the US EPA limits for children and adults. As and Cr (IV) were the main contributors to non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks, respectively. For source-resolved risks, coal combustion was the main contributor to HI (43%), while industrial emissions were the main cause of TCR (45%). Additionally, increased contributions from coal combustion, biomass burning, and firework combustion during the full lockdown elevated the HI and TCR values.

Surgical castration can effectively avoid boar taint and improve pork quality by removing the synthesis of androstenone in the testis, thereby reducing its deposition in adipose tissue. The expression of genes involved in testis-derived hormone metabolism was altered following surgical castration, but the upstream regulatory factors and underlying mechanism remain unclear. In this study, we systematically profiled chromatin accessibility and transcriptional dynamics in liver tissue of castrated and intact full-sibling Yorkshire pigs. First, we identified 897 differentially expressed genes and 6864 differential accessible regions (DARs) using RNA- and ATAC-seq. By integrating the RNA- and ATAC-seq results, 227 genes were identified, and a significant positive correlation was revealed between differential gene expression and the ATAC-seq signal. We constructed a transcription factor regulatory network after motif analysis of DARs and identified a candidate transcription factor (TF) SP1 that targeted the HSD3B1 gene, which was responsible for the metabolism of androstenone. Subsequently, we annotated DARs by incorporating H3K27ac ChIP-seq data, marking 2234 typical enhancers and 245 super enhancers involved in the regulation of all testis-derived hormones. Among these, four typical enhancers associated with HSD3B1 were identified. Furthermore, an in-depth investigation was conducted on the androstenone-related enhancers, and an androstenone-related mutation was identified in a newfound candidatetypical enhancer (andEN) with dual-luciferase assays. These findings provide further insights into how enhancers function as links between phenotypic and non-coding area variations. The discovery of upstream TF and enhancers of HSD3B1 contributes to understanding the regulatory networks of androstenone metabolism and provides an important foundation for improving pork quality.

This paper put forward the concept of the polar coastal zone and expounded the definition and scope of the polar coastal zone and coastline from the connotation of the coastal zone, and analyzed the particularity and importance of the polar coastal zone. Then, the survey and monitoring practices related to the polar coastal zone were summarized from the perspectives of survey and monitoring technology development and related disciplines. At the same time, the frontier issues of polar coastal zone investigation and research were analyzed, also the development direction of the survey and monitoring of the ecological elements of polar coastal zone resources were proposed, that was, to make full use of remote sensing and on-site detection methods to explore regional resources, environmental and ecological elements, temporal and spatial variation characteristics of large-scale and long-term polar coastlines at a low cost. Finally, the knowledge and technology system of "dual-source-data mining-spatial coupling simulation-regional comprehensive assessment-impact simulation and prediction" was constructed, which provided a scientific and technological support for China to build a policy system of the management and protection of regional resource and ecology in the polar coastal zone.

Hafnium nitride (HfN) possesses excellent mechanical properties such as high hardness and wear resistance, and is usually used as a protective coating on high-end equipment and precision instruments. Nevertheless, the high coefficient of friction of HfN coating poses a serious threat to equipment and instruments, so doping modifications are imperative. Here, HfN coatings doping with different Ag contents were prepared by magnetron sputtering. It was found in the experiments that the introduction of a trace amount of Ag atoms (∼1.85 at.%) could replace the Hf atoms in the HfN sublattice, resulting in a solid solution Hf-Ag-N. As compared with the pure HfN coating (20.3 GPa), the solid solution Hf-Ag-N coating has higher hardness (25.5 GPa), lower coefficient of friction (μ = 0.28) and lower wear rate (3.03 × 10−8 mm3/(N·mm). With increasing Ag content, solid solution structure disappears and a nanocomposite structure forms, leading to a sharp decrease in hardness of Hf-Ag-N coating due to the precipitation of soft Ag phase. Additionally, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectrum analysis revealed that the reason for the low coefficient of friction of Hf-Ag-N solid solution coating is mainly due to the large number of tribo-oxidation products (HfO2, Ag2O) and self-lubricating phase (Ag) on the worn surface. The density functional theory further confirms that Ag atoms in solutes promote spontaneous oxidation of Hf-Ag-N which is important for causing tribo-oxidation. The results of this study expect to provide new idea as well as certain theoretical basis for designing new protective coatings.

BackgroundAlthough the association between maternal exposure to antibiotics and the risk of atopic dermatitis (AD) in childhood has been studied extensively, there still is a lack of clarity on the topic. The aim of this study was to summarize the published data and to examine if maternal exposure to antibiotics increases the risk of AD in childhood.MethodsSystematic search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase for all types of studies on the review subject independent of any language restrictions and published up to 28th December 2022. Data was analyzed using random-effects model and presented as pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsA total of 18 studies (5,354,282 mother-child pairs) were included. Maternal exposure to antibiotics was associated with an increased risk of AD in childhood (OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.22, I2 = 85%, p = 0.0003). The significance of the results was not affected by the location of the study (Asia or Europe). While subgroup analysis based on exposure assessment or diagnosis of AD demonstrated a tendency of increased risk of AD, the association was not statistically significant in multiple subgroups. Segregating data based on the timing of exposure did not affect the significance of the results for studies on all trimesters. However, there was no association between antibiotic exposure in the third trimester or just before delivery and the risk of childhood AD.ConclusionThe results of this meta-analysis suggest that maternal exposure to antibiotics may lead to a modestly increased risk of AD in offspring. The evidence is limited by high interstudy heterogeneity and bias in exposure and outcome assessment. Future studies are needed to explore if the timing of exposure, the dose, the number of prescriptions, and the type of antibiotic affect this association.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023387233.

Abstract Background UTX/KDM6A is known to interact and influence multiple different chromatin modifiers to promote an open chromatin environment to facilitate gene activation, but its molecular activities in developmental gene regulation remain unclear. Results We report that in human neural stem cells, UTX binding correlates with both promotion and suppression of gene expression. These activities enable UTX to modulate neural stem cell self-renewal, promote neurogenesis, and suppress gliogenesis. In neural stem cells, UTX has a less influence over histone H3 lysine 27 and lysine 4 methylation but more predominantly affects histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation and chromatin accessibility. Furthermore, UTX suppresses components of AP-1 and, in turn, a gliogenesis program. Conclusions Our findings revealed that UTX coordinates dualistic gene regulation to govern neural stem cell properties and neurogenesis–gliogenesis switch.