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Background: Jianqu has been used to alleviate symptoms in patients with functional dyspepsia, but its specific anti-functional dyspepsia effect is still unclear. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the impact of Jianqu on functional dyspepsia in mice. Methods: The phytochemical profile of Jianqu was analyzed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. Subsequently, Kunming mice were fed a high-calorie or high-protein diet (HCHP) for 7 days, and then orally treated with vehicle or Jianqu (1.62 g/kg body weight (b. w.) and 3.25 g/kg b. w.) for 10 days. A carbon powder solution was used to detect the gastric emptying and intestinal transit rate. The pathological changes in stomach and duodenum were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The occludin, claudin-1, ZO-1 and CD45 expression was measured by immunocytochemical staining. Importantly, the serum gastrointestinal hormones were detected by ELISA. In addition, the gut microbiota composition was determined using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The cecal short chain fatty acids were assessed by gas chromatography. Results: In general, 17 phytochemical compounds were identified from Jianqu, which significantly improved the gastric emptying rate and intestinal transit rate (p < 0.01), increased the body weight and food intake (p < 0.0001) in HCHP mice as well. Though HCHP did not cause significant pathological lesions in the gastrointestinal tract, increased the expression of CD45 in the duodenum (p < 0.05) was observed. Notably, Jianqu attenuated this abnormal expression of CD45 (p < 0.05). The levels of serum gastrointestinal hormones were significantly normalized by Jianqu intervention (p < 0.05). Moreover, Jianqu increased the relative abundance of Roseburia as well as short chain fatty acids levels in cecum (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The present results showed that Jianqu alleviated dyspeptic symptoms in HCHP mice possibly through reducing the duodenal leukocyte infiltration, and regulating the expression of gastrointestinal hormones. These effects may be partly related to the increasing cecal short chain fatty acids levels probably via gut microbial modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dendrobium officinale flowers (DOF) have the effects of antiaging and nourishing yin, but it lacks pharmacological research on skin aging. Objective: Confirming the role of DOF in delaying skin aging based on the "in vitro animal–human" model. Methods: In this experiment, three kinds of free radical scavenging experiments in vitro, D‐galactose‐induced aging mouse model, and human antiaging efficacy test were used to test whether DOF can improve skin aging through anti‐oxidation. Results: In vitro experiment shows that DOF has certain scavenging effect on 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical, hydroxyl free radical, and superoxide free radical, and its IC50 is 0.2090 μg/mL, 15.020, and 1.217 mg/mL respectively. DOF can enhance the activities of T‐AOC, SOD, CAT, and GSH Px in the serum of aging mice, increase the content of GSH, and reduce the content of MDA when administered with DOF of 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 g/kg for 6 weeks. In addition, it can enhance the activity of SOD in the skin of aging mice, increase the content of Hyp, and decrease the content of MDA, activated Keap1/Nrf2 pathway in the skin of aging mice. Applying DOF with a concentration of 0.2 g/mL on the face for 8 weeks can significantly improve the skin water score and elasticity value, reduce facial wrinkles, pores, acne, and UV spots, and improve the facial brown spots and roughness. Conclusion: DOF can significantly improve skin aging caused by oxidative stress, and its mechanism may be related to scavenging free radicals in the body and improving skin quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major cause of irreversible blindness in the working-age population. Neovascularization is an important hallmark of advanced DR. There is evidence that Yes-associated protein (YAP)/transcriptional co-activator with a PDZ binding domain (TAZ) plays an important role in angiogenesis and that its activity is regulated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of YAP/TAZ-VEGF crosstalk on the angiogenic capacity of human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (hRECs) in a high-glucose environment. The expression of YAP and TAZ of hRECs under normal conditions, hypertonic conditions and high glucose were observed. YAP overexpression (OE-YAP), YAP silencing (sh-YAP), VEGF overexpression (OE-VEGF) and VEGF silencing (sh-VEGF) plasmids were constructed. Cell counting kit-8 assay was performed to detect cells proliferation ability, transwell assay to detect cells migration ability, and tube formation assay to detect tube formation ability. The protein expression of YAP, TAZ, VEGF, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8, MMP-13, vessel endothelium (VE)-cadherin and alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was measured by western blot. The proliferation of hRECs was significantly higher in the high glucose group compared with the normal group, as well as the protein expression of YAP and TAZ (p < 0.01). YAP and VEGF promoted the proliferation, migration and tube formation of hRECs in the high glucose environment (p < 0.01), and increased the expression of TAZ, VEGF, MMP-8, MMP-13 and α-SMA while reducing the expression of VE-cadherin (p < 0.01). Knockdown of YAP effectively reversed the above promoting effects of OE-VEGF (p < 0.01) and overexpression of YAP significantly reversed the inhibition effects of sh-VEGF on above cell function (p < 0.01). In a high-glucose environment, YAP/TAZ can significantly promote the proliferation, migration and tube formation ability of hRECs, and the mechanism may be related to the regulation of VEGF expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD) is an effective method to treat heart failure, but its complications, mainly hemolysis and thrombus formation, cannot be ignored. Accurate evaluation of hemolysis and thrombus formation in pVAD is essential to guide the development of pVAD and reduce the incidence of complications. Methods: This study optimized the numerical model to predict hemolysis and thrombus formation in pVAD. The hemolysis model is based on the power law function, and the multi‐component thrombus prediction model is improved by introducing the von Willebrand factor. Results: The error between the numerical simulation and the hydraulic performance experiment is within 5%. The numerical results of hemolysis are in good agreement with those of in vitro experiments. Meanwhile, the thrombus location predicted by the numerical model is the same as that found in the in vivo experiment. Conclusion: The numerical model suggested in this study may therefore accurately assess the possible hemolytic and thrombotic dangers in pVAD, making it an effective tool to support the development of pVAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRCTTo enhance the bird strike resistance of fixed-wing aircraft wings, a combined computational approach integrating nonlinear solid mechanics and fluid dynamics was employed to analyze the bird strike characteristics of both traditional aluminum alloy skins and novel composite materials skins. Additionally, a standardized procedure was established to simulate aircraft structural damage more comprehensively, swiftly, and accurately during bird strikes, along with diagnostic analysis of flow field changes near the wing post-impact. This method not only quantifies wing strength damage but also establishes corresponding relationships between damage severity and aerodynamic performance degradation. The research findings indicate that the deformation of composite material skin wings is only a quarter of that of aluminum alloy skin wings. Composite material skins absorb less harmful energy compared to aluminum alloy skins, with consistently lower stiffness reduction rates at various bird strike velocities. Velocity distribution on deformed wings with composite material skins exhibits minimal deviation compared to normal wings, thereby preventing airflow separation. The research results provide more comprehensive guidance for the selection of materials for bird strike resistance of aircraft wings and the airworthiness evaluation after bird strikes.This paper establishes a standardized procedure that enables a more comprehensive, faster, and higher-precision simulation of structural damage to the aircraft during a bird strike on the wing and allows for the diagnostic analysis of the flow field changes near the wing after bird strike.By coupling nonlinear solid mechanics and fluid dynamics computational methods, the aerodynamic performance of the wings at different angles of attack post-deformation is investigated. This approach not only quantifies the strength damage to the wings but also establishes corresponding relationships between the degree of damage and the deterioration in aerodynamic performance.The research yields insights into the aerodynamic performance degradation patterns with varying angles of attack for both composite material skin and aluminum alloy skin deformed wings. These findings can serve as valuable references for pilots in emergency situations, aiding in their decision-making regarding aircraft control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The timing of treating cancer patients is an essential factor in the efficacy of treatment. So, patients who will not respond to current therapy should receive a different treatment as early as possible. Machine learning models can be built to classify responders and nonresponders. Such classification models predict the probability of a patient being a responder. Most methods use a probability threshold of 0.5 to convert the probabilities into binary group membership. However, the cutoff of 0.5 is not always the optimal choice. Methods: In this study, we propose a novel data-driven approach to select a better cutoff value based on the optimal cross-validation technique. To illustrate our novel method, we applied it to three clinical trial datasets of small-cell lung cancer patients. We used two different datasets to build a scoring system to segment patients. Then the models were applied to segment patients into the test data. Results: We found that, in test data, the predicted responders and non-responders had significantly different long-term survival outcomes. Our proposed novel method segments patients better than the standard approach using a cutoff of 0.5. Comparing clinical outcomes of responders versus non-responders, our novel method had a p-value of 0.009 with a hazard ratio of 0.668 for grouping patients using the Cox proportion hazard model and a p-value of 0.011 using the accelerated failure time model which approved a significant difference between responders and non-responders. In contrast, the standard approach had a p-value of 0.194 with a hazard ratio of 0.823 using the Cox proportion hazard model and a p-value of 0.240 using the accelerated failure time model indicating the responders and non-responders do not differ significantly in survival. Conclusion: In summary, our novel prediction method can successfully segment new patients into responders and non-responders. Clinicians can use our prediction to decide if a patient should receive a different treatment or stay with the current treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquid hydrogen storage and transportation is an effective method for large-scale transportation and utilization of hydrogen energy. Revealing the flow mechanism of cryogenic working fluid is the key to optimize heat exchanger structure and hydrogen liquefaction process (LH2). The methods of cryogenic visualization experiment, theoretical analysis and numerical simulation are conducted to study the falling film flow characteristics with the effect of co-current gas flow in LH2 spiral wound heat exchanger. The results show that the flow rate of mixed refrigerant has a great influence on liquid film spreading process, falling film flow pattern and heat transfer performance. The liquid film of LH2 mixed refrigerant with column flow pattern can not uniformly and completely cover the tube wall surface. As liquid flow rate increases, the falling film flow pattern evolves into sheet-column flow and sheet flow, and liquid film completely covers the surface of tube wall. With the increase of shear effect of gas-phase mixed refrigerant in the same direction, the liquid film gradually becomes unstable, and the flow pattern eventually evolves into a mist flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rechargeable lithium (Li) metal batteries face challenges in achieving stable cycling due to the instability of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). The Li-ion solvation structure and its desolvation process are crucial for the formation of a stable SEI on Li metal anodes and improving Li plating/stripping kinetics. This research introduces an interfacial desolvation coating technique to actively modulate the Li-ion solvation structure at the Li metal interface and regulate the participation of the electrolyte solvent in SEI formation. Through experimental investigations conducted using a carbonate electrolyte with limited compatibility to Li metal, the optimized desolvation coating layer, composed of 12-crown-4 ether-modified silica materials, selectively displaces strongly coordinating solvents while simultaneously enriching weakly coordinating fluorinated solvents at the Li metal/electrolyte interface. This selective desolvation and enrichment effect reduce solvent participation to SEI and thus facilitate the formation of a LiF-dominant SEI with greatly reduced organic species on the Li metal surface, as conclusively verified through various characterization techniques including XPS, quantitative NMR, operando NMR, cryo-TEM, EELS, and EDS. The interfacial desolvation coating technique enables excellent rate cycling stability (i.e., 1C) of the Li metal anode and prolonged cycling life of the Li,,LiCoO2 pouch cell in the conventional carbonate electrolyte (E/C 2.6 g/Ah), with 80% capacity retention after 333 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abundant precipitation over Pamirs Plateau (PP) in spring and winter plays a vital role in the water resources over the arid areas of Central Asia. Understanding the moisture sources and water vapour transportation associated with precipitation are very important, but there were few studies investigating the moisture sources of PP. We used a Lagrangian model driven with the Weather Research and Forecasting output to analyse the moisture sources at Northern Pamirs Plateau (NPP) and Southern Pamirs Plateau (SPP) in spring 2016, 2009 and 2001, and in winter 2016, 2010 and 2017, as the seasonal precipitation in PP was the largest, median and lowest during 2001 to 2018, and the precipitation in spring and winter was much higher than that in summer and autumn. The moisture sources from four regions were quantified: Atlantic‐Europe‐Africa, Arctic‐Northern Asia, Indian Ocean, and moisture recycling from the PP. Atlantic‐Europe‐Africa and Indian Ocean are the dominant moisture source regions in spring and winter, which contribute more than 70% to the total moisture affecting the precipitation at PP. The contributions of Indian Ocean are higher at SPP than those at NPP in spring and winter. The contributions from Arctic‐Northern Asia and PP are generally low, except that the moisture from PP region contributed 19% to the spring precipitation at NPP, indicating the importance of a local moisture source in enhancing the spring precipitation at NPP. The moisture contributions originating from the different source regions show great differences between winter and spring. The moisture transportation is affected by westerlies, and the zonal winds in spring affect the moisture transportation, while the meridional winds over the Arabian Peninsula mainly affect the moisture transportation in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

26 derivatives of myricetin containing pyridazinone were designed and synthesized from the natural product myricitrin, which were structurally characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), and the structure of A14 was further determined using an X-ray single crystal diffractometer. The in vivo anti-tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) activity was tested by the half-leaf method, and the results showed that A4, A23 and A26 possessed better curative activity with effective concentration 50% (EC50) of 131.6, 138.5 and 118.9 μg mL−1, which were superior to that of ningnanmycin (NNM) (235.6 μg mL−1), respectively. A24 and A26 possessed better protective activity with EC50 values of 117.4 and 162.5 μg mL−1, superior to that of NNM (263.2 μg mL−1). Microcalorimetric thermophoresis (MST) and molecular docking assays showed that A23 and A26 had strong binding ability with TMV-CP. After treatment with A26, the chlorophyll content in tobacco was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the growth rate of malondialdehyde content was slowed down. This further confirmed that the drug molecules have good antiviral activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The efficacy and safety of tenapanor has not been confirmed in Chinese end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with hyperphosphatemia on haemodialysis (HD). Methods This was a randomised, double blind, phase 3 trial conducted at 26 dialysis facilities in China (https://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx ; CTR20202588). After a 3-week washout, adults with ESRD on HD with hyperphosphatemia were randomised (1:1) using an interactive web response system to oral tenapanor 30 mg twice a day or placebo for 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was the change in mean serum phosphorous level from baseline to the endpoint visit (day 29 or last serum phosphorus measurement). Efficacy was analysed in the intention-to-treat population. Safety was assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of the study drug. Results Between 5 March 2021 and 8 June 2022, 77 patients received tenapanor and 73 received placebo. Tenapanor treatment (n  = 75) resulted in a significantly greater least squares (LS) mean reduction in serum phosphate at the endpoint visit versus placebo (n  = 72): LS mean difference −1.17 mg/dl (95% CI −1.694 to −0.654, P  < .001). More patients receiving tenapanor achieved a serum phosphorous level <5.5 mg/dl at the endpoint visit (44.6% versus 10.1%). The most common treatment-related adverse event was diarrhoea [tenapanor 28.6% (22/77), placebo 2.7% (2/73)], which was mostly mild and led to treatment discontinuation in two patients receiving tenapanor. Conclusions Tenapanor significantly reduced the serum phosphorous level versus placebo in Chinese ESRD patients on HD and was generally well tolerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial residue nitrogen can indicate soil quality and is crucial for soil nitrogen retention and supply. However, it is still unclear how the dynamic changes in soil microbial residue nitrogen affect crop nitrogen uptake in agricultural practice. Based on a long-term wheat-maize rotation experiment with different nitrogen application rates (150 kg N ha−1, 200 kg N ha−1, and 300 kg N ha−1), 15N-labeled nitrogen fertilizer was applied during the wheat season to track the dynamics of soil microbial residue nitrogen and its mediated fertilizer nitrogen. The results showed that nitrogen addition was beneficial to the accumulation of microbial residue nitrogen (mainly fungal microbial residue nitrogen). Its contribution rate to soil total nitrogen is 54.87–56.55%, and the fertilizer nitrogen allocated to it accounts for 27.10–47.50% of the remaining fertilizer nitrogen in the soil. Ultimately, 6.77–10.24% of the nitrogen fertilizer applied remained in the soil as microbial residue nitrogen. In addition, microbial residue nitrogen is mainly mineralized during the jointing and filling stages of wheat. In a word, the accumulation and mineralization of soil microbial residue nitrogen during the application of 200 kg N ha−1 better guaranteed the uptake of nitrogen by wheat, which provided a reliable basis for guiding farmland fertility improvement and nitrogen fertilizer reduction in the North China Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice yield stability is a breeding goal, particularly for short-growth duration rice, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In an attempt to identify the relationship between yield stability and source-sink characteristics in short-growth duration rice, a field experiment was conducted at three sites (Yueyang, Liuyang, and Hengyang) in 2021 and 2022. This study compared yield, yield components, source-sink characteristics, and their stability between two stable-yielding short-growth duration rice cultivars, Zhongzao 39 (Z-39) and Lingliangyou 268 (L-268), and two unstable-yielding short-growth duration rice cultivars, Zhongjiazao 17 (Z-17) and Zhuliangyou 819 (Z-819). The stability of agronomic parameters was represented by the coefficient of variation (CV). The respective CVs of yield in Z-17, Z-819, Z-39, and L268 were 10.2%, 10.1%, 4.5%, and 5.7% in 2021 and 19.7%, 15.0%, 5.4%, and 6.5% in 2022. The respective CVs of grain weight were 6.3%, 5.7%, 3.4%, and 4.5% in Z-17, Z-819, Z-39, and L-268 in 2021, and 8.1%, 6.3%, 1.5%, and 0.8% in 2022. The mean source capacity per spikelet and pre-heading non-structural carbohydrate reserves per spikelet (NSCpre) were 7%-43% and 7%-72% lower in Z-819 and Z-17 than in L-268 and Z-39 in 2021 and 2022. The mean quantum yield of photosystem II photochemistry of leaf, leaf area index, and specific leaf weight of L-268 and Z-39 were higher than those of Z-819 and Z-17 at the heading stage. This study suggests that high NSCpre, caused by great leaf traits before heading, increases source capacity per spikelet and its stability, thereby increasing the stability of grain weight and yield. Increasing NSCpre is critical for achieving grain weight and yield stability in short-growth duration rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 41-month-old boy was presented to our hospital because of an intracranial mass suspected of cerebrovascular malformation. He was admitted and received cerebral angiography. The angiography result confirmed the intracranial mass was the dilated vein of Galen resulting from a pial arteriovenous fistula, which quite resembling the vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation. Considering one-time embolization of the fistula may greatly change the distribution of intracranial blood flow, we decided to perform staged embolization. In the first stage, we partially embolized the fistula, resulting in a sharp decrease in blood flow to the lesion. The second intervention was performed one month later, and completely embolized the fistula. The boy recoverd well and returned to normal childhood without any neurological deficits. Follow-up MR images obtained at 10 months after the last procedure showing total obliteration of the pAVF, gradually shrinking of the varix, and remodeling of the vein of Galen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species of the bamboo-feeding genus Neobelocera Ding & Yang, 1986, N. furcata sp. nov. and N. parvula sp. nov., are described and illustrated from China. A key based on the male genitalia is given to distinguish species of this genus and a map provided to show their geographic distribution. Habitus photos for adults and illustrations of male genitalia are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prognostic role of either forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) or anterior gradient 2 (AGR2) in breast cancer has been found separately. Considering that there were interplays between them depending on ER status, we aimed to assess the statistical interaction between AGR2 and FOXA1 on breast cancer prognosis and examine the prognostic role of the combination of them by ER status. Methods: AGR2 and FOXA1 expression in tumor tissues were evaluated with tissue microarrays by immunohistochemistry in 915 breast cancer patients with follow up data. The expression levels of these two markers were treated as binary variables, and many different cutoff values were tried for each marker. Survival and Cox proportional hazard analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between AGR2, FOXA1 and prognosis, and the statistical interaction between them on the prognosis was assessed on multiplicative scale. Results: Statistical interaction between AGR2 and FOXA1 on the PFS was significant with all the cutoff points in ER-positive breast cancer patients but not ER-negative ones. Among ER-positive patients, the poor prognostic role of the high level of FOXA1 was significant only in patients with the low level of AGR2, and vice versa. When AGR2 and FOXA1 were considered together, patients with low levels of both markers had significantly longer PFS compared with all other groups. Conclusions: There was a statistical interaction between AGR2 and FOXA1 on the prognosis of ER-positive breast cancer. The combination of AGR2 and FOXA1 was a more useful marker for the prognosis of ER-positive breast cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the impact of the 2020 western U.S. heatwave on ecosystem photosynthesis, using observations from new-generation geostationary satellites. It mentions drylands show widespread midday depression in photosynthesis, shifting peak production towards mornings due to water and heat stress, revealing the potential of geostationary satellites in monitoring diurnal photosynthesis and the need to consider diurnal asymmetry in carbon-climate interactions.

To help in the prevention of large-scale loss of agricultural production caused by crop pests, a visual analysis was performed on the main research areas, key countries, organizational cooperation, citation sources and current trends in pest research by searching the literature of Web of Science database and using CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 software. Additionally, the effects and mechanisms of natural products with anti-insect activity were summarized through visual analysis. According to the bibliometric analysis, keywords such as mortality (232 occurrences), natural enemy (232 occurrences) and spinosad (110 occurrences) were common, and insecticides and natural enemies of pests were the main methods for killing pests. However, pesticide use exhibits numerous limitations. Co-occurring terms in visualization analysis mainly included residue (193 occurrences), detection (153 occurrences), degradation (133 occurrences), recovery (103 occurrences), pyrethroid (97 occurrences) and pesticide residues (65 occurrences). Thus, pesticides cannot fundamentally solve food security; pesticides also pollute the environment and endanger human health. Therefore, green and efficient pesticides that can replace synthetic pesticides are urgently needed. Natural products have recently gained attention in Brazil, China, the USA and other countries because they are green and pollution-free, and new natural pesticides have been developed. This visual analysis combined data mining with literature review and summarize the anti-pest activities and mechanisms of action of natural products. This information provides a foundation and ideas for researchers to study the application and development of natural products in pest control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, graph structure data has played a key role in machine learning because of its simple topological structure, and therefore, the graph representation learning methods have attracted great attention. And it turns out that the low-dimensional embedding representation obtained by graph representation learning is extremely useful in various typical tasks, such as node classification and content recommendation. However, most of the existing methods do not further dig out potential structural information on the original graph structure. Here, we propose wGCN, which utilizes random walk to obtain the node-specific mesoscopic structures (high-order local structure) of the graph and utilizes these mesoscopic structures to enhance the graph and organize the characteristic information of the nodes. Our method can effectively generate node embedding for data of previously unknown categories, which has been proven in a series of experiments conducted on many types of graph networks. And compared to baselines, our method shows the best performance on most datasets and achieves competitive results on others. It is believed that combining the mesoscopic structure to further explore the structural information of the graph will greatly improve the learning efficiency of the graph neural network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Contusion spinal cord injury is involved in a number of cellular, biochemical and molecular changes. We studied the overall expression pattern of miRNAs on day 1 and 3 after spinal cord injury and the involved pathways. Material and methods: A spinal cord injury model was developed by contusion injury in rats. Microarray analysis and qRT-PCR were done for expression of miRs. The Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor score was determined after spinal injury. Lesions at the injured site were analyzed by cresyl staining. Western blot analysis was carried out to analyze protein levels. Immunohistochemical staining was done to evaluate immunoreactivity. TUNEL assay was performed to determine the number of apoptotic cells. Results: The microarray analysis data suggested that about eight miRs were upregulated whereas four were downregulated in rats subjected to spinal cord injury on day 1. On comparing sham operated rats from the day 3 group two miRs were overexpressed and four were downregulated. miR-19a was the most deregulated. miR-19a antagomir was used as an inhibitor, which aggravated the functional deficit, decreased the protection of spinal cord tissue and elevated the number of apoptotic cells. The treatment of miR-19a antagomir increased the expression of FasL along with PTEN, but it failed to affect the levels of PDCD4. Conclusions: The results suggested that miR-19a plays a potential role in halting the neuronal cell death spinal cord injury and that the protective role of miR-19a may be due to its regulatory effect on pro-apoptotic genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sasa oblongula was described in 1987 based on a cultivated plant at the bamboo garden of Sun Yat-sen University. This species has two or three branches at the upper nodes, which differ from the rest of Sasa species that have a single branch per node. During the field trip to Baishi Town, Yunfu City, Guangdong Province in July 2021, one bamboo species with oblong foliage leaves was collected and matches the isotype. Then, our question was to test the identity of S. oblongula concerning other Sasa species based on morphology and molecular data. To do that, we sequenced the whole chloroplast genome of S. oblongula and did a phylogenetic analysis. Our morphological results indicate that the new collection is S. oblongula. The phylogenetic tree showed that S. oblongula is close to Pseudosasa, instead of Sasa species. Therefore, we transferred it to the genus Pseudosasa, and a revised description of P. oblongula is provided here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of phylogenetic analysis, based on the whole chloroplast genome and morphological study support the transfer of a long ignored bamboo species, Sasa gracilis, to the recently established genus, Sinosasa, in this study. Morphologically, this species differs from all the other known Sinosasa species by having very short (2-3 mm) foliage leaf inner ligules, which is unusual in this genus. A revised description of its morphology and colour photos are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) co-magnetometers have promising applications in both inertial navigation and fundamental physics experiments. However, the fluctuation in the spin polarization caused by the probe beam has a non-negligible influence on the co-magnetometer signal. In this paper, a theoretical model containing three parameters of the probe beam is established by extending the coupled Bloch equation. Based on this model, the influence of probe power density on the transient and steady-state response of the SERF co-magnetometer is analyzed. According to the transient response model, a new measurement method for transverse optical pumping of the probe beam is proposed. Then, for the steady-state response model, a steady-state error suppression method is suggested by adjusting the degree of circular polarization of the probe beam. Eventually, the suppression method is used to refine the SERF co-magnetometer, achieving a suppression rate of 70.31% in transverse electron spin polarization fluctuations, thus improving the co-magnetometer to a stability of 0.0079∘ h−1. To our knowledge, this is better than what has been reported so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve hydrodynamic stability in a combustor, an unsteady flow analysis method is needed. Hence, the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method based on a large eddy simulation (LES) unsteady flow field and corresponding experimental verification were utilized to analyze and assess the influence of the precession vortex core (PVC) motion law on the pulsation downstream of different swirler configurations. The pulsation outcomes of the unsteady simulation match the experimental data quite well, with case 1 having the highest pulsation quantity. The POD analysis reveals that the majority of pulsation energy is concentrated in the first two modes. The results of the motion state, regularity of the time coefficient, and frequency characteristics also demonstrate that the combustor's PVC features are compatible with modes 1 and 2. There is an optimum value of swirl number, 0.72, for which the flow field's stability has the lowest degree of disturbance. Moreover, the airfoil vane's stability is beyond that of the straight vane. The mean flow field and the coherent flow field in the pulsation flow field of case 3 are the most beneficial factors concerning combustion stability, and the unstable aspects of the transition flow field and the turbulent flow field are the least in shape and energy ratio. The data procured from the experiment certify that there is no characteristic frequency of pulsation within 5000 Hz that exists in case 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Conventional soybean oil-based intravenous lipid emulsions (SO-ILEs) have high polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents and phytosterols that may have adverse effects in preterm infants. Recently, the multi-oil-based intravenous lipid emulsion (MO-ILE), SMOFlipid, has been widely utilized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), but significant benefits over SO-ILEs in low gestational age neonates have yet to be demonstrated. This study was performed to compare the effects of the SO-ILE, Intralipid, and the MOILE, SMOFlipid, on neonatal health outcomes in preterm infants. Methods and Study Design: We performed a retrospective review of preterm infants born at gestational week (GW) <32 receiving parenteral nutrition for longer durations (≥14 d) in the NICU between 2016 and 2021. The primary aim of this study was to investigate differences in morbidity between preterm infants receiving SMOFlipid and Intralipid. Results: A total of 262 preterm infants were included in the analysis, with 126 receiving SMOFlipid and 136 receiving Intralipid. The SMOFlipid group had lower rates of ROP (23.8% vs 37.5%, respectively; p=0.017), although the rate of ROP was not different in multivariate regression analysis. The length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the SMOFlipid than SO-ILE group (median [IQR]=64.8 [37] vs 72.5 [49] days; p<0.001). Conclusions: The use of SMOFlipid as the lipid emulsion was associated with higher clinical efficacy than SO-ILE in preterm infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cabbage has significant heterosis and most commercial cultivars are hybrids. To explore genetic basis of cabbage heterosis and promote cabbage heterosis utilization, we constructed two populations by crossing 100 DH lines derived from a cabbage hybrid 01-20 ×96-100 with two female parents. Hybrids exhibited different extents of heterosis, the mean value of economic yield was 2.6 times bigger than parents. We identified 66 and 73 QTLs associated with mid-parent heterosis and transgressive heterosis of twelve yield-related traits, respectively. Some QTLs could be detected under the two-year experiment existed in two populations with different testers, showing relatively high phenotypic contribution rate (15.8%-20.0%). Heterosis QTLs exhibited clustered distribution in several cabbage chromosome regions. Two dominant genetic regions, mk300-316 and mk258-268, originated from the elite parent 01-20, exhibited significant genetic effects for yield-related heterosis, which were first identified. Three elite DH lines (D22, D46, D83) harboring these two dominant regions were selected as having strong heterosis in cabbage production. Candidate gene analysis revealed that some genes participating in biosynthetic processes of carbohydrates and some responses to auxin might affect cabbage yield heterosis. QTL identification and genetic dissection of yield-related traits provide new insights into the genetic effects of cabbage heterosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sasa tomentosa is transferred to the genus Yushania following a reassessment based on a new collection with pachymorph and long-necked rhizomes from its type locality in Guangxi, China. Morphologically, it is most similar to Yushania doupengshanensis, but differs in culm, branch complement and foliage leaf characters. A revised description of its morphology and color photos are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar energy is a pure and reproducible energy. China has paid more and more consideration to the investigation and employment of solar energy. The investigation focuses on the phenomenon of PID capability degradation of inactivation mediums for instance alumina/silicon nitride in transparent silicon high-efficiency solar cells. Through the laboratorial investigation on the effect of individual inactivation membrane processes on the PID damping behavior, it is found that the deposition approach of silicon oxide and silicon nitride inactivation membranes on the surface of transparent silicon cells directly affects the PID damping. Excellent anti-PID capability; single-layer silicon oxide membrane with the same thickness has better anti-PID capability than silicon nitride membrane. Double-layer silicon oxide/silicon nitride superimposed membrane with the enhancement of refractive index, the anti-PID damping capability gradually enhancements, and better anti-PID capability than monolayer silicon nitride. Investigation on the PID capability damping of inactivation mediums is of great significance to further the capability of solar cells and help to further the effective employment of solar energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcription factor 3 (TCF3) is a member of the basic Helix -- Loop -- Helix (bHLH) transcription factor (TF) family and is encoded by the TCF3 gene (also known as E2A). It has been shown that TCF3 functions as a key transcription factor in the pathogenesis of several human cancers and plays an important role in stem cell maintenance and carcinogenesis. However, the effect of TCF3 in the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is poorly known. In our study, TCF3 was found to express highly and correlated with cancer stage and prognosis. TCF3 was shown to promote ESCC invasion, migration, and drug resistance both from the results of in vivo and in vitro assays. Moreover, further studies suggested that TCF3 played these roles through transcriptionally regulating Inhibitor of DNA binding 1(ID1). Notably, we also found that TCF3 or ID1 was associated with ESCC stemness. Furthermore, TCF3 was correlated with the expression of cancer stemness markers CD44 and CD133. Therefore, maintaining cancer stemness might be the underlying mechanism that TCF3 transcriptionally regulated ID1 and further promoted ESCC progression and drug resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the role of m6A methylation of mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in chronic allergic asthma. Transcriptome-wide N6-methyladenosine (m6A) changes in BALB/c mice were profiled using immunoprecipitated methylated RNAs with microarrays in lung with chronic allergic asthma. Gene ontology (GO) and KEGG analyses were conducted. Target genes were verified by methylated RNA immunoprecipitation and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Specifically, the mRNA levels of m6A writers (METTL3, METTL14, and WTAP), and readers and erasers (FTO and ALKBH5) were estimated by real-time PCR analysis, using the SYBR-green method. IL17RB mRNA was also evaluated by PCR. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining showed that the airway and lung tissues in mice in the asthma group had extensive infiltration of inflammatory cells around the bronchioles, blood vessels, and alveoli. The lungs of those allergic asthma mice showed altered m6A epitranscriptome, whereby 1369 mRNAs and 176 lncRNAs were hypermethylated, and 197 mRNAs and 30 lncRNAs were hypomethylated (>1.5-fold vs control). Also, compared with the control group, IL17RB mRNA in lung of the asthmatic group was significantly hypermethylated (P<0.01). In the asthma group, the mRNA and the protein level of METTL14 (the key methyltransferase) and ALKBH5 (the major demethyltransferase) were significantly decreased compared with the control group (P<0.01). Chronic allergic asthma alters the lung m6A epitranscriptome, suggesting functional implications in the pathophysiology of refractory asthma. Data support methylated IL17RB mRNA possibly becoming a new therapeutic target for chronic allergic asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aims of this study focusing on Locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LANPC) were mainly two-fold: on the one hand, to establish a cut-off value to differentiate early and late failure based on prognosis after recurrence or metastasis; and on the other hand, to investigate the duration of concurrent cisplatin benefit over follow-up time. The results of our study have the potential to guide clinical practice and follow-up.Methods: In total, 3123 patients with stage III-IVa NPC receiving Induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent cisplatin or not were analysed. The cut-off value of treatment failure was calculated using the minimum P-value approach. Random survival forest (RSF) model was to simulate the cumulative probabilities of treatment failure (locoregional recurrence and /or distant metastasis) over-time, as well as the monthly time-specific, event-occurring probabilities, for patients at different treatment groups.Results: Based on subsequent prognosis, early locoregional failure (ELRF) should be defined as recurrence within 14 months (P = 1.47 × 10 - 3), and early distant failure (EDF) should be defined as recurrence within 20 months (P = 1.95 × 10 - 4). A cumulative cisplatin dose (CCD) > 200 mg/m2 independently reduced the risk of EDF (hazard ratio, 0.351; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.169-0.732; P = 0.005). Better failure-free survival (FFS) and overall survival (OS) were observed in concurrent chemotherapy settings ([0 mg/m2 vs. 1-200 mg/m2 vs. >200 mg/m2]: FFS: 70.4% vs. 74.4% vs. 82.6%, all P < 0.03; OS: 79.5% vs. 83.8% vs. 90.8%, all P < 0.01). In the monthly analysis, treatment failure mainly occurred during the first 4 years, and the risk of distant failure in patients treated with concurrent chemotherapy never exceeded that of patients without concurrent chemotherapy.Conclusion: Locoregional failure that developed within 14 months and/or distant failure within 20 months had poorer subsequent survival. Concurrent chemotherapy provides a significant FFS benefit, primarily by reducing EDF, translating into a long-term OS benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide dam is one of the main types of barrier dams, whose structure is loose and stability is poor. Once seepage failure occurs, it will threaten the life and property safety of downstream people. The particle composition and depositing characteristics of the dam are key influence factors in evaluating the seepage safety of landslide dams, which are also the primary considerations to carry out model tests. Based on previous studies, combined with the results of field investigations and indoor model tests, the depositing characteristics of landslide dams and advances in model tests for seepage failure are summarized, and the existing problems are discussed. Results show that the depositing characteristics of the landslide dam are related to the lithology of landslides, sliding path, bank slope structure, etc. The failure modes and processes of landslide dams are varied from depositing characteristics, particle size compositions to hydraulic conditions. For the landslide dams with high permeability zones, their failure can be attributed to the progressive cycle of piping and downstream dam slope collapse. While designing a model test, experimenters should not only consider the dynamic flow similarity but also determine the particle size distribution of the dam soils according to the relationship between particle size and particle movement. Finally, it is proved that the grading entropy can comprehensively reflect the gradation characteristics of the landslide dam as well as the change in gradation in the fine particle erosion process, which can be used to predict the permeability and internal stability of dam particles. Combined with other information, the failure mode and process of landslide dam can be predicted. The research results can provide references for the experimental research of landslide dam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposed a novel routing strategy with two tunable parameters, α 1 , β , based on the dynamic local information in a finite buffer network. The system behaves differently from that with a local routing strategy based on the degree with an adjustable parameter α 2 . Simulations show that, under dynamic local strategy, the maximal capacity of the network system increases with β whereas it increases with the decrement of α 1 in the case of all the nodes having identical delivering ability. The dynamic local routing performs much better than the local routing, which is demonstrated by a larger value of the critical packet generation rate. We found that buffer coefficient has a limited impact on the performance of network system. We also demonstrate that a smaller α 1 would be better if we want to have an excellent traffic capacity considering the travel time, average path length and waiting time. Our study will be helpful to improve traffic performance in finite buffer networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Gastric cancer (GC) is a primary cause of cancer death around the world. Previous studies have found that Drosha plays a significant role in the development of tumor cells. Soon after, we unexpectedly found that the expression of microRNA6778-5p (miR6778-5p) is unconventionally high in the gastric cancer cells low-expressing Drosha. So, we designed the Drosha interference sequence and recombined it into a lentiviral vector to construct Drosha knockdown lentivirus and transfected the Drosha knockdown lentivirus into gastric cancer cells to establish Drosha knockdown gastric cancer cell lines. We aimed to explore the effect of microRNA6778-5p on the proliferation of gastric cancer cells with Drosha knockdown and its intrinsic mechanism. Methods. We designed the Drosha interference sequence and recombined it into a lentiviral vector to construct Drosha knockdown lentivirus and transfected the Drosha knockdown lentivirus into gastric cancer cells to establish Drosha knockdown gastric cancer cell lines. After transfecting miR6778-5p mimics and inhibitor into gastric cancer cell lines with Drosha knockdown, the expression levels of miR6778-5p mimics in Drosha low-expressing gastric cancer cells increased, while miR6778-5p inhibitor decreased the expression levels of miR6778-5p. The Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) experiment was used to detect the proliferation ability of gastric cancer cells after overexpression or knockdown of miR6778-5p and bioinformatics predicted the relationship between miR6778-5p and glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β). Results. After infection with the Drosha knockdown lentivirus, Drosha's mRNA and protein levels were significantly downregulated in gastric cancer cells. The expression levels of miR6778-5p mimics in Drosha low-expressing gastric cancer cells increased, while miR6778-5p inhibitor decreased the expression levels of miR6778-5p. Overexpression of miR6778-5p significantly enhanced the proliferation ability of Drosha low-expression gastric cancer cells; on the contrary, knocking down miR6778-5p weakened the proliferation ability of Drosha low-expression gastric cancer cells. Bioinformatics predicted that miR6778-5p targeted glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) and the mRNA and protein levels of GSK3β decreased significantly after overexpression of miR6778-5p. Conclusion. miR6778-5p promotes the proliferation of Drosha low-expressing gastric cancer cells by targeting GSK3β. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the three-dimensional ordered microporous (3DOM) ceria–lanthanum cobaltate composite (CeO2-3DOM LaCoO3) with peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation function was prepared by colloidal crystal template method combined with impregnation method. The catalyst has a 3DOM structure with a specific surface area of 67.33 m2 g−1, 8.049 times of LaCoO3 prepared by sol–gel method. CeO2 was uniformly dispersed on the surface of 3DOM LaCoO3. CeO2-3DOM LaCoO3 has an excellent catalytic effect in PMS activation to degrade N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF). When the DMF initial concentration was 100 mg L−1, the initial pH was 7, the PMS dosage was 2000 mg L−1, and the catalyst dosage was 400 mg L−1, DMF degradation percentage reached 100% in 30 min, and the catalyst maintained high activity over a wide pH range. CeO2-3DOM LaCoO3 still had high activity when it coexists with Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−, HCO3−, H2PO4− and NO3−. In addition, it has a generally high catalytic degradation efficiency for methylene blue (MB), urotropine (UR), phenol (PH) and bisphenol A (BPA). After a series of characterization, detection and analysis, we proposed a potential mechanism for the CeO2-3DOM LaCoO3/PMS reaction system to degrade DMF and found that singlet oxygen (1O2), sulfate radical ( S O 4 - · ) and hydroxyl radical (·OH) play essential roles in the degradation process. DMF decay followed pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics. The above results suggested that the CeO2-3DOM LaCoO3 would be a promising candidate catalyst for practical wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) in shellfish products have led to severe risks to human health. To monitor the risk, the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program has been collecting longitudinal PST measurements in blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria) samples in six coastal provinces of Canada. The spatial distributions of major temporal variation patterns were studied via Functional Principal Component Analysis. Seasonal increases in PST contamination were found to vary the most in terms of magnitude along the coastlines, which provides support for location-specific management of the time-sensitive PST contamination. In British Columbia, the first functional principal component (FPC1) indicated the variance among the magnitudes, while FPC2 indicated the seasonality of the PST levels. The temporal variations tended to be positively correlated with the abundance of dianoflagellates Alexandrium spp., and negatively with precipitation and inorganic nutrients. These findings indicate the underlying mechanism of PST variation in various geographical settings. In New Brunswick, Prince Edward, and Nova Scotia, the top FPCs indicated that the PST contamination differed mostly in the seasonal increase of the PST level during summer. • Multi-decade Paralytic Shellfish Toxins (PST) in Canada were analyzed. • Shellfish harvesting sites differed the most in seasonal elevation of PST levels. • The spring-to-autumn period of increased PST was found in BC, QC, NB, and NS. • Rainfall, Alexandrium spp., nitrate/nitrite, and phosphate correlated with PST. • Higher seasonal increases tended to occur at locations of strong water mixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The onset and progression of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is closely related to autoimmunity. Effective monitoring of the immune system and developing targeted therapies are frontier fields in T1DM treatment. Currently, the most available tissue that reflects the immune system is peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Thus, the aim of this study was to identify key PBMC biomarkers of T1DM. Methods: Common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets GSE9006, GSE72377, and GSE55098, and PBMC mRNA expression in T1DM patients was compared with that in healthy participants by GEO2R. Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analyses of DEGs were performed using the Cytoscape, DAVID, and STRING databases. The vital hub genes were validated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction using clinical samples. The disease-gene-drug interaction network was built using the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) and Drug Gene Interaction Database (DGIdb). Results: We found that various biological functions or pathways related to the immune system and glucose metabolism changed in PBMCs from T1DM patients. In the PPI network, the DEGs of module 1 were significantly enriched in processes including in- flammatory and immune responses and in pathways of proteoglycans in cancer. Moreover, we focused on four vital hub genes, namely, chitinase-3-like protein 1 (CHI3L1), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (CXCL1), matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9), and granzyme B (GZMB), and confirmed them in clinical PBMC samples. Furthermore, the disease-gene-drug interaction network revealed the potential of key genes as reference markers in T1DM. Conclusion: These results provide new insight into T1DM pathogenesis and novel biomarkers that could be widely representative reference indicators or potential therapeutic targets for clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel bacterium of the genus Streptomyces, designated TRM S81-3T, was isolated from soil in cotton fields of Xinjiang, China. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain TRM S81-3T is most closely related to Streptomyces viridiviolaceus NBRC 13359T (98.9% sequence similarity); however, the average nucleotide identity (ANI) between strains TRM S81-3T and S. viridiviolaceus NBRC 13359T is relatively low (91.6%). Strain TRM S81-3T possesses LL-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic cell-wall diamino acid, MK-9(H4), MK-9(H6), and MK-9(H10) as the major menaquinones, and polar lipids including diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylmethyl ethanolamine (PME), phosphotidylinositolone (PI), phospholipid of unknown structure containing glucosamine (NPG), and two unidentified phospholipids (PLs).The major fatty acids are iso-C16:0, anteiso-C15:0, anteiso-C17:1ω9c, anteiso-C17:0, iso-C15:0, and C14:0. The genomic DNA G + C content is 72.1%. Based on the evidence from this polyphasic study, strain TRM S81-3T represents a novel species of Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces grisecoloratus is proposed. The type strain is TRM S81-3T (= CCTCC AA 2020002T = LMG 31942T). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We disclose a method to obtain the transverse light-shift along the probe light of a single-axis alkali metal-noble gas co-magnetometer. The relationship between transverse compensating field and light-shift is deduced through the steady-state solution of Bloch equations. The variety of probe light intensity is used to obtain the residual magnetic field, and step modulation tests are applied to acquire the total spin-relaxation rate of electron spins and self-compensation point. The transverse light-shift can be calculated by these parameters, and it is reduced from − 0.115 to − 0.039 nT by optimizing the probe light wavelength. Finally, long-term static test for a K-Rb-21Ne co-magnetometer has been performed. The bias instability of about 0.009 deg/h and rate ramp coefficient of 0.096 (deg/h)/h have been achieved to prove the improvement of stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation phenology can profoundly modulate the climate-biosphere interactions and thus plays a key role in regulating the terrestrial carbon cycle and the climate. However, most previous phenology studies are based on the traditional vegetation indices, which are inadequate to characterize the seasonal activity of photosynthesis. Here, we generated an annual vegetation photosynthetic phenology dataset with a spatial resolution of 0.05 degree from 2001 to 2020, using the latest gross primary productivity product based on solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (GOSIF-GPP). We combined smoothing splines with multiple change-point detection to retrieve the phenology metrics: start of the growing season (SOS), end of the growing season (EOS), and length of growing season (LOS) for terrestrial ecosystems in the Northern Hemisphere. We found that the derived phenology metrics agreed better with in situ observations from the flux tower sites than vegetation indices and MODIS-GPP. Our phenology metrics captured the spatial-temporal patterns of the single and double growing season in the Northern Hemisphere. The double season was mainly from the cropland rotation and ecosystems having two different phenological cycles. In addition, we observed a trend toward advanced SOS in about 62.98 % of the land area, with a mean rate of 0.14 ± 0.01 days year-1, a trend toward delayed EOS in about 61.87 % of the area, with a mean rate of 0.19 ± 0.16 days year-1, and a trend toward extended LOS in about 70.52 % of the area, with a mean rate of 0.33 ± 0.17 days year-1. Our phenology product can be used for validating and developing phenology models or carbon cycle models, for evaluating satellite remote sensing phenology, and for monitoring climate change impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric Particulate Matter (PM) is one of the leading environmental risk factors for the global burden of disease. Increasing epidemiological studies demonstrated that PM plays a significant role in CNS demyelinating disorders; however, there is no direct testimony of this, and yet the molecular mechanism by which the occurrence remains unclear. Using multiple in vivo and in vitro strategies, in the present study we demonstrate that PM exposure aggravates neuroinflammation, myelin injury, and dysfunction of movement coordination ability via boosting microglial pro-inflammatory activities, in both the pathological demyelination and physiological myelinogenesis animal models. Indeed, pharmacological disturbance combined with RNA-seq and ChIP-seq suggests that TLR-4/NF-kB signaling mediated a core network of genes that control PM-triggered microglia pathogenicity. In summary, our study defines a novel atmospheric environmental mechanism that mediates PM-aggravated microglia pathogenic activities, and establishes a systematic approach for the investigation of the effects of environmental exposure in neurologic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remarkable progress has been achieved on microseismic signal denoising in recent years, which is the basic component for rock-burst detection. However, its denoising effectiveness remains unsatisfactory. To extract the effective microseismic signal from polluted noisy signals, a novel microseismic signal denoising method that combines the variational mode decomposition (VMD) and permutation entropy (PE), which we denote as VMD—PE, is proposed in this paper. VMD is a recently introduced technique for adaptive signal decomposition, where K is an important decomposing parameter that determines the number of modes. VMD provides a predictable effect on the nature of detected modes. In this work, we present a method that addresses the problem of selecting an appropriate K value by constructing a simulation signal whose spectrum is similar to that of a mine microseismic signal and apply this value to the VMD—PE method. In addition, PE is developed to identify the relevant effective microseismic signal modes, which are reconstructed to realize signal filtering. The experimental results show that the VMD—PE method remarkably outperforms the empirical mode decomposition (EMD)—VMD filtering and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA)—VMD denoising methods of the simulated and real microseismic signals. We expect that this novel method can inspire and help evaluate new ideas in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of traffic dynamics on couple networks is important for the design and management of many real systems. In this paper, an efficient routing strategy on coupled spatial networks is proposed, considering both traffic characteristics and network topology information. With the routing strategy, the traffic capacity can be greatly improved in both scenarios of identical and heterogeneous node capacity allocation. Heterogeneous allocation strategy of node delivery capacity performs better than identical capacity allocation strategy. The study can help to improve the performance of real-world multi-modal traffic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An innovative one-step chemical synthesis using low-dosage activator creates porous carbon. • This chemical synthesis reduces energy and chemicals cost and minimizes the pollution. • The optimal sample displayed remarkable structural features, achieving exceptional acetic acid adsorption efficiency. • Mesopores facilitates CH 3 COOH adsorption at relatively-high-pressures and enhances the hydrophobicity of the adsorbent. • The outstanding adsorption selectivity for acetic acid, even in humid environments can be enabled. The selective adsorption and capture of polar organic acid gas by activated carbon (AC) absorbent could solve the challenge of irritant volatile organic compound discharge. However, volatile acid gas selective adsorption by traditional activated carbon with humidity resistance remains challenged. In this study, we developed an innovative one-step chemical synthesis method using discarded banana peels as a carbon source to create porous carbon materials. The selection of activators including sodamide and potassium hydroxide along with tunable implanting means of activator under different activated temperatures were modulated to optimize the fabrication of activated carbon. The results reveal that the low dosage of NaNH 2 activator (NaNH 2 /carbon precursor = 1) implanted into carbon precursor through one-step ball-milling could contribute an excellent structural properties, and higher activated temperature makes the mesoporous behavior of activated carbon more obvious. Based on various optimization conditions, the optimal sample, BAC900, displays remarkable structural features (S BET = 2302 m2/g, V total = 1.968 cm3 g−1, V >2nm = 1.474 cm3 g−1), achieving exceptional acetic acid adsorption efficiency (24.105 mmol g−1). Comparative analysis under various synthetic conditions revealed a close linear relationship between the structural characteristics (total pore volume) of adsorbent and acetic acid adsorption efficiency. We further explored the role of mesopores in facilitating acetic acid adsorption at relatively high pressures and their contribution to enhancing the hydrophobicity of the adsorbent. Additionally, we employed the Differential Isothermal Heat (DIH) technique to predict adsorption selectivity at varying relative humidity, revealing the higher adsorption heat (57 kJ mol−1) of acetic acid compared to water vapor (36 kJ mol−1). This comprehensive study emphasizes the outstanding adsorption selectivity of adsorbent for acetic acid, even in humid environments. Furthermore, the low adsorption heat of the BAC900 indicates good reversibility and reusability, paving the way for the practical application of biomass-derived functional biochar adsorbents in the environmental management of threatening acid VOCs pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

α-Syn fibers, the primary cause and central element of Lewy bodies (LB), play a pivotal role in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). This research aims to identify more potent inhibitors of α-Syn aggregation. A series of N -aryl-3-aryl-pyrazole-5-carboxamide derivatives were designed and synthesized for this purpose. Among them, four candidate compounds, combining pyrazole and polyphenol blocks, were identified through screening, demonstrating good inhibitory effects with IC 50 values in the low micromolar range (1.25–4.29 μM). Two candidates exhibited high permeability through the blood-brain barrier. Mechanistic studies using various methods revealed that the candidates preferentially bind to the aggregation-prone domains—proNAC or NAC domains of α-Syn. This binding hinders the conformational transition from random coil/α-helix to β-sheet, preserving α-Syn proteostasis. As a result, it interferes with α-Syn nuclei formation, prolongs the lag phase, decelerates the elongation phase, and ultimately impedes the formation of α-Syn fibrils. Additionally, the candidates demonstrated promising results in the disaggregation of preformed α-Syn fibers, potentially by binding to specific sites near the β-sheet domain within fibers. This reduces fiber stability, causing rapid collapse and yielding smaller aggregates and monomers. Crucially, the candidate compounds exhibited significant inhibitory efficacy against α-Syn aggregation within nerve cells with low cytotoxicity. This resulted in a notable inhibition of the formation of LB-like α-Syn inclusions. These compounds show considerable promise as potential therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of PD. [Display omitted] • Pyrazolamides incorporating both pyrazole and polyphenol blocks exhibit noteworthy inhibitory effects on α-Syn aggregation. • The candidates exhibit promising outcomes in disassembling preformed α-Syn fibers. • Candidates characterized by low cytotoxicity effectively decrease the formation of inclusions in neuronal cells. • A preliminary illustration of the anti-aggregation mechanism is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-union fractures pose a significant clinical challenge, often leading to prolonged pain and disability. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying non-union fractures is crucial for developing effective therapeutic interventions. This study integrates bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation to unravel key genes and pathways associated with non-union fractures. We identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between non-union and fracture healing tissues using bioinformatics techniques. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were employed to elucidate the biological processes and pathways involved. Common DEGs were identified, and a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. Fibronectin-1 (FN1), Thrombospondin-1 (THBS1), and Biglycan (BGN) were pinpointed as critical target genes for non-union fracture treatment. Experimental validation involved alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Alizarin Red staining to confirm osteogenic differentiation. Our analysis revealed significant alterations in pathways related to cell behavior, tissue regeneration, wound healing, infection, and immune responses in non-union fracture tissues. FN1, THBS1, and BGN were identified as key genes, with their upregulation indicating potential disruptions in the bone remodeling process. Experimental validation confirmed the induction of osteogenic differentiation. The study provides comprehensive insights into the molecular mechanisms of non-union fractures, emphasizing the pivotal roles of FN1, THBS1, and BGN in extracellular matrix dynamics and bone regeneration. The findings highlight potential therapeutic targets and pathways for further investigation. Future research should explore interactions between these genes, validate results using in vivo fracture models, and develop tailored treatment strategies for non-union fractures, promising significant advances in clinical management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated pembrolizumab-conjugated, doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded microbubbles (PDMs) in combination with ultrasound (US) as molecular imaging agents for early diagnosis of B cell lymphomas, and as a targeted drug delivery system. Pembrolizumab, a monoclonal CD20 antibody, was attached to the surfaces of DOX-loaded microbubbles. PDM binding to B cell lymphoma cells was assessed using immunofluorescence. The cytotoxic effects of PDMs in combination with ultrasound (PDMs+US) were evaluated in vitro in CD20+ and CD20-cell lines, and its antitumor activities were assessed in Raji (CD20+) and Jurkat (CD20-) lymphoma cell-grafted mice. PDMs specifically bound to CD20+ cells in vitro and in vivo. Contrast enhancement was monitored in vivo via US. PDM peak intensities and contrast enhancement durations were higher in Raji than in Jurkat cell-grafted mice (p<0.05). PDMs+US treatment resulted in improved antitumor effects and reduced systemic toxicity in Raji cell-grafted mice compared with other treatments (p<.05). Our results showed that PDMs+US enhanced tumor targeting, reduced systemic toxicity, and inhibited CD20+ B cell lymphoma growth in vivo. Targeted PDMs could be employed as US molecular imaging agents for early diagnosis, and are an effective targeted drug delivery system in combination with US for CD20+ B cell malignancy treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]