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Background Remnant cholesterol (RC) is considered a significant risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, and the progression of non-culprit coronary lesions (NCCLs) is also a prominent issue affecting the prognosis of patients with coronary artery disease. However, the relationship between residual cholesterol and vulnerable plaques in NCCLs that progress to major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) is not well understood. Objective To explore the predictive value of RC for vulnerable plaques in NCCLs that develop MACE and its correlation with long-term prognosis. Methods A total of 488 patients with coronary artery disease admitted to the Cardiac Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from February 2015 to February 2022 were selected as the study subjects. Baseline data of the patients were collected through the electronic medical record system, and coronary angiography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were performed. Enrolled patients received scheduled follow-up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge. Spearman's rank correlation test was used to explore the correlation between RC and the characteristics of thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) plaques in NCCLs. Multiple Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors of MACE in TCFA of NCCLs. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was plotted, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to explore the predictive value of RC for MACE in TCFA of NCCLs. Results A total of 488 coronary artery disease patients were included, and patients were divided into MACE group (n=38) and non-MACE group (n=450) based on whether NCCLs developed MACE. Plaque characteristics of NCCLs were identified by OCT, and a total of 749 NCCL plaques were analyzed, with 304 NCCL plaques having a minimum lumen area (MLA)

[Objective] This study seeks to identify and analyze the PIN gene family members in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and to investigate their expression patterns in the abscission zone of the fruit pedicel as well as during root development. The ultimate goal is to provide candidate genes for elucidating the function of CaPINs and for breeding new pepper varieties. [Methods] PIN genes were identified through whole-genome screening of pepper, followed by comprehensive bioinformatics analysis. The expression patterns of these genes in the fruit pedicel abscission zone and during root development were systematically analyzed. [Results] 9 members of the PIN gene family were identified in the pepper genome and designated as CaPIN1 through CaPIN9. These genes are distributed across seven chromosomes, with CaPIN9 remaining unanchored. The proteins encoded by these genes exhibit amino acid length ranging from 358 to 654 residues, molecular weight from 39 251.05 D to 71 170.91 D, and isoelectric point from 6.40 to 9.38. Most of these proteins are stable. Additionally, significant collinearity was observed among the CaPINs, indicating a close genetic relationship with the tomato genome. CaPINs encompass a multitude of elements associated with growth, environmental responses, and hormonal signaling. Transcriptome data analysis revealed that the expression of CaPINs in pepper was tissue-specific. Quantitative PCR results demonstrated that CaPINs exhibited differential expression levels across various fruit pedicel abscission zones and throughout root development. [Conclusion] CaPINs play a crucial role in the development of the pedicel abscission zone and the growth and development of the root system. These genes hold significant potential as candidates for breeding pepper varieties with improved ease of de-stemming and for enhancing genetic traits related to root systems.

Cross-domain data circulation has brought new challenges to security governance. Multiple participants of data circulation were identified, challenges of circulation security governance were analyzed. Under the principles of promoting data circulation through value co-creation, ensuring data circulation security through security co-governance, a long-term security governance model oriented to ensure data can be high-supplied, smooth-circulated, well-used, and safe-guaranteed was proposed, which involved physical space, technical support, institutional arrangements and ecological operation. Based on the practice in Suzhou, the specific path and ecological cycle mechanism of value co-creation and security co-governance were analyzed, which provides reference to implementation of data circulation security governance.

Abstract Background Giardia duodenalis (G. duodenalis) is a globally distributed zoonotic protozoan that parasitizes the small intestines of humans and various mammals, such as goats and sheep. The objective of this study was to establish a convenient, accurate, and specific method based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for genotyping assemblages A, B and E of G. duodenalis in goats. The β-giardin gene was amplified using primer pairs bgF1, bgR1, bgF2 and bgR2 by nested PCR. The PCR products were digested with the restriction enzymes Hinf I and Bgl I. The established PCR-RFLP method was used to detect and analyze the genetic subtypes of G. duodenalis in 130 fecal samples from goats and compared simultaneously with microscopic examination and nucleic acid sequencing for G. duodenalis. Results Genetic sequencing confirmed that the PCR-RFLP method accurately distinguished G. duodenalis assemblages A, B and E, as well as different combinations of mixed infections of these three assemblages. Among the 130 samples tested by PCR-RFLP, a total of 26 samples (20.00%) tested positive for G. duodenalis, a higher sensitivity than microscopic examination at 13.85% (18/130). Sequence alignment analysis revealed that among the 26 PCR-positive samples, two were identified as assemblage AI, while the remaining 24 were identified as assemblage E or E12. Conclusions This study established an accurate, efficient and rapid PCR-RFLP genotyping method using the bg sequence of G. duodenalis, enabling accurate identification and effective differentiation of goat-derived G. duodenalis assemblages without requiring sequencing.

Abstract All-polymer aqueous batteries, featuring electrodes and electrolytes made entirely from polymers, advance wearable electronics through their processing ease, inherent safety, and sustainability. Challenges persist with the instability of polymer electrode redox products in aqueous environments, which fail to achieve high performance in all-polymer aqueous batteries. Here, we report a polymer-aqueous electrolyte designed to stabilize polymer electrode redox products by modulating the solvation layers and forming a solid-electrolyte interphase. Polyaniline is selected as an example for its dual functionality as a cathode or anode working by p/n doping mechanisms. This approach pioneers the application of polyaniline as an anode and enhances the high-voltage stability of polyaniline cathode in an aqueous electrolyte. The resulting all-polymer aqueous sodium-ion battery with polyaniline as symmetric electrodes exhibits a high capacity of 139 mAh/g, energy density of 153 Wh/kg, and a retention of over 92% after 4800 cycles. Spectroscopic characterizations have elucidated the hydration structure, solid-electrolyte interphase, and dual-ion doping mechanism. Large-scale all-polymer flexible batteries are fabricated with excellent flexibility and recyclability, heralding a paradigmatic approach to sustainable, wearable energy storage.

Objective To analyze the clinical outcomes of a patient with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura(TTP) as the starting performance who was considered as systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) under multiple abnormal autoantibodies, and summarize the treatment experience through the clinical outcomes of plasma exchange combined with high-does steroid pulse therapy. Methods A middle-aged female patient presented with initial symptoms of fever, bleeding and hemolytic thrombocytopenia. Laboratory tests showed decreased activity of thrombospondin type 1 motif no.13(ADAMT13) and abnormal autoantibodies. The diagnosis was considered SLE with TTP, and the patient underwent continuous plasma exchange combined with high-dose steroid pulse therapy. The patient's platelet recovery was dynamically observed. Results The patient responded well to plasma exchange combined with high-does steroid pulse therapy, with platelet count raising to normal in a short period of time and hormone gradually decreasing. There was no recurrence during the follow-up period. Conclusion TTP combined with lupus is not common, but when both occur simultaneously, plasma exchange combined with high-does steroid pulse therapy may effectively alleviate symptoms. This treatment approach can serve as a valuable reference for similar clinical cases.

Determining the chemical characteristics of atmospheric precipitation and its source contributions is critical for improving atmospheric environmental quality and water security. In this study, we analyzed the pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), and major ion concentrations of precipitation from 2000 to 2021 at 29 monitoring stations in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), which typically experiences acid rain. Correlation analysis, the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model, and other statistical methods were used to analyze the correlations between the major ion concentrations and their source contributions. The results indicate that the pH, EC, and Fractional Acidity (FA) of precipitation from 2000 to 2021 ranged from 4.66 ± 0.18 to 5.91 ± 0.45, from 1.63 ± 0.59 to 5.49 ± 1.62 mS/m, and from 0.05 ± 0.06 to 0.19 ± 0.13, respectively. The pH exhibited interannual variations (first decreasing and then increasing), whereas EC and FA exhibited the opposite trend. The total ion concentrations in precipitation ranged from 166.63 ± 46.56 to 631.48 ± 212.83 μeq/L, which first increased and then decreased. The weighted equivalent ion concentrations were in order of SO42- > Ca2+ > NH4+ > NO3- > Cl- > Na+ > K+ > Mg2+ > F-. SO42-, NO3-, Ca2+, and NH4+ were the main ions, accounting for 72.98% of the total concentration. The ratio of the SO42- concentration to the total concentration decreased from 32.71% in 2000 to 14.33% in 2021, whereas NO3- increased from 9.03% to 13.74% during the same period. The ratio of SO42- to NO3- concentrations (SO42-/NO3-) decreased by 65.95% from 2000 to 2021. After 2008, the SO42-/NO3- values ranged from 0.5 to 3, and precipitation shifted from a sulfuric acid type to a mixed sulfuric-nitric acid type. This change indicates that increased NOx emissions in the PRD under urbanization and agricultural intensification altered the structure of precipitation pollution and further increased the complexity of regional air pollution. The ions were highly significantly positively correlated, of which NO3- and SO42- had the strongest positive correlation (r=0.69‒0.74). Generally, NOx and SO2 are emitted together and enter precipitation via overlapping pathways. Of the six ion sources, coal combustion had the highest contribution rates (a>60%) to SO42- and F-, while secondary inorganic salts contributed 82.30% of the NO3-. Agriculture, sea salt, biomass combustion, and dust contributed > 70% of the NH4+, Na+, K+, and Ca2+. The contribution rates of secondary inorganic salts to SO42-, Cl-, and NH4+ were also greater than 25%. Owing to the increase in motor vehicles driven by urbanization, the impacts of secondary inorganic salt sources on ions in precipitation have become more extensive, and controlling NOx emissions to effectively control secondary pollution sources is urgently required.

Abstract Excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) and dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota are pivotal symptoms for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its associated complications, such as intestinal fibrosis. This research introduces a probiotic inulin hydrogel loaded with polypyrrole (PPy) nanozymes and antifibrotic drug pirfenidone (PFD) (PPy/PFD@Inulin gel) designed for the concurrent amelioration of IBD and its fibrotic complication. Upon oral administration, the inulin gel matrix could extend the gastrointestinal residence time of PPy nanozymes and PFD, facilitating the efficient reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and enhancement of the intestinal epithelial barrier repair as well as the suppression of intestinal fibrosis through sustained RONS scavenging, modulation of gut microbiota and attenuation of the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway to inhibit fibroblast proliferation. Notably, the PPy/PFD@Inulin gel demonstrated significant prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy in acute and chronic colitis as well as intestinal fibrosis induced by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in mouse models. Thus, the engineered ternary PPy/PFD@Inulin gel offered a pioneered paradigm for simultaneous reversal of IBD and its associated complications, such as intestinal fibrosis, in a single therapeutic regimen.

Summary: Cooperation and competition are essential social behaviors in human society. This study utilized hyperscanning and stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) to investigate intra- and inter-brain neural dynamics underlying these behaviors within the insula and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), regions critical for executive function and mentalizing. We found distinct high-gamma responses and connectivity patterns, with a stronger influence from IFG to insula during competition and more balanced interactions during cooperation. Inter-brain synchronization shows significantly higher insula gamma synchronization during competition and higher IFG gamma synchronization during cooperation. Cross-frequency coupling suggests that these gamma synchronizations result from intra- and inter-brain interactions. Competition stems from intra-brain alpha-gamma coupling from IFG to insula and inter-brain IFG alpha synchronization, while cooperation is driven by intra-brain beta-gamma coupling from insula to IFG and inter-brain insula beta synchronization. Our findings provide insights into the neural basis of cooperation and competition, highlighting the roles of both insula and IFG.

Background: The prevalence of diabetic cognitive impairment (DCI) is significant, some studies have shown that it is related to mitochondrial respiratory chain homeostasis, but the specific mechanism is not clear. 2-hydroxyisobutyric acid (2-HIBA) is a novel short-chain fatty acid with potential applications in the treatment of metabolic diseases because it can regulate mitochondrial disorders. Our aim was to explore a novel mechanism of action for 2-HIBA in the treatment of DCI in mitochondrial respiratory chain homeostasis. Methods: Metabolic substances and differentially active metabolic pathways in the serum of diseased mice were identified based on multi-omics analysis. The nanoLC-Obitrap-MS technology was utilized to detect the content of selected small molecules with differential metabolic activity in the hippocampus and mitochondria of mice to evaluate their permeability through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and outer mitochondrial membrane. A combination of behavioral, proteomic, and molecular biology approaches was used to explore specific regulatory mechanisms and identify potential pharmacological targets. Additionally, using techniques such as protein thermal shift, drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS), hydrolase stability, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments, we demonstrated the direct binding effects of small molecule metabolites with protein targets. Results: 2-HIBA was found to directly ameliorate cognitive dysfunction in db/db mice by penetrating the blood-brain barrier and reversing the decrease in the protein content of NADH dehydrogenase 3 (MT-ND3) in the hippocampus through direct binding to ND3. This action helps maintain the stability of NAD+/NADH and regulate the mitochondrial respiratory chain balance. Furthermore, a combined medication plant agonist of 2-HIBA can enhance the expression of MT-ND3, thereby improving cognitive dysfunction in mice. Conclusion: MT-ND3 is a crucial target for improving diabetic cognitive dysfunction, and 2-HIBA can directly bind to the MT-ND3 protein to alleviate the functional impairment of the mitochondrial respiratory chain in mice to treat DCI.

PurposeThe incidence of lung cancer is closely associated with diabetes; however, it remains unclear whether diabetes influences the genetic mutations present in lung cancer. Therefore, we will compare the genetic mutations in patients with lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) who have diabetes against those who do not.MethodsWe included 279 patients diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma (143 with diabetes and 136 without diabetes) at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between 2016 and 2023, and analyzed the clinical characteristics and genetic mutation profiles of all participants.ResultsIn comparison to ADC patients without diabetes, those with diabetes exhibited a lower overall gene mutation rate (49.7% vs. 65.4%, P = 0.008). Female ADC patients demonstrated a higher total gene mutation rate and EGFR gene mutation rate than their male counterparts (49.3% vs. 66.9%, P = 0.003; 27.6% vs. 58.3%, P < 0.001, respectively), although their TP53 gene mutation rate was lower (8.6% vs. 2.4%, P = 0.027). ADC patients without a smoking history had a higher gene mutation rate and EGFR gene mutation rate than those with a smoking history (62.6% vs. 47.4%, P = 0.014; 51.6% vs. 22.7%, P < 0.001, respectively), but a lower KRAS gene mutation rate (4.4% vs. 14.4%, P = 0.003). Conversely, ADC patients with a drinking history had a lower EGFR gene mutation rate than those without (48% vs. 62.6%, P = 0.018; 31.0% vs. 47.5%, P = 0.007), yet a higher KRAS gene mutation rate (14.0% vs. 4.5%, P = 0.005). Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses revealed that being female, having no smoking history, and being in phase II or IV of tumor stage were associated with gene mutation. Subgroup analysis indicated that the rate of gene mutation in male smoking lung adenocarcinoma patients with diabetes was significantly lower than in those without diabetes.ConclusionThis retrospective study of real-world data suggests that patients with lung adenocarcinoma and diabetes may have a reduced likelihood of developing genetic mutations, particularly among male smokers. Furthermore, gender, smoking history, and tumor stage may be correlated with the presence of gene mutations.

Keeping the stability of yogurt during the fermentation, storage and transportation process is necessary to reduce the syneresis. To achieve this goal, the combination of the acid treatment and transglutaminase (TG) was proposed to improve the textural properties of milk acid gels. We investigated the synergistic effect of acid treatment and TG on the water holding capacity (WHC) and physical stability of milk acid gels. As the pH of the skimmed milk decreased from 6.7 to 5.2, the casein micelles dissociated into smaller particles, exposing more site for the crosslinking of TG. The WHC and stability of the TG-treated acid gels were significantly enhanced as the particle size of casein micelles decreased. Our results suggested that the combination of the treatment of acid and TG could significantly improve the textural properties of milk acid gels by the dissociation of casein micelles induced and increase in the covalent-crosslinking. This study provided a simple and novel method to improve the stability of the milk gels, which showed enormous potential for dairy processing.

Abstract Beyond 5G networks provide solutions for next-generation communications, especially digital twins networks (DTNs) have gained increasing popularity for bridging physical and digital space. However, current DTNs pose some challenges, especially when applied to scenarios that require efficient and multimodal data processing. Firstly, current DTNs are limited in communication and computational efficiency, since they require to transmit large amounts of raw data collected from physical sensors, as well as to ensure model synchronization through high-frequency computation. Second, current models of DTNs are domain-specific (e.g. E-health), making it difficult to handle DT scenarios with multimodal data processing requirements. Finally, current security schemes for DTNs introduce additional overheads that impair the efficiency. Against the above challenges, we propose a large language model (LLM) empowered DTNs framework, LLM-Twin. First, based on LLM, we propose digital twin semantic networks (DTSNs), which enable more efficient communication and computation. Second, we design a mini-giant model collaboration scheme, which enables efficient deployment of LLM in DTNs and is adapted to handle multimodal data. Then, we designed a native security policy for LLM-twin without compromising efficiency. Numerical experiments and case studies demonstrate the feasibility of LLM-Twin. To our knowledge, this is the first to propose an LLM-based semantic-level DTNs.

Abstract Background Human intervertebral disk degeneration (IVDD) is a sophisticated degenerative pathological process. A key cause of IVDD progression is nucleus pulposus cell (NPC) degeneration, which contributes to excessive endoplasmic reticulum stress in the intervertebral disk. However, the mechanisms underlying IVDD and NPC degeneration remain unclear. Methods We used interleukin (IL)-1β stimulation to establish an NPC-degenerated IVDD model and investigated whether human urine–derived stem cell (USC) exosomes could prevent IL-1β-induced NPC degeneration using western blotting, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry, and transcriptome sequencing techniques. Results We successfully extracted and identified USCs and exosomes from human urine. IL-1β substantially downregulated NPC viability and induced NPC degeneration while modulating the expression of SOX-9, collagen II, and aggrecan. Exosomes from USCs could rescue IL-1β-induced NPC degeneration and restore the expression levels of SOX-9, collagen II, and aggrecan. Conclusions USC-derived exosomes can prevent NPCs from degeneration following IL-1β stimulation. This finding can aid the development of a potential treatment strategy for IVDD.

Potentilla kleiniana belongs to the family Rosaceae, which distributes in Central Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. In China, this plant is mainly found in east, south and southwest provinces. P. kleiniana has been prescribed for the treatment of various diseases in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, such as cough, fever, tuberculosis, mastitis, rheumatoid arthritis. Our previous study found that P. kleiniana had a certain cytotoxicity on tumor cells. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the chemical constituents of P. kleiniana and their cytotoxicity on tumor cells. The 60% ethanol extract of P. kleiniana were isolated by D-101 macroporous adsorptive resins, silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, Toyopearl HW-40F, semi-preparative high performance liquid chromatography and other methods, and their chemical structures were elucidated on the basis of physicochemical properties, NMR and HR-ESI-MS analysis. Meanwhile, all these compounds were evaluated for cytotoxicity against human cervical cancer cell line Hela. The results were as follows: (1) Thirteen lignans were isolated and identified as (+)-pionresinol (1), (+)-8-hydroxypinoresinol (2), (+)-syringaresinol (3), (+)-medioresinol (4), (+)-pionresinol-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), (+)-8′-hydroxypinoresinol-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6), (+)-8′-hydroxypinoresinol-4′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (7), (+)-pinoresinol-8′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (8), schilignan F (9), (+)-pionresinol-4, 4′-O-bisglucopyranoside (10), (+)-lariciresinol-4′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (11), neoolivil-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (12), 3,3′-bis［3,4-dihydro-4-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2H-1-benzopyran］(13). Among them, compounds 1-4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13 were isolated from genus Potentilla for the first time, and compounds 5, 6, 9, 11 were isolated from P. kleiniana for the first time. (2) Cytotoxicity studies showed that compounds 1, 3 and 4 display certain inhibitory activities against Hela cells with IC50 values of (69.94 ± 1.89), (66.25 ± 2.11), (59.81 ± 1.73) μmol·L-1, respectively. Therefore, the study enriches the chemical constituents of P. kleiniana, and provides a material basis for the development of anti-cervical cancer drugs.

Vegetation serves as a crucial indicator of ecological environment and plays a vital role in preserving ecosystem stability. However, as urbanization escalates rapidly, natural vegetation landscapes are undergoing continuous transformation. Paradoxically, vegetation is pivotal in mitigating the ecological and environmental challenges posed by urban sprawl. The middle and lower Yangtze River Basin (MLYRB) in China, particularly its economically thriving lower reaches, has witnessed a surge in urbanization. Consequently, this study explored the spatiotemporal variations of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the MLYRB, with an emphasis on elucidating the impact of climate change and urbanization on vegetation dynamics. The results indicate that a significant increasing trend in NDVI across the MLYRB from 2000 to 2020, a pattern that is expected to persist. An improvement in vegetation was observed in 94.12% of the prefecture-level cities in the study area, predominantly in the western and southern regions. Temperature and wind speed stand out as dominant contributors to this improvement. Nevertheless, significant vegetation degradation was detected in some highly urbanized cities in the central and eastern parts of the study area, mainly attributed to the negative effects of escalating urbanization. Interestingly, a positive correlation between NDVI and the urbanization rate was observed, which may be largely related to proactive ecological preservation policies. Additionally, global climatic oscillations were identified as a key force driving periodic NDVI variations. These findings hold significant importance in promoting harmonious urbanization and ecological preservation, thereby providing invaluable insights for future urban ecological planning efforts.

BackgroundPrimary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an immune-mediated hematologic disorder characterized by a reduction in platelet count, increasing the risk of bleeding. Recent studies have indicated a close association between alterations in gut microbiota and the development of ITP. However, the mechanisms by which gut microbiota influence the occurrence and progression of ITP through plasma metabolites remain poorly understood. Evidence suggests extensive interactions between gut microbiota and plasma metabolites, implying a potential role for gut microbiota in influencing ITP through alterations in plasma metabolites, which requires further investigation.MethodsIn this study, summarized GWAS data (including 211 gut microbiota taxa, 1,400 plasma metabolites or ratios, and an ITP patient cohort) were retrieved from the MiBioGen and GWAS Catalog databases. Using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach, we screened gut microbiota and plasma metabolites potentially causally related to ITP. We further identified plasma metabolites serving as mediators through which gut microbiota affect ITP and calculated the strength of the mediation effect. To ensure result stability, we primarily used the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method as the main judgment index. We also utilized MR Egger and inverse variance weighted methods to detect heterogeneity in the results, and employed MR-Egger and MR-PRESSO methods to assess the presence of pleiotropy.ResultsThough two-sample MR analysis, 8 gut microbiota taxa were found to have causal relationships with ITP. After excluding six plasma metabolites with pleiotropy, 39 plasma metabolites were found to be causally related to ITP (P < 0.05). Eleven plasma metabolites were identified as having causal relationships between gut microbiota and plasma metabolites. Finally, using the delta method, it was calculated that Sphingomyelin levels (8.0%, 95%CI: 0.9% to 11.5%, P = 0.047) and Glucose-to-mannose ratio (6.5%, 95%CI: 0.7% to 9.5%, P = 0.039) are intermediates for Intestinimonas influencing ITP, while Bilirubin (Z,Z) to etiocholanolone glucuronide ratio (5.6%, 95%CI: 4.7% to 6.9%, P = 0.043) is an intermediate for Senegalimassilia influencing ITP.ConclusionGut microbiota can influence the development of ITP through changes in plasma metabolites. Sphingomyelin levels, Glucose-to-mannose ratio, and Bilirubin (Z,Z) to etiocholanolone glucuronide ratio are newly discovered intermediates through which gut microbiota influence ITP, providing potential indicators and targets for clinical diagnosis and treatment. This study highlights the intricate relationship between gut microbiota and plasma metabolites in the context of ITP, suggesting new avenues for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

ABSTRACT The foraging strategies of sympatric ungulates with similar ecological niches are important for understanding ecological niche differentiation, resource utilization, competition, and coexistence and for understanding the ecological impacts on plant communities in the ecosystem. The behavior of the wapiti (Cervus elaphus) and Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) foraging on Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) has affected its succession and renewal in the northeastern forests of China, which has become an urgent problem for the relevant departments. This study analyzed the foraging strategies of the wapiti and Siberian roe deer on Japanese yew from July 2021 to January 2024 using field investigations and infrared camera monitoring in the Muling National Nature Reserve, Heilongjiang Province, China. It was found that the wapiti and Siberian roe deer have different foraging strategies in terms of time, space, and behavior. Temporally, they both preferred to forage for the saplings of the Japanese yew during the winter season, the degree of overlap in foraging rhythms was medium (Dhat1 = 0.67), and the diurnal foraging activity index (DRAI) of the wapiti was larger than that of the Siberian roe deer. Spatially, the suitable foraging habitat of the Siberian roe deer was twice that of the wapiti, and their overlap was low in the location and direction of saplings and the distance of the seed tree. Behaviorally, the foraging intensity of the wapiti was high, and that of Siberian roe deer was low. Foraging reduced the average primary branch height, number of new branches, and length of lateral branches of saplings, and the influence of the wapiti was significantly greater than that of the Siberian roe deer. This study provides a scientific basis for solving the conservation and management problems of the deer animals foraging on Japanese yew and contributes to further understanding of the competition‐coexistence mechanism of sympatric species.

Polluted environments often contain large amounts of toxic metals, such as cadmium, which pose a major threat to ecosystems and public health. Contamination by cadmium and its compounds is often observed in areas surrounding zinc mining sites and electroplating factories, and the control of cadmium pollution is essential for environmental safety and health. In this study, a highly efficient and straightforward separation strategy for K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4 nanocomposites is successfully developed to capture the Cd ions in the water environment. Batch adsorption experiments revealed that K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4 exhibited a high cadmium removal rate (greater than 98 %) at a pH level of 6.0 and solid-liquid ratio of 1.0 g/L at room temperature (298 K). Kinetic analysis revealed that the adsorption process followed a pseudo-second-order model and cadmium was rapidly removed in the first 10 min, with chemisorption dominating the capture of Cd2+ by K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4. Adsorption isotherms revealed a heterogeneous adsorption behavior, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 40.78 mg/g. The intrinsic adsorption of Cd2+ by K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4 occurring primarily through electrostatic interaction and ion exchange. In addition, K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4 exhibited an excellent regeneration capacity. Therefore, integrating Fe3O4 into the metal cyanide not only provided the composite material with excellent chemical stability and selective adsorption sites for Cd2+, but also facilitated subsequent sorbent collection and recovery. Overall, this study presents a simple and feasible approach for integrating Fe3O4 into potassium ferrocyanide frameworks for efficient cadmium removal from contaminated water.

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology enables personalized customization of medical implants. However, the clinical titanium alloy is biologically inert and can't address bacterial infections. It has been proved that Copper (Cu) -bearing titanium alloys exhibit excellent antibacterial ability and potentials for clinical application. However, it still unclear that the effect of Cu content on the comprehensive properties of LPBF-produced titanium alloy which usually has high strength but poor ductility and corrosion resistance caused by its α′ martensite. This study systematically investigates the effects of Cu content (x = 2, 5, 8 wt%) on the microstructure, mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, antibacterial properties, and cytrocompatibility of the LPBF-produced Ti-xCu alloys. These results prove that the LPBF produced Ti–5Cu alloy possesses the optimal comprehensive performance and has promising clinical application prospects as implant materials.

Death among resuscitated patients is mainly caused by brain injury after cardiac arrest/cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CA/CPR). The angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)/angiotensin (Ang)-(1-7)/Mas receptor (MasR) axis has beneficial effects on brain injury. Therefore, we examined the roles of the ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/MasR axis in brain injury after CA/CPR.

In response to the development requirements of small-sized gaseous tritium light sources, a wet coating and sintering process for preparing micron-sized ZnS(Cu) phosphors coatings on the inner wall of a slender glass tube was independently developed. And a coating device with controllable pressure, flow and temperature was designed and established. The coating device was used to explore the preparation process of fluorescent coatings for slender glass tubes with a specification of φ1.1 mm×550 mm, and to carry out research on the influence of slurry formulations on the viscosity of mixed liquid formulations and coating thickness. By optimizing the drying parameters, the coating was finally obtained in the slender glass tube. The cross-sectional SEM analysis shows that the coating has good compactness, and its thickness is (16.9±0.6) μm(n=32). The coating has good uniformity in thickness and is stable and does not fall off after being placed for a long time. The luminescence brightness of the tritium light tube sample obtained by this process is 0.642 cd/m2, with excellent uniformity. This provides a basis for device conditions and process optimization for the development of subsequent tritium light source products.

Salt caverns are recognized as an excellent medium for energy storage. However, due to the unique characteristics of China’s bedded salt formations, which contain numerous salt layers and a high concentration of insoluble impurities, significant accumulation at the bottom of salt caverns occurs, leading to the formation of extensive sediment voids. These sediment voids offer a potential space for underground oil storage, referred to as sediment void oil storage (SVOS). Oil recovery process from these sediment voids is a critical process. This paper summarizes the oil recovery technologies for SVOS and identifies four key factors—geological evaluation, stability evaluation, tightness evaluation, and oil storage capacity—all of which influence enhance oil recovery from sediment voids. This paper also outlines the overall oil recovery process, presents oil recovery experiments, and discusses oil recovery methods for enhancing oil recovery from sediment void. Additionally, it addresses the challenges of oil recovery in SVOS and explores its potential advantages and applications. The findings suggest that salt cavern sediment voids, as a promising storage space, provide a new approach to realize oil recovery and can overcome the limitations associated with cavern construction in high-impurity salt mines. The oil recovery from the sediment void is feasible, and China has rich rock salt and other convenient conditions to develop SVOS technology.

Schistosomiasis, caused by Schistosoma japonicum, continues to pose a major public health threat in East Asia, with an estimated 71 million people at risk of infection. Domestic animals, especially buffaloes and goats, serve as important reservoir hosts, facilitating the transmission of the parasite to humans. While praziquantel (PZQ) is the first-line treatment for schistosomiasis due to its broad-spectrum efficacy against adult schistosomes, its prophylactic potential is less explored. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of PZQ in preventing S. japonicum infection in buffaloes and goats via assessing worm burden, worm size, hematological changes, and immune modulation. In the present study, buffaloes and goats were pretreated with PZQ at various doses (7–25 mg/kg body weight), followed by infection with S. japonicum cercariae. The results showed significant reductions in total worm burden and female worm burden, with one oral administration at 13 mg/kg for buffaloes and one injection at 25 mg/kg for goats offering the most robust protection. Worm length was also significantly reduced in both buffaloes and goats, indicating that PZQ not only prevented infection in this study but also inhibited worm growth. Furthermore, PZQ pretreatment modulated immune responses, as evidenced by increased levels of nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) in buffaloes and Lym% in goats. These findings suggest that PZQ has significant prophylactic potential in livestock, offering a practical solution for reducing schistosome transmission from animals to humans in endemic regions. Additionally, this study indicates that PZQ pretreatment does not contribute to resistance development, as newly established infections are effectively cleared during the initial treatment window.

Magnetic separation has been proposed to greenly separate chalcopyrite and talc several decades ago, due to their extremely similar floatability of minerals. However, this approach was not achieved initially due to the inadequately magnetic induction of traditional magnetic separation, and fine particle size of chalcopyrite. Currently, the development of highly magnetic induction technology provides strong feasibility for this separation. In this work, we employed pulsating high-gradient magnetic separation (PHGMS) with highly magnetic induction (1.8T) to separate chalcopyrite and talc, and found that the PHGMS achieves a good separation of chalcopyrite from talc. But the chalcopyrite recovery decreased with the decrease of its particle size, and thus surface oxidation treatment was attempted to increase the magnetism and magnetic capture of ultrafine chalcopyrite. As a result, an increment of approximately 10 % was observed in the recovery of ultrafine chalcopyrite post-oxidation. As verified by the superconducting quantum interference device measurements, the oxidized ultrafine chalcopyrite exhibited a significant increase in the saturation magnetisation intensity, remanent magnetisation and coercivity values. Such magnetism enhancement is a result of the formation of paramagnetic Fe(III)–O–OH structures on the oxidized chalcopyrite surface, in terms of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Mössbauer spectroscopy investigations. Furthermore, the density functional theory revealed that the formation of Fe(III)–O–OH structures caused a substantial increase in the magnetic moments of iron ions in antiferromagnetic chalcopyrite. These findings may extend the application of magnetic separation, and facilitate the flotation of ultrafine chalcopyrite from other minerals, at significantly reduced reagents use, and productive and environmental costs.

An infrared camera is affected by the photon effect, temperature changes, time drift, and other factors when operating in orbit, which makes the ground nonuniformity correction coefficient invalid, resulting in nonuniformity stripes in the infrared images and restricting their practicality in further analysis and applications. The existing destriping methods often suffer from the loss of image details and artifact generation. To solve this problem, we proposed a weighted guided filtering-based multidomain fusion destriping approach that leverages the structural, directional, and spectral characteristics of stripe noise. First, we addressed the issue of artifacts caused by Fourier-domain filtering through an adaptive filtering approach that employs a variable threshold to minimize filtering-induced artifacts and obtain clearer guided images. Furthermore, capitalizing on the directional properties of wavelet decomposition effectively separates image information from stripe information. To integrate the advantages of both approaches, we employed a weighted guided filter to seamlessly fuse the guided image with the wavelet decomposition image. In terms of quantitative metrics, the proposed method generally beats the other five comparative methods, with significant improvements in image PSNR, SSIM, NIQE, and mean relative deviation (MRD), particularly for complex images where the enhancements were more pronounced. These experimental results collectively demonstrate the significant progress achieved by the proposed method in effectively reducing stripe noise, better preserving the original structural details of the image, and suppressing the occurrence of artifacts.

Objective： This study aimed to investigate the active ingredients, and their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, as well as the correlation between each other of different food water extracts. Methods： Black rice, black soybean, black sesame, Auricularia auricula, diospyros lotus, black corn, oat and millet were selected for the comparison study of the content of total flavonoids and polyphenols in the aqueous extract, and then the 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging ability and iron ion reduction capacity were determined to evaluate their antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the NO and IL-6 inhibitory activities on Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) induced RAW264.7 cells were tested to investigate the anti-inflammatory activities. Results： The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were positively correlated with the contents of total flavonoids and polyphenols, and the two activities were also positively correlated. Among them, diospyros lotus showed the highest content of total flavonoids and polyphenols with 1.716 mg/g and 3.043 mg/g respectively, and the radical clearance capacity of DPPH was 89.48% at 1 mg/mL which was significantly higher than the others. It also showed anti-inflammatory activity with 65.92% and 78.62% inhibitory rates against NO and IL-6 at 5 mg/mL on LPS induced RAW264.7 cells. Meanwhile, black rice had a strong DPPH scavenging ability and iron ion reducing ability, and it also showed strong inhibitory activities against NO and IL-6. Millet, a non-black food, showed obvious advantages in hydroxyl free radical scavenging activity and anti-inflammatory effect compared with black corn and A. auricula. Conclusion： Water extracts from eight kinds of food had varying degrees of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities which were positively correlated with the contents of total flavonoids and polyphenols. Among them, diospyros lotus had the highest content of total flavonoids and polyphenols with the strongest antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out more in-depth application research on diospyros lotus.

To address the inherent intermittency and instability of renewable energy, the construction of large-scale energy storage facilities is imperative. Salt caverns are internationally recognized as excellent sites for large-scale energy storage. They have been widely used to store substances such as natural gas, oil, air, and hydrogen. With the global transition in energy structures and the increasing demand for renewable energy load balancing, there is broad market potential for the development of salt cavern energy storage technologies. There are three types of energy storage in salt caverns that can be coupled with renewable energy sources, namely, salt cavern compressed air energy storage (SCCAES), salt cavern hydrogen storage (SCHS), and salt cavern flow battery (SCFB). The innovation of this paper is to comprehensively review the current status and future development trends of these three energy storage methods. Firstly, the development status of these three energy storage methods, both domestically and internationally, is reviewed. Secondly, according to the characteristics of these three types of energy storage methods, some key technical challenges are proposed to be focused on. The key technical challenge for SCCAES is the need to further reduce the cost of the ground equipment; the key technical challenge for SCHS is to prevent the risk of hydrogen leakage; and the key technical challenge for SCFB is the need to further increase the concentration of the active substance in the huge salt cavern. Finally, some potential solutions are proposed based on these key technical challenges. This work is of great significance in accelerating the development of salt cavern energy storage technologies in coupled renewable energy.

Blastocystis spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi are common intestinal pathogens capable of infecting both humans and animals, which lead to severe diarrhea and other intestinal diseases, posing a threat to public health. The Bamaxiang pig, a specialty of Bama Yao Autonomous County in Guangxi Province, China, is an important local breed in the regional pork market and an excellent model animal for biomedical research. Currently, no data is available on the prevalence or genotype distribution of these pathogens in Bamaxiang pigs. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and genetic characteristics of Blastocystis spp. and E. bieneusi in three Bamaxiang pig farms located in Bama Yao Autonomous County, using molecular techniques based on the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene fragment of Blastocystis spp. and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of E. bieneusi. All positive PCR products from the 311 fecal samples were sequenced to identify the species and genotypes of these organisms. The overall infection rates of Blastocystis spp. and E. bieneusi were 34.08% (106/311) and 18.32% (57/311), respectively. Three subtypes of Blastocystis spp. were detected: ST1 (n = 8), ST3 (n = 3), and ST5 (n = 95). Among them, zoonotic ST5 was the dominant genotype, accounting for 89.62% (95/106) of strains, followed by the genotypes ST1 (7.54%, 8/106) and ST3 (2.83%, 3/106). Two genotypes of E. bieneusi were detected: EbpC (n = 52) and CHG23 (n = 5), with EbpC being the dominant genotype. The human-pathogenic subtypes (ST1, ST3, and ST5) and genotypes (EbpC, CHG23) that were observed in this study indicate a potential threat to public health. Our findings offer basic information for preventing and controlling these zoonotic pathogens in the study area. Additional investigations are necessary to better understand their genetic characteristics and zoonotic potential within Guangxi Province.

This study focuses on the Siberian roe deer population in the Greater Khingan Mountains, Northeast China. The cold temperate forest ecosystem in this area is distinctive. The Siberian roe deer is a crucial ecological indicator species, and its living conditions hold significant importance for ecological balance. From the winter of 2019 to 2022, 269 fecal samples of Siberian roe deer were collected from four protected areas in the northern part of the Greater Khingan Mountains, Heilongjiang Province. These samples were comprehensively analyzed using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite markers, combined with conservation genetics evaluation methods. The results revealed that 244 individuals were identified in the fecal samples. The results of a Cyt b genetic analysis of the samples indicated that the haplotype and nucleotide diversity were 88.1% and 20.3%, respectively. The evaluation of 14 pairs of microsatellite loci showed that the average number of alleles was 11.2, and the average expected and observed heterozygosity were 0.672 and 0.506, respectively. Therefore, the overall genetic diversity level is high, but some populations of Siberian roe deer are at risk. AMOVA analysis and STRUCTURE Bayesian clustering confirmed the existence of obvious genetic differentiation among the populations. Historical studies have shown that the HZ and SH populations underwent the earliest diffusion events, and the BJC and SL populations also exhibited related signs (HZ: Huzhong Nature Reserve in the Greater Khingan Mountains; SH: Shuanghe National Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province; BJC: Heilongjiang Beijicun National Nature Reserve; SL: Songling District in Heilongjiang Province). Mismatch distribution and neutral tests indicated no expansion events or bottleneck effects in the population, and the inbreeding coefficient was positive, suggesting the possibility of inbreeding. The development potential of the population in the future varies among the various local populations. This study supports the biodiversity of Siberian roe deer at the genetic level to save the population and provides important scientific basis and reference for the protection and management of Siberian roe deer.

To address the challenges of labor-intensive and costly manual oyster spat insertion in longline-suspended farming, an automated oyster spat insertion device was designed based on negative pressure suction and bundling fixation technologies. Using this device as the experimental platform, a three-factor, three-level Box–Behnken experiment was conducted, with fixation mechanism inclination, negative pressure suction cup span, and horizontal distance between turnover and fixation mechanisms as the experimental factors. The performance of the device was evaluated using the effective fixation rate and damage rate as the experimental indicators. The quadratic polynomial regression models were established to assess the impact of these factors on operational performance, while the response surface method was employed to analyze the interaction effects between factors. Parameter optimization and experimental validation were also performed. The results indicate that the factors affecting the effective fixation rate, in order of significance, are as follows: fixation mechanism inclination, horizontal distance between turnover and fixation mechanisms, and negative pressure suction cup span. For the damage rate, the order of significance is as follows: fixation mechanism inclination > negative pressure suction cup span < horizontal distance between turnover and fixation mechanisms. The optimization results show that when the fixation mechanism inclination is set at 43°, the negative pressure suction cup span at 27 mm, and the horizontal distance between turnover and fixation mechanisms at 179 mm, the effective fixation rate reaches 92.08%, and the damage rate is 4.71%. The relative errors between the measured and model-predicted values are less than 5%, indicating that the regression models are reliable. This research provides valuable insights for advancing the mechanization of the oyster farming industry and replacing manual labor with mechanized equipment.

During the milling process of aramid honeycomb, residual stresses arise, which will affect the surface quality of the honeycomb. Studies have shown that reasonable processing techniques can reduce residual stresses, indicating a close relationship between residual processing stresses and the processing parameters, such as technique. By investigating the changes in residual stresses after the processing of aramid honeycomb materials, the influence of processing techniques on these changes is analyzed. Leveraging the correlation between residual stresses and surface quality, this study proposes the use of residual stress as an indicator for evaluating processing techniques. The longitudinal–torsional ultrasonic vibration milling method is applied to the processing of aramid honeycombs. A single-factor experimental approach is adopted, utilizing ABAQUS 2020 software to mimic the longitudinal–torsional ultrasonic milling process. This study explores the influence patterns of various process parameters on the residual stresses generated during the milling of honeycombs. The simulation results indicate that within the selected range, the residual stress decreases as the tool rotation speed increases, while it increases with the increase in feed rate. The influence of milling depth on residual stress can be negligible. Furthermore, experiments were conducted based on the proposed correlation between residual stress and surface quality. The experimental results show good agreement with the simulation results, indicating that under reasonable process parameters, the residual stress values decrease, thereby improving the milling surface quality of aramid honeycomb materials. Therefore, measuring residual stress can serve as an effective method for evaluating the processing technique.

Although wild boar invasion is a common human–wildlife conflict worldwide, it is difficult to solve. Understanding the characteristics of wild boar invasion into farmland, accurately predicting the areas where wild boar invasions will occur, and implementing effective prevention and control measures are key to effectively alleviating conflicts between humans and wild boars. From 2021 to 2023, we conducted field surveys and experimentally determined the effectiveness of prevention and control measures in the Huanan and Tonghe Counties in order to explore the landscape and farmland factors affecting wild boar invasion, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of different combinations of prevention and control measures. The results indicate that the mean patch area, patch area coefficient of variation, and forest type edge density show positive linear correlations with the invaded area, which is positively associated with the presence of ditches and negatively correlated with the existence of electronic fences. Meanwhile, there are non-linear relationships between invasion and the edge density of farmland type, the proportion of forests, the Shannon uniformity index, the proportion of residential areas, the distance from the village, the distance from the forest, and the population density. In particular, the risk of wild boar invasion is higher in the border area between forest and farmland. The loss rate of farmland under the different control measures (compound) was significantly lower than that in the electronic fence group (single) (p < 0.05). Based on these findings, we put forward the following suggestions for the prevention and control of wild boar: (1) widen and deepen the narrow landscape elements around farmland; (2) focus on the border area between forest and farmland; and (3) use compound prevention and control measures. This study provides a comprehensive foundation for future wild boar prevention and control research, and it contributes to the formulation of effective wild boar prevention and control policies worldwide.

Object segmentation, a key type of image segmentation, focuses on detecting and delineating individual objects within an image, essential for applications like robotic vision and augmented reality. Despite advancements in deep learning improving object segmentation, underwater object segmentation remains challenging due to unique underwater complexities such as turbulence diffusion, light absorption, noise, low contrast, uneven illumination, and intricate backgrounds. The scarcity of underwater datasets further complicates these challenges. The Segment Anything Model (SAM) has shown potential in addressing these issues, but its adaptation for underwater environments, AquaSAM, requires fine-tuning all parameters, demanding more labeled data and high computational costs. In this paper, we propose WaterSAM, an adapted model for underwater object segmentation. Inspired by Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA), WaterSAM incorporates trainable rank decomposition matrices into the Transformer’s layers, specifically enhancing the image encoder. This approach significantly reduces the number of trainable parameters to 6.7% of SAM’s parameters, lowering computational costs. We validated WaterSAM on three underwater image datasets: COD10K, SUIM, and UIIS. Results demonstrate that WaterSAM significantly outperforms pre-trained SAM in underwater segmentation tasks, contributing to advancements in marine biology, underwater archaeology, and environmental monitoring.

Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium parvum, Blastocystis spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi are four common zoonotic parasites associated with severe diarrhea and enteric diseases. In this study, we developed a multiplex PCR assay for the simultaneous detection of these four zoonotic protozoans in goat stool samples and assessed its detection efficiency. Specific primers were designed from conserved gene sequences retrieved from GenBank, and the PCR conditions were optimized. Genomic DNA from 130 samples was subjected to both single-target PCR and multiplex PCR. The multiplex PCR assay successfully amplified specific gene fragments (G. duodenalis, 1400 bp; C. parvum, 755 bp; Blastocystis spp., 573 bp; E. bieneusi, 314 bp). The assay sensitivity was ≥102 copies of pathogenic DNA clones with high specificity confirmed by negative results for other intestinal parasites. The detection rates were 23.08% (30/130) for G. duodenalis, 24.62% (32/130) for C. parvum, 41.54% (54/130) for Blastocystis spp., and 12.31% (16/130) for E. bieneusi, matching the single-target PCR results. The sensitivity and predictive values were 100.00%. This multiplex PCR provided a rapid, sensitive, specific, and cost-effective approach for detecting these four parasites. It also provided essential technical support for the rapid detection and epidemiological investigation of G. duodenalis, C. parvum, Blastocystis spp., and E. bieneusi infections in goat fecal samples.

It is of utmost importance to understand the characteristics and regulatory mechanisms of soil in order to optimize soil management and enhance crop yield. Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA), a stress-resistant amino acid polymer, plays a crucial role in plant drought stress resistance. However, little is known about the effects of γ-PGA on soil characteristics during drought treatments. In this study, the effects of different forms of γ-PGA on soil texture and basic physical and chemical properties under short-term drought conditions were investigated. Furthermore, the impact of γ-PGA on the microbial community and metabolic function of maize was analyzed. Under drought conditions, the introduction of γ-PGA into the soil resulted in notable improvements in the mechanical composition ratio and infiltration capacity of the soil. Concurrently, this led to a reduction in soil bulk density and improved soil organic matter content and fertility. Additionally, metagenomic analysis revealed that under drought conditions, the incorporation of γ-PGA into the soil enhanced the soil microbiota structure. This shift led to the predominance of bacteria that are crucial for carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles in the soil. Metabolomics analysis revealed that under drought treatment, γ-PGA affected soil metabolic patterns, with a particular focus on alterations in amino acid and vitamin metabolism pathways. Correlation analysis between the soil metagenome and metabolites showed that microorganisms played a significant role in metabolite accumulation. These results demonstrated that γ-PGA could improve soil characteristics under drought conditions and play an important role in soil microorganisms and microbial metabolism, providing further insights into the changes in soil characteristics under drought conditions.

Uterine rupture is a rupture of the body or lower part of the uterus during pregnancy or delivery. Total of 98 cases with incomplete uterine rupture were classified as the incomplete uterine rupture group, 100 cases with a history of cesarean delivery without uterine rupture were classified as the non-ruptured uterus group, and controls were selected using a systematic sampling method. The maternal age ≥35 years were associated with 2.18 times higher odds of having an incomplete uterine rupture. The odd of having an incomplete uterine rupture was 3.744 times higher for a woman with delivery interval ≤36 months. Having pregnancy complication was associated with 3.961 times higher odds of having an incomplete uterine rupture. The neonatal weight was lighter in the incomplete uterine rupture group (P = 0.007). The number of preterm birth and transfer to the NICU were higher in the incomplete uterine rupture group (P ＜ 0.01). The operation time and the length of time in hospital were longer in the group with incomplete uterine rupture (P ＜ 0.01). Age ≥35 years, delivery interval ≤36 month, and pregnancy with complication were independent risk factors of incomplete rupture of the uterus secondary to previous cesarean section.

ObjectiveThe choice of neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is controversial. This study aims to provide a basis for clinical treatment selection by establishing a predictive model for the efficacy of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy (NICT).MethodsA retrospective analysis of 30 patients was conducted, divided into Response and Non-response groups based on whether they achieved major pathological remission (MPR). Differences in genes and immune microenvironment between the two groups were analyzed through next-generation sequencing (NGS) and multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF). Variables most closely related to therapeutic efficacy were selected through LASSO regression and ROC curves to establish a predictive model. An additional 48 patients were prospectively collected as a validation set to verify the model’s effectiveness.ResultsNGS suggested seven differential genes (ATM, ATR, BIVM-ERCC5, MAP3K1, PRG, RBM10, and TSHR) between the two groups (P < 0.05). mIF indicated significant differences in the quantity and location of CD3+, PD-L1+, CD3+PD-L1+, CD4+PD-1+, CD4+LAG-3+, CD8+LAG-3+, LAG-3+ between the two groups before treatment (P < 0.05). Dynamic mIF analysis also indicated that CD3+, CD8+, and CD20+ all increased after treatment in both groups, with a more significant increase in CD8+ and CD20+ in the Response group (P < 0.05), and a more significant decrease in PD-L1+ (P < 0.05). The three variables most closely related to therapeutic efficacy were selected through LASSO regression and ROC curves: Tumor area PD-L1+ (AUC= 0.881), CD3+PD-L1+ (AUC= 0.833), and CD3+ (AUC= 0.826), and a predictive model was established. The model showed high performance in both the training set (AUC= 0.938) and the validation set (AUC= 0.832). Compared to the traditional CPS scoring criteria, the model showed significant improvements in accuracy (83.3% vs 70.8%), sensitivity (0.625 vs 0.312), and specificity (0.937 vs 0.906).ConclusionNICT treatment may exert anti-tumor effects by enriching immune cells and activating exhausted T cells. Tumor area CD3+, PD-L1+, and CD3+PD-L1+ are closely related to therapeutic efficacy. The model containing these three variables can accurately predict treatment outcomes, providing a reliable basis for the selection of neoadjuvant treatment plans.

Abstract It has been reported that cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become one of the major threats to global public health and is associated with climate change. Several previous studies have shown the influence of ambient temperature on CVD, but lack some evidence for the short-term effect of diurnal temperature range (DTR) on CVD mortality in northeast China. This is the first study to assess the correlation between DTR and CVD mortality in Hulunbuir located in northeast China. Daily CVD mortality data and meteorological data were collected from 2014 to 2020. A quasi-Poisson generalized linear regression with a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was applied to exploring the short-term impact of DTR on CVD mortality. Stratified analyses by gender, age, and season were conducted and the short-term impacts of extremely high DTR on CVD mortality were investigated. In this study, a total of 21,067 CVD mortality cases were recorded in Hulunbuir, China from 2014 to 2020. Compared to the reference value (11.20 $$^{\circ }$$ ∘ C, 50 $${\text{ th }}$$ th percentile), a “U-shaped” non-linear relationship between DTR and CVD mortality was observed, and extremely high DTR increased the risk of CVD mortality. The short-term effect of extremely high DTR occurred immediately and lasted up to 6 days. In addition, the male and the age $$\ge$$ ≥ 65 groups were more likely to be affected by extremely high DTR compared with the female and the age < 65 groups, respectively. The results also showed that extremely high DTR in cold season had a more adverse effect on CVD mortality than warm season. This study suggests that extremely high DTR for cold season should be paid enough attention to for residents in northeast China. The male and the age $$\ge$$ ≥ 65 groups were more vulnerable to the impacts of DTR. The study results may provide some suggestions for decision-making by local public health authorities to avoid the adverse impacts of high DTR, and improve the health of residents, especially vulnerable groups in cold season.

The corrosion problems of essential service water system in nuclear power plant directly affect the system integrity and availability, thus threatening the safety operation power of plant. In order to control and avoid corrosion problems, in this paper, two aspects of the failure cases about internal anti-corrosive layer and the stainless steel material were summarized and analyzed. Results showed that the main reasons for the failure of the anti-corrosive layer were unreasonable construction and installation, natural aging. The main reasons for the failure of stainless steel structural components were improper material selection, structural design, and material processing technology. In response to the above failure issues, it was proposed to carry out work from two aspects: on-site construction quality control and post maintenance management to control the failure of anti-corrosive layer. Through material selection and replacement, structural improvement, and material inspection, corrosion defects of stainless steel components could be treated and prevented, which could provide reference for the corrosion management of essential service water systems in domestic nuclear power plants.

The global focus on fostering harmonious interactions and promoting rational coexistence among wildlife species to uphold or reinstate biodiversity remains a prominent area of interest. We conducted a study on the sable and yellow-throated marten in Taipinggou National Nature Reserve, Heilongjiang, China, using the line transect method and infrared camera traps from 2022 to 2023. We then analyzed the overlap of their suitable habitats and niches with the aim of gaining insight into the interspecific competition between these two species. We found that the suitable habitat areas for the sable and yellow-throated marten were 55.20 km2 and 23.28 km2, accounting for 24.86% and 10.48% of the total area of this study, respectively. The overlap between the suitable habitats for the sable and yellow-throated marten was 15.73 km2, accounting for 28.5% and 67.6% of their suitable habitat, supporting our Hypothesis 1. The first principal component (Dim1) of the niche explained 35.4% of the overall variability, which is mainly related to the environmental variables “Distance from Settlements” and “Distance from Roads”. Overall, 25.5% of the total variability was explained by the second principal component (Dim2), associated with “Slope” and “Distance from Coniferous and Broadleaved Mixed Forest”. The niches occupied by the sable and yellow-throated marten were both off-center of the environmental background space, with the niches of the sable being larger than those of the yellow-throated marten. Schoener’s D index was 0.56, indicating a high degree of niche overlap between the sable and yellow-throated marten, supporting our Hypothesis 2. Our study is helpful in terms of formulating conservation and management policies for the sable and yellow-throated marten.

BackgroundRapid and accurate measurements of radionuclide activities in the field play an important role in radiological medical diagnosis.PurposeThis study aims to develop a capacitance-integrated activity meter.MethodsA circuit structure of the capacitive-integral type was adopted to design a low-noise preamplifier circuit. The designed structure was matched with high-precision signal acquisition and processing circuit to successfully develop a weak current measurement circuit, achieving weak current measurements ranging from 20 fA to 10 μA. The Geant4 simulation software was employed to simulate the ionization chamber used in the current design to obtain correction factors for different nuclides. Finally, three different radiation sources were used for performance testing of this self-developed radioactivity meter, and compared with a commercial RM-905A radioactivity meter.ResultsThe test results show that the repeatability of the proposed radioactivity meter is consistent with the performance of the commercial RM-905A radioactivity meter, with a background lower than 0.065 MBq, a repeatability of 0.84% at most, and an instability of 1.94%.ConclusionsThe capacitive integral radioactivity meter developed in this study can be used as an alternative instrument for commercial radioactive activity meter RM-905A.

As on-orbit space cameras evolve toward larger apertures, wider fields of view, and deeper cryogenic environments, achieving absolute radiometric calibration using an all-optical path blackbody reference source in orbit becomes increasingly challenging. Consequently, stars have emerged as a novel in-orbit standard source. However, due to differences in camera bands, directly obtaining the stellar radiance flux corresponding to specific camera bands is not feasible. In order to address this challenge, we propose a method for estimating radiance flux based on the MSX star catalog, which integrates a dual-band thermometry method with an improved grey wolf optimization (I-GWO) algorithm. In an experiment, we analyzed 351 stars with temperatures ranging from 4000 to 7000 K. The results indicate that our method achieved a temperature estimation accuracy of less than 10% for 83.5% of the stars, with an average estimation error of 5.82%. Compared with previous methods based on star catalogs, our approach significantly enhanced the estimation accuracy by 75.4%, improved algorithm stability by 91.3%, and reduced the computation time to only 3% of that required by other methods. Moreover, the on-orbit star calibration error using our stellar radiance flux estimation method remained within 5%. This study effectively leveraged the extensive data available in star catalogs, providing substantial support for the development of an infrared star calibration network, which holds significant value for the in-orbit calibration of large-aperture cameras. Future research will explore the potential applicability of this method across different spectral bands.

To promote the innovative reform of physical education teaching, this paper adopts the multivariate statistical analysis method to construct a set of multivariate evaluation system. A comprehensive assessment and classification of teaching quality was realized through principal component analysis, flower-pollinated cluster analysis and robust factor analysis model. The teaching quality assessment system of the physical education option course designed in this study includes four primary indicators and 13 secondary indicators. The results showed significant differences in teaching quality among teachers, and the three retained principal factors could reflect 78.15241% of the student performance information, which provided a vital quality control reference for physical education teaching.

How to better coordinate construction development and regional landscape ecology in the process of urbanization is a realistic problem to be solved. This paper firstly constructs a multimodal language landscape ecological analysis and prediction model based on the patch-corridor-substrate theory for the urban geographical characteristics of Nanchang city and analyzes the urban dynamic data and landscape element change transfer by Markov transfer matrix combined with the entropy weight method to realize the analytical functions of land use change, landscape ecological pattern, spatial measurements, and landscape ecological health risk evaluation. It has been found that the landscape ecological condition of Nanchang City has generally deteriorated from 2005 to 2023, and the average value of the landscape ecological index has decreased. With the improvement of ecological environment laws and regulations, the city will develop in a more scientific, orderly, and sustainable direction, the degree of damage to the landscape will gradually decrease, and the landscape patches become more regular. The degree of forest land separation decreased from 1.932 to 1.228. The area of unutilized land continued to decrease, the degree of disturbance increased to 0.994, and the degree of loss increased to 0.342. The area of the lower ecological risk zone continued to decrease to 1,364.96km2. The proportion of the medium ecological risk zone decreased from 33.42% to 5.26%, and the area decreased by 1,996.77km2. The area of the high ecological risk and high ecological risk zones decreased by 400.72% respectively. Higher ecological risk and high ecological risk areas were reduced by 400.72km² and 31.91km², respectively, according to which this paper puts forward three landscape ecological optimization strategies, such as constructing an ecological network system, strengthening monitoring and early warning, and rationally planning land space. This paper is of great significance in carrying out a regional landscape ecological evaluation, regulating the spatial pattern of Nanchang, optimizing the use of regional land resources, and guaranteeing the sustainable development of the region.

Abstract Flash flooding is a damaging weather event, yet it remains challenging to quantify its severity. We propose a development—the Flashiness‐Intensity‐Duration‐Frequency (F‐IDF) curve—to quantify flash flood intensity based on the frequency and duration of the event. As a proof‐of‐concept, we mapped Contiguous US (CONUS)‐wide F‐IDF values at 3,722 stream gage locations and explored their relations with basin attributes. It is found that (a) The return periods of flash flood events are highly associated with the return peroids of rainfall events; (b) Climatological precipitation amounts exhibit the most positive correlation with flashiness while a basin's drainage area is the most negatively correlated; (c) Correlation of flashiness with basin attributes decreases with increasing F‐IDF return periods and shorter event durations. Both aspects are attributable to the rainfall signal overwhelming the underlying basin attributes as the intensities become more extreme. This new metric has implications for hydrology and emergency responders.

Abstract Background Atherosclerosis is driven by synergistic interactions between pathological biomechanical and lipid metabolic factors. Long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) have been implicated in atherogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential mechanism of lncRNA AI662270 on macrophage cholesterol transport in atherosclerosis. Methods Apolipoprotein E deficiency (ApoE −/−) mice were fed a high fat diet for 16 weeks to construct atherosclerotic model, and the mice were injected with recombinant lentivirus carrying AI662270 gene to overexpress AI662270. Macrophages were cleared by liposomal clondronate in vivo. Fundamental experiments and functional assays, hematoxylin and eosin staining, oil red O staining and others, were performed to evaluate the function of AI662270 on atherogenesis. Peritoneal macrophages were treated with oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) to simulate in vitro model. Mechanism assays, RNA-interacting protein immunoprecipitation, RNA–protein pulldown and others, were performed to study the regulatory mechanism of AI662270 in macrophages. Results The novel AI662270 was mainly enriched in macrophages, but not in endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts of mouse atherosclerotic lesions and was upregulated by ox-LDL. Overexpression of AI662270 resulted in lipid accumulation, larger atherosclerotic plaques and cardiac dysfunction in vivo. After macrophages were removed, the pro-atherogenic effect of AI662270 disappeared. Downregulation of AI662270 in macrophages protected against foam cell formation by potentiating cholesterol efflux and reducing intracellular total cholesterol. The opposite effect was observed in macrophage-specific AI662270-overexpressed cells in vitro. AI662270 bound to adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette transporter A1 (Abca1) responsible for regulating cholesterol efflux in macrophages. Forced expression of AI662270 in macrophages decreased Abca1 expression. The reverse occurred when expression of AI662270 was repressed. Conclusion These findings reveal an essential role for AI662270 in atherosclerosis progression by regulating cholesterol efflux from macrophages.

Abstract Background Few models exist to predict mortality in cancer patients receiving immunotherapy. Our aim was to build a machine learning‐based risk stratification model for predicting mortality in atezolizumab‐treated cancer patients. Methods Data from 2538 patients in eight atezolizumab‐treated cancer clinical trials across three cancer types (non‐small‐cell lung cancer, bladder transitional cell carcinoma, and renal cell carcinoma) were included. The whole cohort was randomly split into development and validation cohorts in a 7:3 ratio. Machine‐learning algorithms (extreme gradient boosting, random forest, logistic regression with lasso regularization, support vector machine, and K‐nearest neighbor) were applied to develop prediction models. Model performance was mainly assessed by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value, calibration plot, and decision curve analysis. The probability of death risk was then stratified. Results One thousand and three hundred and seventy‐nine (54.33%) patients died. The random forest (RF) model was overall the best in terms of predictive performance, with the AUC of 0.844 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.826–0.862) in the development cohort and 0.786 (95% CI: 0.754–0.818) in the validation cohort for predicting mortality. Twelve baseline variables contributing to mortality prediction in the RF model were C‐reactive protein, PD‐L1 level, cancer type, prior liver metastasis, derived neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, hemoglobin, white blood cell count, number of metastatic sites, pulse rate, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status. A total of 1782 (70.2%) patients were separated into the high‐risk and 756 (29.8%) low‐risk groups. Patients in the high‐risk group were significantly more likely to die, experience disease progression, discontinue study, and discontinue treatment than patients in the low‐risk group (all p values 0.05). Conclusion RF model has good performance in mortality prediction and risk stratification for cancer patients receiving atezolizumab monotherapy.