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Abstract While functional MRI (fMRI) studies have mainly focused on gray matter, recent studies have consistently found that blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signals can be reliably detected in white matter, and functional connectivity (FC) has been organized into distributed networks in white matter. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether this white matter FC reflects underlying electrophysiological synchronization. To address this question, we employ intracranial stereotactic-electroencephalography (SEEG) and resting-state fMRI data from a group of 16 patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. We find that BOLD FC is correlated with SEEG FC in white matter, and this result is consistent across a wide range of frequency bands for each participant. By including diffusion spectrum imaging data, we also find that white matter FC from both SEEG and fMRI are correlated with white matter structural connectivity, suggesting that anatomical fiber tracts underlie the functional synchronization in white matter. These results provide evidence for the electrophysiological and structural basis of white matter BOLD FC, which could be a potential biomarker for psychiatric and neurological disorders.

It has been revealed that intersubject variability (ISV) in intrinsic functional connectivity (FC) is associated with a wide variety of cognitive and behavioral performances. However, the underlying organizational principle of ISV in FC and its related gene transcriptional profiles remain unclear. Using resting-state fMRI data from the Human Connectome Project (299 adult participants) and microarray gene expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas, we conducted a transcription-neuroimaging association study to investigate the spatial configurations of ISV in intrinsic FC and their associations with spatial gene transcriptional profiles. We found that the multimodal association cortices showed the greatest ISV in FC, while the unimodal cortices and subcortical areas showed the least ISV. Importantly, partial least squares regression analysis revealed that the transcriptional profiles of genes associated with human accelerated regions (HARs) could explain 31.29% of the variation in the spatial distribution of ISV in FC. The top-related genes in the transcriptional profiles were enriched for the development of the central nervous system, neurogenesis and the cellular components of synapse. Moreover, we observed that the effect of gene expression profile on the heterogeneous distribution of ISV in FC was significantly mediated by the cerebral blood flow configuration. These findings highlighted the spatial arrangement of ISV in FC and their coupling with variations in transcriptional profiles and cerebral blood flow supply.

Recycled aggregate concrete, as a construction material, can be applied to structural components (beams, slabs, columns, and foundations), auxiliary components, and temporary facilities with strength grades ranging from C30 to C50. Today, the world is facing an increasing pressure of greenhouse gas emissions. Utilizing carbon dioxide for the curing of recycled aggregates contributes to achieving carbon reduction goals. Freeze damage can cause deterioration of mechanical properties and surface spalling of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). This study investigated the influence of three different CO2 curing methods, standard CO2 curing (CC group), CO2 curing with pre-saturated Ca(OH)2 immersion (HH group), and whole specimen CO2 curing (CRR group), on the properties of RAC subjected to freeze-thaw cycles. The results revealed that all the three CO2 curing methods improved the peak stress and elastic modulus of RAC by 12.3–13.7 % and 19.2–31.5 %, respectively. The HH group suffered the least mass loss rate and experienced the most improvement in the relative dynamic modulus. The improvement in the RAC impermeability was in the descending order of HH group > CC group > CRR group. It should be pointed out that RAC with a lower initial water-cement (w/c) ratio exhibited better permeability resistance. Compared with the reference group, the CC, HH, and CRR groups showed a respective 49.0–58.7 %, 55.8–72.6 %, and 45.5–46.8 % reduction in the capillary water absorption coefficients after being subjected to different CO2 curing methods. Among the three groups, the HH group with a w/c ratio of 0.35 and 0.55 showed better resistance to chloride ion penetration (which was further reduced by 9.4–31.6 % and 19.2–41.1 %, respectively).

Purpose: Renal interstitial fibrosis is a pathological manifestation of the progression of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides (DOP), one of the major active components of Dendrobium officinale, have hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects and are used clinically to treat diabetes. However, the role of DOP in delaying DKD progression remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the potential mechanisms by which DOP delays DKD renal interstitial fibrosis. Methods: Using db/db mice as a model of DKD, we administered DOP by gavage and observed its therapeutic effectiveness. Employing ASO technology, we knocked down lncRNA XIST expression in kidney tissues and detected the expression of lncRNA XIST, TGF-β1, and renal interstitial fibrosis-related molecules. Results: DOP was primarily composed of monosaccharides, with 91.57% glucose and 1.41% mannose, forming a spheroid-like structure. It has a high polydispersity index with an Mw/Mn of 6.146, and the polysaccharides are mainly connected by 4-Man(p) and 4-Glc(p) linkages. In the kidneys of db/db mice, lncRNA XIST and TGF-β1 are highly expressed; however, their expression is significantly reduced after gastric infusion with DOP, and upon knockdown of lncRNA XIST, it might delay the progression of renal interstitial fibrosis in DKD. Conclusion: DOP may delay the progression of DKD renal interstitial fibrosis through the regulation of the LncRNA XIST/TGF-β1 related fibrotic pathway. This provides a new perspective for clinical strategies to delay the progression of DKD renal interstitial fibrosis.

Abstract Gentiana macrophylla is one of Chinese herbal medicines in which 4 kinds of iridoids or secoiridoids, such as loganic acid, sweroside, swertiamarin, and gentiopicroside, are identified as the dominant medicinal secondary metabolites. WRKY, as a large family of transcription factors (TFs), plays an important role in the synthesis of secondary metabolites in plants. Therefore, WRKY genes involved in the biosynthesis of secoiridoids in G. macrophylla were systematically studied. First, a comprehensive genome-wide analysis was performed, and 42 GmWRKY genes were identified, which were unevenly distributed in 12 chromosomes. Accordingly, gene structure, collinearity, sequence alignment, phylogenetic, conserved motif and promoter analyses were performed, and the GmWRKY proteins were divided into three subfamilies based on phylogenetic and multiple sequence alignment analyses. Moreover, the enzyme-encoding genes of the secoiridoid biosynthesis pathway and their promoters were then analysed, and the contents of the four secoiridoids were determined in different tissues. Accordingly, correlation analysis was performed using Pearson′s correlation coefficient to construct WRKY gene-enzyme-encoding genes and WRKY gene–metabolite networks. Meanwhile, G. macrophylla seedlings were treated with methyl jasmonate (MeJA) to detect the dynamic change trend of GmWRKYs, biosynthetic genes, and medicinal ingredient accumulation. Thus, a total of 12 GmWRKYs were identified to be involved in the biosynthesis of secoiridoids, of which 8 (GmWRKY1, 6, 12, 17, 33, 34, 38 and 39) were found to regulate the synthesis of gentiopicroside, and 4 (GmWRKY7, 14, 26 and 41) were found to regulate the synthesis of loganic acid. Taken together, this study systematically identified WRKY transcription factors related to the biosynthesis of secoiridoids in G. macrophylla, which could be used as a cue for further investigation of WRKY gene functions in secondary metabolite accumulation.

BackgroundPeritoneal fibrosis (PF) is the main complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and the most common cause of cessation from PD. There is still no effective therapeutic approach to reserve PF. We aimed to investigate the role of miR-132-3p and underlying potential mechanisms in PF.MethodsA total of 18 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided randomly into three groups (n = 6): (i)Control group (ii)PF group (iii)PF+Losartan group; Rats in the PF group and PF+Losartan group received daily intraperitoneal injections of 3 mg/kg chlorhexidine for 14 days, and rats in the PF+Losartan group simultaneously received daily intraperitoneal injections of 2 mg/kg losartan for 14 days. The control group was injected with saline in the same volume. Met-5A cells were treated for 24h with TGF-β1 dissolved in recombinant buffered saline at a concentration of 10 ng/ml, meanwhile, PBS solution as a negative control. The human peritoneal solution was collected for the detection of miR-132-3p.ResultsIn vivo, SD rats were infused with chlorhexidine to establish PF model, and we found that miR-132-3p significantly decreased and the expressions of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and Smad2/3 were up-regulated in PF. In vitro, miR-132-3p mimics suppressed TGF-β1/Smad2/3 activity, whereas miR-132-3p inhibition activated the pathway. In human peritoneal solution, we found that the expression of miR-132-3p decreased in a time-dependent model and its effect became more pronounced with longer PD duration.ConclusionMiR-132-3p ameliorated PF by suppressing TGF-β1/Smad2/3 activity, suggesting that miR-132-3p represented a potential therapeutic approach for PF.

Gentiana macrophylla is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine for treating jaundice, hepatitis, and stomachic and choleretic ailments, and its main secondary metabolites are secoiridiod glycosides represented by gentiopicroside. The biosynthetic pathway of gentiopicroside is via methylerythritol phosphate pathway (MEP) and mevalonate pathway (MVA) pathways. Fosmidomycin and lovastatin are specific inhibitors of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) of the MEP pathway and hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) of the MVA pathway, and are widely used in the research of the biosynthesis pathway and regulation mechanism of secondary metabolites. The article aims to test and search for the optimal condition for decreasing the contents of four secoiridiod glycosides compounds (loganic acid, sweroside, swertiamarin and gentiopicroside) in G. macrophylla by using the orthogonal test designs. In this study, the concentration of fosmidomycin(A), concentration of lovastatin(B) and sampling days (C) were taken as three factors, and each factor was taken as four levels to design an orthogonal test, with 16 groups of treatment. HPLC was used to determine the contents of four secoiridiod glycosides, and the data were statistically analyzed. The results were as follows: (1) The contents of the four secoiridiod glycosides compounds in G. macrophylla were most affected by sampling time, followed by fosmidomycin concentration and then lovastatin concentration. (2) After treatment with the optimal inhibitory conditions, the contents of loganic acid, swertiamarin, gentiopicroside and sweroside decreased by 69%, 36%, 33% and 4% respectively. In conclusion, optimal inhibition conditions are determined to be fosmidomycin 400 μmol·L-1, lovastatin 50 μmol·L-1, samples are harvested on six days, which provides the reference for further research on the regulatory mechanism of MEP and MVA pathways in the metabolism and synthesis of secoiridiod glycosides.

In this study, the standard CO2-curing, CO2-curing with pre-saturated Ca(OH)2 immersion and CO2-curing with cement slurry pre-wrapping as enhancement methods for recycled aggregates (RAs) and prepared concrete were investigated. The fundamental properties of the cured RAs were measured. The effects of different treatment methods on the stress-strain curve, capillary water absorption property and chloride penetrability of the prepared concrete were explored. Moreover, the pore structure analysis, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and thermo-gravimetric analysis were conducted on the RAs and prepared concrete. The results indicated that (1) the qualities of the carbon treated RAs with different pretreatment methods were improved by the formation of CaCO3, which filled the pores and micro-cracks from the microstructural analysis. (2) The mechanical properties of the prepared concrete were enhanced with more brittle behavior. (3) The permeability, pore structure, microstructure and chloride resistance of the cured RAC improved significantly. (4) The CO2-curing with pre-saturated Ca(OH)2 immersion method recorded the highest enhancing efficiency due to the addition of calcium ion.

Clematis is one of the large worldwide genera of the Ranunculaceae Juss. Family, with high ornamental and medicinal value. China is the modern distribution centre of Clematis with abundant natural populations. Due to the complexity and high morphological diversity of Clematis, the genus is difficult to classify systematically, and in particular, the phylogenetic position of the endangered Clematis acerifolia is highly controversial. The use of the mitochondrial complete genome is a powerful molecular method that is frequently used for inferring plants phylogenies. However, studies on Clematis mitogenome are rare, thus limiting our full understanding of its phylogeny and genome evolution. Here, we sequenced and annotated the C. acerifolia mt genome using Illumina short- and Nanopore long-reads, characterized the species first complete mitogenome, and performed a comparative phylogenetic analysis with its close relatives. The total length of the C. acerifolia mitogenome is 698,247 bp and the main structure is multi-branched (linear molecule 1 and circular molecule 2). We annotated 55 genes, including 35 protein-coding, 17 tRNA, and 3 rRNA genes. The C. acerifolia mitogenome has extremely unconserved structurally, with extensive sequence transfer between the chloroplast and mitochondrial organelles, sequence repeats, and RNA editing. The phylogenetic position of C. acerifolia was determined by constructing the species mitogenome with 24 angiosperms. Further, our C. acerifolia mitogenome characteristics investigation included GC contents, codon usage, repeats and synteny analysis. Overall, our results are expected to provide fundamental information for C. acerifolia mitogenome evolution and confirm the validity of mitochondrial analysis in determining the phylogenetic positioning of Clematis plants.

In order to study the load-bearing failure characteristics of a RPCCP under internal load, a field prototype test was designed, and a finite element model was established. An internal load was applied up to 2.0 MPa step by step and the force variation law of each part was obtained. During the production of the RPCCP, by wrapping prestressed steel bars around the concrete core with a cylinder, the core was subjected to an initial precompression stress. In the loading process, the protective cover cracked first, from where the concrete core gradually changed from the initial compression state to a tension state, finally cracking from the inner and outer diameter. The stresses of the cylinder and steel bars increased steadily with the internal load and did not yield. The finite element calculation results were in good agreement with the test results, and the influence characteristics of the tension control stress of the steel bar and the concrete strength on the failure of the RPCCP under internal load were discussed. The results showed that the internal load of the protective cover was independent of the tension control stress, but decreases with a decrease in concrete strength, while the load corresponding to the concrete core entering plasticity is related to the tension control stress and the concrete strength, and the relationships were basically linear.