Search

During October 2022, enteric redmouth disease (ERM) affected Chinese sturgeons at a farm in Hubei, China, causing mass mortality. Affected fish exhibited characteristic red mouth and intestinal inflammation. Investigation led to isolation of a prominent bacterial strain, zhx1, from the internal organs and intestines of affected fish. Artificial infection experiments confirmed the role of zhx1 as the pathogen responsible for the deaths. The primary pathologic manifestations consisted of degeneration, necrosis, and inflammatory reactions, resulting in multiple organ dysfunction and death. Whole-genome sequencing of the bacteria identified zhx1 as Yersinia ruckeri, which possesses 135 drug-resistance genes and 443 virulence factor-related genes. Drug-susceptibility testing of zhx1 demonstrated high sensitivity to chloramphenicol and florfenicol but varying degrees of resistance to 18 other antimicrobial drugs. Identifying the pathogenic bacteria associated with ERM in Chinese sturgeons establishes a theoretical foundation for the effective prevention and control of this disease.

The aim of this investigation was to reveal the pattern of disposal process of thiamphenicol (TAP) in Chinese soft-shelled turtle after oral (PO) and intramuscular (IM) administration routes. TAP concentration levels in Chinese soft-shelled turtle plasma and multi-tissues were measured by HPLC-MS/MS. Pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters of TAP were estimated using WinNolin software based on the non-compartmental analysis. Compared with IM route, higher absorption, longer elimination time and greater AUC0-∞ value for TAP in plasma were observed after PO treatment. It indicated that Chinese soft-shelled turtle has a higher bioavailability for TAP following PO administration than IM medication. For tissue distribution, higher TAP concentrations were also found following PO medication than IM administration. The prescribed medication dosage of TAP (17.5 mg/kg bw) against susceptible strains with MIC should be below 0.22 mg/L (PO) and 0.13 mg/L (IM) based on the values of Cmax/MIC >10 and AUC0–24 h/MIC >125. TAP elimination pattern was investigated, and skirt was suggested as residual target tissue. Withdrawal time (WT) of TAP was calculated using WT 1.4 software, and the recommended WT was 17 d (391 ℃-day). The present investigation can serve as reference data for TAP use in Chinese soft-shelled turtle.

IntroductionUnderstanding patterns and processes of microbial biogeography in soils is important for monitoring ecological responses to human activities, particularly in ecologically vulnerable areas such as the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Highland barley is the staple food of local people and has mainly been cultivated along the Yarlung Zangbo River valley in Xizang.MethodsHere we investigated soil bacterial communities from 33 sampling sites of highland barley farmland in this region and compared them to those from wild ecosystems including alpine tundra, meadow, forest, and swamp. Additionally, the effects of environmental factors on bacterial communities, as well as the relative importance of stochastic and deterministic processes in shaping the beta diversity of soil bacterial communities in alpine ecosystems were assessed.ResultsIn contrast to soils of wild ecosystems, these farmland samples harbored a highly homogeneous bacterial community without significant correlations with geographic, elevation, and edaphic distances. Discriminant bacterial taxa identified for farmland samples belong to Acidobacteria, with Acidobacteria Gp4 as the dominant clade. Although Acidobacteria were the most abundant members in all ecosystems, characterized bacterial taxa of meadow and forest were members of other phyla such as Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. pH and organic matter were major edaphic attributes shaping these observed patterns across ecosystems. Null model analyses revealed that the deterministic assembly was dominant in bacterial communities in highland barley farmland and tundra soils, whereas stochastic assembly also contributed a large fraction to the assembly of bacterial communities in forest, meadow and swamp soils.DiscussionThese findings provide an insight into the consequences of human activities and agricultural intensification on taxonomic homogenization of soil bacterial communities in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.

The mechanism by which Y. ruckeri infection induces enteritis in Chinese sturgeon remains unclear, and the efficacy of drug prevention and control measures is not only poor but also plagued with numerous issues. We conducted transcriptomic and 16 S rRNA sequencing analyses to examine the differences in the intestinal tract of hybrid sturgeon before and after Y. ruckeri infection and florfenicol intervention. Our findings revealed that Y. ruckeri induced the expression of multiple inflammatory factors, including il1β, il6, and various chemokines, as well as casp3, casp8, and multiple tumor necrosis factor family members, resulting in pathological injury to the body. Additionally, at the phylum level, the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidota increased, while the abundance of Plesiomonas and Cetobacterium decreased at the genus level, altering the composition of the intestinal flora. Following florfenicol intervention, the expression of multiple apoptosis and inflammation-related genes was down-regulated, promoting tissue repair. However, the flora became further dysregulated, increasing the risk of infection. In conclusion, our analysis of the transcriptome and intestinal microbial composition demonstrated that Y. ruckeri induces intestinal pathological damage by triggering apoptosis and altering the composition of the intestinal microbiota. Florfenicol intervention can repair pathological damage, but it also exacerbates flora imbalance, leading to a higher risk of infection. These findings help elucidate the molecular mechanism of Y. ruckeri-induced enteritis in sturgeon and evaluate the therapeutic effect of drugs on intestinal inflammation in sturgeon.

The separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs is crucial for the construction of high-performance and wide-band responsive photodetectors. The type-I heterojunction as a photodetector is seldomly studied due to its limited separation of the carriers and narrow optical response. In this work, we demonstrated that the high performance of type-I heterojunction as a broadband photodetector can be obtained by rational design of the band alignment and proper modulation from external electric field. The heterojunction device is fabricated by vertical stacking of non-layered MnS and WSe2 flakes. Its type-I band structure is confirmed by the first-principles calculations. The MnS/WSe2 heterojunction presents a wide optical detecting range spanning from 365 nm to 1550 nm. It exhibits the characteristics of bidirectional transportation, a current on/off ratio over 103, and an excellent photoresponsivity of 108 A W−1 in the visible range. Furthermore, the response time of the device is 19 ms (rise time) and 10 ms (fall time), which is much faster than that of its constituents MnS and WSe2. The facilitation of carrier accumulation caused by the interfacial band bending is thought to be critical to the photoresponse performance of the heterojunction. In addition, the device can operate in self-powered mode, indicating a photovoltaic effect.

Abstract Background The use of a personalized haplotype-specific genome assembly, rather than an unrelated, mosaic genome like GRCh38, as a reference for detecting the full spectrum of somatic events from cancers has long been advocated but has never been explored in tumor-normal paired samples. Here, we provide the first demonstrated use of de novo assembled personalized genome as a reference for cancer mutation detection and quantifying the effects of the reference genomes on the accuracy of somatic mutation detection. Results We generate de novo assemblies of the first tumor-normal paired genomes, both nuclear and mitochondrial, derived from the same individual with triple negative breast cancer. The personalized genome was chromosomal scale, haplotype phased, and annotated. We demonstrate that it provides individual specific haplotypes for complex regions and medically relevant genes. We illustrate that the personalized genome reference not only improves read alignments for both short-read and long-read sequencing data but also ameliorates the detection accuracy of somatic SNVs and SVs. We identify the equivalent somatic mutation calls between two genome references and uncover novel somatic mutations only when personalized genome assembly is used as a reference. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that use of a personalized genome with individual-specific haplotypes is essential for accurate detection of the full spectrum of somatic mutations in the paired tumor-normal samples. The unique resource and methodology established in this study will be beneficial to the development of precision oncology medicine not only for breast cancer, but also for other cancers.

Enhancing the inherent activity of transition metal-based compounds involving Ni and Fe for the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of vital importance, especially NiFe layered double hydroxide (LDH). Here, we doped erbium (Er) into NiFe LDH (Er–NiFe LDH) nanostructures using simple liquid-phase synthesis. The OER activity tests at the same mass loading demonstrated that Er–NiFe LDH has a smaller overpotential and lower Tafel slope than undoped NiFe LDH and commercial RuO2 powders, needing only a small overpotential of 243 mV to achieve a constant current at 10 mA cm-2. Additionally, Er–NiFe LDH was grown in situ on hydrophilic carbon paper substrates (Er–NiFe LDH@CP) to fabricate a three-dimensional (3D) electrode with large catalyst loading, which is favorable for analyzing the stability of morphology structure and elementary components after OER measurement. The galvanostatic measurement suggested that the Er–NiFe LDH@CP electrode possess higher electrochemical durability than a modified glassy carbon electrode due to the stronger mechanical binding between Er–NiFe LDH nanostructures and carbon paper substrate. More importantly, physical characterizations (e.g., SEM and XPS) revealed that Er–NiFe LDH has an excellent stability of morphology, and Ni, Fe, and Er still exist on the catalyst 24 h after the operation. This work provides an effective way for improving the inherent catalytic activity and stability of polymetallic OER catalysts in the future.

Due to its good p-type semiconductor characteristics, MnSe has a great application prospect in high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, heterojunctions of MnSe still need to be deeply studied to improve its electrical and photoelectric properties. Here, it is reported that the two-dimensional (2D) MnSe/WSe2 heterojunction is structured by the non-layered MnSe nanosheets synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method and the mechanically exfoliated layered WSe2. The heterojunction device exhibits a rectification effect and a current on/off ratio of 6,557. Meanwhile, it has a broad spectral range response from ultraviolet (UV) to short-wave infrared radiation (SWIR) (300–2,200 nm), and achieves an ultra-high responsivity of 156 A/W, along with an excellent detectivity of 2.21 × 1012 jones, and an outstanding external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 36,400%. Moreover, the type II band alignment and the built-in potential in the MnSe/WSe2 heterojunction can facilitate the separation of the photoexcited electron-hole pairs, which enables the significant photovoltaic characteristics and self-powered photoswitching response. This work reveals the novel performance of the 2D MnSe/WSe2 heterojunction and a great potential in photoswitching, photodetector, and photovoltaic applications.

Stimulated by the extraordinary power conversion efficiency (PCE) of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIP) based solar cells (SCs), the derivative studies on inorganic perovskites (IOP) based SCs have been intensely investigated. In order to overcome the disadvantages of CsPbBr3, most prominently the unfavorable larger band gap (2.3eV), a grating layer of mesoporous anatase TiO2(mp-TiO2) has been inserted into the conventional configuration of SCs. The grating layer acts as the electron transfer layer (ETL) and light absorption strengthening layer at the same time. Due to the combined effects, the increased contacting area increased the fill factor (FF) and enhanced light trapping in the grating layer increased the short-current density, the average PCE of IOP based SCs has increased from 5.67% to 7.58%, which is a ca. 34% increase relatively. Furthermore, research on traditional HOIP-based SCs is also conducted. Interestingly, the increasing PCE mechanism is quite different from their inorganic counterparts, which should be attributed to the strain effect of different film structures. Thus, the strain-induced defect charge-state transitions of MAPbI3 by the grating layer increased the open-circuit voltage (Voc); and similarly, the increased contacting area also increased the FF, resulting in a 13% increase for PCE.

Interactions between host and pathogen are involving various dynamic changes in transcript expression and critical for understanding host immunity against infections and its associated pathogenesis. Herein, we established a model of channel catfish infected with Aeromonas veronii. The infected fish had prominent body surface bleeding, and the spleen showed hyperemia and swelling. Then, the spleen of channel catfish infected with A. veronii was analyzed by dual RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), and the transcriptome data were compared with uninfected channel catfish spleen or bacteria cultured in vitro. The transcript expression profile of pathogen-host interaction between A. veronii and channel catfish was successfully studied. During infection, the host was enriched for multiple immune-related signaling pathways, such as the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and T cell receptor signaling pathway; and significantly upregulated for many innate immune-related genes, including IL-8. At the same time, we found that A. veronii mainly harmed the host spleen through hemolysin. Our current findings are of great significance in clarifying the pathogenesis of channel catfish induced by A. veronii and provide gene targets for developing preventive measures.

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to infection, where sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common morbid disease with a high morbidity and mortality, and however at present no effective therapy exists. Increasing evidence have shown that mitochondrial damage and inflammatory response are important initiating factors in pathogenesis of septic AKI. Natural flavonoid pectolinarigenin exerted anti-inflammatory properties in previous studies, while its role in septic AKI remains unknown. In the study, pectolinarigenin administration significantly ameliorated the dramatic rise of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- and cecal ligation/puncture (CLP)-induced septic mice, respectively. Consistently, LPS/CLP-induced renal damage as implied by histopathological score and the increased injury markers NGAL and KIM-1, which was attenuated by pectolinarigenin. Meanwhile, LPS/CLP triggered proinflammatory cytokine production and inflammation related proteins in the kidneys. However, pectolinarigenin inhibited renal expression of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, and MCP-1 to improve inflammatory response. Furthermore, pectolinarigenin upregulated Bcl-2 protein expression and suppressed apoptotic protein of BAX and cleaved caspase-3 in the kidneys of CLP-induced septic AKI. Mechanistically, LPS could induce the high expression of IL-6 and trigger the phosphorylation of Jak2 and Stat3, while pectolinarigenin remarkably reduced their corresponding levels. Notably, CLP-induced kidney injury of mice significantly reduced the expression of PGC-1α, OPA1 and increased the expression of Drp1, Cyt-C, where pectolinarigenin pretreatment significantly restored their corresponding expression in mice. In summary, pectolinarigenin improved septic AKI via inhibiting JAK2/STAT3 signaling and mitochondria dysfunction.

Abstract The application of slow-release fertilizer is an effective way to satisfy the demand for nutrients of crops. The objective of present study was to investigate the microbial community characteristics in rice rhizosphere soil under different fertilization modes of slow-release fertilizer. Three fertilization modes of slow-release fertilizer, i.e., (CK) manually broadcasted on the soil surface at 300 kg·ha−1 before transplanting and then same fertilizer rate was applied at the same way one week after transplanting; (SF) 10 cm depth mechanized placement at 600 kg·ha−1 during the transplanting; (DSF) 10 cm depth mechanized placement at 480 kg·ha−1 during the transplanting, were adopt in the field experiment. The results showed that SF and DSF treatments promoted richness (ACE and Chao1 values) and diversity (Shannon value) of rice rhizosphere microorganisms compared with CK treatment. Compared with CK, SF treatment increased relative abundances of Planctomycetes and decreased relative abundance of Nitrospirae, DSF treatments increased relative abundances of Deltaproteobacteria. Moreover, higher relative abundances of Paenibacillus and Sphingomonas were recorded in DSF treatment than CK. In addition, the partial factor productivity (PFP) deep placement of slow-release fertilizer treatment was significantly higher than that of CK treatment. DSF treatment increased the yield by 16.61% compared with CK treatment while reducing fertilizer input by 20%. In conclusion, compared with broadcasting, deep placement of slow-release fertilizer could improve the structure, distribution, and diversity of the microbial community in rice rhizosphere soil, and increase the utilization rate of fertilizers, and increase rice yield.

Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) can cause a number of diseases in both human and animals. A. hydrophila-related infections in aquaculture cause severe economic losses every year throughout the world. The emergence of antibiotic resistance that is due to the abuse of antibiotics has limited the application of antibiotics. Thus, novel approaches are needed to combat with treatment failure of antibiotics caused by resistant bacterial strains. Aerolysin plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of A. hydrophila and has been considered as a novel target for developing drugs based on anti-virulence strategies. Here, we reported that luteolin, a natural product with no anti-A. hydrophila activity, could reduce aerolysin-induced hemolysis by inhibiting aerolysin activity. The binding mode was simulated by molecular docking and dynamics simulation. Then the main binding sites were confirmed by fluorescence quenching assays. We found that luteolin could hindered the formation of functional heptamer of aerolysin according to the results of the oligomerization assay. Moreover, luteolin could protect A549 cells from aerolysin mediated cell death and increase the survival rate of A. hydrophila-infected channel catfish. These findings suggest a novel approach to developing drugs fighting against A. hydrophila, and luteolin can be a promising drug candidate for treatment of A. hydrophila-associated infections.

Rapid increase of urban underground constructions has a great consideration of underground environment safety and how to expel toxic gasses out of tunnels effectively. The utility tunnel is a typical urban tunnel construction with multiple underground pipelines including gas pipelines, and it is necessary to investigate characteristic of gas diffusion and monitor gas leakage to ensure tunnel safety. In this study, the experimental measurements of airflow and gas distributions were conducted in a 10 m full-scaled utility tunnel mockup, and gas diffusion characteristic was also investigated. Numerical simulation of utility tunnel leakage was also conducted by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Different turbulence models and different air supply diffuser models were compared via the experimental results based on visualization and the relative root-mean-square error (RRMSE) index, which quantitated the difference between the numerical and experimental results. The results showed that the standard k−ε turbulence model and random air opening model could provide better results than other models. According to the experimental data analysis, it was necessary to consider the optimization of monitoring detector arrangements in actual utility tunnels. This study provided basic experimental data and the validated numerical model for the leakage source identification and underground tunnels simulation research.

To address the challenges associated with the weak affinity and difficult separation of biochar, we developed chitosan–biochar hydrogel beads (CBHBs) as an efficient solution for removing reactive brilliant blue (RBB KN-R) from wastewater. The adsorption behavior and mechanism of RBB KN-R onto CBHBs were extensively studied. Notably, the adsorption capacity of RBB KN-R showed pH-dependence, and the highest adsorption capacity was observed at pH 2. The adsorption process was well fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the intraparticle diffusion model. Film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion were both responsible for the adsorption of RBB KN-R onto CBHBs. At 298.15 K, the maximum adsorption capacity qm was determined to be 140.74 mg/g, with higher temperatures favoring the adsorption process. A complex mechanism involving π–π interactions, electrostatic attraction, hydrophobic interaction, and hydrogen bonding was found to contribute to the overall adsorption process. The experimental data discovered the coexisting substances and elevated ionic strength hindered the adsorption capacity. Significantly, after three cycles of adsorption–desorption, the CBHBs maintained an adsorption capacity above 95% for RBB KN-R. These promising results imply that CBHBs are a durable and cost-effective adsorbent for efficient removal of dyes from wastewater.

IL-10 and IL-6 play important roles in protecting against inflammation and clearing pathogens from the body. In this study, homologous compounds of IL-10 and IL-6 were identified in channel catfish, and their immune responses were analyzed. The CDS sequences of IL-10 and IL-6 were 549 bp and 642 bp, respectively, and showed the highest homology with Ameiurus melas. In addition, the expression of the IL-10 and IL-6 genes was ubiquitous in 10 tissues examined. IL-10 is highly expressed in the liver and slightly expressed in the gill. The high expression of the IL-6 gene was observed in the spleen, heart, and gonad, with the lowest levels in the liver. LPS, Poly(I:C), PHA, and PMA showed a highly significant increase in IL-10 and IL-6 expression 48 h after CCK stimulation (p < 0.01). Otherwise, Yersinia ruckeri, Streptococcus iniae, channel catfish virus, and deltamethrin induced IL-10 and IL-6 expression, varying in intensity between different organs. Our results suggest that IL-10 and IL-6 are involved in the immune response of the host against the pathogen.

Gyrodactylid monogeneans are common parasites of teleost fishes characterized by high host specificity. Host specificity and its underlying mechanisms of monogenean have been always a fascinating issue that has attracted considerable attention from researchers. However, the molecular mechanism responsible for the host specificity of monogenean is still not yet fully understood. In this study, the susceptibility to Gyrodactylus kobayashii of different species or varieties in the genus Carassius was investigated. Furthermore, the proteome changes in the skin mucus of resistant and susceptible fish were analyzed by Tandem Mass Tags (TMT) quantitative proteomics method. The experimental results indicated that G. kobayashii was found in 12 varieties of goldfish and ChangFeng C. auratus gibelio with different degrees of infection percentage, while no G. kobayashii was found in C. auratus gibelio var. CAS Ⅴ. Population dynamics of G. kobayashii on red white common goldfish and C. auratus gibelio var. CAS Ⅴ showed distinct trends in the in vivo infection experiment. These results demonstrated C. auratus gibelio var. CAS Ⅴ is a resistant fish to G. kobayashii. Proteomic analysis revealed that 41 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), including 25 up-regulated and 16 down-regulated proteins, were identified. Bioinformatics analysis indicated these DEPs were involved in multiple biological functions including immunity, metabolism, and signal transduction. Among them, some immune-related proteins, such as cadherin-1, serotransferrin, and glutathione transferase in the fish mucus might be potential determinants of the host susceptibility to G. kobayashii. Also, some structural and energy metabolism-related DEPs, such as small muscular protein, keratin and vitelline membrane outer layer protein served as a source of nutrition and might also affect host susceptibility. Overall, this study not only provided systematic protein information of crucian carp skin mucus but also identified some potential candidate proteins that might be related to host susceptibility to G. kobayashii.

The fast-growing demand for aquatic products has led to the rapid development of aquaculture. However, diseases caused by bacterial pathogens result in severe economic losses all over the world. Although the introduction of antibiotics to aquaculture decreased the mortality of infectious diseases, the emergence of antibiotic resistance caused treatment failure. Therefore, drugs with novel strategies are needed for combatting infections caused by resistant bacterial strains. In the present study, aerolysin was identified as a target for developing drugs from natural compounds against Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) infections. We found that polydatin without an inhibitory effect against A. hydrophila growth could decrease the hemolysis mediated by aerolysin. In both western blot and qPCR assays, the addition of polydatin decreased the production of aerolysin by downregulating the aerolysin encoding gene. Moreover, cell viability and animal studies found that polydatin could reduce the pathogenesis of A. hydrophila both in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, these findings provided a novel approach and candidate for treating resistant A. hydrophila infections in aquaculture.

In order to accelerate the application of ABPs in shrimp and crab feed, we evaluated the effect of ABPs on the growth, non-specific immunity and disease resistance of crayfish. Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) were randomly divided into six groups, the fed diets supplemented with different levels of ABPs: 0, 0.05, 0.15, 0.3, 0.45 and 0.6 g/kg. After 28 days of feeding, ABPs were found to significantly increase FBW and WG of crayfish. The addition of 0.15–0.6 g/kg of ABPs to the feed significantly increased the activities of ACP, AKP and T-SOD, decreased the activity of MDA enzymes in the hepatopancreas of crayfish. In the hemolymph, ABPs at 0.3–0.45 g/kg can significantly increase the activities of ACP, AKP, T-SOD and LZM enzymes, while the addition of 0.15 or 0.6 g/kg has no significant difference with the control group. The results of qPCR showed the addition of 0.15–0.6 g/kg ABPs to the feed could significantly up-regulate the expression levels of gpx, lec and hsp70 mRNA in the hepatopancreas (P < 0.05). Adding 0.15–0.6 g/kg of ABPs could up-regulate the expression of ctsb and lec gene in gills. In addition, the expression of alf was up-regulated in gills only when the addition amount of ABPs was 0.3 g/kg. While the expression of mtMnsod in gills was up-regulated when the addition amount was 0.3–0.6 g/kg. Addition of 0.05–0.6 g/kg of ABPs reduced the mortality of crayfish infected by A.hydrophila. The above results indicated that the addition of ABPs could improve the growth, non-specific immunity and disease resistance of crayfish, and the addition of 0.3 g/kg and 0.45 g/kg of ABPs might be beneficial to the culture of crayfish.

Deltamethrin (Del) is a widely used pyrethroid insecticide and a dangerous material that has brought serious problems to the healthy breeding of aquatic animals. However, the toxicological mechanisms of Del on channel catfish remain unclear. In the present study, we exposed channel catfish to 0, 0.5, and 5 μg/L Del for 6 h, and analyzed the changes in histopathology, trunk kidney transcriptome, and intestinal microbiota composition. The pathological analyses showed that a high concentration of Del damaged the intestine and trunk kidney of channel catfish in the early stage. The transcriptome analysis detected 32 and 1837 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in channel catfish trunk kidneys after exposure to 0.5 and 5 μg/L Del, respectively. Moreover, the KEGG pathway and GO enrichment analyses showed that the apoptosis signaling pathway was significantly enriched, and apoptosis-related DEGs, including cathepsin L, p53, Bax, and caspase-3, were also detected. These results suggested that apoptosis occurs in the trunk kidney of channel catfish in the early stage of acute exposure to Del. We also detected some DEGs and signaling pathways related to immunity and drug metabolism, indicating that early exposure to Del can lead to immunotoxicity and metabolic disorder of channel catfish, which increases the risk of pathogenic infections and energy metabolism disorders. Additionally, 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that the composition of the intestinal microbiome significantly changed in channel catfish treated with Del. At the phylum level, the abundance of Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, and Actinobacteria significantly decreased in the early stage of Del exposure. At the genus level, the abundance of Romboutsia, Lactobacillus, and Cetobacterium decreased after Del exposure. Overall, early exposure to Del can lead to tissue damage, metabolic disorder, immunotoxicity, and apoptosis in channel catfish, and affect the composition of its intestinal microbiota. Herein, we clarified the toxic effects of Del on channel catfish in the early stage of exposure and explored why fish under Del stress are more vulnerable to microbial infections and slow growth.

Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) is an important economic fish, which originated from North America. It was introduced to China in 1987 and is now widely bred in Guangdong Province. In recent years, a fatal bacterial disease often occurs in cultured bluegill sunfish. The clinical manifestations of the diseased bluegill sunfish were ulceration and hyperemia. A bacterial pathogen temporarily named TY01 was isolated from the internal organs of diseased fish. It was identified as non-O1/non-O139 Vibrio cholerae by morphological, serotype identification, biochemical and 16S rDNA phylogenetic analysis. The regression infection experiment confirmed that the isolated strain could cause the disease of healthy bluegill sunfish. The antibiotic susceptibility showed that TY01 was sensitive to chloramphenicol, azithromycin, tetracycline, doxycycline, neomycin, enoxacin and norfloxacin, and moderately sensitive or resistant to the other drugs. In this study, Vibrio cholerae was isolated and identified from diseased bluegill sunfish for the first time, and it provides a basis for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the disease.

Antibiotics were the main fishery drugs for treating Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) infection, which would generate selective pressure and result in the appearance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The bacterial quorum sensing (QS) system provides a new alternative strategy against A. hydrophila infection. QS inhibitors can reduce bacterial virulence behaviors by disrupting QS, which has no effect on bacterial growth. Therefore, we studied the effect of cinnamaldehyde from a natural plant extract on the QS of A. hydrophila aiming to reduce its pathogenicity. The efficacy of cinnamaldehyde against A. hydrophila was evaluated from various aspects, including the effects on aerolysin, lipase, protease, swarming motility, biofilm formation, acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), and QS-related genes. Moreover, the therapeutic effect of cinnamaldehyde in vitro and in vivo was studied. The results showed that cinnamaldehyde could decrease the virulence phenotypes of A. hydrophila regulated by QS. Moreover, the transcriptions of related genes (aerA, ahyR, and ahyI) were downregulated following the addition of cinnamaldehyde. The in vitro and in vivo therapeutic assays show that cinnamaldehyde could reduce the aerolysin-mediated A549 cell injury and increase the survival rate of crucian carp infected with A. hydrophila. These results indicate that cinnamaldehyde would be a candidate QS inhibitor against A. hydrophila infection.

As a widely used synthetic pyrethroid insecticide, deltamethrin (DM) causes serious health problems to aquatic organisms. However, the comprehensive understanding of the adverse effect of DM on aquatic organisms has received limited attention. In this study, goldfish (Carassius auratus) were exposed to 0 (control group), 0.2 and 2 µg/L DM for 96 h. The kidney transcriptome and intestinal microbiota were investigated. Comparative transcriptome analysis identified 270 and 711 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in goldfish kidneys after exposure to 0.2 and 2 µg/L DM, respectively. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that the apoptosis pathway was markedly regulated and the regulation of programmed cell death was significantly enriched by the GO analysis. Several apoptosis-related genes including cathepsin L and cytochrome c were also detected. These results indicated that apoptosis occurred in the goldfish kidney after acute exposure to sublethal concentration of DM. Besides, some immune and drug metabolism-related DEGs were identified, indicating that exposure to DM caused immunotoxicity and metabolic disruption in goldfish. Additionally, 16 S rRNA gene sequencing analysis revealed a remarkable alteration in the composition of the intestinal microbial community of DM-treated goldfish. At the phylum level, the abundance of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Fusobacteria was increased, whereas the abundance of Bacteroidetes was reduced significantly after DM exposure. At the genus level, the abundance of Aeromonas, Cetobacterium, Dielma and Pseudorhodobacter was reduced, whereas Akkermansia was increased after DM exposure. In summary, exposure to DM could induce apoptosis and immunotoxicity in goldfish kidneys and affect the composition of the intestinal microbiota in goldfish. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the adverse effect of DM exposure on the goldfish and will be helpful for understanding the toxicological mechanisms of DM in fish.

Host-pathogen intectarions are complex, involving large dynamic changes in gene expression through the process of infection. These interactions are essential for understanding anti-infective immunity as well as pathogenesis. In this study, the host-pathogen interaction was analyzed using a model of acute infection where channel catfish were infected with Yersinia ruckeri. The infected fish showed signs of body surface hyperemia as well as hyperemia and swelling in the trunk kidney. Double RNA sequencing was performed on trunk kidneys extracted from infected channel catfish and transcriptome data was compared with data from uninfected trunk kidneys. Results revealed that the host-pathogen interaction was dynamically regulated and that the host-pathogen transcriptome fluctuated during infection. More specifically, these data revealed that the expression levels of immune genes involved in Cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, the NF-kappa B signaling pathway, the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling and other immune-related pathways were significantly upregulated. Y. ruckeri mainly promote pathogenesis through the flagellum gene fliC in channel catfish. The weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) R package was used to reveal that the infection of catfish is closely related to metabolic pathways. This study contributes to the understanding of the host-pathogen interaction between channel catfish and Y. ruckeri, more specifically how catfish respond to infection through a transcriptional perspective and how this infection leads to enteric red mouth disease (ERM) in these fish.

Herein, we isolated the pathogenic strain ZZ051 from hemorrhagic channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). Physiological and biochemical identification, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, and MALDI-TOF-MS showed that the ZZ051 strain was Aeromonas veronii. After artificial infection, the diseased fish showed symptoms similar to the natural disease, and the characteristics of the bacteria reisolated from the tissues were the same as those of the original infection, indicating that the isolated strain ZZ051 was the pathogen responsible for the channel catfish disease. The ZZ051 isolate was highly sensitive to enrofloxacin but resistant to florfenicol. This study provided a theoretical basis for preventing and controlling hemorrhagic disease in channel catfish.

The primary objective of this work was to assess the effect of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on the microbiota in polyculture tanks stocked with grass carp, gibel carp and sliver carp. The B. amyloliquefaciens showed high biosafety toward freshwater fish. The addition of B. amyloliquefaciens to the tanks significantly reduced ammonia, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and chemical oxygen demand (p ＜ 0.05) although nitrites increased (p ＜ 0.05). Bacterial diversity in the tanks was greatest in the un-inoculated tanks where Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Verrucomicrobia and Bacteroidetes dominated. In the presence of added B. amyloliquefaciens, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes levels increased while Actinobacteria decreased. The classes and genera between controls and treatment groups differed although Bacillus levels did not increase in the inoculated tanks. We conclude that supplementation with B. amyloliquefaciens in aquaculture water had many advantages but also potential safety risks.

Aeromonas hydrophila is an opportunistic pathogen that is responsible for a variety of infectious diseases both in human and animals, particularly aquatic animals. Moreover, the pathogen has become a foodborne pathogen by transmitting from seafood to human. The abuse of antibiotics in aquaculture results in the emergence of antibiotic resistance and treatment failure. Therefore, novel approaches are urgently needed for managing resistant A. hydrophila associated infections. Aerolysin, an essential virulence factor of pathogenic A. hydrophila strain, has been identified as target developing novel drugs against pathogenesis of A. hydrophila. In the present study, genistein, without anti-A. hydrophila activity, was identified that could decrease the production of aerolysin and biofilm formation at a dose-dependent manner. Transcription of aerolysin encoding gene aerA and quorum sensing related genes ahyI and ahyR was significantly down-regulated when co-cultured with genistein. Cell viability studies demonstrated that genistein could significantly improve aerolysin mediated A549 cell injury. Furthermore, genistein could provide a remarkable protection to channel catfish infected with A. hydrophila. These findings indicate that targeting quorum sensing and virulence can be a useful approach developing drugs against A. hydrophila infections in aquaculture. Moreover, genistein can be chosen as a promising candidate in developing drugs against A. hydrophila.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different water temperatures (19, 25, and 30°C) on tissue residue depletion of tiamulin in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) after five consecutive days of oral administration at the dose of 20 mg/kg body weight and to calculate the corresponding elimination half-life (T1/2) and withdrawal times (WTs). After oral administration at scheduled 11 time points (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 20, 25, and 30 days), samples of plasma and tissues (muscle plus skin, liver, kidney, and gill) were collected. Tiamulin concentration in samples were determined by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). T1/2 was calculated by the equation: T1/2 = ln2/k. WT 1.4 software was used to calculate WT. The results showed that tiamulin was widely distributed in all tissue samples with the highest concentration in liver. At three different water temperatures, the T1/2 were calculated as 2.76, 2.13, and 1.64 days in plasma, 2.71, 1.85, and 1.31 days in muscle plus skin, 2.27, 1.70, and 1.50 days in liver, 2.84, 2.32, and 1.94 day in kidney, and 3.16, 2.42, and 1.74 days in gill, respectively. At 19°C, the order of WT is kidney (11.88 days) > liver (10.41 days) > gill (10.77 days) > plasma (8.83 days) > muscle plus skin (7.14 days). The WT for tiamulin at 25°C was in the following order: kidney (8.40 days) > liver (8.21 days) > gill (8.07 days) > plasma (7.24 days) > muscle plus skin (4.05 days). At 30°C, the WT dropped and shown as follows: gill (6.99 days) > kidney (6.51 days) > liver (6.29 days) > plasma (3.27 days) > muscle plus skin (2.92 days). The present investigations indicated that increasing the temperature from 19 to 30°C shortened T1/2 and WT of tiamulin in tilapia. To ensure the safety of fish consumption, the longest WT of tissues is suggested for tiamulin in Nile tilapia at the corresponding water temperature; i.e., WTs were 12 days at 19°C, 9 days at 25°C, and 7 days at 30°C, respectively. Overall, we intended to provide a theoretical basis for tissue residue depletion kinetics of tiamulin in fish and improve our understanding of the influence of the temperature on tissue residue depletion kinetics of tiamulin in fish.

Transition metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) have attracted significant attention in photoelectric applications due to their highly tunable electronic and optical properties influenced by a flexible compositional or surface functional group regulation. Ti3C2Tx MXenes (-F, -OH, =O terminated) used in previous ultrafast photonic studies are usually synthesized via a generic hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching strategy, which may cause numerous defects and thus impedes the optoelectronic properties of Ti3C2Tx. In this contribution, inspired by a much higher conductivity and carrier mobility of Ti3C2Tx (-F, -OH, =O, -Cl terminated) prepared from a minimally intensive layer delamination method (MILD) etching strategy, we further optimized it with a liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) method to synthesize pure Ti3C2Tx quantum dots (QDs) for ultrafast photonic. Compared to the other QDs saturable absorber (SA) devices performed at 1550 nm, our SA device exhibited a relatively low saturation intensity (1.983 GW/cm−2) and high modulation depth (11.6%), allowing for a more easily mode-locked pulse generation. A distinguished ultrashort pulse duration of 466 fs centered at the wavelength of 1566.57 nm with a fundamental frequency of 22.78 MHz was obtained in the communication band. Considering the SA based on such a Ti3C2Tx QDs tapered fiber is the first exploration of Er3+-doped fiber laser (EDFL), this work will open up a new avenue for applications in ultrafast photonics.

Monogeneans are a serious threat to the development of aquaculture due to the severe economic losses they cause. The prevention and treatment of this disease are increasingly difficult because of the environmental and health concerns caused by the use of chemical anthelmintics and the emergence of drug resistance. It is thus necessary to search for effective alternatives for the treatment of monogenean infections. In the current study, anthelmintic efficacy of 16 selected essential oils (EOs) was investigated using the goldfish (Carassius auratus)–Gyrodactylus kobayashii model. The screening experiment indicated that palmarosa oil and curcuma oil had satisfactory anthelmintic activity against G. kobayashii with EC100 values of 10 and 12 mg/L after 24-h exposure, respectively. The in vivo and in vitro assays indicated anthelmintic efficacy of palmarosa oil against G. kobayashii was in a time and dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, curcuma oil showed an anesthetic effect on G. kobayashii, and its anthelmintic activity was dose-dependent rather than time-dependent in the concentration range tested in this study. Additionally, the 24-h LC50 (50% lethal concentration) against goldfish of these two EOs was 8.19-fold and 5.54-fold higher than their corresponding EC50 (50% effective concentration) against G. kobayashii, respectively. Moreover, exposure to these two EOs at 100% effective concentration against G. kobayashii had no serious physiological and histopathological influence on goldfish. These results demonstrated a high safety for goldfish of these two EOs. Overall, palmarosa oil and curcuma oil could be potential candidates for the treatment of G. kobayashii infections in aquaculture.

Land surface processes play a vital role in the exchange of momentum, energy, and mass between the land and the atmosphere. However, the current model simplifies the canopy structure using approximately three to six parameters, which makes the representation of canopy radiation and energy distribution uncertain to a large extent. To improve the simulation performance, more specific canopy structure parameters were retrieved by a UAV-LiDAR observation system and updated into the multiparameterization version of the Noah land surface model (Noah-MP) for a typical forest area. Compared with visible-light photogrammetry, LiDAR retrieved a more accurate vertical canopy structure, which had a significant impact on land–air exchange simulations. The LiDAR solution resulted in a 35.0∼48.0% reduction in the range of perturbations for temperature and another 27.8% reduction in the range of perturbations for moisture. This was due to the canopy structure affecting the radiation and heat fluxes of the forest, reducing their perturbation range by 7.5% to 30.1%. To reduce the bias of the land surface interaction simulation, it will be necessary to improve the method of retrieving the canopy morphological parameterization through UAV-LiDAR on a continued basis in the future.

Gyrodactylus spp. Nordmann, 1832 (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae) are common ectoparasites of teleost fishes. Infection with these parasites can increase the mortality of fish and cause considerable economic losses in intensive aquaculture. To find an effective antiparasitic agent for the control of gyrodactylosis, antiparasitic efficacy of crude extracts of 36 herbal medicines was evaluated using a Carassius auratus (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae)—Gyrodactylus kobayashii model. Among all tested medicines, methanol extract of Dioscorea collettii var. hypoglauca (Dioscoreales, Dioscoreaceae) was the most efficient, with an EC50 value of 4.17 mg/L. This extract showed 100% antiparasitic efficacy against G. kobayashii at 10 mg/L and had a therapeutic index (TI, LC50/EC50) of 5.26, which is higher than that of formaldehyde (TI = 4.58), a widely used parasiticide in aquaculture. Subsequently, the potential mechanism of antiparasitic activity of dioscin, an active compound isolated from D. collettii var. hypoglauca was investigated and the histopathological alterations in goldfish after exposure to dioscin were also studied. The in vivo trial indicated dioscin showed significant antiparasitic activity with a 24 h-EC50 value of 1.58 mg/L and it exhibited 100% antiparasitic efficacy at 0.6 mg/L. Also, G. kobayashii could be completely removed in vivo within 2 h at 0.6 mg/L dioscin. Whereas, mean survival time of this worm in vitro was 4.99 h, and some individuals even reached 12 h at the same concentration of dioscin. These results indicated that 0.6 mg/L of dioscin did not completely kill all worms within 2 h, but just temporarily remove the worms from goldfish. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that most of the microvilli on the tegument surface of G. kobayashii dropped after exposure to dioscin. This might be one of the potential mechanisms of antiparasitic activity of dioscin against G. kobayashii. Furthermore, no severe histopathological alteration was observed after exposure to a high concentration of dioscin for a short time. Considering both effectiveness and safety, therapeutic baths with a high concentration of dioscin for a short time might be a more optimal choice for the treatment of gyrodactylosis in aquaculture.

Hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal energy has many advantages, such as being renewable, clean, widely distributed, and without time and weather limitations. Hydraulic fracturing is usually needed for the exploitation of HDR geothermal energy. It has many hidden faults in the reservoir/caprock sequences. Injecting fluid into underground formations during hydraulic fracturing often induces fault slip and leads to earthquakes. Therefore, to well understand the induced fault slip and earthquakes is important for the applications and development of HDR geothermal exploitation. In this study, we investigated the hazardous injection area of the induced earthquakes during hydraulic fracturing. The study was based on a hydraulic fracturing test in Qiabuqia geothermal field in China. According to the field, a fault-surrounding rock-fracturing region system was developed to study the influences of fluid injection on the stability of the specific fault. A total of 60 hydraulic fracturing regions and 180 numerical experiments were designed. The results revealed that the hazardous injection regions that threaten the fault’s stability were near to the fault and concentrated on the following four areas: (a) above the top of the fault in underlying strata; (b) above the top of the hanging wall of the fault in underlying strata; (c) near to the fault planes in both footwall and hanging wall; (d) at the bottom of the footwall of the fault in underlying strata. The hazardous injection area can be controlled effectively by adjusting the injection pressure.

This study investigated elimination of the herbicide pendimethalin using an integrated rice and Procambarus clarkii breeding model of indoor and outdoor (pond culture) exposure tests. The pendimethalin levels in 484 samples from the primary rice and P. clarkii integrated breeding areas in Hubei province were monitored, and dietary risk assessments of pendimethalin were calculated. Pendimethalin was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, and detection levels were linear in the range of 1.0 to 10.0 μg/L, and peak areas were positively correlated with concentration, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9996. Recoveries ranged from 86.9 to 103.5%, and the limit of quantitation was 2.5 × 10−4 μg/L in water, and 1 × 10−2 μg/kg in tissues, sediments, and waterweeds. The dissipation rate of pendimethalin in tissues and water followed first-order kinetics, with half-lives of 0.51–5.64 d. In 484 samples taken from aquaculture farms, pendimethalin was detected in 8.67% of the samples at levels in the range of 1.95 to 8.26 μg/kg in Hubei province from 2018 to 2020. The maximum residue limit of pendimethalin in P. clarkii has not been established in China, but our dietary risk assessments indicated that consumption of P. clarkii from integrated rice farms was acceptable.

The recent discovery of 2D magnets has induced various intriguing phenomena due to the modulated spin polarization by other degrees of freedoms such as phonons, interlayer stacking, and doping. The mechanism of the modulated spin-polarization, however, is not clear. In this work, we demonstrate theoretically and computationally that interlayer magnetic coupling of the CrI3 bilayer can be well controlled by intercalation and carrier doping. Interlayer atomic intercalation and carrier doping have been proven to induce an antiferromagnetic (AFM) to ferromagnetic (FM) phase transition in the spin-polarization of the CrI3 bilayer. Our results revealed that the AFM to FM transition induced by atom intercalation was a result of enhanced superexchange interaction between Cr atoms of neighboring layers. FM coupling induced by O intercalation mainly originates from the improved superexchange interaction mediated by Cr 3d-O 2p coupling. FM coupling induced by Li intercalation was found to be much stronger than that by O intercalation, which was attributed to the much stronger superexchange by electron doping than by hole doping. This comprehensive spin exchange mechanism was further confirmed by our results of the carrier doping effect on the interlayer magnetic coupling. Our work provides a deep understanding of the underlying spin exchange mechanism in 2D magnetic materials.

Abstract Aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) luminogens are an important type of advanced functional materials with fantastic optical properties and have found potential applications in organic electronics, biochemistry, and molecular imaging. Herein, this article presents a novel application of AIE luminogens (AIEgens) for efficient exfoliation of layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs, such as MoS2 and WSe2). From the 1H NMR spectroscopic analysis, the designed AIEgens can insert into the space between layers of MoS2 in ethanol solution and the dynamic molecular rotation against the weak interactions affords large‐scale few‐layer MoS2 nanosheets (7–8 layers) with enhanced smoothness. The 3D AIEgens play a significant role in preserving the crystal lattice of MoS2 even at high pressure (>15 GPa). More importantly, the new approach can also be used for exfoliation of WSe2 to achieve large‐scale few‐layer nanosheets. The present work thus provides a facile and high yielding synthetic method for accessing on a large scale 2D layered materials with enhanced properties for high‐technology applications.

PPP1R14B-AS1 is an antisense long non-coding RNA with unknown functions. Herein, gene differential analyses were performed using the data of patients with liver cancer and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. PPP1R14B-AS1 was found to be upregulated and also overexpressed in 10 other types of cancers. In addition, PPP1R14B-AS1 overexpression was associated with poor overall prognosis in eight cancers. Furthermore, PPPAR14B-AS1 upregulation was positively associated with worsening development of liver and LUAD cancers and related to poor disease-free survival. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses suggested that PPP1R14B-AS1 strongly participated in regulating cell aerobic respiration processes, such as mitochondrial electron respiration chain and NADH dehydrogenation processes. Cell cytoplasmic and nuclear RNA purification assessment results revealed that PPP1R14B-AS existed in the cell nucleus and cytoplasm. The knockdown of PPP1R14B-AS1 in HepG2 and A549 cells using PPP1R14B-AS1-specific siRNAs decreased mitochondrial respiration as demonstrated by the reduction in basal respiration and ATP production. Moreover, PPP1R14B-AS1 downregulation did not obviously affect cell glycolysis ability. Finally, PPP1R14B-AS1 inhibition inhibited HepG2 and A549 cell migration and proliferation. In summary, our study found for the first time that PPP1R14B-AS1 could be a potential biomarker for cancer diagnosis and that PPP1R14B-AS1 inhibition could be a potentially effective therapy.

The objective of this study was to investigate the bioavailability (BA) and pharmacokinetics (PK) of doxycycline (DC) in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) following a single intravenous injection at 5 mg/kg and a single oral administration at 50 mg/kg at 24°C. The calculation of PK parameters was based on the software 3P97. The plasma samples were determined using ultra-performance liquid chromatography. Following oral administration, the multiple-peak phenomenon presented in concentration vs. time curve of DC at 2 h (107.01 mg/L), 8 h (55.07 mg/L), and 72 h (15.10 mg/L), respectively. The compartmental model cannot simulate the oral concentration vs. time profile beside a non-compartmental model. The calculated parameters of the elimination rate constant (λz), the elimination half-life (t1/2λz), and the area under the concentration vs. time curve (AUC0-144) were 0.037 1/h, 18.91 h, and 2255.45 μg.h/mL, respectively. After intravenous administration, the concentration vs. time profile of DC was best described by a two-compartmental open model without absorption. The parameters of the distribution rate constant (α), the distribution half-life (t1/2α), the elimination rate constant (β), the elimination half-life (t1/2β), the apparent distribution volume at steady state (Vss), the total clearance (Cl) and the area under the concentration vs. time curve (AUC0-∞) were 2.79 1/h, 0.25 h, 0.042 1/h, 16.51 h, 300.00 mL/kg, 14.00 mL/h/kg, and 364.99 μg.h/mL, respectively. For the calculation of BA values at the same condition, the data obtained from intravenous injection were also iterated based on a non-compartmental model, and the corresponding parameters of λz, t1/2λz, Vz, Cl, and AUC0-144 were 0.019 1/h, 36.26 h, 480.00 mL/kg, 9.10 mL/h/kg, and 514.45 μg.h/mL, respectively. However, there was a considerable difference in the same parameter when calculated by compartmental and non-compartmental approaches. Finally, the medium BA value of DC was evaluated to be 43.84%. This study provides future studies with a framework for determining the BA of DC in the development of a new formulation and provides information on the appropriate use of DC in aquaculture.

Interleukin (IL)-22 plays an important role in regulating inflammation and clearance of infectious pathogens. IL-22 homologs have been discovered in fish, but the functions and sources of IL-22 have not been fully characterized. In this study, an IL-22 homolog was identified in grass carp and its bioactivities were investigated. The grass carp IL-22 was constitutively expressed in tissues, with the highest expression detected in the gills and hindgut. It was upregulated in the spleen after infection with Flavobacterium columnare and grass carp reovirus and in the primary head kidney and spleen leukocytes stimulated with LPS and IL-34. Conversely, it was downregulated by Th2 cytokines such as IL-4/13B and IL-10. The recombinant IL-22 produced in bacteria showed a stimulatory effect on the expression of inflammatory cytokines and STAT3 in the primary head kidney leukocytes and CIK cells. Moreover, the IL-22-positive cells were found to be induced in the hindgut and head kidney 24 h after infection by F. columnare. Our data suggest that IL-22 plays an important role in regulating mucosal and systemic immunity against bacterial and viral infection.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the clinical courses and outcomes of diabetes mellitus patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan.Methods: This study enrolled 1,880 consecutive patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Leishenshan Hospital. We collected and analyzed their data, including demographic data, history of comorbidity, clinical symptoms, laboratory tests, chest computed tomography (CT) images, treatment options, and survival.Results: The percentages of patients with diabetes among the severe and critical COVID-19 cases were higher than those among the mild or general cases (89.2%, 10.8 vs. 0%, p = 0.001). However, patients with and without diabetes showed no difference in the follow-up period (p = 0.993). The mortality rate in patients with or without diabetes was 2.9% (n = 4) and 1.1% (n = 9), respectively (p = 0.114). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses and the Kaplan-Meier curves did not show any statistically significant differences between patients with and without diabetes (all p > 0.05).Conclusions: Our study results suggested that diabetes had no effect on the prognosis of COVID-19 patients but had a negative association with their clinical courses. These results may be useful for clinicians in the management of diabetic patients with COVID-19.

In this study, goldfish (Carassius auratus) were exposed to 0 (control group) and 0.81 mg/L TCCA for four consecutive days. The liver transcriptome, the molecular indices of oxidative stress, and gills histopathology were investigated. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis indicated that energy metabolism-related pathways such as glycolysis/gluconeogenesis were significantly enriched, suggesting their perturbation in the liver of goldfish. Additionally, TCCA exposure also caused pathological damage in gills, which compromised physiological function and decreased oxygen intake capacity of gills, thus leading to the enhancement of anaerobic metabolism. This finding was confirmed by the significant upregulation of lactate dehydrogenase in the liver of goldfish. Moreover, many phase I and phase II metabolic enzymes might be activated to alleviate TCCA-induced toxicity in goldfish, and glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and cytochrome P450s (CYPs) play a crucial role in the metabolism of TCCA in the liver of goldfish. Furthermore, the antioxidant enzyme analysis showed that TCCA exposure induced oxidative damage in the liver and partially impaired the antioxidant defense system of goldfish, evidenced by decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and increased malondialdehyde (MDA) level. In summary, this study will improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the TCCA-induced toxicity in goldfish.

Background/Aims: Risk factor studies for acute kidney injury (AKI) in China are lacking, especially those regarding non-traditional risk factors, such as laboratory indicators. Methods: All adult patients admitted to 38 tertiary and 22 secondary hospitals in China in any one month between July and December 2014 were surveyed. AKI patients were screened according to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes’ definition of AKI. Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for AKI, and Cox regression was used to analyze the risk of in-hospital mortality for AKI patients; additionally, a propensity score analysis was used to reconfirm the risk factors among laboratory indicators for mortality. Results: The morbidity of AKI was 0.97%. Independent risk factors for AKI were advancing age, male gender, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. All-cause mortality was 16.5%. The predictors of mortality in AKI patients were advancing age, tumor, higher uric acid level and increases in Acute Physiologic Assessment and Chronic Health Evaluation II and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores. The hazard ratio (HR) for mortality with uric acid levels > 9.1 mg/dl compared with ≤ 5.2 mg/dl was 1.78 (95% CI: 1.23 to 2.58) for the AKI patients as a group, and was 1.73 (95% CI: 1.24 to 2.42) for a propensity score-matched set. Conclusion: In addition to traditional risk factors, uric acid level is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality after AKI.

The electronic structure and band offsets of blue phosphorus/WSe2 van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure are investigated via performing first-principles calculations. Blue phosphorus/WSe2 vdW heterostructure exhibits modulation of bandgaps by the applied vertical compressive strain, and a large compressive strain of more than 23% leads to a semiconductor-to-metal transition. Blue phosphorus/WSe2 vdW heterostructure is demonstrated to have a type-II band alignment, which promotes the spontaneous spatial separation of photo-excited electrons and holes. Furthermore, electrons concentrating in BlueP and holes in WSe2 can be enhanced by applied compressive strain, resulting in an increase of carrier concentration. Therefore, these properties make blue phosphorus/WSe2 vdW heterostructure a good candidate for future applications in photodetection.

We developed a method for determination of imidacloprid and its metabolites 5-hydroxy imidacloprid, olefin imidacloprid, imidacloprid urea and 6-chloronicotinic acid in Procambarus clarkii (crayfish) tissues using quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) and high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Samples (plasma, cephalothorax, hepatopancrea, gill, intestine, and muscle) were extracted with acetonitrile containing 0.1% acetic acid and cleaned up using a neutral alumina column containing a primary secondary amine. The prepared samples were separated using reverse phase chromatography and scanned in the positive and negative ion multiple reaction-monitoring modes. Under the optimum experimental conditions, spiked recoveries for these compounds in P. clarkii samples ranged from 80.6 to 112.7% with relative standard deviations of 4.2 to 12.6%. The limits of detection were 0.02–0.5 μg·L−1, the limits of quantification were 0.05–2.0 μg·L−1 and the method of quantification was 0.05–2.0 μg·kg−1. The method is rapid, simple, sensitive and suitable for rapid determination and analysis of imidacloprid and its metabolites in P. clarkii tissues.

Due to the absorption of opaque Si substrates, the luminous efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on Si substrates is not high. So, in this work, we insert AlN/GaN distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) to improve the light output of GaN-based LEDs on Si (111) substrates grown via metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). In order to obtain the highest reflectivity of the AlN/GaN DBR stop band, the growth parameters of AlN/GaN DBRs are optimized, including the growth temperature, the V/III ratio and the growth pressure. As a consequence, the interfaces of the optimal 9-pair AlN/GaN DBRs become abrupt, and the reflectivity of the DBR stop band is as high as 85.2%, near to the calculated value (92.5%). Finally, crack-free GaN-based LEDs with 5-pair AlN/GaN DBRs are grown on Si (111) substrates. The light output of the DBR-based LED is evidently enhanced by 41.8% at the injection current of 350 mA, compared with the conventional DBR-based LED without DBRs. These results pave the way for the luminous efficiency improvement of future green and red GaN-based LEDs grown on Si substrates.

Aeromonas hydrophila is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for a number of diseases in freshwater farming. Moreover, the bacterium has been identified as a zoonotic pathogen that threatens human health. Antibiotics are widely used for treatments of infectious diseases in aquaculture. However, the abuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of antimicrobial resistant strains. Thus, novel strategies are required against resistant A. hydrophila strains. The quorum sensing (QS) system, involved in virulence factor production and biofilm formation, is a promising target in identifying novel drugs against A. hydrophila infections. In this study, we found that thymol, at sub-inhibitory concentrations, could significantly reduce the production of aerolysin and biofilm formation by inhibiting the transcription of genes aerA, ahyI, and ahyR. These results indicate that thymol inhibits the quorum sensing system. The protective effects of thymol against A. hydrophila mediated cell injury were determined by live/dead assay and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay. Moreover, the in vivo study showed that thymol could significantly decrease the mortality of channel catfish infected with A. hydrophila. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that thymol could be chosen as a phytotherapeutic candidate for inhibiting quorum sensing system-mediated aerolysin production and biofilm formation in A. hydrophila.