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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a surge burden worldwide due to its high prevalence, with complicated deterioration symptoms such as liver fibrosis and cancer. No effective drugs are available for NALFD so far. The rapid growth of clinical demand has prompted the treatment of NAFLD to become a research hotspot. Protocatechuic acid (PCA) is a natural secondary metabolite commonly found in fruits, vegetables, grains, and herbal medicine. It is also the major internal metabolites of anthocyanins and other polyphenols. In the present manuscript, food sources, metabolic absorption, and efficacy of PCA were summarized while analyzing its role in improving NAFLD, as well as the mechanism involved. The results indicated that PCA could ameliorate NAFLD by regulating glucose and lipid metabolism, oxidative stress and inflammation, gut microbiota and metabolites. It was proposed for the first time that PCA might reduce NAFLD by enhancing the energy consumption of brown adipose tissue (BAT). However, the PCA administration mode and dose for NAFLD remain inconclusive. Fresh insights into the specific molecular mechanisms are required, while clinical trials are essential in the future. This review provides new targets and reasoning for the clinical application of PCA in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD.

The quantitative identification and zoning management of land use functions (LUFs) are important starting points for solving the problems of resource allocation and sustainable development. In this study, with the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) as a case study area, LUFs were grouped into three primary categories: economic function (ENF), social function (SCF), and ecological function (ELF). The least square error model was adopted to identify the morphological changes of LUFs. A two-dimensional discriminant matrix of the dynamic degree of LUF change and terrain niche index was constructed to explain the terrain gradient effect of LUFs. Bivariate local spatial autocorrelation was used to analyze the trade-offs in 2018 between ELF and ENF, and ELF and SCF. Finally, a new multilevel zoning scheme for LUFs was proposed. The results showed that from 1990 to 2018, ENF increased rapidly in cities along the Yangtze River, the overall level of SCF declined, and ELF in the south of the Yangtze River was better than that in the north. LUFs’ morphological zoning exhibited significant regional differences. SCF-ELF combination areas and ELF dominance areas were mainly optimized in the second-level zoning. The areas with weak ELF were concentrated in the east of the YREB. Based on these results, nine kinds of LUF zonings and six kinds of major functional zonings were devised, and policy allocation was arranged for each zoning to improve the efficiency of spatial zoning management. Our research provides a reference for large-scale regional sustainable development and land use zoning management.

Since obesity occurs when energy intake is higher than energy expenditure, increasing energy expenditure is an effective strategy to prevent or treat obesity. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a classic energy-consuming organ whose thermogenesis function can be activated by dietary components. Gentisic acid (2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, (DHB)) is widely found in food and exhibits many physiological functions, which include anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective properties. However, its anti-obesity effect and mechanism have yet to be examined. This study investigated the effect and mechanism of DHB in preventing diet-induced obesity in mice from the perspective of energy metabolism. The C57BL/6 mice were fed a normal diet (ND), a high-fat and high-fructose diet (HFFD) or HFFD plus 2 mg mL-1 DHB (DHB + HFFD) for 12 weeks. Measuring obesity, lipid metabolism, energy metabolism and BAT related indicators. Moreover, the C3H10T1/2 cells were used to assess the effect of DHB on brown adipocytes in vitro. The results proved that, at the end of the experiment, the body weight of the mice in the DHB + HFFD group was 14.97% lower than in the HFFD group. DHB reduced the weight of the major organs, improved insulin sensitivity, and decreased systemic lipid accumulation. Moreover, DHB administration significantly increased energy metabolism, which was (partly) due to the activation of BAT thermogenesis. Furthermore, DHB supplementation enhanced the expression of the fatty acid oxidation related proteins in BAT and the brown adipocytes, indicating that DHB augmented the utilization of fatty acids by BAT, which is the primary substance of thermogenesis. This study reveals that DHB administration prevents HFFD induced obesity in mice by (at least partly) accelerating the oxidation of fatty acids and stimulating the thermogenesis of BAT.

We report level-resolved rate coefficients for collision-induced rotational energy transfer in the 7Li2*–Ne system, with 7Li2* in the highly electronically excited E(3)1Σg+(vi = 4, ji = 31) and F(4...

Background Although polyphenol-rich cranberry extracts reportedly have an antiobesity effect, the exact reason for this remains unclear. Objectives In light of the reported health benefits of the polyphenolic compounds in cranberry, we investigated the effects and mechanism of a cranberry polyphenolic extract (CPE) in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice. Methods The distributions of individual CPE compounds were characterized by HPLC fingerprinting. Male C57BL/6J mice (4 wk old) were fed for 16 wk normal diet (ND, 10% fat energy) or HFD (60% fat energy) with or without 0.75% CPE in drinking water (HFD + CPE). Body and adipose depot weights, indices of glucose metabolism, energy expenditure (EE), and expression of genes related to brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, and inguinal/epididymal white adipose tissue (iWAT/eWAT) browning were measured. Results After 16 wk, the body weight was 22.5% lower in the CPE-treated mice than in the HFD group but remained 17.9% higher than in the ND group. CPE treatment significantly increased EE compared with that of the ND and HFD groups. The elevated EE was linked with BAT thermogenesis, and iWAT/eWAT browning, shown by the induction of thermogenic genes, especially uncoupling protein 1 (Ucp1), and browning-related genes, including Cd137, a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (Tnfrsf9). The mRNA expression and abundance of uncoupling protein 1 in BAT of CPE-fed mice were 5.78 and 1.47 times higher than in the HFD group, and 0.61 and 1.12 times higher than in the ND group, respectively. Cd137 gene expression in iWAT and eWAT of CPE-fed mice were 2.35 and 3.13 times higher than in the HFD group, and 0.84 and 1.39 times higher than in the ND group, respectively. Conclusions Dietary CPE reduced but did not normalize HFD-induced body weight gain in male C57BL/6J mice, possibly by affecting energy metabolism.

Membrane material, pore size, and cleaning strategy are important factors for microalgal membrane harvesting. In this study, harvesting of Scenedesmus acuminatus cultivated in pilot scale using nine ultrafiltration and three microfiltration membranes was carried out in cross-flow filtration system to compare their filtration performance and flux recovery after physical and chemical cleaning. The 0.45-μm PVDF-AsahiKASEI membrane had the highest average flux of 513.6 L m−2 h−1 among 12 membranes and 50-kDa PVC-Litree membrane had the highest average flux of 98.0 L m−2 h−1 among nine ultrafiltration membranes for 60 L S. acuminatus suspension harvesting. There were significantly positive correlations between membrane pore size, pure water flux, and average flux for S. acuminatus suspension harvesting. Generally, ultrafiltration membrane had moderate total fouling index (TFI) and high proportion of hydraulic reversible fouling index (HRFI) of more than 95%. The 0.45-μm PVDF-AsahiKASEI membrane had a low TFI but the lowest proportion of HRFI, associated with the residual microalgal cells, debris, and colloids on the inner surface and top ends of some cells inserted to big membrane pores, demonstrated by SEM image and reduced porosity from 65.9 to 60.2%. Compared to soaking cleaning, circulation cleaning strategy had a better flux recovery efficiency for 0.45-μm PVDF-AsahiKASEI membrane, proving that it would be a potential way in membrane chemical cleaning. This study demonstrated that microfiltration with high flux has great potential in microalgal harvesting if flux recovery efficiency can be significantly increased using suitable cleaning strategy such as circulation cleaning strategy.

Qizhu Tangshen Formula (QZTS) has been shown therapeutic effects on diabetic kidney disease (DKD). However, to date, the pharmacological mechanisms remain vague.To explore the underlying mechanisms of QZTS in treating DKD using network pharmacology, machine learning, molecular docking and experimental assessment.First, we found that QZTS improved glycolipid metabolism disorder, decreased proteinuria and alleviated kidney tissue injury in DKD model KKAy mice. Then, by integrating multiple databases, a total of 96 targets of 74 active compounds in QZTS and 759 DKD-related genes were acquired. Next, we identified 13 hub targets of QZTS in DKD by three rank algorithms, including functional similarity, topological similarity and shortest path. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses demonstrated that the pathways mainly centered on the processes of glycolipid metabolism disorder, inflammation and angiogenesis. Among them, VEGF signaling pathway was significantly enriched. Molecular docking showed that key active compounds of QZTS all had relatively good binding affinity with predicted hub targets. Finally, animal experiments found that QZTS significantly inhibited the secretion of plasma VEGF and downregulated the protein and mRNA expression levels of AKT, p38MAPK and VEGFR2.Our results indicated that QZTS treated DKD via multiple targets and pathways and the VEGF signaling pathway may be highly involved in this process.

Objective. This study is aimed to reveal the possible mechanisms of artemisinin in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) through bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification in UC model rats. Methods. Firstly, we searched two microarray data of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to explore the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between UC samples and normal samples. Then, we selected DEGs for gene ontology (GO) function enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. The acute UC model of rats was established by using 3.5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) for 10 days to verify the core pathway. Finally, we evaluated the therapeutic effect of artemisinin at the molecular level and used metabonomics to study the endogenous metabolites in the rat serum. Results. We screened in the GEO database and selected two eligible microarray datasets, GSE36807 and GSE9452. We performed GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses of DEGs and found that these DEGs were mainly enriched in the inflammatory response, immune response, and IL-17 and NF-κB signaling pathways. Finally, we verified the IL-17 signaling pathway and key cytokines, and ELISA and immunohistochemical results showed that artemisinin could downregulate the expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-17 in the IL-17 signaling pathway and upregulate the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine PPAR-γ. Metabolomics analysis showed that 33 differential metabolites were identified in the artemisinin group (AG) compared to the model group (MG). Differential metabolites were mainly involved in alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism and synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies. Conclusion. In this study, we found that artemisinin can significantly inhibit the inflammatory response in UC rats and regulate metabolites and related metabolic pathways. This study provides a foundation for further research on the mechanism of artemisinin in the treatment of UC.

(1) Background: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) burns energy to produce heat. Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G) can then enhance the thermogenic ability of BAT in vivo. However, the mechanism by which C3G regulates Ucp1 protein expression remains unclear. (2) Methods: In this study, C3H10T12 brown adipose cells and db/db mice and mice with high-fat, high-fructose, diet-induced obesity were used as the model to explore the effect of C3G on the expression of the Ucp1 gene. Furthermore, the 293T cell line was used for an in vitro cell transgene, a double luciferase reporting system, and yeast single hybridization to explore the mechanism of C3G in regulating Ucp1 protein. (3) Results: we identified that, under the influence of C3G, Prdm16 directly binds to the −500 to −150 bp promoter region of Ucp1 to activate its transcription and, thus, facilitate BAT programming. (4) Conclusions: This study clarified the mechanism by which C3G regulates the expression of the Ucp1 gene of brown fat to a certain extent.

In this study, a pilot-scale ultrafiltration membrane system was developed for harvesting of oleaginous Scenedesmus acuminatus by adjusting transmembrane pressure-TMP (cross flow velocity-CFV changed accordingly) and applying air-assisted backwashing technology to increase membrane flux, reduce flux declining rate and enhance flux recovery rate. A two-stage harvesting strategy (normal filtration–strengthening concentration) was performed for harvesting of 53 m3 of S. acuminatus suspension to achieve both high flux and concentration factor. The results showed that TMP (CFV) had positive impact on average flux, and the increase could effectively overcome the decrease in average flux when harvesting microzooplankton contaminated S. acuminatus culture. Shortening the interval of air-assisted backwashing to 15 min enhanced the average flux up to 12%. The average flux decreased with the increased loading volume, and volumetric reduction factor had a negative effect on average flux. For the harvesting of 53 m3 of S. acuminatus suspension, an average membrane flux reached up to 53.6 L/(m2·h), with a concentration factor of 145, a final dry weight of 136 g/L, and a biomass recovery of 93% after backwashing. Techno-economic analysis for annual harvesting capacity of 10000 t dry biomass showed that the total harvesting cost was $0.30/kg dry microalgal biomass with a volumetric reduction factor of 50, and membrane harvesting under CFV of 0.5–0.6 m/s may lead to a moderate flux of 60–66.6 L/(m2·h) and minimal total cost of $0.27/kg dry biomass based on the sensitivity analysis. The results of this study suggest that this clean and efficient ultrafiltration membrane approach has high industrialization potential.

Given the multiple roles of associated microbiota in improving animal host fitness in a microbial environment, increasing numbers of researchers have focused on how the associated microbiota keeps stable under complex environmental factors, especially some biological ones. Recent studies show that associated microbiota interacts with pathogenic microbes. However, whether and how the interaction would influence microbiota stability is limitedly investigated. Based on the interaction among Delia antiqua, its associated microbiota, and one pathogen Beauveria bassiana, the associated microbiota's response to the pathogen was determined in this study. Besides, the underlying mechanism for the response was also preliminarily investigated. Results showed that B. bassiana neither infect D. antiqua larvae nor did it colonize inside the associated microbiota, and both the bacterial and fungal microbiota kept stable during the interaction. Further experiments showed that bacterial microbiota almost completely inhibited conidial germination and mycelial growth of B. bassiana during its invasion, while fungal microbiota did not inhibit conidial germination and mycelial growth of B. bassiana. According to the above results, individual dominant bacterial species were isolated, and their inhibition on conidial germination and mycelial growth of B. bassiana was reconfirmed. Thus, these results indicated that bacterial instead of fungal microbiota blocked B. bassiana conidia and stabilized the associated microbiota of D. antiqua larvae during B. bassiana invasion. The findings deepened the understanding of the role of associated microbiota–pathogen microbe interaction in maintaining microbiota stability. They may also contribute to the development of novel biological control agents and pest management strategies.

Recent studies have revealed multiple roles of insect-associated microbes such as lignin degradation, entomopathogen inhibition, and antibiotic production. These functions improve insect host fitness, and provide a novel source of discovering beneficial microbes for industrial and agricultural production. Previously published research found that in the symbiosis formed by the dipteran pest Delia antiqua (Meigen) (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) and its associated bacteria, the bacteria showed effective inhibition of one fungal entomopathogen, Beauveria bassiana. The antifungal activity of those associated bacteria indicates their potential to be used as biocontrol agents for fungal phytopathogens. In this study, we first isolated and identified bacteria associated with D. antiqua using a culture-dependent method. Second, we tested the antifungal activity of these bacteria against four phytopathogens including Fusarium moniliforme, Botryosphaeria dothidea, and two Fusarium oxysporum strains using the dual-culture method. In total, 74 species belonging to 30 genera, 23 families, eight classes, and four phyla were isolated and identified. Among those bacteria, Ochrobactrum anthropi, Morganella morganii, Arthrobacter sp. 3, and Acinetobacter guillouiae showed significant volatile inhibition activity against F. moniliforme, B. dothidea, and both F. oxysporum, respectively. Moreover, bacteria including Rhodococcus equi, Leucobacter aridicollis, Paenibacillus sp. 3, and Lampropedia sp. showed significant contact inhibition activity against F. moniliforme, B. dothidea, and both F. oxysporum. Our work provides a new source for discovering biocontrol agents against phytopathogens.

In practical decision-making, the behavior factors of decision makers often affect the final decision-making results. Regret theory is an important behavioral decision theory. Based on the regret theory, a novel decision-making method is proposed for the multiattribute decision-making problem with incomplete attribute weight information, and the attribute values are expressed by Atanassov intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. At first, a new distance of intuitionistic fuzzy sets is put forward based on the traditional Canberra distance. Then, we utilize it for the definition of the regret value (rejoice) for the attribute value of each alternative with the corresponding values of the positive point (negative point). The objective of this method is to maximize the comprehensive perceived utility of the alternative set by the decision maker. The optimal attribute weight vector is solved, and the optimal comprehensive perceived utility value of each alternative is obtained. Finally, according to the optimal comprehensive perceived utility value, the rank order of all alternatives is concluded.

Mumps virus (MuV) has high tropism to the testis and may lead to male infertility. Sertoli cells are the major targets of MuV infection. However, the mechanisms by which MuV infection impairs male fertility and Sertoli cell function remain unclear. The present study elucidated the effect of MuV infection on the blood-testis barrier (BTB). The transepithelial electrical resistance of MuV-infected mouse Sertoli cells was monitored, and the expression of major proteins of the BTB was examined. We demonstrated that MuV infection disrupted the BTB by reducing the levels of occludin and zonula occludens 1. Sertoli cells derived from Tlr2(−/−) and Tnfa(−/−) mice were analyzed for mediating MuV-induced impairment. TLR2-mediated TNF-α production by Sertoli cells in response to MuV infection impaired BTB integrity. MuV-impaired BTB was not observed in Tlr2(−/−) and Tnfa(−/−) Sertoli cells. Moreover, an inhibitor of TNF-α, pomalidomide, prevents the disruption of BTB in response to MuV infection. FITC-labeled biotin tracing assay confirmed that BTB permeability and spermatogenesis were transiently impaired by MuV infection in vivo. These findings suggest that the disruption of the BTB could be one of the mechanisms underlying MuV-impaired male fertility, in which TNF-α could play a critical role.—Wu, H., Jiang, X., Gao, Y., Liu, W., Wang, F., Gong, M., Chen, R., Yu, X., Zhang, W., Gao, B., Song, C., Han, D. Mumps virus infection disrupts blood-testis barrier through the induction of TNF-α in Sertoli cells.

Many factors affect the driving force of fungal growth and secretion. To compare the differences of Lasiodiplodia theobromae infected poplar wood, the changes of physical and chemical properties of vertically and horizontally infected poplar wood before and after dyeing were analyzed, and the infection characteristics were studied in this paper. The horizontal infection was more effective than the vertical infection in terms of infection depth, color depth, and microscopic hyphal invasion. The mycelium first intruded into the earlywood tissue and began to secrete a large amount of pigment after twenty days. The crystallinity of mycelium decreased slightly, and the difference in weight loss rate was negligible. The initial contact angle of the dyed specimen on the horizontal infection increased drastically in distilled water, but there was almost no difference between varnish and natural coating. The horizontal infection was more efficient than the vertical infection and had a higher color depth and a better induction effect, which is crucial in future microbial dyeing.

This paper examines the effects of seed size and the depth of sand burial on seed germination and seedling development for Pinus thunbergii. Parl. Seeds from 20- to 30-year old trees grown in the coastal area of Yantai were divided into three size categories (large, medium, and small). The seeds were sown in pots with different depth of sand, and their germination and seedling growth during the first month were investigated. Results showed that large seeds possessed the highest 1000-seed weight and soluble sugar concentration. Large and medium seeds had a higher germination rate, germination index, vigor index, and seedling biomass than small seeds. With the increase in seed size, root mass ratio, root/shoot ratio, specific root length, and specific root area decreased, whereas leaf mass ratio increased. Sand burial depth significantly influenced seed germination and seedling growth, and the highest germination rate and seedling biomass were achieved with 2&ndash, 3 cm sand burial. We also found that seedling biomass was positively related to germination rate, germination index, and vigor index, but was negatively related to mean germination time. Moreover, seedling biomass was negatively correlated with root mass ratio and root/shoot ratio, but positively correlated with leaf mass ratio, specific root length, and specific root area. The results suggest that seed size and sand burial depth are key factors in the regeneration of the coastal P. thunbergii forest.

Increasing the cross-flow velocity can improve the permeate flux to a certain extent during cross-flow ultrafiltration harvesting of microalgae. In this study, the effect of cross-flow velocity on the fouling mechanisms of Isochrysis zhanjiangensis suspension, fragile algogenic organic matter-free cells and cell-free algogenic organic matter was investigated using different cross-flow velocities of 0.13, 0.26, 0.51 and 0.63 m·s−1. The fouling mechanism of algogenic organic matter and algae cells was analyzed by Hermia's model; in particular, the changes in their fouling ratios under different cross-flow velocities were further elucidated based on the criteria importance through intercriteria correlation. The results revealed that cake formation by algogenic organic matter and cells mainly induced membrane fouling at different cross-flow velocities. Notably, the contribution of algogenic organic matter and algae cells to membrane fouling varied with cross-flow velocity. The objective weight of fouling caused by algae cells decreased from 0.758 to 0.279, then increased to 0.560 after cell disruption and finally reached 0.946. This result suggested that the cell disruption significantly aggravated cellular fouling. In contrast, the objective weight of fouling caused by algogenic organic matter increased with cross-flow velocity, and cell disruption reversed the trend. For further insight, a model was developed based on the fouling contributions of algogenic organic matter and cells to cake formation; the model was capable of predicting fluxes under different cross-flow velocities. These findings not only clarify the fouling mechanism of I. zhanjiangensis cells and algogenic organic matter but also provide a valuable model that is instructive for the development of membrane filtration of fragile microorganisms.

We have investigated collision induced rotational and vibrational energy transfer in the Li2 A1Σu+(vi,ji=30)−Ne system experimentally under single‐collision conditions at an effective temperature of 691 K. Over 800 inelastic rate constants have been measured, with the initial vibrational level vi ranging from 2 to 24 and −2≤Δv≤+2. Increasing vi results in a linear increase in the vibrational transition rate constants, which is accompanied by a decrease in the rotationally inelastic transition rate constant. The total inelastic rate constant increases with vi only at the highest values of vi. Net vibrational energy transfer 〈ΔE〉 calculated using rotationally summed rate constants is qualitatively consistent with a simple model. However, explicit inclusion of rotation gives quite different values of 〈ΔE〉. The experimental results are compared with our three‐dimensional trajectory calculations on an ab initio potential surface and on a simple repulsive potential surface.

We report measurements of level‐resolved rate constants for inelastic scattering in the Li2 A 1Σ+u–Ne system, with initial molecular quantum numbers vi=2 and ji=30. The measurements include rotationally and vibrationally inelastic rate constants with ‖Δv‖≤2. Comparison is made with rate constants computed from classical trajectories on a recently reported ab initio potential energy surface. Our work constitutes the first comparison between experiment and calculation on an accurate potential for level‐resolved vibrationally inelastic scattering.

Gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) is a first-line treatment for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of a combined treatment consisting of CT-guided percutaneous (125)I seed implantation with GP chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC.Fifty-three patients with advanced NSCLC were enrolled in a nonrandomized, two-armed clinical trial. Of these patients, 24 received a combination treatment of CT-guided percutaneous (125) I seed implantation and GP (the combo group), while 29 were treated with GP only (the control group).Patients in the combo group received (125)I seed implantation with prescription dose of 100-140 Gy and a total of 55 cycles of GP, and patients in the control group received a total of 73 cycles of GP. The overall response rate was 79.2% in the combo group and 41.4% in the control group. The median overall survival time was 13.5 ± 1.5 months in the combo group and 9.0 ± 1.8 months in the control group. The progression-free survival time was 8.0 ± 1.2 months in the combo group and 5.0 ± 0.8 months in the control group. The 1- and 2-year survival rates were 62.5 and 16.7% in the combo group, respectively, and 41.4 and 13.8% in the control group. The interventional complications in the combo group included 5 cases of pneumothorax and 4 cases of hemoptysis. There were no complications due to radiation pneumonia or radiation esophagitis in the combo group, and no patients had lethal hemoptysis or esophagotracheal fistula. Chemotherapy treatment-related toxicities, including Grade 3/4 myelosuppression and Grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity, were similar in both groups.Our initial experience showed that combined CT-guided (125)I radioactive seed implantation and GP chemotherapy are effective and safe for treating advanced NCSLC.

We have measured a large number of rate constants for the process where Vi,ji,Vf and jf indicate the initial and final vibrational and rotational quantum numbers of the Li2 molecule.