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• A novel extension of smoothed finite element method (S-FEM) to solve three-dimensional turbulent flows. • RANS equations with realizable k-ε turbulence model in conjunction with SUPG and SPGP stabilization method. • The better performance of S-FEM in dealing with turbulent flows near boundary regions and strong convection regions compared to the Q1-Q1 and P1-P1 mixed with Q1-Q1 FEM. • Analysis of the performance of the mixed mesh based S-FEM on turbulent flows. Smoothed finite element method (S-FEM) has been widely employed in computational mechanics, particularly in computational solid mechanics (CSM) and, to a lesser extent, in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The present work focuses on the development of S-FEM for solving three-dimensional incompressible turbulent flow problems using the realizable k-ε model. The Streamline Upwind Petrov-Galerkin approach combined with Stabilized Pressure Gradient Projection (SUPG/SPGP) was used to restrain/control the spatial oscillation and instability in conjunction with mixed meshes employed to discretize complex geometries. The presented turbulent cell-based S-FEM (CS-FEM) was validated under several common flow types, including mesh turbulence, turbulent channel flow, turbulent flow past a circular cylinder, flow separation around an obstacle, flow in the dimpled channel, and flow in the upper human airway. In particular, the presented work exhibited the latent capability of the CS-FEM in solving turbulent flows near boundary regions and strong convection regions. Meanwhile, the results of the CS-FEM were compared to those of the lowest equal-order finite element method (i.e. P1–P1 or Q1–Q1 elements) in simulating turbulent flows, and it was found that the CS-FEM had better agreement with other published works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the control mechanisms of carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions in intertidal wetland sediments is beneficial for the concern of global carbon biogeochemistry and climate change. Nevertheless, multiple controls on CO 2 emissions from intertidal wetland sediments to the atmosphere still need to be clarified. This study investigated the effect of tidal action on CO 2 emissions from salt marsh sediments covered by Spartina alterniflora in the Jiaozhou Bay wetland using the static chamber method combined with an infrared CO 2 detector. The results showed that the CO 2 emission fluxes from the sediment during ebb tides were higher than those during flood tides. The whole wetland sediment acted as a weak source of atmospheric CO 2 (average flux: 24.44 ± 16.80 mg C m−2 h−1) compared to terrestrial soils and was affected by the cycle of seawater inundation and exposure. The tidal influence on vertical dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) transport in the sediment was also quantitated using a two-end member mixing model. The surface sediment layer (5–15 cm) with maximum DIC concentration during ebb tides became the one with minimum DIC concentration during flood tides, indicating the DIC transport from the surface sediment to seawater. Furthermore, aerobic respiration by microorganisms was the primary process of CO 2 production in the sediment according to 16 S rDNA sequencing analysis. This study revealed the strong impact of tidal action on CO 2 emissions from the wetland sediment and provided insights into the source-sink pattern of CO 2 and DIC at the land-ocean interface. [Display omitted] • The strong impact of tidal flooding on CO 2 emissions from wetland sediments. • DIC in surface sediments would diffuse into seawater under tidal inundations. • Microbial aerobic respiration was the primary process of CO 2 production in sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An active failure-pursuing Kriging modeling method is proposed for time-dependent reliability analysis. • An equivalent stochastic process transformation is developed to form a uniform high probability density region. • An active failure-pursing strategy is proposed to identify the most valuable samples. • Correlation-based screening and space partition are applied to represent the sensitive local regions. Some time-dependent reliability analysis methods use surrogate models to approximate the implicit limit state functions of complex systems. However, the performance of these methods is usually affected by the situations that the used models are not accurate and some samples have no significant contribution to the accuracy improvement. To construct a more suitable model for reliability analysis, this work proposes an active failure-pursuing Kriging modeling method to identify the most valuable samples for improving the accuracy of the predicted failure probability. On the one hand, a global predicted failure probability error index calculated through the real-time reliability result is proposed to pursue the sensitive sample and the corresponding local region that is most likely to maximize the improvement of the accuracy of the reliability result. A fault-tolerant scheme is further applied to ensure the accuracy of the failure-pursuing process. On the other hand, the correlation-based screening and space partition strategy is developed to describe the local regions and avoid the clustering of samples. In each iteration, the Kriging model is updated with the exploitation of new sample from the local regions around the sensitive samples. Additionally, an equivalent stochastic process transformation is developed to form a uniform high probability density sampling space. The results of three cases demonstrate the efficiency, accuracy and stability of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate torsion exceptional sheaves on a weak del Pezzo surface of degree greater than two whose anticanonical model has at most A n -singularities. We show that every torsion exceptional sheaf can be obtained from a line bundle on a ( − 1 ) -curve by spherical twists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as key molecules in human cancer genesis and progression, including prostate cancer. Large amount of lncRNAs have been found that differentially expressed between prostate cancer tissues and normal prostate tissues. Whether these lncRNAs could serve as a novel biomarker for prostate cancer diagnosis or prognosis, and their biological functions in prostate cancer need further investigation. In the present study, we identified that lncRNA lnc-MX1-1 is over-expressed in prostate cancer tissues compared with their adjacent normal prostate tissues by gene expression array profiling. The expression of lnc-MX1-1 in 60 prostate cancer cases was determined by real-time quantitative PCR and the correlations between lnc-MX1-1 expression and patients' clinical features were further analyzed. Next, we impaired lnc-MX1-1 expression using RNAi in LNCaP and 22Rv1 prostate cancer cells to explore the effects of lnc-MX1-1 on proliferation and invasiveness of the cells. Our results showed that there was a significant association between over-expression of lnc-MX1-1 and patients' clinical features such as PSA, Gleason score, metastasis, and recurrence free survival. Moreover, knockdown of lnc-MX1-1 reduced both proliferation and invasiveness of LNCaP and 22Rv1 cells. In conclusion, the results suggest that lnc-MX1-1 may serve as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MILI, a member of the PIWI/AGO gene family, has been well documented to maintain genome integrity by transposon silencing in animal germ cells. It has been reported to be selectively expressed in precancerous stem cells (pCSCs), tumor cell lines and various malignancies. However, the underlying mechanism remains largely unclear. Here, we found that MILI is expressed in the melanoma cell line B16 but not in the highly metastatic mouse melanoma model B16BL6. Interestingly, the knockdown of MILI in B16 could activate MAGEA expression and increase the cell migration ability, whereas the overexpression of MILI in B16BL6 could inhibit MAGEA expression and decrease the cell migration ability. Further investigations showed that MILI can methylate LINE1, which is crucial for MAGEA expression and melanoma cell migration. Our results provide a novel function of MILI in melanoma metastasis and tumor progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Bayesian calibration of multi-level model with unobservable and distributed outputs • Simultaneous model parameter estimation and model discrepancy quantification • A two-phase estimation method to overcome computational challenge • Practical application of the proposed approach to miter gate Bayesian calibration plays a vital role in improving the validity of computational models' predictive power. However, the presence of unobservable distributed responses and uncertain model parameters in multi-level models poses challenges to Bayesian calibration, due to the lack of direct observations and the difficulty in identifying the hidden and distributed model discrepancy under uncertainty. This paper proposes a Bayesian calibration framework for multi-level simulation models to calibrate an unobservable distributed model using measurements of an observable model. In the proposed framework, the distributed model discrepancy of an unobservable model with distributed response is first represented as a series of orthogonal polynomials, with the polynomial coefficients modelled by surrogate models with unknown hyper-parameters. A two-phase machine learning method is then developed to construct surrogate models of the polynomial coefficients based on measurements of an observable model. The constructed model discrepancy is finally used to update the uncertain model parameters by following a modularized Bayesian calibration scheme. The developed framework is applied to the joint Bayesian calibration of the uncertain gap length and unobservable and distributed boundary condition model for a miter gate problem. Results of the miter gate application demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BODIPY-based amphiphilic dye with enhanced donor–acceptor-donor structure (BDP-AP) was synthesized, which could self-assemble into stable nanoparticles (BDP-AP NPs) for synergistic NIR-triggered PDT/PTT therapy. [Display omitted] • BODIPY-based amphiphilic dye with enhanced D-A-D structure was synthesized. • BDP-AP could self-assemble into stable nanoparticles BDP-AP NPs. • BDP-AP NPs synchronously generated 1O 2 and performed photothermal conversion. • BDP-AP NPs was used for the synergistic NIR-triggered PDT/PTT therapy. Near‐infrared (NIR) responsive nanoparticles are an important platform for multimodal phototherapy. Importantly, the simultaneous NIR-triggered photodynamic (PDT) and photothermal (PTT) therapy is a powerful approach to increase the antitumor efficiency of phototherapic nanoparticles due to the synergistic effect. Herein, a boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY)-based amphiphilic dye with enhanced electron donor–acceptor-donor (D-A-D) structure (BDP-AP) was designed and synthesized, which could self-assemble into stable nanoparticles (BDP-AP NPs) for the synergistic NIR-triggered PDT/PTT therapy. BDP-AP NPs synchronously generated singlet oxygen (1O 2) and achieved preeminent photothermal conversion efficiency (61.42%). The in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that BDP-AP NPs possessed negligible dark cytotoxicity and infusive anticancer performance. BDP-AP NPs provide valuable guidance for the construction of PDT/PTT-synergistic NIR nanoagents to improve the efficiency of photoinduced cancer therapy in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sought to evaluate the association between diet and angiogenic biomarkers in KpB mice, and the association between these markers, body mass index (BMI), and overall survival (OS) in high-grade serous cancers (HGSC). Tumors previously obtained from KpB mice subjected to high-fat diets (HFD, n = 10) or low-fat diets (LFD, n = 10) were evaluated for angiogenesis based on CD-31 microvessel density (MVD). Data from prior microarray analysis (Agilent 244 K arrays) conducted in 10 mice were utilized to assess associations between diet and angiogenetic biomarkers. Agilent (mouse) and Affymetrix Human Genome U133a probes were linked to 162 angiogenic-related genes. The associations between biomarkers, BMI, and OS were evaluated in an HGSC internal database (IDB) (n = 40). Genes with unadjusted p < 0.05 were evaluated for association with OS in the TCGA-OV database (n = 339). There was no association between CD-31 and diet in mice (p = 0.66). Sixteen angiogenic-related genes passed the p < 0.05 threshold for association with HFD vs. LFD. Transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFA) demonstrated 72% higher expression in HFD vs. LFD mice (p = 0.04). Similar to the mouse study, in our HGSC IDB, higher TGFA expression correlated with higher BMI (p = 0.01) and shorter survival (p = 0.001). In the TCGA-OV dataset, BMI data was not available and there was no association between TGFA and OS (p = 0.48). HFD and obesity may promote tumor progression via differential modulation of TGFA. We were unable to confirm this finding in the TCGA dataset. Further evaluation of TGFA is needed to determine if this is a target unique to obesity-driven HGSC. • Transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFA) demonstrated 72% higher expression in mice fed high-fat diets. • Higher tumor TGFA expression was associated with higher BMI and shorter survival in patients with serous ovarian cancers. • High-fat diet and obesity may promote tumor progression via differential modulation of TGFA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify novel immunologic targets and biomarkers associated with overall survival (OS) in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC). In this retrospective study, microarray data from 51 HGSC specimens were analyzed (Affymetrix HG-U133A). A panel of 183 immune/inflammatory response related genes linked to 279 probe sets was constructed a priori and screened. Associations between gene expression and OS were assessed using logrank tests. Multiple testing was addressed within the False Discovery Rate (FDR) framework. For external validation, TCGA Ovarian dataset and five GSE publicly available HGSC datasets were evaluated. In Duke data, 110 probe sets linked to 83 immunologic/inflammatory-related genes were differentially expressed in tumors from long versus short-term HGSC survivors (adjusted p < 0.05). In TCGA, concordant with the results from the Duke discovery cohort, high expression of one probe (IL6R) demonstrated a consistent significance and concordant association with higher expression in long-term HGSC survivors (Duke q-value = 0.022) and improved OS in the TCGA dataset (p-value = 0.015, HR = 0.8). Thirteen genes in GSE14764 (N = 4) and GSE26712 (N = 9) datasets had significant p-values and consistent concordant with Duke Data. Despite the significant associations of gene expression and OS in the individual GSE datasets, in the GSE meta-analysis no genes were consistently concordant and significantly associated with survival. Evaluation of IL6R expression may be warranted based on higher expression in long-term survivors and association with improved survival in advanced HGSC. The other candidate genes may also be of worthy of further exploration to enhance immuno-oncology drug discovery. • Immunologic/inflammatory-related genes can be differentially expressed in HGSC. • Differential expression of those genes can be associated with long versus short-term HGSC survival. • High expression of IL6R demonstrated higher expression in long-term survivors in Duke extreme phenotype study database. • High expression of the IL6R was associated with improved overall survival in the TCGA database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of the Ostwald Ripening presents Ni 2 P@C OWS electrocatalyst of 3D nanoflowers/nanospheres structure with multi-dimensional interfaces. The nanosphere interface of protruding outwards, which is conducive to full contact with the electrolyte while the nanoflower lamellar connection promotes rapid electron transfer and exposes more active sites, and the interspace structure contributes to gas diffusion. [Display omitted] The regulation of the multi-dimensional interface plays an important role in optimizing the electron transport and gas mass transfer during catalysis, which is conducive to promoting the electrocatalytic process. Herein, a self-supporting electrode has been developed with the multistage interface within 3D Ni 2 P@C nanospheres/nanoflowers arrays derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as template skeletons and precursors. The constructed nanosphere interface protrudes outward to optimize the contact with the electrolyte while the nanoflower lamellar connection promotes rapid electron transfer and exposes more active sites, and accelerates the gas diffusion with the abundant interspace channels. According to theoretical calculation, the synergistic effect between Ni 2 P and C is conducive to the optimal adsorption and desorption of H*, thus contributing to the improvement of catalytic kinetics. With the optimized growth times assembled onto nickel foam substrates, the Ni 2 P@C-12 h requires overpotentials of only 69 mV and 205 mV to drive the current density of 10 mA cm−2 towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively. And it reveals an ultralow cell voltage of 1.55 V at 10 mA cm−2 to achieve overall water splitting (OWS). In addition, the stability of the Ni 2 P@C/NF electrocatalyst emerges as prominent long-term stability, which is attributed to the carbonaceous nanosphere anchors on the substrate to minimize the possibility of oxidation of the catalyst surface. This strategy of in situ growth of MOF-derived phosphates provides a general idea for interfacial engineering modification of OWS electrode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cathepsins are major lysosomal enzymes that participate in necessary physiological processes, including protein degradation, tissue differentiation, and innate or adaptive immune responses. According to their proteolytic activity, vertebrate cathepsins are classified as cysteine proteases (cathepsins B, C, F, H, K, L, O, S, V, W, and X or Z), aspartic proteases (cathepsin D and E), and serine proteases (cathepsin A and G). Several cathepsins were reported in teleosts, however, no cathepsin gene has been identified from Pacific cod so far. In the present study, a total of 13 cathepsin genes were identified for Pacific cod. The evolutionary path of each cathepsin gene was demonstrated via analysis of phylogenetic trees, multiple alignments, conserved domains, motif compositions, and tertiary structures. Tissue distribution analysis showed that all cathepsin genes were ubiquitously expressed in eight healthy tissues but they exhibited diverse levels of expression. Several cathepsin genes were found to be highly expressed in the kidney, spleen, head kidney and liver, whereas low or modest levels were detected in the gills, skin, intestines, and heart. Temporal-specific expression of cathepsins in early developmental stages of Pacific cod were also conducted. CTSK, S, F, and Z were highly expressed at 1 dph and 5 dph and decreased later, while CTSL, L1, and L.1 transcript levels gradually increased in a time-dependent manner. Additionally, the expression profiles of cathepsin genes in Pacific cod were evaluated in the spleen and liver after poly I:C challenge. The results indicated that all cathepsin genes were significantly upregulated upon poly I:C stimulation, suggesting that they play key roles in antiviral immune responses in Pacific cod. Our findings establish a foundation for future exploration of the molecular mechanisms of cathepsins in modulating antiviral immunity in Pacific cod. • 13 cathepsin sequences in Pacific cod were obtained. • Characteristics of cathepsins were identified from phylogenetic relation, sequence alignments and structure modeling. • Cathepsin members were ubiquitously expressed in eight tissues with diverse expression abundance. • Cathepsin genes were induced during early developmental stages with different expression patterns. • Cathepsin genes were highly expressed in the spleen and liver after poly I:C challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The domain adaptation-based approach for remaining useful life (RUL) prediction has gained significant attention in addressing the challenges of cross-domain RUL prediction, characterized by distribution discrepancies between training and testing data. However, highly relying on the availability of target data limits its applicability in real-time RUL prediction scenarios, where accessing target data in advance is often very difficult. To tackle this issue, a domain generalization network is proposed for predicting RUL under unknown operating conditions. The foundation of this method is adaptively fusing the degradation features of multiple source domains to represent the degradation features of the test data based on the similarity between the test data and the multi-source data. This process emphasizes focusing on source data that exhibits high similarity to the test data, enabling the model to leverage task-relevant source degradation information while ignoring task-irrelevant degradation cues. Simultaneously, the discrepancies in marginal and conditional distributions across multiple source domains are mitigated through the proposed label consistency constraints and sample pairing strategy. These strategies enhance cross-domain transferability and facilitate the acquisition of generalized predictive knowledge. Extensive experiments in cross-domain RUL prediction under unknown operating conditions, conducted on one real dataset and two public datasets, validate the efficacy of the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To identify angiogenic biomarkers associated with tumor angiogenesis and clinical outcome in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC). Methods 51 HGSC samples were analyzed using Affymetrix HG-U133A microarray. Microvessel density (MVD) counts were determined using CD31 and CD105. Associations between mRNA expression levels and overall survival were assessed using rank score statistic. Effect size was estimated as a hazard ratio (HR) under a proportional hazard model. The Storey q-value method was used to account for multiple testing within the false-discovery rate (FDR) framework. Publicly available databases including TCGA and GSE were used for external confirmation. Results Thirty-one angiogenic-related genes were significantly associated with survival (q ≤ 0.05). Of these 31 genes, 4 were also associated with outcome in the TCGA data: AKT1 (q = 0.02; TCGA p = 0.01, HR = 0.8), CD44 (q = 0.003; TCGA p = 0.05, HR = 0.9), EPHB2 (q = 0.01; TCGA p = 0.05, HR = 1.2), and ERBB2 (q = 0.02; TCGA p = 0.05, HR = 1.2). While 5 were associated with outcome in the GSE database: FLT1 (q = 0.03; GSE26712 p = 0.01, HR = 3.1); PF4 (q = 0.02; GSE26712 p = 0.01, HR = 3.0); NRP1 (q = 0.02; GSE26712 p < 0.04, HR > 1.4); COL4A3 (q = 0.04; GSE26712 p = 0.03, HR = 1.3); and ANGPTL3 (q = 0.02; GSE14764 p = 0.02, HR = 1.5). High AKT1 and CD44 were associated with longer survival. In contrast, high expression of EPHB2 , ERBB2 , FLT1 ; PF4 , NRP1 , COL4A3 , and ANGPTL3 were associated with shorter survival. CD105-MVD and CD31-MVD were not significantly associated with angiogenic gene expression. Conclusions Thirty-one angiogenic-related genes were associated with survival in advanced HGSC and nine of these genes were confirmed in independent publicly available databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein binding events on RNA are highly related to RNA secondary structure, which affects post-transcriptional regulation and translation. However, it remains challenging to describe the association between RNA secondary structure and protein binding events. Here, we present Structure Motif Analysis tool (SMAtool), a pipeline that integrates RNA secondary structure and protein binding site information to profile the binding structure preference of each protein. As an example of applying SMAtool, we extracted the RNA-structure and binding site information respectively from the DMS-seq and eCLIP-seq data of the K562 cell-line, and used SMAtool to analyze the structure motif of each RNA binding protein (RBP). This new approach provided results consistent with X-ray crystallography data from the protein data bank (PDB) database, demonstrating that it can help researchers investigate the structure preference of RBP, and understand the role of RNA secondary structure in gene expression. Availability and implementation: https://github.com/QuKunLab/SMAtool. • Integrating RNA secondary structure and protein binding site information. • Profiling the RNA structure preference of the binding sites of each RBP. • Providing structure motifs of RBPs in K562 cell-line. • Presenting the role of RNA secondary structure in the process of RBP binding RNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese pufferfish (Takifugu rubripes) is one of the main marine aquatic fish species cultured in Asia due to its high nutritional value. In recent years, disease caused by Vibrio harveyi infections have led to serious mortality in Japanese pufferfish industry. To understand the complex molecular mechanisms between V. harveyi and Japanese pufferfish, we performed a transcriptome analysis of liver and spleen samples from Japanese pufferfish at 1 and 2 day post-infection. Between-group comparisons revealed 922 genes that were significantly differentially expressed. The altered genes emphasized the function in several immune related pathways including MAPK signaling pathway, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, toll-like receptor signaling pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and lysosomal pathway. The data generated in this study provided insight into the responses of Japanese pufferfish against V. harveyi at the transcriptome level, promoting our comprehensive understanding of immune responses for aquatic animal against V. harveyi. • Comparative transcriptome of Japanese pufferfish challenged with Vibrio harveyi were sequenced. • Between-group comparisons revealed 922 genes that were significantly differentially expressed. • Several immune related pathways were enriched. • Results will provide valuable resources for immune responses of aquatic animals against V. harveyi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Galectins are a family of proteins with conserved carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs) that bind to specific glycans, including the glycans on the surface of pathogens, and therefore play a role in cytokine secretion, cell activation, migration, adhesion and apoptosis. Currently, galectins have been extensively studied in mammalian species but rarely studied in teleost fish species. In this study, a total of 12 galectin genes were characterized to understand the molecular mechanisms of galectin function in Japanese pufferfish (Takifugu rubripes). Phylogenetic analyses and syntenic analyses confirmed their correct annotation and suggested the strongest relationships to tetraodon. Furthermore, expression analyses were conducted in healthy tissues of Japanese pufferfish and after infection with Vibrio harveyi in the intestine, liver and spleen. The results showed that galectin genes were widely expressed in all examined tissues; however, most of the galectin genes were highly expressed in mucosal tissues (skin, gill and intestine). Moreover, majority of the galectin genes were significantly regulated after V. harveyi infection in the intestine, liver and spleen, suggesting that galectins were involved in the immune response to V. harveyi infection in Japanese pufferfish. This study established the foundation for future studies of galectin gene functions. Highlights • 12 galectin genes of Japanese pufferfish were systematically characterized. • Orthology of the galectin genes were established by phylogenetic and syntenic analyses. • Galectins genes were ubiquitously expressed in Japanese pufferfish tissues. • Most of the galectin genes of Japanese pufferfish were highly expressed in mucosal tissues. • Significant induction of galectin genes were detected after Vibrio. harveyi challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Thulium laser resection of the prostate (TmLRP), a major treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), has several postoperative complications that affect the patients' quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the M1 macrophage-secreted reactive oxygen species (ROS) on prostatic wound healing, and the role of MAPK signaling in this process. A co-culture model in vitro was established using macrophages and prostate epithelial or stromal cells. Cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, MAPK pathway-related gene expression levels were evaluated by standard assays. In addition, an in vivo model of prostatectomy was established in beagles by subjecting them to TmLRP, and were either treated with N -acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) and or placebo. Wound healing and re-epithelialization were analyzed histopathologically in both groups, in addition to macrophage polarization, oxidative stress levels and MAPK pathway-related proteins expressions. Intracellular ROS levels were significantly increased in the prostate epithelial and stromal cells following co-culture with M1-like macrophages and H 2 O 2 exposure via MAPK activation, which affected their proliferation, migration and apoptosis, and delayed the wound healing process. The cellular functions and wound healing capacity of the prostate cells were restored by blocking or clearing the macrophage-secreted ROS. In the beagle model, increased ROS levels impaired cellular functions, and appropriate removing ROS accelerated the wound healing process. Highlights • ROS hindered the healing of prostatic wound caused by prostatectomy. • ROS impacted proliferation and migration of prostate epithelial and stromal cells. • ROS affected the prostatic wound healing via MAPKs signaling pathways. • ROS scavengers could decrease the ROS level and accelerate wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 4-phosphatase Inositol polyphosphate 4-phosphatase II ( INPP4B) is a regulator of the PI3K signalling pathway and functions to suppress or promote activation of downstream kinases depending on cell type and context. Here we report the identification of a novel small transcript variant of INPP4B (INPP4B-S) that has a role in promoting proliferation of colon and breast cancer cells. INPP4B-S differed from full length INPP4B (INPP4B-FL) by the insertion of a small exon between exons 15 and 16 and the deletion of exons 20–24. Nevertheless, INPP4B-S retained all the functional domains of INPP4B-FL and was similarly located to the cytoplasm. Overexpression of INPP4B-S increased, whereas selective knockdown of INPP4B-S reduced the rate of proliferation in HCT116 and MCF-7 cells. These results warrant further investigation of the role INPP4B-S in activation of downstream kinases and in regulation of cancer pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemokines are a superfamily of structurally related chemotactic cytokines exerting significant roles in regulating cell migration and activation. They are defined by the presence of four conserved cysteine residues and are divided into four subfamilies depending on the arrangement of the first two conserved cysteines residues: CXC, CC, C and CX3C. In this study, a complete set of 17 CXC chemokine ligand (CXCL) genes was systematically identified and characterized from channel catfish genome through data mining of existing genomic resources. Phylogenetic analysis allowed annotation of the 17 CXC chemokines. Extensive comparative genomic analyses supported their annotations and orthologies, revealing the existence of fish-specific CXC chemokines and the expansion of CXC chemokines in the teleost genomes. The analysis of gene expression after bacterial infection indicated the CXC chemokines were expressed in a gene-specific manner. CXCL11.3 and CXCL20.3 were expressed significantly higher in resistant fish than in susceptible fish after ESC infection, while CXCL20.2 were expressed significantly higher in resistant fish than in susceptible fish after columnaris infection. The expression of those CXC chemokines, therefore can be a useful indicator of disease resistance. A similar pattern of expression was observed between resistant and susceptible fish with biotic and abiotic stresses, ESC, columnaris and hypoxia, suggesting that high levels of expression of the majority of CXC chemokines, with exception of CXC11 and CXC20, are detrimental to the host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regulation of bacterial quorum sensing (QS) has been used to inhibit biofouling in wastewater treatment plants and the formation of biofilms. In contrast to traditional QS regulation strategies, this study aimed to obstruct the transmembrane transport process of QS signals to decrease their extracellular accumulation. Three phytochemicals, astragaloside IV, eugenol, and baicalin were selected, their effects on biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 were studied, and the mechanisms determined. The inhibition efficiency of biofilm formation by 50 mg/L astragaloside IV, 1 mg/L eugenol, and 1 mg/L baicalin were 37%, 26%, and 26%, respectively. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and analysis of extracellular polymeric substances indicated that the three inhibitors affected the structure and composition of the biofilms. Furthermore, bacterial motility and a variety of QS-related virulence factors were suppressed by the inhibitor treatment due to changes in bacterial QS. Notably, the three inhibitors all decreased the extracellular concentration of the QS signaling molecule 3-oxo-C12-homoseine lactone by affecting the function of efflux pump MexAB-OprM. This indirectly interfered with the bacterial QS system and thus inhibited biofilm formation. In conclusion, this study revealed the inhibitory effects and inhibition mechanism of three phytochemicals on efflux pump and QS of P. aeruginosa and realized the inhibition on biofilm formation. We update the efflux pump inhibitor library and provide a new way for biofilm contamination control. [Display omitted] • Three extracts significantly affected the amount and structure of PA14 biofilm. • The QS-related virulence factor and motility of PA14 were inhibited by 3 extracts. • The expression of QS and efflux pump related genes were inhibited by 3 extracts. • Three extracts reduced the accumulation of extracellular 3-oxo-C12-HSL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cefoxitin acid is one kind of important pharmaceutical intermediate. Its solubility is crucial for designing and optimizing the crystallization processes. In this work, the solubility of cefoxitin acid in organic solvents (methanol, acetonitrile, ethanol, isopropanol, n-propanol and ethyl acetate), water and water-methanol mixtures was measured spectrophotometrically using a shake-flask method within the temperature range 278.15–303.15 K. PXRD data and the Karl Fischer method were used to verify the crystal form stability of cefoxitin acid in the solubility measuring process. The melting points, the enthalpy and entropy of fusion were estimated. Results showed that the solubility of cefoxitin acid increases with the increasing temperature in all tested solvents in this work, and the solubility of cefoxitin acid increases with the increasing methanol concentration in water-methanol mixtures. The experimental solubility values were well correlated using the modified Apelblat equation, NRTL model and CNIBS/R-K model. An equation proposed by Williamson was adopted to calculate the molar enthalpy during the dissolution process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic study has been conducted on a novel luminescent metal-organic framework, {[Zn(bpyp)( L -OH)]·DMF·2H 2 O} n ( 1 ), to explore its sensing mechanisms to Fe 3+ . Structure analyses show that compound 1 exist pyridine N atoms and -OH groups on the pore surface for specific sensing of metal ions via Lewis acid-base interactions. On this consideration, the quenching mechanisms are studied and the processes are controlled by multiple mechanisms in which dynamic and static mechanisms are calculated, achieving the quantification evaluation of the quenching process. This work not only achieves the quantitative evaluation of the luminescence quenching but also provides certain insights into the quenching process, and the possible mechanisms explored in this work may inspire future research and design of target luminescent metal-organic frameworks (LMOFs) with specific functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solubility of 4′-bromomethyl-2-cyanobiphenyl (OTBNBr) in binary solvent mixtures of {acetone + (ethanol, n-propanol, and n-butanol)} was experimentally determined within the temperature range 278.15–313.15 K by using a gravimetrical method under atmospheric pressure ( P = 0.1 MPa). The results show that the solubility of OTBNBr monotonously increases with increasing temperature and increasing mole fraction of acetone. The solubility of OTBNBr was correlated by the modified Apelblat equation, the van’t Hoff equation, and the CNIBS/R-K model. The Akaike’s Information Criterion ( AIC ) was used to choose the best model for correlating the solubility of OTBNBr. The preferred model is the modified Apelblat equation which has the lowest AIC value. Furthermore, the mixing thermodynamic properties (enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs energy) of OTBNBr were also calculated in the selected solvent mixtures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat shock proteins 70/110 (Hsp70/110) are a family of conserved ubiquitously expressed heat shock proteins which are produced by cells in response to exposure to stressful conditions. Besides the chaperone and housekeeping functions, they are also known to be involved in immune response during infection. In this study, we identified 16 Hsp70/110 geness in channel catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus ) through in silico analysis using RNA-Seq and genome databases. Among them 12 members of Hsp70 (Hspa) family and 4 members of Hsp110 (Hsph) family were identified. Phylogenetic and syntenic analyses provided strong evidence in supporting the orthologies of these HSPs. In addition, we also determined the expression patterns of Hsp70/110 genes after Flavobacterium columnare and Edwardsiella ictaluri infections by meta-analyses, for the first time in channel catfish. Ten out of sixteen genes were significantly up/down-regulated after bacterial challenges. Specifically, nine genes were found significantly expressed in gill after F. columnare infection. Two genes were found significantly expressed in intestine after E. ictaluri infection. Pathogen-specific pattern and tissue-specific pattern were found in the two infections. The significantly regulated expressions of catfish Hsp70 genes after bacterial infections suggested their involvement in immune response in catfish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solubility data of spironolactone form II in six pure solvents and binary solvent mixtures of ethyl acetate and methanol were measured over the temperature range from (278.85 to 317.75) K by using a dynamic method under atmospheric pressure. The results show that the solubility of spironolactone form II in pure solvents increases with increasing temperature while the solubility in binary solvent mixtures increases with the increasing of the fraction of ethyl acetate. This phenomenon is well explained by using relative dielectric constants of the solvents. The solubility data of spironolactone form II in pure solvents were well correlated by the modified Apelblat equation, the Wilson model and the NRTL model while the solubility of spironolactone form II in binary solvent mixtures were correlated by the modified Apelblat equation and the CNIBS/R-K model. Furthermore, the thermodynamic properties of the dissolution process of spironolactone form II were also determined by using the van’t Hoff equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove that rationally connected Calabi–Yau 3-folds with Kawamata log terminal (klt) singularities form a birationally bounded family, or more generally, rationally connected 3-folds of ϵ -CY type form a birationally bounded family for ϵ > 0. Moreover, we show that the set of ϵ -lc log Calabi–Yau pairs (X , B) with coefficients of B bounded away from zero is log bounded modulo flops. As a consequence, we deduce that rationally connected klt Calabi–Yau 3-folds with mld bounded away from 1 are bounded modulo flops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]