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Abstract The objective of this study was to ascertain the relationship between the weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and the risk of stroke in an elderly hypertensive population, a relationship that has not been previously elucidated. The Cox regression model was employed to assess the correlation between baseline WWI measurements and the incidence of stroke. To further elucidate the shape of the association between baseline WWI and stroke, restricted cubic splines were employed. Furthermore, subgroup analyses and interaction tests were carried out to investigate potential heterogeneities. Our study cohort comprised 4962 hypertensive individuals aged 60 years or older with no prior history of stroke. Over a median follow-up of 3.2 years, we found 547 new-onset stroke cases. After adjusting for confounding variables, the Cox regression analysis revealed a positive association between baseline WWI and the risk of stroke, with hazard ratios (HRs) escalating progressively as WWI values increased. When compared to the lowest quartile of WWI, the highest quartile demonstrated an HR of 1.87 (95% CI, 1.44–2.42) for stroke. Subgroup analyses confirmed the consistency of this relationship across different demographic and clinical strata. The study findings indicate that an elevated WWI is significantly related with a higher risk of new-onset stroke among elderly patients with hypertension. These results underscore the importance of WWI as a potential risk stratification tool. To confirm these results and explore the causal mechanisms behind the observed correlation, more study is necessary.

ABSTRACTVirtual geographical scenes aim to naturally represent the real world and aid in comprehending geographic information. However, current virtual geographical scene modeling methods have problems detecting change information and low efficiency in dynamic modeling. Additionally, the modeling process lacks guidance from domain experts, resulting in poor modeling standardization. Therefore, this paper proposes a combined data-driven and knowledge-driven virtual geographical scene twin modeling method. We discuss the three-domain association geographical scene knowledge graph, change information detection network based on knowledge graph and deep learning, and knowledge-guided semantic modeling algorithms in detail. These methods enhance the ability of virtual geographical scenes to describe the changing real world. Furthermore, we select an urban bridge construction geographical scene with obvious change characteristics as a typical case, develop a prototype system, and conduct an experimental analysis. The results show that our method can fully and effectively utilize the geographical scene data and knowledge and improve the reusability of the knowledge. The average change detection accuracy in geographical scene information reaches 92.46%, and the dynamic modeling efficiency of virtual geographical twin scenes reaches 29.97 fps. Compared to other 3D modeling methods, the proposed method can represent the dynamic real world more timely, accurately, completely, and comprehensively.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to control chicken skeletal muscle growth, however, the potential function of the miR-181-5p family in chicken myogenesis remains largely unknown. Here, our study identified the two chicken (Gallus gallus; Gga) miR-181-5p family members widely expressed in various tissues, specifically miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p. Besides, the breast muscles of fast-growing broilers expressed higher levels of miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p than those of slow-growing layers. Functionally, miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p both promote the expression level of myogenic factors including myogenin (MyoG), myogenic differentiation 1 (MyoD1), and myosin heavy chain (MyHC), meanwhile accelerating the myotube formation of skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs). Mechanistically, miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p directly bind to the 3´ untranslated region (UTR) of the transforming growth factor beta receptor 1 (TGFBR1) mRNA, further reducing the expression of TGFBR1. TGFBR1 is a key Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling transduction receptor and had a negative function in muscle cell differentiation. Furthermore, knockdown of TGFBR1 facilitated the expression of chicken myogenic factors, boosted myotube formation, and decreased the SMAD family member 2/3 (SMAD2/3) phosphorylation in chicken SMSCs. SMAD2/3 are downstream of TGF-β signaling, and miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p could reduce the expression of TGFBR1 to further diminish the SMAD2/3 phosphorylation. Our findings revealed that the miR-181-5p family targets TGFBR1 to break the TGF-β signaling transduction, which resulted in promoting chicken skeletal muscle development.

The façades of photogrammetric building mesh models frequently lack detailed semantics, such as windows, doors, and balconies. To address this, we introduce SemanticMesh, a methodology designed to enrich façades with detailed semantics by integrating discrete components seamlessly. The process begins by transforming a localized area of the building surface into a 2D planar mesh using geodesic vectors, based on the component poses. This is followed by the application of 2D constrained triangulation to map the component boundaries onto the parameterized plane, after which the mesh is reconverted into 3D space. To achieve a smooth and aesthetically pleasing integration, we employ a Laplacian mesh deformation technique along the 3D embedding boundary. Our experiments across three distinct datasets – featuring near-planar, non-planar, and noisy surfaces – demonstrate that SemanticMesh provides superior modeling outcomes compared to conventional approaches.

Abstract In this study, the removal effect of a new MOF-on MOF adsorbent based on Cu–Co bimetallic organic frameworks on tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) in water system was studied. The adsorbent (Cu-MOF@Co-MOF) were synthesized by solvothermal and self-assembly method at different concentrations of Co2+/Cu2+. The characterization results of SEM, XRD, XPS, FTIR and BET indicated that the MOF-on MOF structure of Cu-MOF@Co-MOF exhibited the best recombination and physicochemical properties when the molar ratio of Co2+: Cu2+ is 5:1. In addition, the Cu-MOF@Co-MOF have a high specific surface area and bimetallic clusters, which can achieve multi-target synergistic adsorption of TCs. Based on above advantages, Cu-MOF@Co-MOF provided a strong affinity and could efficiently adsorb more than 80% of pollutants in just 5 to 15 min using only 10 mg of the adsorbent. The adsorption capacity of tetracycline and doxycycline was 434.78 and 476.19 mg/g, respectively, showing satisfactory adsorption performance. The fitting results of the experimental data were more consistent with the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating that the adsorption process of TC and DOX occurred at the homogeneous adsorption site and was mainly controlled by chemisorption. Thermodynamic experiments showed that Cu-MOF@Co-MOF was thermodynamically advantageous for the removal of TCs, and the whole process was spontaneous. The excellent adsorption capacity and rapid adsorption kinetics indicate the prepared MOF-on MOF adsorbent can adsorb TCs economically and quickly, and have satisfactory application prospects for removing TCs in practical environments. The results of the study pave a new way for preparing novel MOFs-based water treatment materials with great potential for efficient removal.

Abstract Uncaria rhynchophylla is an important traditional herbal medicine in China, and the yield and quality of Uncaria rhynchophylla can be improved by suitable soil conditioners because of changing the soil properties. In this paper, Uncaria rhynchophylla associated alkaloids and soil microbial communities were investigated. The field experiment was set up with the following control group: (M1, no soil conditioner) and different soil conditioner treatment groups (M2, biomass ash; M3, water retention agent; M4, biochar; M5, lime powder and M6, malic acid). The results showed that M2 significantly increased the fresh and dry weight and the contents of isorhynchophylline, corynoxeine, isocorynoxeine, and total alkaloids. Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Chloroflexi were major bacterial phyla. Correlation analysis showed that fresh and dry weight was significantly positively correlated with Acidobacteria, while alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen, phosphatase activity, fresh and dry weight, corynoxeine, and isocorynoxeine were significantly negatively correlated with Chloroflexi. The application of soil conditioner M2 increased the abundance of Acidobacteria and decreased the abundance of Chloroflexi, which contributed to improving the soil nutrient content, yield, and quality of Uncaria rhynchophylla. In summary, biomass ash may be a better choice of soil conditioner in Uncaria rhynchophylla growing areas.

Abstract More frequent and widespread large fires are occurring in the western United States (US), yet reliable methods for predicting these fires, particularly with extended lead times and a high spatial resolution, remain challenging. In this study, we proposed an interpretable and accurate hybrid machine learning (ML) model, that explicitly represented the controls of fuel flammability, fuel availability, and human suppression effects on fires. The model demonstrated notable accuracy with a F1‐score of 0.846 ± 0.012, surpassing process‐driven fire danger indices and four commonly used ML models by up to 40% and 9%, respectively. More importantly, the ML model showed remarkably higher interpretability relative to other ML models. Specifically, by demystifying the “black box” of each ML model using the explainable AI techniques, we identified substantial structural differences across ML fire models, even among those with similar accuracy. The relationships between fires and their drivers, identified by our model, were aligned closer with established fire physical principles. The ML structural discrepancy led to diverse fire predictions and our model predictions exhibited greater consistency with actual fire occurrence. With the highly interpretable and accurate model, we revealed the strong compound effects from multiple climate variables related to evaporative demand, energy release component, temperature, and wind speed, on the dynamics of large fires and megafires in the western US. Our findings highlight the importance of assessing the structural integrity of models in addition to their accuracy. They also underscore the critical need to address the rise in compound climate extremes linked to large wildfires.

Natural polyphenols, abundant in the human diet, are derived from a wide variety of sources. Numerous preclinical studies have demonstrated their significant anticancer properties against various malignancies, making them valuable resources for drug development. However, traditional experimental methods for developing anticancer therapies from natural polyphenols are time-consuming and labor-intensive. Recently, artificial intelligence has shown promising advancements in drug discovery. Integrating AI technologies into the development process for natural polyphenols can substantially reduce development time and enhance efficiency. In this study, we review the crucial roles of natural polyphenols in anticancer treatment and explore the potential of AI technologies to aid in drug development. Specifically, we discuss the application of AI in key stages such as drug structure prediction, virtual drug screening, prediction of biological activity, and drug-target protein interaction, highlighting the potential to revolutionize the development of natural polyphenol-based anticancer therapies.

ObjectiveTo explore the link between plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) and the prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-related fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in hypertensive patients.MethodsWe analyzed data from 41,131 hospitalized patients from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2023. Multivariate logistic regression models tested associations, with threshold, subgroup, and sensitivity analyses conducted to validate findings.ResultsFor each 5-unit increase in PAC, the risk of MAFLD rose by 1.57 times, consistent even in the fully adjusted model. The odds ratios for the Q2, Q3, and Q4 groups compared to Q1 were 1.21, 2.12, and 3.14, respectively. A threshold effect was observed at 14 ng/dL, with subgroup and sensitivity analyses supporting these results.ConclusionsThis study reveals a significant positive association between elevated PAC levels and the prevalence of MAFLD in hypertensive patients. These findings underscore the imperative for further large-scale, prospective studies to validate and expand upon this correlation.

Background Although CA19-9 is an essential blood biomarker of pancreatic cancer (PC), its sensitivity and specificity are limited for early detection. Methods We analyzed the serum proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (sPCSK9) in PC patients, benign disease groups (BDG), and healthy controls (HC) by ELISA. Results Consistently, sPCSK9 was considerably lower in PC patients than in HC (Z = −2.546, P < 0.05), and sPCSK9 in PC patients was statistically significantly higher than in BDG (Z = −5.457, P < 0.001). sPCSK9 was linked to the invasion of lymph nodes (χ2 = 6.846, P < 0.01). According to ROC curves, combining sPCSK9 with CA19-9 could potentially enhance the diagnostic capability of CA19-9 in early-stage PC patients. Furthermore, the low sPCSK9 group (n = 41) exhibited statistically significantly prolonged overall survival compared to the high sPCSK9 group (n = 15), with median survival times of 27 months (95% CI [17.59–36.41]) and 11 months (95% CI [7.21–14.79]), respectively (P = 0.022). Conclusion The diagnostic performance of CA19-9 for early-stage PC patients could be improved by combining sPCSK9 with CA19-9. Moreover, the higher sPCSK9 group has a significantly shorter overall survival rate.

Leukaemia-related protein 16 (LRP16) has been found to be highly expressed in various tumours and to be related to poor prognosis. However, the role of LRP16 in endometrial carcinoma remains to be explored. We aimed to investigate the prognosis and role of LRP16 in endometrial carcinoma. Overall, 160 endometrial carcinoma (EC) tissues and 60 benign samples were collected. The expression of LRP16 protein in EC tissues was significantly increased compared with that in normal endometrial tissues, and high LRP16 expression was related to poor patient prognosis. Reduced LRP16 expression markedly inhibited cancer cell growth. The proliferation rates in the prophylactic bilateral salpingectomy (PBS) group and the shNon group were 0.727 ±0.015 and 0.743 ±0.009, respectively, while the proliferation rate in the shLRP16 group was only 0.373 ±0.012. The migration experiment showed that the number of cells passing through the basement membrane in the shLRP16 group was 34.2 ±5.1, which was significantly different to the shNon (161.6 ±7.8) and PBS groups (138.0 ±7.2). The results of the invasion experiment showed that the number of cells was 39.2 ±6.2 in the shLRP16 group, 146.7 ±8.2 in the shNon group, and 141.2 ±8.1 in the PBS group ( p < 0.05). Leukaemia-related protein 16 is highly expressed in oestrogen-dependent EC and may promote cancer cell growth.

Abstract Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV; genus Tobamovirus) is one of the most prevailing pathogens that seriously affects the quality and yield of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) leaves. Cross-protection using mild strains is a potential strategy for the biological prevention of plant viral diseases. Complementary mutations in attenuated strains may cause attenuated ones to suddenly evolve into virulent strains, which limits the application of cross-protection in practice. To data there has been no study on engineering the complementary mutation sites to generate stable attenuated mutants for cross-protection. In this study, we found that the substitution of the conserved arginine at position 88 (R88) in p126 protein with alanine (A) abolished the cell-to-cell movement and reduced the replication of TMV. However, a spontaneous complementary mutation of serine at position 114 (S114) to lysine (K) in p126 restored TMV virulence. Substitution of S114 with R in p126 restored the systemic infection but not the virulence of TMV, therefore, the mutant TMV-R88A/S114R was an attenuated one. Furthermore, our results showed that TMV-R88A/S114R was a stable attenuated mutant, and could effectively protect tobacco plants against the wild-type TMV infection. This study reports a promising TMV mild mutant for cross-protection in tobacco plants by modifying the complementary mutation site in p126.

Abstract As a typical E3 ligase, TRIM65 (tripartite motif containing 65) is involved in the regulation of antiviral innate immunity and the pathogenesis of certain tumors. However, the role of TRIM65 in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and the underlying mechanism has not been determined yet. In this study, we identified TRIM65 as a novel oncogene in RCC, which enhanced the tumor cell proliferation and anchorage-independent growth abilities both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, we found that TRIM65-regulated RCC proliferation mainly via direct interaction with BTG3 (BTG anti-proliferation factor 3), which in turn induced the K48-linked ubiquitination and subsequent degradation through K41 amino acid. Furthermore, TRIM65 relieved G2/M phase cell cycle arrest via degradation of BTG3 and regulated downstream factors. Further studies revealed that TRIM65 acts through TRIM65-BTG3-CyclinD1 axis and clinical sample IHC chip data indicated a negative correction between TRIM65 and BTG3. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that TRIM65 promotes RCC cell proliferation via regulation of the cell cycle through degradation of BTG3, suggesting that TRIM65 may be a promising target for RCC therapy.

Abstract Background Aldosterone plays important parts in development of cardio-metabolic diseases as end product of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. However, factors elevating circulating aldosterone are not clear, and lifestyle-related factors are suggested to be involved, whereas less studied. Therefore, we aimed to explore the association of lifestyle factors with plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) in community population. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we recruited participants using multistage random sampling from Emin China in 2019, and collected data and fasting blood samples. The considered lifestyle factors included obesity parameters (neck circumference, abdominal circumference), alcohol consumption, blood pressure (BP), physical activity, sleep duration, sleep quality, mental state (depression and anxiety), fasting blood glucose (FBG), and lipid profiles (total cholesterol and triglyceride). PAC was measured using radioimmunoassay. We performed sex-stratified linear and logistic regressions to explore associated factors of PAC. Component analysis was further performed to identify the main factors affecting PAC. Results Twenty-seven thousand four hundred thirty-six participants with 47.1% men were included. Obesity parameters (neck circumference, abdominal circumference), glucose metabolism (FBG), psychological status (anxiety status in men and women, depression status in men), BP, liver function (in men), lipid metabolism (TC and TG in men), sleep parameters (sleep quality in women), and renal function (in women) are the main factors associated with elevated PAC. Conclusion lower physical activity, alcohol consumption, higher BP, fat accumulation, dyslipidemia, higher fasting blood glucose, and presence of depression and anxiety were the main factors associated with eleveated PAC.

In this work, the phase transition process of β-Ga2O3 thin films under heating and (or) electron irradiation condition was investigated by in-situ transmission electron microscopy. It is found that only under the high temperature, β-Ga2O3 did not undergo phase transition even when the temperature was up to 1000 °C. When under electron irradiation condition, the unconventional phase transition from β-Ga2O3 to δ-Ga2O3 occurred with a slow rate. When electron irradiation was coupled with a thermal field, the initial temperature of phase transition decreased, and the speed of phase transition also greatly accelerated. The new phase maintains crystallography relationship with the β-Ga2O3 parent phase as following: [010]β//[011‾]δ, (200)β//(2‾11)δ, and (402‾)β//(411)δ. The results reveal that electron irradiation can trigger the phase transition process from β-Ga2O3 to δ-Ga2O3, and the high temperature obviously accelerates the rate of phase transition process.

Abstract Background This study aimed to investigate the differences in the microbiota composition of serum exosomes from patients with acute and chronic cholecystitis. Method Exosomes were isolated from the serum of cholecystitis patients through centrifugation and identified and characterized using transmission electron microscopy and nano-flow cytometry. Microbiota analysis was performed using 16S rRNA sequencing. Results Compared to patients with chronic cholecystitis, those with acute cholecystitis exhibited lower richness and diversity. Beta diversity analysis revealed significant differences in the microbiota composition between patients with acute and chronic cholecystitis. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria was significantly higher in exosomes from patients with acute cholecystitis, whereas Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes were significantly more abundant in exosomes from patients with chronic cholecystitis. Furthermore, functional predictions of microbial communities using Tax4Fun analysis revealed significant differences in metabolic pathways such as amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and membrane transport between the two patient groups. Conclusions This study confirmed the differences in the microbiota composition within serum exosomes of patients with acute and chronic cholecystitis. Serum exosomes could serve as diagnostic indicators for distinguishing acute and chronic cholecystitis.

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the role of autophagy, ferroptosis, and pyroptosis in the antitumour mechanism of harmine (Har) and its crosstalk in ovarian cancer. By transmission electron microscopy, we found that compared with those in the control group, the cytoplasm of human ovarian cancer cells (SKOV3) treated with Har showed increased numbers of autophagic vesicles, decreased intracellular mitochondrial volume, increased bilayer membrane density, and decreased cristae. Western blot, immunofluorescence, and monodasylcadaverine (MDC) staining all suggested that Har promoted autophagy in SKOV3 cells. LY294002 and siFOXO3 rescued the inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR/FOXO3 signalling pathway and the promotion of autophagy by Har. Additionally, the levels of ferroptosis- and pyroptosis-related proteins and the levels of Fe2+ , glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) suggested that Har promoted ferroptosis and pyroptosis in SKOV3 cells. Interestingly, pretreatment with chloroquine (CQ), erastin, rapamycin (Rap), or ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1) increased or reversed the ferroptosis and pyroptosis promoted by Har, respectively. In vivo, the volume of tumours in the Har group was decreased, and immunohistochemistry revealed decreased levels of Ki-67 and GPX4 and increased levels of ATG5 and NARL3. In conclusion, Har exerts its anti-ovarian cancer effect not only by promoting autophagy by regulating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR/FOXO3 signalling pathway but also by promoting ferroptosis and pyroptosis. Additionally, there is complex crosstalk between autophagy, ferroptosis, and pyroptosis in ovarian cancer.

Abstract Objective Recently, the stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) has been introduced as a metric to signify relative hyperglycemia. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between SHR and in-hospital mortality and length of stay occurring during hospitalization in stroke patients. Methods The retrospective cohort study comprised a total of 4,018 patients diagnosed with acute stroke. The SHR is expressed by the formula: SHR = ABG (mmol/L) / [1.59 × HbA1c (%) − 2.59]. Outcomes included in-hospital mortality and length of stay. Multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses were conducted. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to distinguish between the variables, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was compared. Results In this analysis, a total of 4,018 individuals participated, including 2,814 male patients, accounting for 70.0%. Overall, in-hospital mortality and length of stay tended to rise as SHR increased. A higher prevalence of in-hospital mortality was observed with each standard deviation (SD) increase of the SHR (odds ratio [OR]: 1.26, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05–1.52). Moreover, after considering the confounders, a significant positive association between SHR levels and length of stay was observed (β = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.40-1.00). ROC analysis showed that among stroke patients, SHR (AUC = 0.693) was more effective than admission blood glucose (ABG) (AUC = 0.646) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (AUC = 0.523), which were more predictive of in-hospital mortality. Conclusions Elevated SHR levels are associated with increased in-hospital mortality and prolonged length of stay in stroke patients.

Abstract Background The reproductive performance of chickens mainly depends on the development of follicles. Abnormal follicle development can lead to decreased reproductive performance and even ovarian disease among chickens. Chicken is the only non-human animal with a high incidence of spontaneous ovarian cancer. In recent years, the involvement of circRNAs in follicle development and atresia regulation has been confirmed. Results In the present study, we used healthy and atretic chicken follicles for circRNA RNC-seq. The results showed differential expression of circRALGPS2. It was then confirmed that circRALGPS2 can translate into a protein, named circRALGPS2-212aa, which has IRES activity. Next, we found that circRALGPS2-212aa promotes apoptosis and autophagy in chicken granulosa cells by forming a complex with PARP1 and HMGB1. Conclusions Our results revealed that circRALGPS2 can regulate chicken granulosa cell apoptosis and autophagy through the circRALGPS2-212aa/PARP1/HMGB1 axis.

Lately, the inclusion of oleogels has emerged as an alternative strategy for the preparation of chocolate. The present study used Lycium barbarum seed oil-based oleogel through a combination of glyceryl monostearate and vegetable wax as gelling factor, and partially replaced cocoa butter for the preparation of chocolate. To further explore the storage stability of the oleogel chocolate, we measured the white index of the chocolate every five days, and also observed the surface morphology of the chocolate using 3D laser focusing microscopy. Then, we characterized the stability of resulting oleogel-chocolate stored at different temperature conditions using differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. Our data showed that the polycrystalline morphology of the chocolate changed during storage, and the temperature differences led to variations in white index and surface roughness. The presence of oleogel attenuated the migration of liquid oils and fats in the chocolate system, and increased the stability of the chocolate system as well as relatively improved the frosting phenomenon of the chocolate. This study provides innovative avenue for the preparation of chocolates with lower saturated fatty acid content, higher storage stability, and improved nutritional value.

ABSTRACTDigital twin railway is a pivotal foundation for the intelligent construction and maintenance of railway engineering projects within extensive open spaces. Its essence is the integrated representation and association management of multi-granularity spatiotemporal data, executable analysis models, and professional knowledge. These elements are characterized by the prominent characteristics of multi-source, heterogeneity, and massive volume. However, current decentralized and independent management strategies often neglect the dynamic coupling relationships between them, and numerous multi-path joins and conversion aggregation operations exist across various spatial scale applications. Consequently, this results in challenges such as the inability to dynamically couple data-model-knowledge and conduct global association retrieval, thereby limiting the potential for real-time analysis and intelligent application capabilities. To address these problems, we first constructed a tripartite graph model ([Formula: see text]) that explicitly associates temporal, spatial, and interactive relationships. Subsequently, an association management architecture was proposed, accompanied by a global association graph index ([Formula: see text]) and a global-local indexing mechanism. Finally, a prototype system for railway data-model-knowledge association management was developed. The effectiveness of the distributed association management method was demonstrated by employing a case study of high-temperature safety risk analysis in railway tunnel engineering with multi-physics field coupling.

ABSTRACTWe develop an integrated neural network landslide susceptibility assessment (LSA) method that integrates temporal dynamic features of interferometry synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) deformation data and the spatial features of landslide influencing factors. We construct a time-distributed convolutional neural network (TD-CNN) and bidirectional gated recurrent unit (Bi-GRU) to better understand the temporal dynamic features of InSAR cumulative deformation, and construct a multi-scale convolutional neural network (MSCNN) to determine the spatial features of landslide influencing factors, and construct a parallel unified deep learning network model to fuse these temporal and spatial features for LSA. Compared with the traditional MSCNN method, the accuracy of the proposed model is improved by 1.20%. The performance of the proposed model is preferable to MSCNN. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the testing set reaches 0.91. Our LSA results show that the proposed model clearly depicts areas with very high susceptibility landslides. Further, only 10.18% of the study area accurately covers 84.79% of historical landslide areas. Subjective consequences and objective indicators show that the proposed model that is integrated time-series InSAR deformation dynamic features can make full use of landslide characteristics and effectively improve the reliability of LSA.

ABSTRACT: Within the poultry industry, hens' reproductive performance is of great economic significance. The development and growth of follicles is a key aspect of hen egg production, and ovarian follicle growth and development are closely associated with granulosa cells (GCs) proliferation and the synthesis of steroid hormones. It has been confirmed by numerous studies that microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the steroid hormone synthesis and proliferation of GCs. In this study, we examined the main miRNAs influencing hens' ability to reproduce, identified the miR-223 that is mainly expressed in atretic follicles based on sequencing, and investigated its role in GCs. Then, we used miR-223 mimic and inhibitor to knockdown or overexpress miR-223 expression. The result showed that miR-223 significantly inhibits both the steroid hormone synthesis and the proliferation of GCs. Subsequently, the results of the dual luciferase reporter experiment and bioinformatics prediction demonstrated that cysteine rich transmembrane BMP regulator 1 (CRIM1) was a downstream target gene of miR-223, and overexpression of miR-223 prevented CRIM1 expression. The function of CRIM1 was further investigated, and we observed a significant reduction in the synthesis of steroid hormones and the proliferation of GCs after transfection with CRIM1 siRNA. The opposite function of miR-223 was observed for CRIM1 in our study. Additionally, we demonstrated the involvement of the miR-223/CRIM1 axis in GCs through modulation of the AKT signaling pathway. Our data demonstrate the pivotal role of the miR-223 in the proliferation and steroid hormone synthesis of chicken GCs, which helps to explain how non-coding RNA (ncRNA) affects chicken reproductive function.

Phellinus igniarius is an important medicinal and edible fungus with diverse biological activities. This study aimed to investigate the effects of aqueous extract from P. igniarius (API) on the treatment of hyperuricemia (HUA) and related kidney damage. The chemical constituents of API were determined. The therapeutic effects of API on HUA and renal injury were assessed in adenine/potassium oxonate (PO)-treated mice. The constituent analysis of API revealed a predominance of polysaccharides (33.4 %), followed by total flavonoids (9.1 %), and total triterpenoids (3.5 %). Compared to control, the adenine/PO treatment greatly elevated serum uric acid (UA) levels but this elevation was attenuated by API. In the liver, the expression and activity of xanthine oxidase (XOD) were increased by HUA which were diminished by API. Furthermore, API was found to enhance the expression of UA transporter ABCG2 in the kidney and intestine of HUA mice, suggesting elevating UA excretion. Additionally, API ameliorated HUA-induced renal injury, as indicated by reduced serum BUN/creatinine levels, decreased glomerular and tubular damage, and lowered fibrotic levels. Network pharmacology analysis predicted that P. igniarius may regulate mitochondrial function to improve HUA-related renal injury. This prediction was then substantialized by the API-induced upregulation of NAD+/NADH ratio, ATP level, SOD2 activity, and expression of SOD2/PCG-1α/PPARγ in the kidney of HUA mice. Our results demonstrate that API may effectively ameliorate HUA by reducing UA production in the liver and enhancing UA excretion in the kidney and intestine, and it might be a potential therapy to HUA-related renal injury.

BackgroundPrior research has highlighted the association between uric acid (UA) and the activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). However, the specific relationship between aldosterone, the RAAS’s end product, and UA-related diseases remains poorly understood. This study aims to clarify the impact of aldosterone on the development and progression of hyperuricemia and gout in hypertensive patients.MethodsOur study involved 34534 hypertensive participants, assessing plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC)’s role in UA-related diseases, mainly hyperuricemia and gout. We applied multiple logistic regression to investigate the impact of PAC and used restricted cubic splines (RCS) for examining the dose-response relationship between PAC and these diseases. To gain deeper insights, we conducted threshold analyses, further clarifying the nature of this relationship. Finally, we undertook subgroup analyses to evaluate PAC’s effects across diverse conditions and among different subgroups.ResultsMultivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between the occurrence of hyperuricemia and gout and the elevation of PAC levels. Compared to the first quartile (Q1) group, groups Q2, Q3, and Q4 all exhibited a significantly increased risk of occurrence. Moreover, the conducted RCS analysis demonstrated a significant nonlinear dose-response relationship, especially when PAC was greater than 14 ng/dL, with a further increased risk of hyperuricemia and gout. Finally, comprehensive subgroup analyses consistently reinforced these findings.ConclusionThis study demonstrates a close association between elevated PAC levels and the development of UA-related diseases, namely hyperuricemia and gout, in hypertensive patients. Further prospective studies are warranted to confirm and validate this relationship.

Abstract Methane (CH4) is globally the second most critical greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, contributing to 16%–25% of the observed atmospheric warming. Wetlands are the primary natural source of methane emissions globally. However, wetland methane emission estimates from biogeochemistry models contain considerable uncertainty. One of the main sources of this uncertainty arises from the numerous uncertain model parameters within various physical, biological, and chemical processes that influence methane production, oxidation, and transport. Sensitivity Analysis (SA) can help identify critical parameters for methane emission and achieve reduced biases and uncertainties in future projections. This study performs SA for 19 selected parameters responsible for critical biogeochemical processes in the methane module of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) land model (ELM). The impact of these parameters on various CH4 fluxes is examined at 14 FLUXNET‐ CH4 sites with diverse vegetation types. Given the extensive number of model simulations needed for global variance‐based SA, we employ a machine learning (ML) algorithm to emulate the complex behavior of ELM methane biogeochemistry. We found that parameters linked to CH4 production and diffusion generally present the highest sensitivities despite apparent seasonal variation. Comparing simulated emissions from perturbed parameter sets against FLUXNET‐CH4 observations revealed that better performances can be achieved at each site compared to the default parameter values. This presents a scope for further improving simulated emissions using parameter calibration with advanced optimization techniques.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) is one of the major cash crops in China. Potato virus Y (PVY), a representative member of the genus Potyvirus, greatly reduces the quality and yield of tobacco leaves by inducing veinal necrosis. Mild strain-mediated cross-protection is an attractive method of controlling diseases caused by PVY. Currently, there is a lack of effective and stable attenuated PVY mutants. Potyviral helper component-protease (HC-Pro) is a likely target for the development of mild strains. Our previous studies showed that the residues lysine at positions 124 and 182 (K124 and K182) in HC-Pro were involved in PVY virulence, and the conserved KITC motif in HC-Pro was involved in aphid transmission. In this study, to improve the stability of PVY mild strains, K at position 50 (K50) in KITC motif, K124, and K182 were separately substituted with glutamic acid (E), leucine (L), and arginine (R), resulting in a triple-mutant PVY-HCELR. The mutant PVY-HCELR had attenuated virulence and did not induce leaf veinal necrosis symptoms in tobacco plants and could not be transmitted by Myzus persicae. Furthermore, PVY-HCELR mutant was genetically stable after six serial passages, and only caused mild mosaic symptoms in tobacco plants even at 90 days post inoculation. The tobacco plants cross-protected by PVY-HCELR mutant showed high resistance to the wild-type PVY. This study showed that PVY-HCELR mutant was a promising mild mutant for cross-protection to control PVY.

ABSTRACT The emerging prevalence of drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates underscores the urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies due to the declining effectiveness of traditional antibiotics in clinical settings. MgrA, a key virulence regulator in S. aureus, orchestrates the expression of numerous virulence factors. Here, we report the discovery of isorhapontigenin, a methoxylated analog of resveratrol, as a potential anti-virulence agent against S. aureus. Isorhapontigenin effectively inhibits the hemolytic activity of S. aureus in a non-bactericidal manner. Additionally, it significantly reduces the cytotoxicity of S. aureus and impairs its ability to survive in macrophages. Mechanistically, isorhapontigenin modulates the expression of virulence factors, dose-dependently downregulating hla and upregulating the MgrA-regulated gene spa. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that isorhapontigenin inhibits the binding of MgrA to the hla promoter in a dose-dependent manner. Thermal shift assays confirmed the direct interaction between isorhapontigenin and the MgrA protein. The in vivo experiments demonstrated that isorhapontigenin significantly reduced the area of skin abscesses and improved survival in a pneumonia model while decreasing bacterial burden and inflammation in the lungs. In conclusion, isorhapontigenin holds potential as a candidate drug for further development as an anti-virulence agent for treating S. aureus infections.IMPORTANCEThe emergence of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains presents a formidable challenge to public health, necessitating novel approaches in combating these pathogens. Traditional antibiotics are becoming increasingly ineffective, leading to a pressing need for innovative therapeutic strategies. In this study, targeting virulence factors that play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of bacterial infections offers a promising alternative to circumvent resistance mechanisms. The discovery of isorhapontigenin as an inhibitor of S. aureus virulence represents a significant advance in anti-virulence therapy.

Pregnant women with severe osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) are uncommon, and there are limited data regarding anaesthesia for caesarean section in these high-risk individuals. The presence of anatomical and physiological abnormalities can pose technical challenges for the anaesthetist. This report describes the successful implementation of epidural anaesthesia in a parturient with severe OI. To our knowledge, this is the first documented use of ultrasound-assisted neuraxial anaesthesia and wrist blood pressure monitoring in such patients undergoing caesarean section. Understanding the pathophysiological changes associated with OI is crucial for ensuring safe administration of anaesthesia to these women.

Gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction cancer represent the leading cause of tumor-related death worldwide. Although advances in immunotherapy and molecular targeted therapy have expanded treatment options, they have not significantly altered the prognosis for patients with unresectable or metastatic gastric cancer. A minority of patients, particularly those with PD-L1–positive, HER-2–positive, or MSI-high tumors, may benefit more from immune checkpoint inhibitors and/or HER-2–directed therapies in advanced stages. However, for those lacking specific targets and unique molecular features, conventional chemotherapy remains the only recommended effective and durable regimen. In this review, we summarize the roles of various signaling pathways and further investigate the available targets. Then, the current results of phase II/III clinical trials in advanced gastric cancer, along with the superiorities and limitations of the existing biomarkers, are specifically discussed. Finally, we will offer our insights in precision treatment pattern when encountering the substantial challenges.

IntroductionAcetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2), one of the enzymes that catalyze the conversion of acetate to acetyl-CoA, has been proved to be an oncogene in various cancers. However, the function of ACSS2 is still largely a black box in melanoma.MethodsThe ACSS2 expression was detected in melanoma cells and melanocytes at both protein and mRNA levels. Cell viability, apoptosis, migration and invasion were investigated after ACSS2 knockdown. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology was employed to identify differentially expressed genes caused by ACSS2 knockdown, which were then verified by immunoblotting analysis. Animal experiments were further performed to investigate the influence of ACSS2 on tumor growth and metastasis in vivo.ResultsFirstly, we found that ACSS2 was upregulated in most melanoma cell lines compared with melanocytes. In addition, ACSS2 knockdown dramatically suppressed melanoma cell migration and invasion, whereas promoted cell apoptosis in response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Furthermore, tumor growth and metastasis were dramatically suppressed by ACSS2 knockdown in vivo. RNA-Seq suggested that the Hippo pathway was activated by ACSS2 knockdown, which was forwardly confirmed by Western blotting and rescue experiments. Taken together, we demonstrated that ACSS2 enables melanoma cell survival and tumor metastasis via the regulation of the Hippo pathway.DiscussionIn summary, this study demonstrated that ACSS2 may promote the growth and metastasis of melanoma by negatively regulating the Hippo pathway. Targeting ACSS2 may be a promising target for melanoma treatment.

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to determine the independent and incremental values of advanced oxidative protein product (AOPP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) in identifying arteriosclerosis in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods A total of 104 individuals diagnosed with OSA by polysomnography were recruited in our study. Arteriosclerosis was defined by measuring the ultrafast pulse wave velocity of the carotid artery. Peripheral venous blood samples were collected to analyze the levels of AOPP, IL-6, and GDF15 utilizing commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results Compared to OSA patients without arteriosclerosis, those with arteriosclerosis exhibited significantly higher levels of AOPP, IL-6, and GDF15. GDF15 remained significantly associated with arteriosclerosis even after accounting for clinical factors such as age, gender, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, smoking, and the apnea–hypoxia index (AHI). GDF15 demonstrated the largest area under the curve (AUC) for identifying arteriosclerosis in OSA patients (AUC, 0.85 [0.77–0.94]). The logistic regression model, combining clinical factors and AHI, was enhanced by the inclusion of AOPP and IL-6 (Chi-square = 25.06), and even further improved when GDF15 was added (Chi-square = 50.74). The integrated discrimination index increased by 0.06 to 0.16 when GDF15 was added to the models including clinical factors, AOPP, and IL-6. Conclusions This study verified the independent and incremental value of GDF15 in identifying arteriosclerosis in OSA patients, surpassing clinical risk factors and other serum biomarkers such as AOPP and IL-6.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term pattern of plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) trajectories and to explore the relationship between PAC trajectory patterns and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in patients with hypertension. Participants were surveyed three times between 2010 and 2016, and latent mixed modeling was employed to determine the trajectory of PAC over the exposure period (2010–2016). A Cox regression analysis was used to examine the association between PAC trajectory patterns and the risk of CVD (stroke and myocardial infarction). Hazard ratios (HRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and reported. During a median follow-up of 4.10 (3.37–4.50) years, 82 incident CVD cases (33 myocardial infarction cases and 49 stroke cases) were identified. Among all three PAC models, the high-stability PAC pattern exhibited the highest risk of CVD. After full adjustment for all covariables, HRs were 2.19 (95% CI 1.59–3.01) for the moderate-stable pattern and 2.56 (95% CI 1.68–3.91) for the high-stable pattern in comparison to the low-stable pattern. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses verified this association. The presence of a high-stable PAC trajectory pattern is associated with an elevated risk of CVD in hypertensive patients. Nevertheless, more studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

Reconstruction and expansion, as well as asset management, of highways necessitate the development of a current and highly precise 3D pavement model. Current inverse modeling methods with point clouds are laborious, time-consuming, and limited in precision. This article introduces an alternative framework for parametric inverse procedural modeling of highway pavement with standardized alignments seamlessly integrated with off-the-shelf modeling software. It comprises three key steps. (1) Extraction of highway pavement boundaries and lane markings: Initially, we combine grid-based and model-driven methods, followed by line structure-based clustering, to accurately generate road centerlines and layouts. (2) Road centerline generation: The centerline, derived from lane markings, informs highway alignments and parameters based on geometric characteristics such as curvature and slope. We utilize cost functions to facilitate this process. (3) Novel inverse procedural assembly: This innovative step integrates off-the-shelf modeling software. This approach involves extracting vector lines from point clouds and applying constraints at pivotal points on highway pavement cross-sections. Our focus is on refined component-level modeling, allowing for the assembly of diverse highway elements. This method significantly reduces human intervention and achieves high precision. In tests on two highway datasets from Sichuan Province, China, our method achieved excellent results. It attained an average correctness of 98.63% and completeness of 99.66% within a 10 cm error margin. A comparison with the intersection point method indicated minimal errors, with maximum values below 1.2%. The resultant 3D highway pavement model is modular and highly accurate at the centimeter level.

Thaw slump susceptibility mapping (TSSM) of Qinghai–Tibet railway corridor (QTRC) is the prerequisite and basis for disaster assessment and prevention of permafrost projects. The objective of this article is to construct ensemble learning models based on single classifier models to generate the TSSM of the QTRC, compare and verify the performance of the models, and further explore the relationship between the high susceptibility area and environmental factors of the QTRC. The collinearity analysis was carried out by selecting 14 thaw slump conditioning factors (TSCFs). We used the balance bagging method for sample optimization, and the dataset was divided into 70% training set and 30% verification set. Convolutional neural network, multilayer perceptron, support vector regression, random forest single classifiers were selected to construct blending and stacking ensemble learning models for the TSSM. The results showed that there was no collinearity among the 14 TSCFS. The comparison of model performance revealed that all models had good performance, but the constructed stacking and blending ensemble learning models had stable performance and high prediction accuracy for TSSM. The stacking ensemble learning model had the best effect, and the area under curve value of receiver operating characteristic curve reached 0.9607. It showed that the generated TSSM of QTRC based on stacking ensemble learning model had the highest reliability. The QTRC has local areas with high thaw slump susceptibility, mainly concentrated in the permafrost areas with high altitude, high slope, adjacent faults, sparse vegetation, ice and snow and the more cumulative precipitation.

Abstract MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role as transcription regulators in various aspects of follicular development, including steroidogenesis, ovulation, apoptosis, and gene regulation in poultry. However, there is a paucity of studies examining the specific impact of miRNAs on ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) across multiple grades in laying hens. Consequently, this study aims to investigate the roles of miRNAs in chicken GCs. By constructing miRNA expression profiles of GCs at 10 different time points, encompassing 4 pre-hierarchical, 5 preovulatory, and 1 postovulatory follicles stage, we identified highly expressed miRNAs involved in GC differentiation (miR-148a-3p, miR-143-3p), apoptosis (let7 family, miR-363-3p, miR-30c-5p, etc.), and autophagy (miR-128-3p, miR-21-5p). Furthermore, we discovered 48 developmentally dynamic miRNAs (DDMs) that target 295 dynamic differentially expressed genes (DDGs) associated with follicular development and selection (such as oocyte meiosis, progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation, Wnt signaling pathway, TGF-β signaling pathway) as well as follicular regression (including autophagy and cellular senescence). These findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the intricate mechanisms underlying follicle recruitment, selection, and degeneration, aiming to enhance poultry’s reproductive capacity.

In this paper, an integrated device which realized the dual-mode integration of power amplifier (PA) and radio frequency (RF) switch based on GaN dual-gate (DG) structure is designed and fabricated. The integrated device provides two working modes and meets the performance requirements of PA and RF switch. In the transmit (Tx) mode, the integrated device is used as PA. At the frequency of 3.6 GHz, compared with the conventional GaN HEMT (high electron mobility transistor) as PA, due to the field modulation effect of the dual-gate structure, the current collapse is effectively suppressed, and the output power density $(P_{out})$ of the integrated device is increased from 6.90 W/mm to 7.85 W/mm, and the power added efficiency (PAE) is increased from 44.3% to 51.1%. In the receive (Rx) mode, the integrated device is used as RF switch. Compared with conventional RF switch, the isolation of integrated devices is significantly improved. At the frequency of 3.6GHz, the isolation is improved from 19.4 dB to 41.0 dB; At the frequency of 40 GHz, the isolation is improved from 3.0 dB to 29.7 dB. The integrated device provides a novel function integration scheme for RF frontends, with great potential for improving the integration and dimension of future communication systems.

Foliar application of selenium (Se) is an effective measure to increase Se concentrations in peanut pods. However, how the foliar application of amino acid-chelated selenite affects the photosynthetic characteristics of peanut leaves at the podding stage is still unclear. Here, the effects of Se on the activities of antioxidant enzymes, the concentrations of chlorophyll, soluble protein, soluble sugar, and reduced glutathione (GSH), photosynthetic parameters, and Se concentration of peanut leaves were investigated by spraying selenite, L-lysine-chelated selenite, and amino acid-chelated selenite solutions, respectively. The results indicated that foliar application of Se could significantly increase leaf Se concentration. The net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (gs), and transpiration rate (Tr) of leaves were significantly higher than those in the control. However, peanut leaves' intercellular CO2 concentration (ci) decreased significantly. Further study found that the concentrations of chlorophyll, soluble protein, soluble sugar, and GSH in peanut leaves increased significantly, and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) in peanut leaves were significantly higher than those in control. However, there were no significant differences between the foliar application of selenite, L-lysine-chelated selenite, and amino acid-chelated selenite. Thus, foliar application of selenite, L-lysine-chelated selenite, and amino acid-chelated selenite could effectively enhance the photosynthetic functions of peanut leaves, which was closely associated with the improvement of antioxidant enzyme activities and the concentrations of soluble sugar, soluble protein, and GSH, resulting in inhibiting chlorophyll degradation and improving the photosynthetic functions of peanut leaves.

Abstract Accurate and cost-effective quantification of the carbon cycle for agroecosystems at decision-relevant scales is critical to mitigating climate change and ensuring sustainable food production. However, conventional process-based or data-driven modeling approaches alone have large prediction uncertainties due to the complex biogeochemical processes to model and the lack of observations to constrain many key state and flux variables. Here we propose a Knowledge-Guided Machine Learning (KGML) framework that addresses the above challenges by integrating knowledge embedded in a process-based model, high-resolution remote sensing observations, and machine learning (ML) techniques. Using the U.S. Corn Belt as a testbed, we demonstrate that KGML can outperform conventional process-based and black-box ML models in quantifying carbon cycle dynamics. Our high-resolution approach quantitatively reveals 86% more spatial detail of soil organic carbon changes than conventional coarse-resolution approaches. Moreover, we outline a protocol for improving KGML via various paths, which can be generalized to develop hybrid models to better predict complex earth system dynamics.

Abstract Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (II/R) injury is an urgent clinical disease with high incidence and mortality, and impaired intestinal barrier function caused by excessive apoptosis of intestinal cells is an important cause of its serious consequences. Tripartite motif-containing protein 65 (TRIM65) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that is recently reported to suppress the inflammatory response and apoptosis. However, the biological function and regulation of TRIM65 in II/R injury are totally unknown. We found that TRIM65 was significantly decreased in hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R) induced intestinal epithelial cells and II/R-induced intestine tissue. TRIM65 knockout mice markedly aggravated intestinal apoptosis and II/R injury. To explore the molecular mechanism of TRIM65 in exacerbating II/R-induced intestinal apoptosis and damage, thymocyte selection-associated high mobility group box factor 4 (TOX4) was screened out as a novel substrate of TRIM65 using the yeast two-hybrid system. TRIM65 binds directly to the N-terminal of TOX4 through its coiled-coil and SPRY structural domains. Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy showed that they can co-localize both in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Furthermore, TRIM65 mediated the K48 ubiquitination and degradation of TOX4 depending on its E3 ubiquitin ligase activity. In addition, TRIM65 inhibits H/R-induced intestinal epithelial apoptosis via TOX4. In summary, our results indicated that TRIM65 promotes ubiquitination and degradation of TOX4 to inhibit apoptosis in II/R. These findings provide a promising target for the clinical treatment of II/R injury.

Abstract Understanding how dietary polysaccharides affect mucin O-glycosylation and gut microbiota could provide various nutrition-based treatments. Here, the O-glycan profile of the colonic mucosa and gut microbiome were investigated in C57BL/6J mice fed six structurally diverse dietary polysaccharides and a mixture of six fibers. Dietary polysaccharides increased total O-glycans, mainly by stimulating neutral glycans. Highly branched arabinogalactan promoted terminally fucosylated core 1 O-glycans; whereas linear polysaccharides, including pectin, konjac glucomannan, inulin, and the fiber mixture, favored terminally di-fucosylated O-glycans. The last three polysaccharides also lowered the level of sulfated O-glycans and sialylated mono-fucosylated O-glycans. Varied monosaccharide composition in mixed polysaccharides had a synergistic beneficial effect, boosting fucosylated neutral glycans, decreasing acidic glycans, and stimulating microbial richness and diversity. Dietary polysaccharides containing arabinose and sulfate groups enhanced the relative abundances of Akkermansia and Muribaculaceae, respectively. The present comparison reveals the relationship between dietary polysaccharide structure, mucin O-glycan composition, and intestinal microorganisms.

Geographic visualization is essential for explaining and describing spatiotemporal geographical processes in flow fields. However, due to multi-scale structures and irregular spatial distribution of vortices in complex geographic flow fields, existing two-dimensional visualization methods are susceptible to the effects of data accuracy and sampling resolution, resulting in incomplete and inaccurate vortex information. To address this, we propose an adaptive Line Integral Convolution (LIC) based geographic flow field visualization method by means of rotation distance. Our novel framework of rotation distance and its quantification allows for the effective identification and extraction of vortex features in flow fields effectively. We then improve the LIC algorithm using rotation distance by constructing high-frequency noise from it as input to the convolution, with the integration step size adjusted. This approach allows us to effectively distinguish between vortex and non-vortex fields and adaptively represent the details of vortex features in complex geographic flow fields. Our experimental results show that the proposed method leads to more accurate and effective visualization of the geographic flow fields.

Virtual construction has become an important approach to the high-quality development of high-speed railways, but existing methods have problems such as low efficiency in generating virtual construction scenes and the inability to reuse construction knowledge. To support the rapid visual representation of multiple types of construction processes and construction methods, a template-based knowledge reuse method is proposed. The method includes using a component-based modeling mode to build body structure models of a high-speed railway project and generate a 3D scene; decomposing the construction process and building a construction process knowledge base; establishing joint linkage models of construction machinery and forming a construction method knowledge template; and fusing multiple types of information according to a time sequence to visualize the construction process. Based on the template-based knowledge reuse method, a prototype system was developed, and virtual construction experiments were carried out. The results show that this method achieves the reuse of construction knowledge at different levels including construction machinery level, construction method level, and work site level. Compared with animation software for virtual construction, this method improves the production efficiency by 87%. Moreover, this method can provide a multilevel knowledge reuse scheme for diversified virtual construction.

The Chinese Christian community occupies an essential position in the pluralistic religious landscape of modern Singapore, which is known as a multicultural and multiracial immigrant society. Despite being a minority compared with Buddhists and Taoists in Singapore, the historical formation and contemporary existence of the Chinese Christian community in Singapore not only embodies religious diversity, but also contributes significantly to Singapore’s social development. This paper zooms into the founding and evolution of the Jubilee Church to see how Chinese Christians contributed to the revolutionary cause, took part in the anti-opium movement, and advanced educational activities in Singapore. Particularly, by establishing the Singapore Reading Room, participating in the founding of the Anti-Opium Society and the Chinese Kindergarten, the Jubilee Church played an important role in Singapore’s history, contributing to the modernization of Singapore in terms of advancing ideas, improving social order, and promoting education. We aim to shed light on how Chinese Christians were engaged in social activities, taking up significant roles in the transformation of the Chinese diaspora in Singapore. More importantly, we argue that these varied social engagements significantly impacted the development of Christianity. Through a detailed historical case study on the Jubilee Church, this paper proposes that social functions and religious evangelization are mutually constitutive, thus complicating our understanding of the entangled relationship among Chinese diaspora, Christianity, and motherland China.

Plants generate a range of physiological and molecular responses to sustain their growth and development when suffering heat stress. Avocado is a type of tropical fruit tree with high economic value. Most avocado cultivars delete, wither, or even die when exposed to heat stress for a long time, which seriously restricts the introduction and cultivation of avocados. In this study, samples of a heat-intolerant variety (‘Hass’) were treated under heat stress, and the transcriptomics and metabolomics were analyzed, with the expectation of providing information on the variety improvement and domestication of avocados. The differentially expressed genes identified using transcriptome analysis mainly involved metabolic pathways such as plant hormone signal transduction, plant–pathogen interaction, and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum. Combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis indicated that the down-regulation of Hass.g03.10206 and Hass.g03.10205 in heat shock-like proteins may result in the reduced Trehalose and Sinapoyl aldehyde content. Metabolomics analysis results indicated that the decrease in Trehalose and Sinapoyl aldehyde content may be an important factor for heat intolerance. These results provide important clues for understanding the physiological mechanisms of adaptation to heat stress in avocados.

Oncidium hybridum Lodd. is an important ornamental flower that is used as both a cut flower and a potted plant around the world; additionally, its pseudobulbs serve as essential carriers for floral organs and flower development. The NAM gene family is crucial for managing responses to various stresses as well as regulating growth in plants. However, the mechanisms by which NAM genes regulate the development of pseudobulbs remain unclear. In this study, a total of 144 NAM genes harboring complete structural domains were identified in O. hybridum. The 144 NAM genes were systematically classified into 14 distinct subfamilies via phylogenetic analysis. Delving deeper into the conserved motifs revealed that motifs 1–6 exhibited remarkable conservation, while motifs 7–10 presented in a few NAM genes only. Notably, NAM genes sharing identical specific motifs were classified into the same subfamily, indicating functional relatedness. Furthermore, the examination of occurrences of gene duplication indicated that the NAM genes display 16 pairs of tandem duplications along with five pairs of segmental duplications, suggesting their role in genetic diversity and potential adaptive evolution. By conducting a correlation analysis integrating transcriptomics and metabolomics at four stages of pseudobulb development, we found that OhNAM023, OhNAM030, OhNAM007, OhNAM019, OhNAM083, OhNAM047, OhNAM089, and OhNAM025 exhibited significant relationships with the endogenous plant hormones jasmonates (JAs), hinting at their potential involvement in hormonal signaling. Additionally, OhNAM089, OhNAM025, OhNAM119, OhNAM055, and OhNAM136 showed strong links with abscisic acid (ABA) and abscisic acid glucose ester (ABA-GE), suggesting the possible regulatory function of these NAM genes in plant growth and stress responses. The 144 NAM genes identified in this study provide a basis for subsequent research and contribute to elucidating the intricate molecular mechanisms of NAM genes in Oncidium and potentially in other species.

Stakeholder management is a crucial component in the implementation of off-site construction (OSC) projects, while stakeholder mapping serves as a practical technique to facilitate an in-depth understanding of different project stakeholders. Various topics have been explored in the OSC stakeholder management field, but research on OSC stakeholder analysis based on stakeholder mapping is still lacking. This study addresses this gap by developing two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) stakeholder mapping models. Data were collected from 167 stakeholders involved in OSC projects. The 2D model utilizes a power–interest matrix to classify 12 identified OSC stakeholder groups, while the 3D model further explores these groups by incorporating an additional dimension of stakeholder salience across different stages of project implementation. The results show that OSC stakeholders predominantly fall into the “key players” or “minimal effort” categories across various project stages. Key players include the client, modular manufacturer, main contractor, government, and designer, while the public and industry organizations generally require minimal effort. Additionally, stakeholders such as the supervision company, supplier, and subcontractor play key roles at specific stages, with varying levels of salience throughout the project lifecycle, reflecting shifts in their influence and involvement. The findings contribute to stakeholder management knowledge by providing an in-depth understanding of OSC stakeholders’ interrelationships during project implementation, especially through uncovered stakeholder mapping in the OSC field.

BackgroundPrevious studies have suggested that aldosterone may play a major role in calcium-phosphorus homeostasis and bone metabolism. However, the relationship between plasma aldosterone concentrations (PAC) and bone mineral density (BMD) in middle-aged and elderly hypertensive patients remains unclear. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the relationship between PAC levels and BMD and explore PAC’s potential impact on osteoporosis and future fracture risk in hypertensive patients.MethodsOur study included a total of 1430 participants. Associations are tested using multiple linear and logistic regression models. Nonlinearity was investigated using the restricted cubic spline (RCS). We also performed mediating analyses to assess mediating factors mediating the relationship between PAC and osteoporosis.ResultsThe multiple linear regression showed a negative correlation between PAC and BMD and was generally positively associated with FRAX scores. Meanwhile, logistic regression analyses indicated that osteoporosis was highly correlated with PAC levels. In addition, a clear non-linear dose-response relationship was also shown in the constructed RCS model. Finally, mediation analyses showed that serum potassium played an important role in the development of osteoporosis.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that elevated PAC levels are strongly associated with decreased BMD, increased prevalence of osteoporosis, and the risk of future fractures in middle-aged and elderly hypertensive patients. Further studies are needed to confirm this relationship and reveal its underlying mechanisms.

While the 5-year survival rate of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has seen some improvement, the majority of NSCLC patients fail to respond to immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). It is critical to identify effective biomarkers that can enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy. The clinical data in the current study were collected from NSCLC patients treated with ICIs, and two groups were classified according to treatment effect: good group with consistent efficacy, poor group with only progressiveness. Differences in intestinal microbiota between the two groups were analyzed using 16s rRNA sequencing. Beta diversity analysis indicated differences between the two groups that were available for differentiation. Comparison of the number of common or unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) among different groups suggested that there were 53 unique OTUs in the good group and 51 unique OTUs in the poor group. At the phylum level, there was a difference between the two groups for several bacterial groups with the highest abundance values, among which Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Fusobacteria were more abundant in the good group. Members of the genera Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus were abundant in the good group, while the abundance of Bacteroides was low. Biomarkers in the poor group included Bacteroides, Bacteroidetes, Bacteroidia, Bacteroidales, Bacteroidaceae and Veillonellaceae. The intestinal microbiota composition affected the immunotherapy process for NSCLC, which might offer more rational instructions for the clinical application of ICIs in NSCLC patients.