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Protein-nanoparticle interactions play a crucial role in both biomedical applications and the biosafety assessment of nanomaterials. Here, we found that nanobodies can induce citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to aggregate into large clusters. Subsequently, we explored the mechanism behind this aggregation and proposed the “gold nucleation mechanism” to explain this phenomenon. Building on this observation, we developed a one-step label-free colorimetric method based on nanobody-induced AuNP aggregation. When nanobodies bind to target bacteria, spatial hindrance occurs, preventing further AuNPs aggregation. This alteration in surface plasmon resonance properties results in visible color changes. As an example, we present a simple and sensitive “mix-and-read” chromogenic immunosensor for Cronobacter sakazakii(C. sakazakii). The experiment can be completed within 20 min, with a visual detection limit of 103CFU/mL and a quantitative detection limit of 136 CFU/mL. Importantly, our method exhibits no cross-reactivity with other bacterial species. This strategy harnesses the excellent properties of nanobodies and the optical characteristics of AuNPs for direct and rapid detection of foodborne pathogen.

The huge polyoxometalate, Na48[HxMo256VIMo112VO1032(H2O)240(SO4)48]({Mo368}), which can be prepared by a facile solution process and can be applied in lithium-ion storage applications as the anode. The large and open hollow nanostructure is promising to store a larger number of lithium ions and expedite the diffusion of lithium ions. A single {Mo368} nanocluster can transfer 624 electrons, referred to as a “huge electron sponge”. Pure {Mo368} without any support materials exhibits very high capacities of 964 mA h g–1with hardly any decay for 100 cycles at 0.1 A g–1and still maintains 761 mA h g–1after 180 cycles at 0.5 A g–1, indicating great cycling stability. The {Mo368} anode provides excellent rate performance and reversibility during the lithiation/delithiation processes, which are contributed by both the diffusion-controlled process and the capacitive process. The capacitive contribution can reach 71.7% at a scan rate of 2 mV s–1. The high DLi+value measured by GITT confirms the fast reaction kinetics of the {Mo368} electrode. The {Mo368}//NCM111-A full cell is practically applied to light LED lamps. These investigations indicate that {Mo368} nanoclusters are advanced energy storage materials with high capacities, fast charge transfer, and low-cost mass production for lithium-ion storage. Moreover, {Mo368} should be considered a clean energy material because there is no production of environmental pollution during the charge/discharge processes.

Nanobodies (Nbs) serve as powerful tools in immunoassays. However, their small size and monovalent properties pose challenges for practical application. Multimerization emerges as a significant strategy to address these limitations, enhancing the utilization of nanobodies in immunoassays. Herein, we report the construction of a Salmonella-specific fenobody (Fb) through the fusion of a nanobody to ferritin, resulting in a self-assembled 24-valent nanocage-like structure. The fenobody exhibits a 35-fold increase in avidity compared to the conventional nanobody while retaining good thermostability and specificity. Leveraging this advancement, three ELISA modes were designed using Fb as the capture antibody, along with unmodified Nb422 (FbNb-ELISA), biotinylated Nb422 (FbBio-ELISA), and phage-displayed Nb422 (FbP-ELISA) as the detection antibody, respectively. Notably, the FbNb-ELISA demonstrates a detection limit (LOD) of 3.56 × 104CFU/mL, which is 16-fold lower than that of FbBio-ELISA and similar to FbP-ELISA. Moreover, a fenobody and nanobody sandwich chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (FbNb-CLISA) was developed by replacing the TMB chromogenic substrate with luminal, resulting in a 12-fold reduction in the LOD. Overall, the ferritin-displayed technology represents a promising methodology for enhancing the detection performance of nanobody-based sandwich ELISAs, thereby expanding the applicability of Nbs in food detection and other fields requiring multivalent modification.

Due to their special structure and many excellent properties, porous Si3N4ceramics have a wide range of potential applications as a new structural and functional integrated material. In the present study, porous Si3N4ceramics with excellent bending properties and satisfactory porosity were prepared by the gel-casting method. The variations in porosity, bending strength, fracture morphology and phase composition of the porous Si3N4ceramics with different weight fractions of La2O3–MgO sintering additive were investigated. The results showed that the density of porous Si3N4ceramics increased linearly with the increase of sintering additive content. When the content of sintering additive increased from 2.5 wt.% to 10 wt.%, the porosity of porous ceramics decreased from 30 % to 10 %. With the increase of sintering additive content, the bending strength of the samples first increased and then decreased. When the sintering additive content was 5.0 wt.%, the average bending strength of the samples reached a maximum of 240.88 MPa, and scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry results showed that β-Si3N4particles with well-developed pores and a maximum aspect ratio of 5.8 were formed in the porous silicon nitride ceramics. This study provides a reference for the preparation of porous Si3N4ceramics with good bending properties and porosity.

How timely identification and determination of pathogen species in pathogen-contaminated foods are responsible for rapid and accurate treatments for food safety accidents. Herein, we synthesize four aggregation-induced emissive nanosilicons with different surface potentials and hydrophobicities by encapsulating four tetraphenylethylene derivatives differing in functional groups. The prepared nanosilicons are utilized as receptors to develop a nanosensor array according to their distinctive interactions with pathogens for the rapid and simultaneous discrimination of pathogens. By coupling with machine-learning algorithms, the proposed nanosensor array achieves high performance in identifying eight pathogens within 1 h with high overall accuracy (93.75–100%). Meanwhile, Cronobacter sakazakiiand Listeria monocytogenesare taken as model bacteria for the quantitative evaluation of the developed nanosensor array, which can successfully distinguish the concentration of C. sakazakiiand L. monocytogenesat more than 103and 102CFU mL–1, respectively, and their mixed samples at 105CFU mL–1through the artificial neural network. Moreover, eight pathogens at 1 × 104CFU mL–1in milk can be successfully identified by the developed nanosensor array, indicating its feasibility in monitoring food hazards.

With the global limited food resources receiving grievous damage from frequent climate changes and ascending global food demand resulting from increasing population growth, perovskite nanocrystals with distinctive photoelectric properties have emerged as attractive and prospective luminogens for the exploitation of rapid, easy operation, low cost, highly accurate, excellently sensitive, and good selective biosensors to detect foodborne hazards in food practices. Perovskite nanocrystals have demonstrated supreme advantages in luminescent biosensing for food products due to their high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield, narrow full width at half-maximum PL, tunable PL in the entire visible spectrum, easy preparation, and various modification strategies compared with conventional semiconductors. Herein, we have carried out a comprehensive discussion concerning perovskite nanocrystals as luminogens in the application of high-performance biosensing of foodborne hazards for food products, including a brief introduction of perovskite nanocrystals, perovskite nanocrystal-based biosensors, and their application in different categories of food products. Finally, the challenges and opportunities faced by perovskite nanocrystals as superior luminogens were proposed to promote their practicality in the future food supply.

The use of solid activators to prepare alkali-activated materials (AAM) holds great potential for on-site applications, as it eliminates the need to transport and store large quantities of concentrated alkaline solutions. This study compared the early-age properties and efflorescence between alkali-activated slag/fly ash (AASF) using solid and liquid sodium silicates as activators. The results revealed that AASF with solid sodium silicates exhibited comparable mechanical strength while possessing reduced initial setting time and flowability. All AASF mixtures were susceptible to efflorescence and carbonation, resulting in varying mineralogical compositions of carbonation products: Vaterite was detected in AASF with solid activators, while aragonite and pirssonite were identified in AASF with liquid activators containing 4 and 6 wt.% Na2O, respectively. The efflorescence of AASF exposed to bottom water was more severe than those exposed to natural conditions, as evidenced by the decalcification of reaction products, migration of alkalis, and formation of crystalline carbonates.

Accurate satellite retrieval of oceanic particulate organic nitrogen (PON) concentrations could contribute to a better and more comprehensive understanding of global marine biogeochemical processes. However, no satisfactory satellite PON retrieval model could be found in the literature. In an attempt to develop applicable PON models, large diverse matchups of synchronous global oceanic in situ PON measurements and ocean color satellite data were used to develop PON retrieval models using the Gaussian process regression (GPR) method for SeaWiFS, Terra-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), MERIS, Aqua-MODIS, and SNPP-Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), respectively. The GPR PON models were compared with polynomial PON models based on single bio-optical properties or band index, and further used to retrieve spatiotemporal variations of global oceanic PON concentrations. Combined with the satellite-derived particulate organic carbon (POC) products, the possibility of deriving the POC to nitrogen ratio (POC:PON) was further explored. Results showed that GPR PON models, with $R^{2}$ , root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) ranging from 0.76 to 0.87, 0.15 to 0.18, and 9.19% to 12.59%, respectively, had a comparable performance for both Case-1 and Case-2 waters and outperformed the polynomial PON models. The global PON concentrations derived from different satellite missions were generally consistent, with their mean relative differences all less than 14.70% between Aqua-MODIS and the other four missions. The GPR-derived POC:PON was acceptable, with most relative errors within ±40% compared to in situ POC:PON. The applicable satellite PON retrieval models and the readily available satellite PON products should be helpful for studying oceanic PON dynamics and ecological processes in marine biogeochemical cycles.

In this article, we present a large-scale detailed 3D face dataset, FaceScape, and the corresponding benchmark to evaluate single-view facial 3D reconstruction. By training on FaceScape data, a novel algorithm is proposed to predict elaborate riggable 3D face models from a single image input. FaceScape dataset releases 16,940 textured 3D faces, captured from 847 subjects and each with 20 specific expressions. The 3D models contain the pore-level facial geometry that is also processed to be topologically uniform. These fine 3D facial models can be represented as a 3D morphable model for coarse shapes and displacement maps for detailed geometry. Taking advantage of the large-scale and high-accuracy dataset, a novel algorithm is further proposed to learn the expression-specific dynamic details using a deep neural network. The learned relationship serves as the foundation of our 3D face prediction system from a single image input. Different from most previous methods, our predicted 3D models are riggable with highly detailed geometry under different expressions. We also use FaceScape data to generate the in-the-wild and in-the-lab benchmark to evaluate recent methods of single-view face reconstruction. The accuracy is reported and analyzed on the dimensions of camera pose and focal length, which provides a faithful and comprehensive evaluation and reveals new challenges. The unprecedented dataset, benchmark, and code have been released to the public for research purpose.

Nanobodies have gained widespread application in immunoassays. However, their small size presents a significant challenge in achieving effective immobilization and optimal sensitivity. Here, we present a novel “one-for-two”-oriented immobilization platform based on an organism-bispecific nanobody (O-BsNb) scaffold, enabling highly sensitive detection of two bacterial pathogens. Through genetic engineering, a bispecific nanobody (BsNb) was engineered, targeting Salmonellaspp. and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The O-BsNb scaffold allowed one nanobody to bind specifically to inactivated bacteria, forming an organism-oriented immobilization platform, while the other served as the capture antibody. Consequently, the O-BsNb bioscaffold-based ELISA (O-ELISA) for individual detection of S. enteritidisand V. parahaemolyticuswas established. When compared to the sandwich ELISA utilizing passive immobilization of monovalent nanobodies, the O-ELISA exhibited a remarkable 13.4- and 13.7-fold improvement in LOD for S. enteritidisand V. parahaemolyticus, respectively, highlighting the enhanced immobilization efficacy of the O-ELISA. Furthermore, the feasibility and reproducibility of the assay in practical samples were meticulously evaluated, revealing exemplary performance in terms of recovery precision and assay stability. These findings demonstrate the significant potential of the O-ELISA platform for the sensitive detection of macromolecules, opening new avenues for efficient pathogen identification in foodborne safety and clinical diagnostics.

The exploitation of stable, high-affinity, and low-cost nanoprobes is essential to develop immunoassays for real-time monitoring of foodborne pathogens, so as to safeguard human health. The possible interaction of the Fc fragment of antibodies with spA protein on Staphylococcus aureuswill result in unexpected interference. To address this consideration, we described herein for the first time the development of nanobodies that by definition are devoid of the Fc fraction. These nanobodies directed against Cronobacter sakazakii(C. sakazakii) were retrieved from a dedicated immune phage-displayed nanobody library. The binders showed superiority of low cost, strong stability, high binding affinity, and adequate load capacity. Thereafter, a phage-mediated sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was constructed by using Cs-Nb2 as an antigen-capturing antibody and phage-displayed Cs-Nb1 as a detection probe. To further enhance the sensitivity, a chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CISA) was established by replacing the substrate from 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to luminol, providing a limit of detection of 1.04 × 104CFU/mL, with a recovery of 98.15–114.63% for the detection of C. sakazakiiin dairy products. The proposed nanobody-based phage-mediated sandwich CLISA shows various advantages, including high sensitivity, cost effectiveness, enhanced loading capacity of the enzyme, and high resistance to the matrix effect, providing a strategy for the design of immunoassays toward foodborne pathogens.

The widely used biofilm process in advanced wastewater treatment is currently challenged by numerous exotic emerging pollutants (EPs), and the underlying principle of the challenge is the adaptive evolution laws of biofilm under EP stress. However, there is still a knowledge gap in exploration of the biofilm adaptive evolution theory. Herein, we comprehensively analyzed the morphological variation, community succession, and assembly mechanism of biofilms to report the mechanism underlying their adaptive evolution under sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine stress for the first time. The ecological role of the dominant species was driven as a pioneer and assembly hub by EP stress, and the deterministic processes indicated the functional basis of the transformation. In addition, the characteristic responses of dispersal limitation and homogenizing dispersal adequately revealed the assembly pathways in adaptive evolution and the resulting structural variation. Therefore, the “interfacial exposure–structural variation–mass transfer feedback” mechanism was inferred to underly the adaptive evolution process of biofilms. Overall, this study highlighted the internal drivers of the adaptive evolution of the biofilm at the phylogenetic level and deepened our understanding of the mechanism of biofilm development under EP stress in advanced wastewater purification.

The variation of the raw materials is critical for the wide application of alkali-activated fly ash/slag (AAFS) in practice. In this study, four fly ashes sourced from different power plants were collected and analyzed. The calcium content in fly ash had insignificant impact on setting time, flowability and compressive strength of AAFS binders when the slag content was 50%. Low calcium content in fly ash promotes the formation of C-(N)A-S-H gel with high Al substitution and improves the compressive strength at later age. It seemed that the grinding process promoted the dissolution of reactive SiO2in fly ash, resulting in reduced setting and flowability. The replacement of silica fume promotes the formation of Si-rich C-(N)A-S-H gel with reduced gel pore size. The replacement of metakaolin accelerated the initial reaction and increased the compressive strength of binders at early age due to the reduced gel pore size in C-(N)A-S-H gel.

Background: Thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) plays vital role in regulating cellular redox balance as well as redox-mediated signal transduction. Accumulating evidence supports that overactivation of TrxR is closely related to tumorigenesis and that targeting TrxR ablation reverses the growth of numerous malignant tumors, making TrxR a promising target for cancer chemotherapy. Thus, the discovery and development of molecules as promising anticancer agents that target TrxR is of great significance. Oridonin was shown to inhibit TrxR activity, but the detailed cellular mechanism is largely unknown. Objective: The study investigated the mechanism of action and underlying inhibitory properties of oridonin on TrxR in HeLa cells. Methods: A covalent docking was performed to reveal the possible interaction between oridonin and TrxR by Schrödinger Software Suite. TrxR activity was determined by 5,5-dithiobis-2- nitrobenzoic acid reduction assay and endpoint insulin reduction assay. Sulforhodamine B and colony formation assay were employed to assess the viability and growth of cells. Reactive oxygen species level was measured by probe 2, 7-dichlorfluorescein diacetate, and dihydroethidium. Hoechst 33342 staining, caspase 3 activation, and fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate-conjugated Annexin V and propidium iodide double staining were used to evaluate apoptosis. Results: Here, we reported the oridonin as a potent inhibitor of TrxR. Inhibition of TrxR results in a decrease of thiols content and total glutathione, elevates reactive oxygen species levels, and finally promotes oxidative stress-mediated apoptosis of cancer cells. Conclusion: Targeting TrxR by oridonin discloses a novel molecular mechanism underlying the biological action of oridonin and sheds light on developing oridonin as a potential tumor therapeutic agent.

A tumor-related hypoxic microenvironment can promote the proliferation of gastric cancer cells, and hypoxic-induced autophagy is the main mechanism of protection against hypoxia in gastric cancer cells. Isorhamnetin (ISO) is a chemical substance derived from plants, mainly from the sea buckthorn. Previous studies have shown that ISO has antitumor effects, but the effects of ISO against gastric cancer in a hypoxic environment are still unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of ISO against gastric cancer in a hypoxic environment and the mechanisms underlying ISO-induced gastric cancer cell death. The results show that ISO targeted PI3K and blocked the PI3K–AKT–mTOR signaling pathway, significantly inhibiting gastric cancer cell autophagy in a hypoxic environment, inhibiting cell proliferation, decreasing mitochondrial membrane potential, and promoting mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. ISO, a functional food component, is a promising candidate for the treatment of gastric cancer.

Slurry-phase hydrocracking is one of the most advanced technologies for the conversion of inferior heavy oil to light fuel oil. In this work, MoS2was combined with SiO2–ZrO2mixed oxides to offer a new class of bifunctional catalysts for slurry-phase hydrocracking. In the bifunctional catalysts, SiO2–ZrO2mixed oxides with abundant mesopores and acid sites act as cracking catalysts. They were presynthesized by a sol–gel-hydrothermal method and systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2adsorption, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), NH3-temperature programed desorption (NH3-TPD), and in situdiffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). The effect of Si/Zr molar ratios on the chemical structure, especially the acid properties of SiO2–ZrO2mixed oxides were examined. Subsequently, a mixture of decalin–phenanthrene was selected as the model system to investigate the performance of bifunctional catalysts. It was found that the conversions of decalin and phenanthrene were significantly improved for MoS2/SiO2–ZrO2bifunctional catalysts. Further analysis indicated that the Brønsted acid sites of SiO2–ZrO2mixed oxides played an important role in the improvement of decalin and phenanthrene conversions.

User interest modelling has always been an important direction in the research of microblog social network. In previous studies, people paid more attention to the expansion of tags from microblog short texts, but ignored the information contained in the relationship between users. We improved the user interest model based on multi-tag semantic correlation by considering user social relationship (MTSC-SR). This model is built on the basis of the previous improved microblog user-tag matrix and integrates the social similarity matrix of users. The construction of user social similarity matrix is used to represent the similarity of two users by considering the static and dynamic interest information of users. We verify the validity of our method through experiments, and the data set is captured by the open API. The results show that the proposed algorithm has good performance in extracting users' interest features.

As one of the leading causes of food poisoning, staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) secreted by Staphylococcus aureuspose a serious threat to human health. The immunoassay has become the dominant tool used for the rapid detection of harmful bacteria and toxins as a result of its excellent specificity. However, with regard to SEs, staphylococcal protein A (SpA) is likely to bind with the fragment crystallizable (Fc) terminal of the traditional antibody and result in a false positive, limiting the practical application of this method. Therefore, to eliminate the bottleneck problem, the sandwich immunoassay was development by replacing the traditional antibody with a nanobody (Nb) that lacked a Fc terminal. Using 0.5 × 107colony-forming units, the Nb library was constructed using Bactrian camels immunized with staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) to obtain a paired Nb against SEB with good affinity. A sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed using one Nb as the capture antibody and a phage-displayed Nb with signal-amplifying properties as the detection antibody. In optimal conditions, the current immunoassay displayed a broad quantitative range from 1 to 512 ng/mL and a 0.3 ng/mL limit of detection. The recovery of spiked milk, milk powder, cheese, and beef ranged from 87.66 to 114.2%. The Nbs-ELISA was not influenced by SpA during the detection of SEB in S. aureusfood poisoning. Therefore, the Nb developed here presented the perfect candidates for immunoassay application during SE determination as a result of the complete absence of SpA interference.

In order to analyze the influences of storage aging on the safety of typical elemental explosives, the aged cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX) and cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX) were prepared by isothermal aging tests. The reaction thresholds of aged RDX and HMX under any ignition probability were studied by Langlie-Optimal D method. The thermal decomposition characteristics of RDX and HMX after aging were analyzed by DSC and ARC. Experimental results showed that compared with unaged RDX and HMX, on the one hand, the critical impact energy and critical friction of RDX and HMX aged for 14, 28 and 56 days are significantly reduced at an explosion probability of 50%, 0.01% and 0.0001%, respectively. With the increase of aging time, the mechanical sensitivity of RDX and HMX increases obviously. On the other hand, the initial decomposition temperature of RDX and HMX after 56 days of aging decreases, the decomposition heat decreases, the activation energy increases, and the reaction difficulty increases.

Bimodal-type multiplexed immunoassays with complementary mode-based correlation analysis are gaining increasing attention for enhancing the practicability of the lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA). Nonetheless, the restriction in visually indistinguishable multitargets induced by a single fluorescent color and difficulty in single acceptor ineffectual fluorescence quenching due to the various spectra of multiple different donors impede the further execution of colorimetric–fluorescence bimodal-type multiplexed LFIAs. Herein, the precise spectral overlap-based donor–acceptor pair construction strategy is proposed by regulating the size of the nanocore, coating it with an appropriate nanoshell, and selecting a suitable fluorescence donor with distinct colors. By in situ coating Prussian blue nanoparticles (PBNPs) on AuNPs with a tunable size and absorption spectrum, the resultant APNPs demonstrate efficient fluorescence quenching ability, higher colloidal stability, remarkable colorimetric intensity, and an enhanced antibody coupling efficiency, all of which facilitate highly sensitive bimodal-type LFIA analysis. Following integration with competitive-type immunoreaction, this precise spectral overlap-supported spatial separation traffic light-typed colorimetric–fluorescence dual-response assay (coined as the STCFD assay) with the limits of detection of 0.013 and 0.152 ng mL–1for ractopamine and clenbuterol, respectively, was proposed. This work illustrates the superiority of the rational design of a precise spectral overlap-based donor–acceptor pair, hinting at the enormous potential of the STCFD assay in the point-of-care field.

LncRNAs (Long non-coding RNA) is an RNA molecule with a length of more than 200 bp. LncRNAs can directly act on mRNA, thus affecting the expression of downstream target genes and proteins, and widely participate in many important physiological and pathological regulation processes of the body. In this study, RNA-Seq was performed to detect lncRNAs from mammary gland tissues of three Chinese Holstein cows, including three cows at 7 d before calving and the same three cows at 30 d postpartum (early lactation stage). A total of 1,905 novel lncRNAs were detected, 57.3% of the predicted lncRNAs are ≥ 500 bp and 612 lncRNAs are intronic lncRNAs. The exon number of lncRNAs ranged from 2 to 10. A total of 96 lncRNAs were significantly differentially expressed between two stages, of which 47 were upregulated and 49 were downregulated. Pathway analysis found that target genes were mainly concentrated on the ECM-receptor interaction, Jak-STAT signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and TGF-beta signaling pathway. This study revealed the expression profile and characteristics of lncRNAs in the mammary gland tissues of Holstein cows at non-lactation and early lactation periods, and provided a basis for studying the functions of lncRNAs in Holstein cows during different lactation periods.This study revealed the expression profile and characteristics of lncRNAs in the mammary gland tissues of Holstein cows at non-lactation and early lactation stages, and provided a basis for studying the functions of lncRNAs in Holstein cows during different lactation periods.The mammary gland of dairy cows is the main place of milk synthesis and secretion, and plays a vital role in the process of milk production. LncRNAs (Long non-coding RNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs with a length greater than 200 bp and do not encode protein, which can regulate gene expression at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional and chromatin levels, with biological functions such as regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Relevant studies in humans and model animals have shown that lncRNAs participate in mammalian mammary gland development and lactation, but there are few studies on lncRNAs regulation of mammary gland development and lactation in dairy cows. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the potential role of lncRNAs in the mammary gland of dairy cows through screening, identification, and functional research of differentially expressed lncRNAs at different periods of mammary gland development (pregnancy and early lactation period). It provides a reference for the follow-up study on the regulatory mechanism of dairy cows’ mammary gland health.

Immunochromatography (ICA) remains untapped toward enhanced sensitivity and applicability for fulfilling the nuts and bolts of on-site food safety surveillance. Herein, we report a fortified dual-spectral overlap with enhanced colorimetric/fluorescence dual-response ICA for on-site bimodal-type gentamicin (Gen) monitoring by employing polydopamine (PDA)-coated AuNPs (APDA) simultaneously serving as a colorimetric reporter and a fluorescence quencher. Availing of the enhanced colorimetric response that originated from the PDA layer, the resultant APDA exhibits less required antibody and immunoprobes in a single immunoassay, which facilitates improved antibody utilization efficiency and immuno-recognition in APDA-ICA. Further integrated with the advantageous features of fortified excitation and emission dual-spectral overlap for the Arg/ATT-AuNCs, this APDA-ICA with a “turn on/off” pattern achieves the visual limits of detection of 1.0 and 0.5 ng mL–1for colorimetric and fluorescence patterns (25- and 50-fold lower than standard AuNPs-ICA). Moreover, the excellent self-calibration and satisfactory recovery of 79.03–118.04% were shown in the on-site visual colorimetric–fluorescence analysis for Gen in real environmental media (including real river water, an urban aquaculture water body, an aquatic product, and an animal byproduct). This work provides the feasibility of exploiting fortified dual-spectral overlap with an enhanced colorimetric/fluorescence dual response for safeguarding food safety and public health.

Stormwater rapidly moves trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) from the built environment to the aquatic environment. Bioretention cells reduce loadings of some TrOCs, but they struggle with hydrophilic compounds. Herein, we assessed the potential to enhance TrOC removal via changes in bioretention system design by simulating the fate of seven high-priority stormwater TrOCs (e.g., PFOA, 6PPD-quinone, PAHs) with log KOCvalues between −1.5 and 6.74 in a bioretention cell. We evaluated eight design and management interventions for three illustrative use cases representing a highway, a residential area, and an airport. We suggest two metrics of performance: mass advected to the sewer network, which poses an acute risk to aquatic ecosystems, and total mass advected from the system, which poses a longer-term risk for persistent compounds. The optimized designs for each use case reduced effluent loadings of all but the most polar compound (PFOA) to <5% of influent mass. Our results suggest that having the largest possible system area allowed bioretention systems to provide benefits during larger events, which improved performance for all compounds. To improve performance for the most hydrophilic TrOCs, an amendment like biochar was necessary; field-scale research is needed to confirm this result. Our results showed that changing the design of bioretention systems can allow them to effectively capture TrOCs with a wide range of physicochemical properties, protecting human health and aquatic species from chemical impacts.

The impairment of mitochondrial bioenergetics, often coupled with exaggerated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, is a fundamental disease mechanism in organs with a high demand for energy, including the heart. Building a more robust and safer cellular powerhouse holds the promise for protecting these organs in stressful conditions. Here, we demonstrate that NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase subunit AB1 (NDUFAB1), also known as mitochondrial acyl carrier protein, acts as a powerful cardio-protector by conferring greater capacity and efficiency of mitochondrial energy metabolism. In particular, NDUFAB1 not only serves as a complex I subunit, but also coordinates the assembly of respiratory complexes I, II, and III, and supercomplexes, through regulating iron-sulfur biosynthesis and complex I subunit stability. Cardiac-specific deletion of Ndufab1in mice caused defective bioenergetics and elevated ROS levels, leading to progressive dilated cardiomyopathy and eventual heart failure and sudden death. Overexpression of Ndufab1effectively enhanced mitochondrial bioenergetics while limiting ROS production and protected the heart against ischemia-reperfusion injury. Together, our findings identify that NDUFAB1 is a crucial regulator of mitochondrial energy and ROS metabolism through coordinating the assembly of respiratory complexes and supercomplexes, and thus provide a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of heart failure.

Objective To study the effects of D-methionine in a mouse model of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).Methods We investigated changes in auditory function and microscopic cochlear structure in a mouse model of NIHL, and carried out 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) immunostaining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling, and examined expression levels of connexins 26 and 30 by western blot.Results The auditory brainstem response threshold was significantly increased by noise exposure. Noise exposure also damaged the inner and particularly the outer hair cells in the cochlear basement membrane, while histochemistry demonstrated only scattered loss of hair cells in the basement membrane in mice treated with D-methionine before or after noise exposure. D-methionine inhibited apoptosis in the cochlear basement membrane, stria vascularis, and spiral ligament. 4-HNE expression in the basement membrane, stria vascularis, and spiral collateral ligament was increased by noise exposure, but this increase was attenuated by D-methionine. Connexin 26 and connexin 30 expression levels were reduced by noise exposure, and this effect was similarly attenuated by D-methionine administered either before or after noise exposure.Conclusion D-methionine administered before or after noise exposure could rescue NIHL by protecting cochlear morphology, inhibiting apoptosis, and maintaining connexin 26 and 30 expression.

At high temperature, the oxide redox reactions of ceria can split H 2 O and CO 2 to produce H 2 and CO, so porous ceria with high temperature resistance and high specific surface area has an important foreground in clean energy applications. In this work, a reticulated porous ceria ceramic material with interconnected porous structure was prepared by the impregnation technique using organic polyurethane sponges as template. The influences of pretreated sponge, dipping time length, pore size and sintering temperature on the porosity and strength of the porous ceria ceramics were systematically studied. With the increasing sintering temperature, the glass phase occurred and led to an increase in strength, but an decrease in porosity. Eventually, we analyzed the relationships between porosity and strength of these porous materials, aiming to provide theoretical and practical references for its application in clean-energy field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper explores a new laser working material: gallium scandium gadolinium (GSGG), which was successfully prepared by one step co-precipitation method, and the potential properties of this Nd3+ doped laser ceramic raw materials were proposed. The size of the prepared powder was uniform and mainly about 65 nm. The GSGG phase could be obtained after a heat-treatment of 1000 °C for 4 h, and the characterized fluorescence decay curves showed that about 1 at.% concentration of Nd3+ in Nd3+:GSGG precursor presented optimum fluorescence intensity at 1.06 μm waveband. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thickened skin is a major clinical feature in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). We investigated changes of skin thickness in patients with SSc using both high frequency ultrasound (HFU) and the modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) to evaluate the feasibility of application of HFU in skin involvement and the relationship between HFU and clinical profiles. We recruited 31 consecutive patients with SSc and 31 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls in this prospective, cross-sectional study. Skin thickness was measured by an 18-MHz ultrasonic probe at five different skin sites. Total skin thickness (TST) and skin thickness using categorical mRSS scores were recorded and compared to HFU. The European Scleroderma Trial and Research (EUSTAR) group Disease Activity Index (EUSTAR-DAI) and other clinical manifestations were assessed and analyzed. TST in patients with SSc was thicker than in healthy controls (P <0.001), and correlated positively with total mRSS and the EUSTAR-DAI and correlated negatively with disease duration (P< 0.05). Patients with higher TST had higher EUSTAR-DAI, mRSS, C-reactive protein (CRP) and lower diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) (P< 0.05). Even in patients who on clinical assessment were assigned an mRSS that suggested the skin thickness was normal. This was also true to mRSS locally of 1 and 2 (P< 0.01). The area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.831 and yielded sensitivity of 77.4% and specificity of 87.1% at the predicted probability of 7.4 mm as the optimal cutoff point to access skin thickness. In the study, HFU was able to measure skin thickness, it correlated quantitatively with a valid measure of SSc activity, and a minimal detectable difference was identified.