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The Tigris–Euphrates dryland river basin has experienced a declining trend in terrestrial water storage (TWS) from April 2002 to June 2017. Using satellite observations and a process-based land surface model, we find that climate variations and direct human interventions explain ∼61% (−0.57 mm month−1) and ∼39% (−0.36 mm month−1) of the negative trend, respectively. We further disaggregate the effects of climate variations and find that interannual climate variability contributes substantially (−0.27 mm month−1) to the negative TWS trend, slightly greater than the decadal climate change (−0.25 mm month−1). Interannual climate variability affects TWS mainly through the nonlinear relationship between monthly TWS dynamics and aridity. Slow recovery of TWS during short wetting periods does not compensate for rapid depletion of TWS through transpiration during prolonged drying periods. Despite enhanced water stress, the dryland ecosystems show slightly enhanced resilience to water stress through greater partitioning of evapotranspiration into transpiration and weak surface “greening” effects. However, the dryland ecosystems are vulnerable to drought impacts. The basin shows straining ecosystem functioning after experiencing a severe drought event. In addition, after the onset of the drought, the dryland ecosystem becomes more sensitive to variations in climate conditions. Significance Statement The purpose of the research is to better understand climate impacts on terrestrial water storage over dryland regions with declining water storage. In our study, we disaggregate three components of climate impacts, namely, decadal climate change, interannual variability, and intra-annual variability. We then use observational datasets and a process-based model to quantify their individual effects on water storage. We find that interannual variability is the most significant climatic contributor to the declining water storage, mainly caused by prolonged drought periods and corresponding quick drying rates due to plant transpiration. We also find that the dryland ecosystem is sensitive and vulnerable to severe drought events. This study is important because 1) it provides a framework to investigate climate impacts on water fluxes and storages, 2) it highlights the importance of vegetation dynamics on dryland hydrology, and 3) it emphasizes the negative impacts of extreme hydroclimatological events on ecosystem functioning.

Anemia of inflammation (AI) is associated with inflammatory diseases, and inflammation-induced iron metabolism disorder is the major pathogenic factor. Earlier studies have reported a tendency of AI in periodontitis patients, but the explicit relationship and possible pathological mechanisms remain unclear. Here, the analyses of both periodontitis patients and a mouse model of ligature-induced experimental periodontitis showed that periodontitis was associated with lower levels of hemoglobin and hematocrit with evidence of systemic inflammation (increased white blood cell levels) and evidence of iron restriction (low serum iron along with a high serum hepcidin and ferritin levels), in accordance with the current diagnosis criteria for AI. Moreover, periodontal therapy improved the anemia status and iron metabolism disorders. Furthermore, the increased level of hepcidin and significant correlation between hepcidin and key indicators of iron metabolism emphasized the pivotal role of hepcidin in the pathogenesis of periodontitis-related AI. Administration of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) inhibitors Stattic suggested that the IL-6–STAT3–hepcidin signaling pathway participated in this regulatory process. Together, these findings demonstrated that periodontitis should be considered an inflammatory disease that contributes to the development of AI; furthermore, IL-6–STAT3–hepcidin signaling pathway plays a key regulatory role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis-related AI. Our study will provide new insights into the systemic effects of periodontitis, while meaningfully expanding the spectrum of inflammatory diseases that contribute to AI.

The aim is to establish a model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) caused by feeding with high-fat, high-fructose, and high-cholesterol diet (HFFCD) in golden hamsters, and to investigate the characteristics of the NAFLD model and metabolite changes of liver tissue. Golden hamsters were fed HFFCD or control diets for six weeks. Body weight, abdominal fat index, and liver index was assessed, serum parameters, hepatic histology, and liver metabolites were examined. The results showed that body weight, abdominal fat, and liver index of hamsters were significantly increased in the model group, the level of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) were significantly increased in model group as well, and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) was significantly decreased. In addition, lipid deposition in liver tissue formed fat vacuoles of different sizes. Metabonomics analysis of the liver showed that the metabolic pathways of sphingolipid, glycerophospholipids, and arginine biosynthesis were disordered in the NAFLD model. The modeling method is simple, short time, and uniform. It can simulate the early fatty liver caused by common dietary factors, and provides an ideal model for the study of the initial pathogenesis and therapeutic drugs for NAFLD.

Angiogenesis inhibitors targeting the VEGF signaling pathway are developed into drugs for the treatment of vaious diseases, such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and age-related macular degeneration. Recent studies have revealed that oleanolic acid (OA), a natural pentacyclic triterpenoid, inhibited the VEGF/VEGFR2 signaling pathway and angiogenesis in HUVECs, which may represent an attractive VEGF inhibitor. In this paper, rational structural modification towards OA was performed in order to improve its inhibitory effects aganist VEGF and anti-angiogenesis potential. As a result, a series of novel OA derivatives, possessing α,β-unsaturated ketone system in ring A and amide functional group at C-28, were prepared and evaluated for cytotoxicity and their ability to inhibit VEGF-induced abnormal proliferation of HUVECs. The results showed that two promising derivatives, OA-1 and OA-16, exhibited no in vitro cytotoxicity against HUVECs but showed more potent inhibitory activity against VEGF-induced proliferation and angiogenesis in HUVECs, compared with OA. The results of Western blot indicated that OA-1 and OA-16 inhibited VEGF-induced VEGFR2 activation. Furthermore, small interfering RNA experiments were performed to confirm that both compounds inhibited VEGF-induced angiogenesis via VEGFR2. Thus, the present study resulted in the discovery of new promising OA-inspired VEGF inhibitors, which can serve as potential lead compounds for the treatment of angiogenesis-related diseases.

Additional file 1: Sup. Table 1. Experimental materials and reagents. Sup. Figure 1. Differences between MEF50 function groups in microbiome composition at species level. Sup. Figure 2. Taxonomy tree and LDA scores of the groups. (A) Taxonomy tree and LDA scores between MEF50predicted%-low and MEF50predicted%-high groups. (B) Taxonomy tree and LDA scores between the MEF50predicted%-low group and the healthy control group. Circles from within to outward indicate the classification from the phylum to the genus, respectively. Each small circle represents a taxon with its diameter proportional to the relative abundance. Dots with different colors denote the core species of each group. Histogram showing the LDA scores of the biomarkers with statistical differences. Sup. Figure 3. Volcano plot of fold change (≥ 1.2-fold, adjusted p < 0.05) between the MEF50predicted%-low and MEF50predicted%-high groups in subjects with asthma.

Additional file 1: Fig. S1–S9. Additional figures, Table S1. siRNA sequences for knockdown assays, and Table S2. primers for qPCR.

While there has been significant development of models for Plain Language Summarization (PLS), evaluation remains a challenge. This is in part because PLS involves multiple, interrelated language transformations (e.g., adding background explanations, removing specialized terminology). No metrics are explicitly engineered for PLS, and the suitability of other text generation evaluation metrics remains unclear. To address these concerns, our study presents a granular meta-evaluation testbed, APPLS, designed to evaluate existing metrics for PLS. Drawing on insights from previous research, we define controlled perturbations for our testbed along four criteria that a metric of plain language should capture: informativeness, simplification, coherence, and faithfulness. Our analysis of metrics using this testbed reveals that current metrics fail to capture simplification, signaling a crucial gap. In response, we introduce POMME, a novel metric designed to assess text simplification in PLS. We demonstrate its correlation with simplification perturbations and validate across a variety of datasets. Our research contributes the first meta-evaluation testbed for PLS and a comprehensive evaluation of existing metrics, offering insights with relevance to other text generation tasks.

Ex-vivo normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) preserves the liver metabolism at 37°C and has rapidly developed as a promising approach for assessing the viability and improving the performance of organs from expanded criteria donors, including fatty liver grafts. NMP is an effective method for defatting fatty livers when combined with pharmaceutical therapies. Pharmacological agents have been shown to facilitate liver defatting by NMP.This systematic review summarizes available pharmacological therapies for liver defatting, with a particular emphasis on defatting agents that can be employed clinically as defatting components during liver NMP as an ex vivo translational paradigm.NMP provides an opportunity for organ treatment and can be used as a defatting platform in the future with defatting agents. Nagrath's cocktail is the most commonly used defatting cocktail in NMP; however, its carcinogenic components may limit its clinical application. Thus, the combination of a defatting cocktail with a new clinically applicable component, for example, a polyphenolic natural compound, may be a novel pharmacological option.

This paper aims to explore the activity of Codonopsis canescens extract against rheumatoid arthritis(RA) based on the Toll-like receptors(TLRs)/mitogen-activated protein kinases(MAPKs)/nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB) signaling pathways and its mechanism. The ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight/mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was used to identify the components of C. canescens extract. Forty-eight male SD rats were randomly divided into six groups, namely the normal group, the model group, the methotrexate(MTX) tablet group, and the low, medium, and high-dose C. canescens extract(ZDS-L, ZDS-M, and ZDS-H) groups, with 8 rats in each group. The model of collagen-induced arthritis in rats was induced by injection of bovine type Ⅱ collagen emulsion. MTX(2.5 mg·kg~(-1)), ZDS-L, ZDS-M, and ZDS-H(0.3 g·kg~(-1), 0.6 g·kg~(-1), and 1.2 g·kg~(-1)) were administrated by gavage. Rats in the normal group and the model group received distilled water. MTX was given once every three days for 28 days, and the rest medicines were given once daily for 28 days. Body weight, degree of foot swelling, arthritis index, immune organ index, synovial histopathological changes, and serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-1β(IL-1β), and interleukin-6(IL-6) were observed. Protein expressions of TLR2, TLR4, NF-κB p65, p38 MAPK, and p-p38 MAPK in rats were determined by Western blot. Thirty-four main components were identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, including 15 flavonoids, 7 phenylpropanoids, 4 terpenoids, 4 organic acids, 2 esters, and 2 polyalkynes. As compared with the normal group, the body weight of the model group was significantly decreased(Plt;0.01), and foot swelling(Plt;0.05, Plt;0.01), arthritis index(Plt;0.01), and the immune organ index(Plt;0.01) were significantly increased. The synovial histopathological injury was obviously observed in the model group. The serum levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were significantly increased(Plt;0.01), and the protein expression levels of TLR2, TLR4, NF-κB p65, p-p38 MAPK/p38 MAPK in the synovial tissue were significantly increased(Plt;0.01) in the model group. As compared with the model group, the body weights of the ZDS dose groups were increased(Plt;0.01), and the degree of foot swelling(Plt;0.01) and the arthritis index were decreased(Plt;0.05, Plt;0.01). The immune organ index was decreased(Plt;0.01) in the ZDS dose groups, and the synovial tissue hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration were alleviated. The serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were significantly decreased(Plt;0.05, Plt;0.01), and the protein expression levels of TLR2, TLR4, NF-κB p65, p-p38 MAPK/p38 MAPK were decreased(Plt;0.05, Plt;0.01) in the ZDS dose groups. C. canescens extract containing apigenin, tricin, chlorogenic acid, aesculin, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, and oleanolic acid has a good anti-RA effect, and the mechanism may be related to the inhibition of TLRs/MAPKs/NF-κB signaling pathways.

Although seasonal variations in mortality have been recognized for millennia, the role of temperature remains unclear. We aimed to assess seasonal variation in mortality and to examine the contribution of temperature., This work was primarily supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI [Grant Number 19K19461]. Y.C. was supported by a Senior Research grant [2019R1A2C1086194] from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). V.H. received support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness [Grant ID: PCIN-2017-046]. J.K. and A.U. were supported by the Czech Science Foundation [project 18-22125S]. A.S. acknowledged funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 820655 (EXHAUSTION). A.G. was supported by the Medical Research Council-UK [Grant ID: MR/R013349/1], the Natural Environment Research Council UK [Grant ID: NE/R009384/1] and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Project Exhaustion [Grant ID: 820655]. M.H. was supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) as part of SICORP [Grant Number JPMJSC20E4].

Background: The PITX gene family, comprising PITX1, PITX2, and PITX3, is critical in organogenesis and has been evolutionary conserved in animals. PITX genes are associated with the advanced progression and poor prognosis of multiple cancers. However, the relationship between the PITX genes and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) has not been reported.Methods: We used data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to analyze the association between PITX mRNA expression and clinicopathological parameters of patients with HNSC. The prognostic value of PITX genes was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier plotter. Multivariate Cox analysis was used to screen out prognosis-associated genes to identify better prognostic indicators. The potential roles of PITX1 and PITX2 in HNSC prognosis were investigated using the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. The correlation between PITX1 and PITX2 expression or methylation and immune cell infiltration was evaluated using the tumor-immune system interaction database (TISIDB). MethSurv was used to identify DNA methylation and its effect on HNSC prognosis.Results:PITX genes expression was correlated with different cancers. PITX1 and PITX2 expression was lower in the patients with HNSC. In HNSC, PITX1 expression was significantly related to the clinical stage, histologic grade, and N stage, while PITX2 expression was only significantly related to the histologic grade. The high expression of PITX3 was significantly related to the histologic grade, T stage, and N stage. Survival analysis revealed that PITX genes had prognostic value in HNSC, which was supported by multivariate Cox analysis. PPI network and enrichment analysis showed that the genes interacting with PITX1 and PITX2 belonged predominantly to signaling pathways associated with DNA binding and transcription. Of the CpG DNA methylation sites in PITX1 and PITX2, 28 and 22 were related to the prognosis of HNSC, respectively. Additionally, PITX1 and PITX2 expression and methylation was associated with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs).Conclusion: The PITX genes were differentially expressed in patients with HNSC, highlighting their essential role in DNA methylation and tumor-infiltrating immune cell regulation, as well as overall prognostic value in HNSC.

The use of silicon-containing steel in the manufacture of transformer cores can save raw materials and greatly reduce the volume and energy consumption of the transformer. A forsterite film of stoichiometry Mg2SiO4 formed on the steel surface provides a certain degree of insulation and forms by reaction between the oxides in internal oxidized zone and a deposited MgO coating during high-temperature annealing. In this work, the morphology evolution of internal oxidized zone and the forsterite film on the steel surface are studied when the arrangement methods for silicon steel and annealing atmosphere are different, then the relationship of morphology between internal oxidized zone and forsterite film is explored. Results showed that the morphology of forsterite film on the steel surface is closely related to the morphology of internal oxidized zone. Metallic iron particles exist in the forsterite film when an iron layer exists in the surface of internal oxidized zone.

Aims The vertical distribution of plant roots is a comprehensive result of plant adaptation to the environment. Limited knowledge on fine vertical root distributions and complex interactions between roots and environmental variables hinders our ability to reliably predict climatic impacts on vegetation dynamics. This study attempts to understand the drought adaptability of plants in arid areas from the perspective of the relationship between vertical root distribution and surroundings. Methods By analyzing root profiles compiled from published studies, the root vertical profiles of two typical phreatophytes, Tamarix ramosissima and Populus euphratica, and their relationships with environmental factors were investigated. A conceptual model was adopted to link the parameter distribution frequency with plant drought adaptability. Important Findings The strong hydrotropism (groundwater-dependent) and flexible water-use strategy of T. ramosissima and P. euphratica help both species survive in hyperarid climates. The differences in the developmental environments between T. ramosissima and P. euphratica can be explained well by the different distribution characteristics of root profiles. That is, higher root plasticity helps T. ramosissima develop a more efficient water-use strategy and therefore survive in more diverse climatic and soil conditions than P. euphratica. We conclude that the higher variation in root profile characteristics of phreatophytes can have greater root adaptability to the surroundings and thus wider hydrological niches and stronger ecological resilience. The inadequacy of models in describing root plasticity limits the accuracy of predicting the future response of vegetation to climate change, which calls for developing process-based dynamic root schemes in Earth system models.

High-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) are the most critical grain storage proteins that determine the unique processing quality of wheat. Although it is part of the superior HMW-GS pair (Dx5+Dy10), the contribution of the Dy10 subunit to wheat processing quality remains unclear. In this study, we elucidated the effect of Dy10 on wheat processing quality by generating and analyzing a deletion mutant (with the Dy10-null allele) and by elucidating the changes to wheat flour following the incorporation of purified Dy10. The Dy10-null allele was transcribed normally, but there was a lack of the Dy10 subunit. These findings implied that the Dy10-null allele decreased the glutenin:gliadin ratio and negatively affected dough strength (i.e., Zeleny sedimentation value, gluten index, and dough development and stability times) and the bread-making quality; however, it positively affected the biscuit-making quality. The incorporation of various amounts of purified Dy10 into wheat flour had a detrimental effect on biscuit-making quality. The results of this study demonstrate that the Dy10 subunit is essential for maintaining wheat dough strength. Furthermore, the Dy10-null allele may be exploited by soft wheat breeding programs.

In orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) recipients, median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) is considered a risk factor for hepatic arterial thrombosis (HAT), which is dreadful for OLT recipients. Different alternative surgical procedures have been proposed to overcome the impact of MALS on transplantation, but clinical evidence is still scarce.To evaluate the feasible surgical management of MALS to reduce complications in OLT patients.Data for 288 consecutive patients who underwent OLT at The First Hospital of Jilin University between January 2017 and July 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The surgical management of median arcuate ligament (MAL) and modifications to the arterial anastomosis were recorded. The perioperative and long-term prognosis of MALS recipients were noted. Detailed preoperative and postoperative data of patients were analyzed in a descriptive manner.Eight patients with MALS were included in this study. The first patient with MALS received no intervention during the primary surgery and developed postoperative HAT. Salvage liver transplantation with MAL division was successfully performed. Gastroduodenal artery (GDA) preservation with splenic artery ligation was performed on three patients, only GDA preservation was performed on two patients, and no intervention was performed on two patients. No patient developed HAT after surgery and postoperative recovery was satisfactory.The preservation of collateral circulation between the superior mesenteric artery and celiac trunk

Marine mollusks are a prolific source of secondary metabolites with complex/diverse structures and various aspects of biological activities. For the above-mentioned reason, these animals have been extensively explored and have become the hotspot of the research subject in recent years. It is well documented that mollusks can escape from predation by utilizing bioactive metabolites as defensive chemicals. In the last decade, the possible diet relationship between the South China Sea mollusks and their related potential prey organisms, including sponges, corals, algae, etc. has been systematically investigated. A series of interesting results have been obtained concerning the chemistry, chemoecology, and pharmacological profiles of the studied marine organisms. The present review focuses on recent developments dealing with chemistry, chemoecology, and bioactivity of the South China Sea mollusks and their dietary organisms.

Health literacy has emerged as a crucial factor in making appropriate health decisions and ensuring treatment outcomes. However, medical jargon and the complex structure of professional language in this domain make health information especially hard to interpret. Thus, there is an urgent unmet need for automated methods to enhance the accessibility of the biomedical literature to the general population. This problem can be framed as a type of translation problem between the language of healthcare professionals, and that of the general public. In this paper, we introduce the novel task of automated generation of lay language summaries of biomedical scientific reviews, and construct a dataset to support the development and evaluation of automated methods through which to enhance the accessibility of the biomedical literature. We conduct analyses of the various challenges in solving this task, including not only summarization of the key points but also explanation of background knowledge and simplification of professional language. We experiment with state-of-the-art summarization models as well as several data augmentation techniques, and evaluate their performance using both automated metrics and human assessment. Results indicate that automatically generated summaries produced using contemporary neural architectures can achieve promising quality and readability as compared with reference summaries developed for the lay public by experts (best ROUGE-L of 50.24 and Flesch-Kincaid readability score of 13.30). We also discuss the limitations of the current attempt, providing insights and directions for future work., Yue Guo and Wei Qiu contribute equally to this work. This paper is accepted by AAAI 2021

Background The introduction of fracture reduction robot can solve the problem of large reduction forces during fracture reduction surgeries and the need to collect multiple medical images. However, because its safety has not been certified, there are few academic achievements on this type of robot. To calculate the safety factor during its operation, a musculoskeletal model needs to be established to study the constraints of muscles on the robot. The existing academic achievements of musculoskeletal modelling are mainly for application such as rehabilitation treatment and collision in car accidents. Methods A musculoskeletal model applied to the fracture reduction robot is proposed in this paper. First, by comparing the characteristics of mainstream muscle models and combining the biological characteristics of the anesthetised muscles, the Hill model was selected as the muscle model for this study. Second, based on the motion composition of six spatial degrees of freedom, five basic fractural malposition situations are proposed. Then, a 170-cm tall male musculoskeletal model was built in Opensim. Based on this model, the muscle force curves of the above malposition situations are calculated. Finally, a similar musculoskeletal model was established in Adams, and the accuracy of its muscle force data was tested. The study is approved by the ethics committee of the Rehabilitation Hospital, National Research Center for Rehabilitation Technical Aids, Beijing, China. Results The muscle force curve of Opensim and Adams model under situations of five basic malposition are compared. Most of the correlation coefficients are in the range of 0.98-0.99. The overall correlation coefficient is greater than 0.95. Conclusions The simulation results prove that this model can be used for the safety assessment of the fracture reduction robots. This model will be served as an environmental constraint to study the control of fracture reduction robot.

The power grid load shows a trend of diversified development. With the continuous increase of the power grid construction scale, it is very important to optimize the power supply of the distribution network and improve the utilization of assets and equipment by using the peak valley complementary characteristics of multiple loads. In this paper, the peak-valley fluctuation characteristics of load are classified and analyzed. Cluster analysis is used to study the load classification with stable peak-valley characteristics in the complex load composition. Based on the peak-peak superposition and peak-valley complementary characteristics of the classified load, and considering the load space dimension, the multi-load optimization combination method for the whole period and time segment is proposed, and verified by simulation.

Dinuclear Pt(II) complexes have the potential to achieve high electroluminescence (EL) performance because of the enhanced phosphorescence emission induced by the extra metal center. However, to date, organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) utilizing dinuclear Pt(II) complexes as emitters usually show low EL performance with external quantum efficiencies (EQE) less than 10%. In this work, with the triphenylphosphine oxide group as the scaffold core and different N-heterocycles (pyridine, thiazole, and quinoline) as the end-groups, dinuclear Pt(II) complexes PyPODPt, ThPODPt, and QuPODPt are synthesized to show bright emissions peaking at 500, 543, and 586 nm in solutions. The photoluminescence quantum yields are measured to be up to 0.96. More importantly, the solution-processed orange-red device based on QuPODPt exhibits outstanding EL performance with the EQE reaching 11.2%, which is among the highest EQEs reported for OLEDs employing dinuclear Pt(II) complexes. The superior device performance demonstrates the promising potential of triphenylphosphine oxide-based dinuclear Pt(II) complexes for OLED applications.

Herein, we describe a facile method to control the size and dispersion of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) in SBA-15 by the supercritical antisolvent (SAS) method during the depressurization process of supercritical fluid deposition (SCFD), describing the mass transfer between supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) and a cosolvent. On reducing the concentration of the cupric nitrate precursor, the size of CuO NPs was decreased from 3.5 ± 1.0 to 1.0 ± 0.4 nm (Cu loading 14.2–12.1 wt %) under the depressurized rate of ∼20 MPa/min. Based on the size distribution and nucleation theory, the nucleation rate of the precursor could reach 10²⁵ cm–³·s–¹, and the calculated interface energy of cupric nitrate was less than 0.1 J/m², indicating that scCO₂ as an antisolvent caused the heterogeneous nucleation of the precursor on the surface of SBA-15 channels. Hence, the nucleation rate and growth of cupric nitrate were regulated under a given scCO₂ depressurized rate, and then the CuO NPs’ size distribution and Cu loading were controlled subsequent to calcination.

Background: Pyrethrum tatsienense (Bureau & Franch.) Ling ex C. Shih (PTLCS) belongs to the family Compositae, which is a perennial medicinal plant mainly distributed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of PTLCS. This review offers valuable references and guidance for researching PTLCS in depth. Methods: The related references of PTLCS were retrieved from an online database, such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, SciFinder, PubMed, SpringLink, Elsevier, Willy, CNKI, and so on. Results: PTLCS is widely reported for treating headaches, head injuries, traumatic injuries, anabrosis, impetigo, hepatitis, and other diseases in the medical field. Phytochemical research revealed that this plant contained flavonoid aglycones, flavonoid glycosides, xanthones, triterpenoids, coumarins, polyacetylenes, volatile oils, and other compounds. Meanwhile, PTLCS exhibited extensive pharmacological activities including anti-cardiac ischemia, anti-hypoxia, hepatoprotective, anti- inflammatory and analgesic, and antioxidant activities. Conclusions: PTLCS is widely used as a Tibetan medicine, which has a variety of chemicals with diverse bioactivities. Therefore, further studies are necessary to perform on the PTLCS to assay biological activities, discover their bioactive constituents, and reveal pharmacological mechanisms. This review may supply an important theoretical basis and valuable reference for in-depth research and exploitations of PTLCS.

Epidemiological analyses of health risks associated with non-optimal temperature are traditionally based on ground observations from weather stations that offer limited spatial and temporal coverage. Climate reanalysis represents an alternative option that provide complete spatio-temporal exposure coverage, and yet are to be systematically explored for their suitability in assessing temperature-related health risks at a global scale. Here we provide the first comprehensive analysis over multiple regions to assess the suitability of the most recent generation of reanalysis datasets for health impact assessments and evaluate their comparative performance against traditional station-based data. Our findings show that reanalysis temperature from the last ERA5 products generally compare well to station observations, with similar non-optimal temperature-related risk estimates. However, the analysis offers some indication of lower performance in tropical regions, with a likely underestimation of heat-related excess mortality. Reanalysis data represent a valid alternative source of exposure variables in epidemiological analyses of temperature-related risk., The study was primarily supported by Grants from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre Seville (Research Contract ID: JRC/SVQ/2020/MVP/1654), Medical Research Council-UK (Grant ID: MR/R013349/1), Natural Environment Research Council UK (Grant ID: NE/R009384/1), European Union’s Horizon 2020 Project Exhaustion (Grant ID: 820655). The following individual Grants also supported this work: J.K and A.U were supported by the Czech Science Foundation, project 20-28560S. A.T was supported by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, Grant CEX2018-000794-S. V.H was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant agreement No 101032087. This work was generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) information [1985–2019].

Direct arylation methods have been used to polymerize thienylmethylene oxindoles (TEIs) and 3,3-bis[[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]methyl]-3,4-dihydro-2H-thieno-[3,4-b][1,4]dioxepin (ProDOT) for new donor-acceptor conjugated polymers. The polymers exhibited blue hues in neutral-state with distinct color-to-transmissive reversible electrochromic switching under applied potentials from 0 V to +1.5 V, and showed high coloration efficiencies (436–438 cm2·C−1) in near-infrared regions with high switching speeds around 1–2 s under ambient conditions.

Highlights • Lymphopenia and eosinopenia might be predictors of disease severity in COVID-19. • Lymphopenia and eosinopenia might be predictors of disease progression in COVID-19. • Clinical classification-severe type is the dependently risk factor for alteration of PBICs. • PBICs might be a sentinel, and it deserves attention during COVID-19 management., Background The underlying changes of peripheral blood inflammatory cells (PBICs) in COVID-19 patients are little known. Moreover, the risk factors for the underlying changes of PBICs and their predicting role in severe COVID-19 patients remain uncertain. Material and Methods This retrospective study including two cohorts: the main cohort enrolling 45 patients of severe type serving as study group, and the secondary cohort enrolling 12 patients of no-severe type serving as control group. The PBICs analysis was based on blood routine and lymphocyte subsets. The inflammatory cell levels were compared among patients according to clinical classifications, disease-associated phases, as well as one-month outcomes. Results Compared with patients of non-severe type, the patients of severe type suffered from significantly decreased counts of lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils, but increased counts of neutrophils. These PBICs alterations got improved in recovery phase, but persisted or got worse in aggravated phase. Compared with patients in discharged group, the patients in un-discharged/died group suffered from decreased counts of total T lymphocytes, CD4+T lymphocytes, CD8+T lymphocytes, as well as NK cells at 2 weeks after treatment. Clinical classification-critically severe was the independently risk factor for lymphopenia (OR=7.701, 95%CI:1.265-46.893, P=0.027), eosinopenia (OR=5.595, 95%CI:1.008-31.054, P=0.049) and worse one-month outcome (OR=8.984; 95%CI:1.021-79.061, P=0.048). Conclusion Lymphopenia and eosinopenia may serve as predictors of disease severity and disease progression in COVID-19 patients, and enhancing the cellular immunity may contribute to COVID-19 treatment. Thus, PBICs might become a sentinel of COVID-19, and it deserves attention during COVID-19 treatment.

Interactions between plants and insects are among the most important life functions for all organism at a particular natural community. Usually a large number of samples are required to identify insect diets in food web studies. Previously, Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing (NGS) with short DNA barcodes were used, resulting in low species-level identification; meanwhile the costs of Sanger sequencing are expensive for metabarcoding together with more samples. Here, we present a fast and effective sequencing strategy to identify larvae of Lepidoptera and their diets at the same time without increasing the cost on Illumina platform in a single HiSeq run, with long-multiplex-metabarcoding (COI for insects, rbcL, matK, ITS and trnL for plants) obtained by Trinity assembly (SHMMT). Meanwhile, Sanger sequencing (for single individuals) and NGS (for polyphagous) were used to verify the reliability of the SHMMT approach. Furthermore, we show that SHMMT approach is fast and reliable, with most high-quality sequences of five DNA barcodes of 63 larvae individuals (54 species) recovered (full length of 100% of the COI gene and 98.3% of plant DNA barcodes) using Trinity assembly (up-sized to 1015 bp). For larvae diets identification, 95% are reliable; the other 5% failed because their guts were empty. The diets identified by SHMMT approach are 100% consistent with the host plants that the larvae were feeding on during our collection. Our study demonstrates that SHMMT approach is reliable and cost-effective for insect-plants network studies. This will facilitate insect-host plant studies that generally contain a huge number of samples.

Introduction To evaluate the efficacy and safety of dulaglutide 0.75 and 1.5 mg in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by baseline glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c)

This study is intended to simulate and better understand mean and extreme precipitation over the Loess Plateau (LP) in China using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. We performed a long-term (1980–2011) simulation with the WRF model at a 10 km horizontal resolution, forced by the ERA-Interim reanalysis. A series of sensitivity experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of resolution and physical parameterization schemes on the simulation ability of the WRF model over the LP. The region has a dominant semi-arid climate and is adversely affected by extreme precipitation. Results show that the WRF model produced better simulations at a 10 km resolution for the LP with complex terrain than it did at coarser resolutions. WRF simulations for precipitation over the LP were most sensitive to cumulus schemes, moderately sensitive to planetary boundary layer schemes, and less sensitive to microphysics schemes. The WRF model not only adequately captured the spatial distribution of precipitation in the LP but also reproduced its magnitude and variability at different time scales. Moreover, the WRF model captured 73% of the observed extreme precipitation events with an intensity of more than 12 mm day− 1, which cause substantial soil erosion in the LP. Although it was unable to capture 27% of the observed events, the WRF model reasonably reproduced ERA-Interim extreme precipitation and its dynamic processes. These analyses strongly suggest that the biased extreme precipitation generated with the WRF model most likely resulted from inaccurate ERA-Interim forcing data. This study provides a better understanding of extreme precipitation simulations as well as insight into predictions of soil erosion in the LP.

Solubility of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfanilamide] ([Bmim][NTf2]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Bmim][Ac]) in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) using ethan...

Olfaction-based strategies have been successfully applied to monitor the emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae); however, roles of chemosensory-associated proteins in olfactory perception of A. planipennis are rarely reported. Here, we identified 11 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) from the A. planipennis transcriptome and genome. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that A. planipennis OBPs (AplaOBPs) could be classified into four subfamilies. The reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) analysis showed that all three members of the ABPII, one plus-C OBP, and one minus-C OBP were specifically or predominantly expressed in the antennae of both sexes, indicating their possible involvement in chemoreception. Subsequently, an antenna-specific OBP, AplaOBP1, was investigated through in situ hybridization, immunocytochemistry, and fluorescent competitive binding assays. It was found that the AplaOBP1 gene was detected under the base of the antennal sensilla, and the AplaOBP1 protein was expressed in the lymph of multiparous sensilla basiconica types I and III. In vitro, recombinant AplaOBP1 exhibited high binding affinities (Ki = 3.38–9.25 μM) with nine volatiles including five host-tree terpenes (e.g., myrcene, limonene, nerolidol, α-farnesene, and ocimene), which indicated that AplaOBP1 might be involved in the detection of host volatiles. The electrophysiological activities of all AplaOBP1 ligands were further confirmed using electroantennography, whose results imply that these volatiles may act as putative semiochemicals for A. planipennis. In conclusion, our results provide valuable insights into the molecular basis of olfaction in A. planipennis and help us use OBPs as targets to design novel olfactory regulators for management of A. planipennis.