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The state-of-the-art salt-thermal method to recycle spent LIBs enables preferential Li recovery, recovery of anode/cathode material, direct regeneration of degraded anode/cathode material, and one-step re-synthesis of advanced functional materials.

Extreme droughts strongly impact grassland ecology, both functionally and structurally. However, a comprehensive understanding of the drought impacts on the ecosystem stability is critical for its sustainable development under changing climate. We experimentally report the impact of extreme drought on the temporal stability of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) in a desert steppe of northern China. The relative importance evaluation of extreme drought, soil properties, species asynchrony, taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity was performed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to measure the temporal ANPP and BNPP stabilities. Our findings suggested that extreme drought decreased BNPP stability but did not affect ANPP stability. Extreme drought reduced taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, ANPP, and soil water content but did not affect species asynchrony, functional diversity, or BNPP. Species richness, Shannon-Wiener index, and soil water content were positively correlated with BNPP stability. The SEM results showed a drought-mediated indirect weakening of BNPP stability via modification of species richness. Asynchrony of species unrelated to drought, however, directly affected ANPP stability. The mechanisms underlying the response determination of ANPP and BNPP stability to extreme drought in desert steppe varied notably. Depending on the species asynchrony, ANPP reduced by extreme drought could maintain higher stability. However, extreme drought lowered BNPP stability by altering species richness.

Electroacupuncture (EA) can protect against acute urinary retention (AUR); however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Non-vesicular ATP release mediated by transient receptor potential (TRP) channels were identified as a key contributor to signaling in urothelial cells. In this study, the AUR model was established by urethral outlet obstruction in female Sprague-Dawley rats. EA was performed at SP6 and BL32 for 0.5 h prior to induction of AUR. EA reduced TRPV1 expression and urinary ATP concentrations in rat bladder, decreased the peak intravesical pressure during AUR, and attenuated abnormal voiding patterns and bladder pathological injury induced by AUR. Besides, 179 patients who experienced postoperative urinary retention were recruited and found that EA reduced urinary ATP concentrations and accelerated the recovery of spontaneous voiding. These observations indicate that EA exerts protection against AUR-induced bladder dysfunction by reducing urinary ATP concentrations through the regulation of TRPV1.

The main limiting factor of artificial cervical insemination in ewes is the long and narrow fibrous cervical canal, which impedes the transport of spermatozoa and leads to lower pregnancy rates. The hypothesis that prolonging the time of semen deposition during ovine cervical insemination can increase pregnancy rates was investigated in this study. Estrus was synchronized in 150 multiparous Ujimqin ewes using a polyurethane intravaginal sponge impregnated with 45 mg of flurogestone acetate. The sponge was left in the vagina for 12 days followed by an injection of 330 IU of eCG at sponge removal. After the exclusion of two ewes due to sponge loss, the remaining 148 ewes were divided into the Treatment group (n = 75) and the Control group (n = 73). Each ewe was inseminated once between 56 and 60 h after the removal of sponges, using a new type of insemination device containing 0.25 ml of diluted semen. Semen was collected from eight Black Suffolk rams and all the ejaculates were pooled and diluted in ultra-high temperature-treated commercial skimmed milk. The time of semen deposition was prolonged to 60 s in the Treatment group, while ewes were given traditional insemination in the Control group. Pregnancy status was determined by transabdominal ultrasound examination 45 days after insemination. Lambing performance was calculated after all the ewes had been delivered. Significant differences were observed between the Treatment group and the Control group in terms of the pregnancy rate and the fecundity rate (73.3% and 93.3% vs 56.2% and 71.2%, p .05 and p .01, respectively). In conclusion, prolonging the time of semen deposition significantly increased pregnancy and fecundity rates in estrus-synchronized Ujimqin ewes subjected to fixed time cervical insemination.

The identification and antibiotic susceptibility of two clinical isolates of Eggerthella lenta from bloodstream infections were determined. This microorganism is rarely pathogenic, and the findings are presented here to promote the detection and awareness of this infection. The bacteria were obtained from one patient with pressure sores and another with a malignant gastric tumor. Smears were prepared, stained, and examined by microscopy. Single colonies were analyzed by Gram staining, MALDI-TOF MS, and the 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Antibiotic sensitivity was assessed by the agar dilution method. The bacilli were found to be Gram-positive, and the MS results showed 99.8% homology with E. lenta. It was confirmed by gene sequencing. Antibiotic susceptibility tests demonstrated that E. lenta was sensitive to piperacillin-tazobactam, ampicillin-sulbactam, imipenem, meropenem, metronidazole, clindamycin, and vancomycin. This study could increase awareness of this rare infection.

Purpose Endotoxin-induced acute lung injury (ALI) is a severe disease caused by an imbalanced host response to infection. It is necessary to explore novel mechanisms for the treatment of endotoxin-induced ALI. In endotoxin-induced ALI, tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) provides protection through anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptosis, and anti-pyroptosis effects. However, the mechanism of action of TMP in endotoxin-induced ALI remains unclear. Here, we aimed to determine whether TMP can protect the lungs by inhibiting Golgi stress via the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. Methods and results Using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated C57BL/6J mice and MLE12 alveolar epithelial cells, we observed that TMP pretreatment attenuated endotoxin-induced ALI. The LPS + TMP group showed lesser lung pathological damage and a lower rate of apoptotic lung cells than the LPS group. TMP pretreatment also decreased the levels of inflammatory factors and oxidative stress damage (P 2+/Mn2+ ATPases (ATP2C1), and Golgin97 expression while decreasing the Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) expression (P P Nrf2 gene silencing partially reversed the alleviating effect of Golgi stress and the pulmonary protective effect of TMP. Conclusion Our findings showed that TMP therapy reduces endotoxin-induced ALI by suppressing Golgi stress via the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway in vivo and in vitro.

The cytosol-facing outer membrane (OM) of organelles communicates with other cellular compartments to exchange proteins, metabolites and signaling molecules. Cellular surveillance systems also target OM-resident proteins to control organellar homeostasis and ensure cell survival under stress. Using traditional approaches to discover OM proteins and identify their dynamically interacting partners remains challenging. In this study, we developed an OM proximity labeling (OMPL) system using biotin ligase-mediated proximity biotinylation to map the proximity proteome of the OMs of mitochondria, chloroplasts, and peroxisomes in living Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) cells. We demonstrate the power of this system with the discovery of cytosolic factors and OM receptor candidates involved in local protein translation and translocation, membrane contact sites, and organelle quality control. This system also performed admirably for the rapid isolation of intact mitochondria and peroxisomes. Our data support the notion that TOM20-3 is a candidate for both a mitochondrial and a chloroplast receptor, and that PEX11D is a candidate for a peroxisome receptor for the coupling of protein translation and import. OMPL-generated OM proximity proteomes are valuable sources of candidates for functional validation and suggest directions for further investigation of important questions in cell biology.

Brussels is an officially French-Dutch bilingual city, yet in reality, it is profoundly and increasingly multilingual. Earlier research on the linguistic situation in Brussels has predominantly focused on the competing dominant languages, resulting in very limited scholarly attention to smaller language communities. This paper addresses this blind spot by exploring the language repertoires, proficiencies and practices of members of the Chinese communities. Linking insights from language ecology to the study of language maintenance and shift, and informed by the questionnaire data, we discuss how the changing sociodemographic backgrounds of the participants affect the language maintenance and shift of the whole Chinese communities. Our results do not reveal a traditional pattern of shift toward the dominant majority languages, but rather hint at a community-level shift toward more complex multilingual repertoires with an increased role for English and Mandarin, in tune with Brussels’ increasingly international and multilingual context at large.

Deubiquitinates (DUBs) alter the stabilities, localizations or activities of substrates by removing their ubiquitin conjugates, which are closely related to the development of inflammatory response. Here, we show that ubiquitin-specific protease 47 (USP47) prevents inflammation development in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Compared with wild-type mice, Usp47 knockout mice are more susceptible to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced acute and chronic colitis with higher inflammatory cytokines expression and severe intestinal tissue damage. Chimeric mouse experiments suggest that non-hematopoietic cells mainly contribute to the phenotype. And, DSS-induced colitis of the Usp47 knockout mice depends on commensal bacteria. Mechanistically, down-regulation of USP47 aggravates the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway by increasing the K63-linked poly-ubiquitination of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) in intestinal epithelial cells. Furthermore, the expression of USP47, negatively correlated with the degree of inflammation, is lower at colonic inflammatory lesions than that non-inflammatory sites from the intestine from ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) patients. These data, taken together, indicate that USP47 regulates intestinal inflammation through de-ubiquitination of K63-linked poly-ubiquitination TRAF6 in intestinal epithelial cells.

As the third most important greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N2O) poses a significant threat to global warming and the ozone layer. However, the effects of precipitation changes on N2O emissions in arid areas remain unclear, particularly in desert steppe environments. Therefore, an in situ control experiment was conducted from July 2018 to July 2020 to examine the N2O emissions with changes in precipitation in the Urat Desert Steppe, northwestern China. The results showed that the N2O emission rate was relatively low in this desert steppe, at −0.04 to +15.0 μg N m−2 hr−1 with an annual flux of 0.20 ± 0.03 kg N ha−1. An increasing trend of N2O emission was observed in the early growing season (February to June 2019) when the precipitation was increased by 40% and 60% of its natural level. In contrast, no significant change in N2O emissions was observed when the precipitation was decreased during the same period. During the middle and late growing season and in the nongrowing season, precipitation changes did not significantly affect N2O emissions. In particular, no significant change in the annual N2O flux was observed during the entire observation period whether the precipitation was increased or decreased. Furthermore, the results of a structural equation model showed that the most important controlling factor for N2O emission is an abundance of key functional ammonia monooxygenase genes of ammonia-oxidizing archaea, which are restricted by the soil NH4+-N content, followed by abundances of key functional NO2− reductase (nirK) and N2O reductase (nosZ) genes. In contrast, the indirect effect of soil moisture on the abundance of nosZ compensated for the direct effect of soil moisture on N2O emissions. These results show that the primary and secondary origins of N2O emissions are soil ammonia oxidation and soil denitrification processes, respectively. In these two processes, N2O emissions are influenced more by the abundance of key functional microorganisms than by soil moisture, which might be limited mainly by the available soil nitrogen. Overall, the N2O emissions in the desert steppe environment were not sensitive to precipitation changes and were regulated mainly by nitrogen-related key functional microorganisms.

The robot manipulator is widely used in healthcare tasks owning to its advantages of the virus immunity, the intensive service capability, etc. For the safe and smooth robot-assisted healthcare task execution, real-time motion tracking controls and compliant physical human-robot interactions are concurrently important control objectives. In this work, the uncertainty and disturbance estimator (UDE)-based robust region tracking controller for a robot manipulator is developed. The regional feedback error is derived from the potential function to drive the robot manipulator end-effector converging into the target region, where the safe and compliant physical human-robot interaction can be achieved. Utilizing the back-stepping control approach, the regional feedback error is seamlessly integrated into the UDE-based control framework, where the UDE is employed to estimate and compensate unknown payloads, unmodeled dynamics and frictions. Due to the simple structure and strong robustness of the proposed method, only the minimum model information, i.e., a constant inertia matrix, is needed for implementation on multi-degrees of freedom robot manipulators without additional force/torque sensors. The Lyapunov method is used to analyze the stability of the closed-loop control system. With two 7 degrees of freedom(DoFs) redundant manipulators and one 6 DoFs nonredundant manipulator, experimental studies including 3D lemniscate trajectory tracking, human–robot interaction for bilateral rehabilitation and temperature measurement are carried out for controller effectiveness validation. Compared to benchmark adaptive region control method, the proposed approach achieves better robustness with 0.022 m less mean absolute errors and 0.022 m less root mean squared errors in the presence of model uncertainties. This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of GnRH at insemination on lambing performance of Kazak ewes. Estrus was synchronized in 774 adult Kazak ewes using an intravaginal sponge impregnated with flurogestone acetate. The sponge was left in the vagina for 12 days followed with an injection of 330 IU of eCG at sponge removal. Each ewe was inseminated twice at 48 h and 60 h after sponge removal. The treatment group (n = 387) was intramuscularly injected at the first insemination with a dose of 25 μg GnRH and the control group (n = 387) with saline solution. The results showed that GnRH administration significantly decreased the fertility rate. In addition, significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the twin birth rate, the abortion rate and the litter size. In conclusion, GnRH administration at insemination was not recommended in Kazak ewes undergoing the fixed time artificial insemination during the breeding season. The breed may be a critical determinant of the potential for the exploitation of GnRH application in sheep breeding programs.

Drought significantly impacts ecosystem structure and function, especially the transformation rates of soil carbon and nitrogen. This study explores how drought affects ecosystem respiration (R-e), methane (CH4) uptake and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in temperate desert steppes and the underlying mechanisms. Methods An in-situ experiment was conducted in the Inner Mongolia desert steppe in northern China to study the effect of drought on R-e, CH4 and N2O fluxes. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to establish the relationship between R-e, CH4 uptake and N2O emissions and plant functional traits and environmental factors. Results Ecosystem respiration and CH4 uptake were both significantly reduced by chronic drought (66 % precipitation reduction from 1 May to 31 August) but not by pulse drought (100 % precipitation reduction in June and July). In contrast, no significant impact on N2O emissions was observed under chronic or pulse drought. There were no significant direct effects of soil moisture on R-e, CH4 uptake or N2O emissions. However, soil moisture had an important indirect effect on R-e, CH4 uptake and N2O emissions, mainly through its influence on plant functional traits, plant above-ground biomass and soil nutrients. Plant biomass and soil temperature were the key indicators of R-e, and plant leaf nitrogen content was the key plant trait associated with N2O emissions. In contrast, plant specific leaf area and biomass were the key traits associated with CH4 uptake. Conclusions Overall, R-e and CH4 uptake were reduced by chronic drought in this desert steppe, but there was no significant effect on N2O emissions. Ecosystem respiration, CH4 uptake and N2O emissions were associated with plant functional traits. This provides new insight for the understanding of soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in desert steppe systems under drought conditions and an important theoretical basis for the revision of model parameters.

In this paper, a self-healing composite coating on its surface by in situ hydrothermal-ion exchange hot pressing with silane method was synthesized on 3D-printed stainless steel, and self-healing performance and mechanism of the coating were studied during static corrosion. Based on the excellent physical and chemical properties of molecular sieve and the characteristics of environmental protection and high mechanical strength, ZSM-5 molecular sieve was selected as nano-container to load corrosion inhibitor cerium ion, and silane coupling agent was selected as binder to enhance the bonding force with the coating and the surface of 3D-printed stainless steel. The surface morphology, element distribution and composition of the coating were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and x-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The self-healing process and mechanism of the coating were studied by SEM, EDS, localized electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (LEIS), three-dimensional microscope and atomic force microscope. Research shows that the coating has obvious self-healing ability during static corrosion.

For patients who need lower-limb kinetism rehabilitation training, this paper proposes an effective data-driven approach seeking the design of 1-degree-of-freedom (DOF) six-bar rehab mechanism through gait prediction by body parameters. First, gait trajectories from 79 healthy volunteers are collected along with their body parameters. Then, the normalized gait samples are clustered and regressed into a limited number of representative trajectories with K-means algorithm, and the cluster index is recorded as the label for each trajectory. Next, a genetic-algorithm-optimized support vector machine method is adopted to establish a classifier for the trajectories, obtaining the correspondence between body parameters and cluster labels of gait trajectories. As a result, once a group of body parameters are input into the classifier, the suitable gait trajectory can be predicted for the specific patient. A GA-BFGS algorithm is developed for 1-DOF six-bar mechanism synthesis and a GUI design software is presented that shows how the data-driven design process is realized. The novelty of this paper is using clustering and prediction technique to accomplish the patient-mechanism matching, so that simple, low-priced 1-DOF mechanisms could be adopted for large number of various patients without expensive customized design for each individual. In the end, a gait rehab device design example is provided, and a prototype device driven by a constant speed motor is presented, which illustrates the feasibility of the proposed method.

Cardiotoxicity induced by anticancer drugs interferes with the continuation of optimal treatment, inducing life-threatening risks or leading to long-term morbidity. The heart is a complex pluricellular organ comprised of cardiomyocytes and non-cardiomyocytes. Although the study of these cell populations has been often focusing on cardiomyocytes, the contributions of non-cardiomyocytes to development and disease are increasingly being appreciated as both dynamic and essential. This review summarized the role of non-cardiomyocytes in anticancer drug-induced cardiotoxicity, including the mechanism of direct damage to resident non-cardiomyocytes, cardiomyocytes injury caused by paracrine modality, myocardial inflammation induced by transient cell populations and the protective agents that focused on non-cardiomyocytes.

Soil microbe diversity plays a key role in dryland ecosystem function under global climate change, yet little is known about how plant-soil microbe relationships respond to climate change. Altered precipitation patterns strongly shape plant community composition in deserts and steppes, but little research has demonstrated whether plant biodiversity attributes mediate the response of soil microbial diversity to long- and short-term precipitation changes. Here we used a comparative study to explore how altered precipitation along the natural and experimental gradients affected associations of soil bacterial and fungal diversity with plant biodiversity attributes (species, functional and phylogenetic diversity) and soil properties in desert-shrub and steppe-grass communities. We found that along both gradients, increasing precipitation increased soil bacterial and fungal richness in the desert and soil fungal richness in the steppe. Soil bacterial richness in the steppe was also increased by increasing precipitation in the experiment but was decreased along the natural gradient. Plant biodiversity and soil properties explained the variations in soil bacterial and fungal richness from 43 % to 96 % along the natural gradient and from 19 to 46 % in the experiment. Overall, precipitation effects on soil bacterial or fungal richness were mediated by plant biodiversity attributes (species richness and plant height) or soil properties (soil water content) along the natural gradient but were mediated by plant biodiversity attributes (functional or phylogenetic diversity) in the experiment. These results suggest that different mechanisms are responsible for the responses of soil bacterial and fungal diversity to long- and short-term precipitation changes. Long- and short-term precipitation changes may modify plant biodiversity attribute effects on soil microbial diversity in deserts and steppes, highlighting the importance of precipitation changes in shaping relationships between plant and soil microbial diversity in water-limited areas.

This paper studies the problem of geometric constraint acquisition from a given planar motion task using Fourier descriptor. In the previous work, we established a computational geometric framework for simultaneous type and dimensional synthesis of planar dyads by extracting line or circle constraints from a sequence of task poses. In cases where six or more poses are specified as the desired movement, the resulting optimal constraint may be nowhere in the accuracy neighborhood to be viewed as an approximate line or circle. The approach herein enhances the framework by exploiting Fourier transform to capture the feasible constraint of a continuous motion with a large set of poses. Theoretically, any arbitrary point trajectory on the task motion can be transformed to an array of harmonics and used as a constraint; on a practical level, only those with low number of harmonics could allow accurate realization by simple planar mechanisms suitable for real applications, e.g., four- and six-bar linkages, cams, and coupled serial chains. Therefore, the practical goal is to find the simple Fourier constraint defined with the least number of harmonics. Two examples of designing assistive mechanisms for upper- and lower-limb rehabilitation are provided in the end to illustrate the effectiveness of our approach.

Cell-envelope proteinases (CEPs) can hydrolyze casein into functional peptides, which is beneficial to the health of the host. The single factor experiment screened out that the optimal conditions for CEP production by Lactobacillus plantarum LP69 were 37°C, 20h, initial pH of 7, and optimal inoculation amount of 5%. The best conditions for this experiment were obtained by orthogonal experiment: time 22h, temperature 39°C, initial pH value of 6, and inoculation amount of 5%. Under this culture condition, the target protease activity of Lactobacillus plantarum LP69 reached 22.31±0.82U/mL, the protein content was 19.07±0.36mg/mL, and the specific activity was 1.17±0.06U/mg. The specific activity significantly increased by 15.8% compared with the control (p

Decreasing the operating temperature of pyrometallurgical methods for recycling spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is key to reducing energy consumption and cost. Herein, a NaOH-assisted low-temperature roasting approach is proposed to recover spent LiFePO

Bacteremia caused by Herbaspirillum huttiense (H. huttiense) is relatively rare in positive blood cultures. H. huttiense is an opportunistic bacterium in patients with cancer and cirrhosis and has also been described in immunocompromised hosts. In this study, H. huttiense was isolated from a patient with repeated chest tightness and chest pain. Smears were prepared, stained, and examined by microscopy. Single colonies were analyzed by Gram staining, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), 16S rRNA sequencing and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS). Antibiotic sensitivity was assessed by agar dilution. Almost all publications on H. huttiense infections in the PubMed/ScienceDirect/EBSCO databases were reviewed and summarized. Blood sample culturing yielded white, gelatinous, and slightly raised colonies without hemolytic rings. The bacilli were found to be Gram-negative, and MS results showed 99.2% homology with H. huttiense. This was confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, phylogenetic tree analysis and NGS all of which were homologous with H. huttiense in GenBank. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of imipenem, meropenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, and levofloxacin. A comprehensive literature review revealed that H. huttiense was an emergent pathogen. After medical treatment, the patient’s body temperature returned to normal. This is the first report of bacteremia caused by H. huttiense in China. The findings could improve the awareness and attention of the rare pathogenic microorganisms in China.

GATA3 has been reported to be positive in clear cell papillary renal cell carcinoma and papillary renal neoplasm with reverse polarity. However, its features in high-grade RCC remain unclear. Despite the emergence of novel renal entities, FH-deficient RCC remains one of the most aggressive renal neoplasms. The diagnosis is mainly based on the loss of FH at the protein level. Previous studies have shown that inclusion-like nuclei, multiple architectural patterns, FH loss, and 2SC positivity can differentiate FH-deficient RCC from other RCC. In some FH-deficient RCC cases, FH is normally expressed and is difficult to diagnose. This study included 11 FH-deficient RCC, and GATA3 showed different expression in seven cases. However, 147 papillary renal cell carcinomas were included, and GATA3 expression was negative. A comparison of clinicopathological aspects between 11 FH-deficient RCC and 30 high-grade PRCC showed statistical significance in age, size, multiple architectural patterns, inclusion-like nuclei, and prognosis. However, PRCC exhibited similar characteristics. CK7, GATA3, and FH profiles were also statistically significant. Different chromosomal alterations were found in FH-deficient RCC, and chromosomal alterations were not different between FH-deficient RCC and PRCC. GATA3 was positive in 33 % (7/21) of collecting duct carcinomas and negative in other high-grade renal neoplasms. GATA3 is negative in PRCC, but can be positive in FH-deficient RCC and collecting duct carcinoma. GATA3 expression may indicate a worse outcome in high-grade RCC with papillary architecture. We recommend GATA3 IHC for the differential diagnosis and prognostic assessment of high-grade RCC with papillary architecture.

Background Ulcerative colitis (UC) may be exacerbated by Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) infection. However, the mechanism underlying Fn-mediated progression of UC has yet to be established. Here, we aimed to establish whether and how Fn-derived extracellular vesicles (Fn-EVs) participate in the development of experimental colitis through microRNAs (miRNAs). Methods EVs were isolated and purified by ultracentrifugation from Fn and Escherichia coli culture supernatants. Differentially expressed miRNAs in control intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) and Fn-EV–treated IECs were identified by miRNA sequencing. EVs were cocultured with IECs or administered to CARD3wt/CARD3–/– mice by gavage to assess inflammatory responses to and the mechanism of action of Fn-EVs. Results Fn-EVs promoted upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor α), downregulation of anti-inflammatory IL-10 and intercellular tight junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin, and epithelial barrier dysfunction in IECs. Fn-EVs significantly aggravated experimental colitis in mice associated with Fn-EV–mediated downregulation of miR-574-5p expression and autophagy activation. Blockade of autophagy using chloroquine alleviates barrier damage exacerbated by Fn-EVs in vitro and in vivo. Inhibition of the miR-574-5p/CARD3 axis reduced the severity of colitis, epithelial barrier damage, and autophagy activation induced by Fn-EVs. Conclusions Here, we describe a new mechanism by which Fn-EVs mediate experimental colitis severity through miR-574-5p/CARD3–dependent autophagy activation, providing a novel target for UC monitoring and targeted therapy.

Papillary renal neoplasm with reverse polarity (PRNRP) is a newly documented renal entity with an easily recognizable morphology, distinct immunohistochemical profiles, and frequent KRAS mutations. The latest practice guidelines regard PRNRP as a subtype of papillary renal cell carcinoma due to the documented chromosomal alterations of 7, 17, and Y. This study included 20 patients with PRNRP and 30 patients with PRCC. Statistically significant differences were observed in size, WHO/ISUP grade, macrophages in the papillae, reverse polarity, CK7, basolateral positivity for Claudin7, GATA3 expression, KRAS mutation, and chromosomal alterations. No adverse events such as perinephric invasion, lymphovascular invasion, sarcomatoid of rhabdoid differentiation, metastasis, or recurrence were found in PRNRP. However, PRCC can cause these adverse events. Basolateral positivity for Claudin7 together with GATA3 expression indicated distal tubule derivation of PRNRP. KRAS mutations were detected in 89% (16/18) of PRNRP. No KRAS mutations were detected in PRCC. Six patients with PRNRP had one chromosomal alteration and the other 12 had no chromosomal alterations. However, only four patients with PRCC showed no chromosomal alterations. Eighteen patients had two or three chromosomal alterations. PRCC can metastasize, recur, and even cause death, whereas PRNRP has a favorable prognosis. We recommend that PRNRP should be separated from PRCC and partial nephrectomy is more suitable for PRNRP.

It is probable that reduced pregnancy rates in ewes after fixed time artificial insemination (FTAI) is attributable, in part, to the reduced number of normal spermatozoa that colonize the oviduct. Administration of oxytocin stimulates both cervical dilation and uterine/oviductal contractility. The hypothesis that oxytocin can enhance sperm transport into the uteri and the oviducts, and thereby increase pregnancy rates, was tested in the present study. Oestrus was synchronized in 199 multiparous Kazak ewes using intravaginal flurogestone-impregnated sponge. The sponge was left in the vagina for 12 days followed with an injection of 330 IU of eCG at sponge removal. Each ewe was intracervically inseminated twice at 50 hr and 62 hr after the removal of sponges using an insemination catheter containing 0.25 ml of diluted semen. Semen was collected from seven Texel rams and all the ejaculates were pooled and diluted in ultra-high temperature-treated commercial skimmed milk without (Control group, 0.05 ml of saline per mL milk, n = 144) or with oxytocin supplement (Oxytocin group, 0.5 U of oxytocin per ml milk, n = 55). Pregnancy status was determined by transabdominal ultrasound examination 45 days after insemination. Lambing performance was recorded at delivery. Significant differences were observed between the Oxytocin group and the Control group in terms of the pregnancy rate and the fecundity rate (85.5% and 92.7% versus 68.8% and 72.9%, respectively). In conclusion, low dose oxytocin supplementation of semen extender significantly increased pregnancy and fecundity rates in oestrus-synchronized Kazak ewes after FTAI.

Sepsis caused acute lung injury (ALI) is a kind of serious disease in critically ill patients with very high morbidity and mortality. Recently, it has been demonstrated that Golgi is involved in the process of oxidative stress. However, whether Golgi stress is associated with oxidative stress in septic induced acute lung injury has not been elucidated. In this research, we found that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation and Golgi morphology changes in acute lung injury both in vivo and in vitro. The knockout of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) aggravated oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis and reduced the expression of Golgi matrix protein 130 (GM130), mannosidase Ⅱ, Golgi-associated protein golgin A1 (Golgin 97), and increased the expression of Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3), which caused the fragmentation of Golgi. Furtherly, the activation of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)/HO-1 pathway, attenuates Golgi stress and oxidative stress by increasing the levels of GM130, mannosidase Ⅱ, Golgin 97, and decreasing the expression of GOLPH3 both in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, the activation of HO-1 plays a crucial role in alleviating sepsis-induced acute lung injury by regulating Golgi stress, oxidative stress, which may provide a therapeutic target for the treatment of acute lung injury., Graphical abstract Image 1

Rearranged renal cell carcinomas (RCC) are rare types of kidney cancer. The clinicopathological features of rearranged RCC require further validation. The pathological diagnosis usually depends on immunohistochemistry and molecular analysis. This study aimed to explore the expression features of anti-TFE3, TFEB, and ALK in different renal entities. In addition, we collected thirty-six TFE3-rearranged RCC, two TFEB-altered RCC, and one ALK-rearranged RCC to explore their clinicopathological features. We observed that TFE3 can sometimes be weakly expressed in non-TFE3-rearranged RCC. TFE3-rearranged RCC usually exhibited strong TFE3 expression. However, clear cell RCC and FH-deficient RCC also displayed strong TFE3 expression. TFEB also can be weakly expressed in clear cell RCC. However, ALK IHC showed a relatively high specificity and was negative for all non-ALK-rearranged RCC. The ALK-rearranged RCC was analyzed using next generation sequencing to explore gene alterations, and we identified a novel gene partner, SLIT1. ALK-rearranged RCC appears to have eosinophilic cytoplasm. Tumor cells with clear cytoplasm may exclude this diagnosis. Psammomatous bodies (22/38) and pattern multiplicity (35/38) were observed in more than half of the patients. In conclusion, weak TFE3 expression did not indicate TFE3 rearrangement. Strong TFE3 expression had a higher value for indicating TFE3-rearranged RCC, although other entities can also exhibit a strong pattern. Young age combined with morphological features (psammomatous calcification and pattern multiplicity) may indicate the diagnosis of rearranged RCC.

A novel hybrid perfusion manipulator (HPM) with five degrees of freedom (DOFs) is introduced by combining the 5PUS-PRPU (P, R, U, and S represent prismatic, revolute, universal, and spherical joint, respectively) parallel mechanism with the 5PRR reconfigurable base to enhance the perfusion efficiency of the large-scale spherical honeycomb thermal protection layer. This study mainly presents the dimensional synthesis of the proposed HPM. First, the inverse kinematics, including the analytic expression of the rotation angles of the U joint in the PUS limb, is obtained, and mobility analysis is conducted based on screw theory. The Jacobian matrix of 5PUS-PRPU is also determined with screw theory and used for the establishment of the objective function. Second, a global and comprehensive objective function (GCOF) is proposed to represent the Jacobian matrix’s condition number. With the genetic algorithm, dimensional synthesis is conducted by minimizing GCOF subject to the given variable constraints. The values of the designed variables corresponding to different configurations of the reconfigurable base are then obtained. Lastly, the optimal structure parameters of the proposed 5-DOF HPM are determined. Results show that the HPM with the optimized parameters has an enlarged orientation workspace, and the maximum angle of the reconfigurable base is decreased, which is conducive to improving the overall stiffness of HPM.

Endotoxin-induced acute lung injury (ALI) is a challenging life-threatening disease for which no specific therapy exists. Mitochondrial dysfunction is corroborated as hallmarks in sepsis which commonly disrupt mitochondria-centered cellular communication networks, especially mitonuclear crosstalk, where the ubiquitous cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD

BackgroundThe aging of the world population poses a major health challenge, and brain–computer interface (BCI) technology has the potential to provide assistance and rehabilitation for the elderly.ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics during motor imagery by comparing young and elderly, and study Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) classification for the elderly population in terms of fatigue analysis in both frontal and parietal regions.MethodsA total of 20 healthy individuals participated in the study, including 10 young and 10 older adults. All participants completed the left- and right-hand motor imagery experiment. The energy changes in the motor imagery process were analyzed using time–frequency graphs and quantified event-related desynchronization (ERD) values. The fatigue level of the motor imagery was assessed by two indicators: (θ + α)/β and θ/β, and fatigue-sensitive channels were distinguished from the parietal region of the brain. Then, rhythm entropy was introduced to analyze the complexity of the cognitive activity. The phase-lock values related to the parietal and frontal lobes were calculated, and their temporal synchronization was discussed. Finally, the motor imagery EEG data was classified by CNNs, and the accuracy was discussed based on the analysis results.ResultFor the young and elderly, ERD was observed in C3 and C4 channels, and their fatigue-sensitive channels in the parietal region were slightly different. During the experiment, the rhythm entropy of the frontal lobe showed a decreasing trend with time for most of the young subjects, while there was an increasing trend for most of the older ones. Using the CNN classification method, the elderly achieved around 70% of the average classification accuracy, which is almost the same for the young adults.ConclusionCompared with the young adults, the elderly are less affected by the level of cognitive fatigue during motor imagery, but the classification accuracy of motor imagery data in the elderly may be slightly lower than that in young persons. At the same time, the deep learning method also provides a potentially feasible option for the application of motor-imagery BCI (MI-BCI) in the elderly by considering the ERD and fatigue phenomenon together.

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The zeolite membrane as a corrosion-resistant membrane has green environmental protection, high-temperature resistance, high-mechanical strength, and other characteristics, which has attracted much attention. However, due to the very different surface properties between metals and inorganics, the embodiment of high-binding force membrane is a major difficulty in the current zeolite membrane synthesis technology. Research has been conducted on the silane (YDH-151)/zeolite (TS-1) composite anticorrosive membrane in Ti-6Al-4V alloy surface, and on the modification effect by using graphene oxide (GO), as well as the membrane formation mechanism after being modified. Scanning electron microscope and 3D laser confocal microscope (3D LCSM) were used to study the effect of GO on the modified silane/zeolite composite anticorrosion membrane, and electrochemical methods, contact angle, bonding force, Fourier transform infrared ray were used to study the modification effect and the membrane formation mechanism and process after being modified. Microscopic observations show that GO causes the zeolite particles to accelerate to accumulate, hinders the lateral membrane formation of TS-1 zeolite which forms thus non-negligible pores or defects. It also reduces the density of the zeolite membrane, and the hydrophobicity and binding force of the composite membrane. However, GO can effectively decrease the corrosion current density and greatly enhance the corrosion resistance of the membrane. YDH-151 undergoes dehydration condensation reaction with metal surface and zeolite, and graft reaction with GO, forming a dense YDH-151/GO/TS-1 composite membrane on the surface of Ti-6Al-4V alloy, with a corrosion resistance rate of 99.8%.

This paper reports on a method of synthesizing silicalite-1 molecular sieve-based anti-corrosive film on stainless steel surface. The corrosion resistance and mechanisms of four preparation methods were studied. The results show that the silicalite-1 anti-corrosive film prepared by silane hot pressing shows the best surface, crystallinity, and anti-corrosion performance. On this basis, the film formation and anti-corrosive mechanisms of silicalite-1 anti-corrosion film on stainless steel surfaces were analyzed.

In this paper, a novel method combining electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and phase shift was used to systematically study the effect of corrosion inhibitor (sodium succinate, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, and new corrosion inhibitor, namely, bis [2-amino-3-(dodecyl dimethyl quaternary ammonium) propyl]-propylamine dichloro) on crack initiation and propagation of aluminum alloy during the slow strain rate tensile process. Using a variety of characterization methods to verify the feasibility of using the new method for in-situ prediction, Kramers–Kronig transformations have been used to validate the experimental data obtained with the EIS measurements. The corrosion inhibition mechanism of these three kinds of inhibitors in the SSRT process was analyzed.

To evaluate the kinematic performance of designed mechanisms, a statistical-variance-based metric is proposed in this article to measure the “distance” between two discrete motion sequences: the reference motion and the given task motion. It seeks to establish a metric that is independent of the choice of the fixed frame or moving frame. Quaternions are adopted to represent the rotational part of a spatial pose, and the variance of the set of relative displacements is computed to reflect the difference between two sequences. With this variance-based metric formulation, we show that the comparison results of two spatial discrete motions are not affected by the choice of frames. Both theoretical demonstration and computational example are presented to support this conclusion. In addition, since the deviation error between the task motion and the synthesized motion measured with this metric is independent of the location of frames, those corresponding parameters could be excluded from the optimization algorithm formulated with our frame-independent metric in kinematic synthesis of mechanisms, and the complexity of the algorithm are hereby reduced. An application of a four-bar linkage synthesis problem is presented to illustrate the advantage of the proposed metric.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a substantial worldwide public health concern with no specific and effective therapies in clinic. NAD

The change of plant biodiversity caused by resource-enhancing global changes has greatly affected grassland productivity. However, it remains unclear how multi-resource enrichment induces the effects of multifaceted biodiversity on grassland productivity under different site resource constraints. We conducted a multiple resource addition (MRA) experiment of water and nutrients at three sites located along a resource gradient in northern China. This allowed us to assess the response of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), species (species richness and plant density), functional (functional richness and community-weighted mean of traits) and phylogenetic (phylogenetic richness) diversity to increasing number of MRA. We used structural equation model (SEM) to examine the direct and indirect effects of MRA and multifaceted biodiversity on ANPP. The combined addition of the four resources increased ANPP at all three sites. But with increasing number of MRA, biodiversity varied at the three sites. At the high resource constraint site, species richness, plant density and leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC) increased. At the medium resource constraint site, plant height and LNC increased, leaf dry matter content (LDMC) decreased. At the low resource constraint site, species, functional and phylogenetic richness decreased, and height increased. The SEM showed that MRA increased ANPP directly at all three sites, and indirectly by increasing plant density at the high constraint site and height at the medium constraint site. Independent of MRA, ANPP was affected by height at the high resource constraint site and LNC at the low resource constraint site. Our results illustrate that multi-resource addition positively affects productivity, while affects biodiversity depending on site resource constraint. The study highlights that site resource constraint conditions need to be taken into consideration to better predict grassland structure and function, particularly under the future multifaceted global change scenarios.