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Abstract Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a globally prevalent chronic condition. Individuals with T2DM are at increased risk of developing complications associated with both macrovascular and microvascular pathologies. These comorbidities reduce patient quality of life and increase mortality. Dietary restriction is a principal therapeutic approach for managing T2DM. This study assessed the effects of various dietary regimens on body weight and metabolic profiles in T2DM patients, aiming to determine the most beneficial interventions for enhancing clinical outcomes and overall well-being. Methods We conducted a literature search in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science from 2003 to April 15, 2024. The risk of bias was assessed via the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB2). The certainty of the evidence was appraised via the confidence in network meta-analysis (CINeMA) framework. Intermittent fasting (IF) was directly compared with continuous energy restriction (CER) via Review Manager 5.4. Network meta-analysis was statistically assessed via R Studio 4.3.3 and STATA 14.0. Results Eighteen studies involving 1,658 participants were included. The network meta-analysis indicated that intermittent energy restriction, the twice-per-week fasting, time-restricted eating, fasting-mimicking diets (FMD), and CER interventions were more effective than conventional diets. Direct comparisons revealed that IF was as effective as CER for reducing glycated haemoglobin A1c, body weight, and body mass index. The results of the cumulative ranking analysis demonstrated that FMD had the greatest combined intervention effect, followed by TRE in terms of overall effectiveness. Conclusions Both IF and CER exert positive influences on weight control and metabolic profile enhancement in individuals with T2DM, with FMD as part of IF demonstrating the greatest impact. To substantiate these findings, more rigorous randomized controlled trials that directly compare the effects of the different IF regimens with one another and with the CER regimen are needed.

Abstract Background Diabetes is a common chronic metabolic disease. The progression of the disease promotes vascular inflammation and the formation of atherosclerosis, leading to cardiovascular disease. The coronary artery perivascular adipose tissue attenuation index based on CCTA is a new noninvasive imaging biomarker that reflects the spatial changes in perivascular adipose tissue attenuation in CCTA images and the inflammation around the coronary arteries. In this study, a radiomics approach is proposed to extract a large number of image features from CCTA in a high-throughput manner and combined with clinical diagnostic data to explore the predictive ability of vascular perivascular adipose imaging data based on CCTA for coronary heart disease in diabetic patients. Methods R language was used for statistical analysis to screen the variables with significant differences. A presegmentation model was used for CCTA vessel segmentation, and the pericoronary adipose region was screened out. PyRadiomics was used to calculate the radiomics features of pericoronary adipose tissue, and SVM, DT and RF were used to model and analyze the clinical data and radiomics data. Model performance was evaluated using indicators such as PPV, FPR, AAC, and ROC. Results The results indicate that there are significant differences in age, blood pressure, and some biochemical indicators between diabetes patients with and without coronary heart disease. Among 1037 calculated radiomic parameters, 18.3% showed significant differences in imaging omics features. Three modeling methods were used to analyze different combinations of clinical information, internal vascular radiomics information and pericoronary vascular fat radiomics information. The results showed that the dataset of full data had the highest ACC values under different machine learning models. The support vector machine method showed the best specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy for this dataset. Conclusions In this study, the clinical data and pericoronary radiomics data of CCTA were fused to predict the occurrence of coronary heart disease in diabetic patients. This provides information for the early detection of coronary heart disease in patients with diabetes and allows for timely intervention and treatment.

Background and aimsRoot-knot nematodes (RKN; Meloidogyne spp.) are among the highly prevalent and significantly detrimental pathogens that cause severe economic and yield losses in crops. Currently, control of RKN primarily relies on the application of chemical nematicides but it has environmental and public health concerns, which open new doors for alternative methods in the form of biological control.MethodsIn this study, we investigated the nematicidal and attractive activities of an endophytic strain WF01 against Meloidogyne incognita in concentration-dependent experiments. The active nematicidal metabolite was extracted in the WF01 crude extract through the Sephadex column, and its structure was identified by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry data.ResultsThe strain WF01 was identified as Aspergillus tubingensis based on morphological and molecular characteristics. The nematicidal and attractive metabolite of A. tubingensis WF01 was identified as oxalic acid (OA), which showed solid nematicidal activity against M. incognita, having LC50 of 27.48 μg ml–1. The Nsy-1 of AWC and Odr-7 of AWA were the primary neuron genes for Caenorhabditis elegans to detect OA. Under greenhouse, WF01 broth and 200 μg ml–1 OA could effectively suppress the disease caused by M. incognita on tomatoes respectively with control efficiency (CE) of 62.5% and 70.83%, and promote plant growth. In the field, WF01-WP and 8% OA-WP formulations showed moderate CEs of 51.25%–61.47% against RKN in tomato and tobacco. The combined application of WF01 and OA resulted in excellent CEs of 66.83% and 69.34% toward RKN in tomato and tobacco, respectively. Furthermore, the application of WF01 broth or OA significantly suppressed the infection of J2s in tomatoes by upregulating the expression levels of the genes (PAL, C4H, HCT, and F5H) related to lignin synthesis, and strengthened root lignification.ConclusionAltogether, our results demonstrated that A. tubingensis WF01 exhibited multiple weapons to control RKN mediated by producing OA to lure and kill RKN in a concentration-dependent manner and strengthen root lignification. This fungus could serve as an environmental bio-nematicide for managing the diseases caused by RKN.

The capsule-associated protein 10 gene (CAP10) is indispensable due to its involvement in pod formation and virulence maintenance in Cryptococcus neoformans. The function of the CAP10 gene in nematode-predatory fungi remains unreported. As a typical nematode-trapping fungus, Dactylellina haptotyla efficiently captures nematodes using adhesive knobs, which has potential applications in the biological control of plant-parasitic nematodes. In this study, we investigated the function of DHXT1 (a CAP10 homologous protein) in D. haptotyla–nematode interactions based on the disruption and overexpression of DHXT1, phenotypic analysis and metabolomic analysis. As a result, it was shown that the disruption of the DHXT1 gene causes a marked decrease in the number of adhesive knobs, and on the contrary, the overexpression of the DHXT1 gene causes a substantial increase in the number of adhesive knobs. Interestingly, the variety of metabolites increased with the disruption of the DHXT1 and decreased with the overexpression of the DHXT1 gene. The results suggest that DHXT1 effects pathogenicity through its involvement in adhesive knobs’ formation and metabolite synthesis and serves as a key virulence factor in D. haptotyla.

Four new polyketides (1–4) and seven known compounds (5–11) including three polyketides and four sterols were isolated from the fermented extracts of Paecilomyces gunnii YMF1.00003. The new chemical structures were determined through the analysis of the nuclear magnetic resonance and high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and their configurations were subsequently confirmed by nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy, the calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra, and quantum chemical calculations of the NMR data (qcc NMR). Based on the results of pre-activity screening and compound structure target prediction, certain metabolites were assayed to evaluate their cytotoxic and protein kinase Cα inhibitory activities. Results indicated that 3β-hydroxy-7α-methoxy-5α,6α-epoxy-8(14),22E-dien-ergosta (8) exhibited potent cytotoxic activity, with half-maximal inhibitory concentration values of 3.00 ± 0.27 to 15.69 ± 0.61 μM against five tumor cells, respectively. The new compound gunniiol A (1) showed weak cytotoxic activity at a concentration of 40 μM. At a concentration of 20 μg/mL, compounds 1, 6, and 7 exhibited protein kinase Cα inhibition by 43.63, 40.93, and 57.66%, respectively. This study is the first to report steroids demonstrating good cytotoxicity and polyketides exhibiting inhibitory activity against protein kinase Cα from the extracts of P. gunnii.

The Xiaoqinling area is located in the eastern part of the Qinling Orogen and experiences early and late Mesozoic gold mineralization controlled by structural deformation. The relationship between the two stages of mineralization and the orogenic process of the Qinling Orogen is unclear. We investigated the deformation and alteration of E-W striking veins in the Xiaoqinling area. The geometric features revealed that all the veins developed within the E–W-striking Guanyintang brittle–ductile shear zone. The vein was subparallel to the shear zone, dipped at 30°–60°, and had a wave-like appearance. The Guanyintang shear zone underwent three deformation stages: sinistral shearing (D1), dextral thrusting (D2), and sinistral normal faulting (D3). The development of ore-bearing quartz veins was controlled by deformation during D2, and the auriferous pyrite and minor chalcopyrite developed along the shear foliations. Re-Os dating of the molybdenite revealed a well-constrained isochron age of 230.2 ± 2.6 Ma, indicating the E-W striking shear zone developed in Late Triassic. This early Mesozoic shearing deformation in Xiaoqinling represents the early Mesozoic metallogenesis is correlated with the collisional orogeny of the Qinling orogen.

ABSTRACT Dactylellina haptotyla is a typical nematode-trapping fungus that has garnered the attention of many scholars for its highly effective lethal potential for nematodes. Secondary metabolites play an important role in D. haptotyla-nematode interactions, but which metabolites perform which function remains unclear. We report the metabolic functions based on high-quality, chromosome-level genome assembly of wild D. haptotyla YMF1.03409. The results indicate that a large variety of secondary metabolites and their biosynthetic genes were significantly upregulated during the nematode-trapping stage. In parallel, we identified that 2-furoic acid was specifically produced during nematode trapping by D. haptotyla YMF1.03409 and isolated it from fermentation production. 2-Furoic acid demonstrated strong nematicidal activity with an LD50 value of 55.05 µg/mL against Meloidogyne incognita at 48 h. Furthermore, the pot experiment showed that the number of galls of tomato root was significantly reduced in the experimental group treated with 2-furoic acid. The considerable increase in the 2-furoic acid content during the infection process and its virulent nematicidal activity revealed an essential synergistic effect during the process of nematode-trapping fungal infection. IMPORTANCE Dactylellina haptotyla have significant application potential in nematode biocontrol. In this study, we determined the chromosome-level genome sequence of D. haptotyla YMF1.03409 by long-read sequencing technology. Comparative genomic analysis identified a series of pathogenesis-related genes and revealed significant gene family contraction events during the evolution of D. haptotyla YMF1.03409. Combining transcriptomic and metabolomic data as well as in vitro activity test results, a compound with important application potential in nematode biocontrol, 2-furoic acid, was identified. Our result expanded the genetic resource of D. haptotyla and identified a previously unreported nematicidal small molecule, which provides new options for the development of plant biocontrol agents.

ABSTRACT Accurately recognizing pathogens by the host is vital for initiating appropriate immune response against infecting microorganisms. Caenorhabditis elegans has no known receptor to recognize pathogen-associated molecular pattern. However, recent studies showed that nematodes have a strong specificity for transcriptomes infected by different pathogens, indicating that they can identify different pathogenic microorganisms. However, the mechanism(s) for such specificity remains largely unknown. In this study, we showed that the nematophagous fungus Purpureocillium lavendulum can infect the intestinal tract of the nematode C. elegans and the infection led to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the infected intestinal tract, which suppressed fungal growth. Co-transcriptional analysis revealed that fungal genes related to anaerobic respiration and ethanol production were up-regulated during infection. Meanwhile, the ethanol dehydrogenase Sodh-1 in C. elegans was also up-regulated. Together, these results suggested that the infecting fungi encounter hypoxia stress in the nematode gut and that ethanol may play a role in the host–pathogen interaction. Ethanol production in vitro during fungal cultivation in hypoxia conditions was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Direct treatment of C. elegans with ethanol elevated the sodh-1 expression and ROS accumulation while repressing a series of immunity genes that were also repressed during fungal infection. Mutation of sodh-1 in C. elegans blocked ROS accumulation and increased the nematode’s susceptibility to fungal infection. Our study revealed a new recognition and antifungal mechanism in C. elegans. The novel mechanism of ethanol-mediated interaction between the fungus and nematode provides new insights into fungal pathogenesis and for developing alternative biocontrol of pathogenic nematodes by nematophagous fungi. IMPORTANCE Nematodes are among the most abundant animals on our planet. Many of them are parasites in animals and plants and cause human and animal health problems as well as agricultural losses. Studying the interaction of nematodes and their microbial pathogens is of great importance for the biocontrol of animal and plant parasitic nematodes. In this study, we found that the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans can recognize its fungal pathogen, the nematophagous fungus Purpureocillium lavendulum, through fungal-produced ethanol. Then the nematode elevated the reactive oxygen species production in the gut to inhibit fungal growth in an ethanol dehydrogenase-dependent manner. With this mechanism, novel biocontrol strategies may be developed targeting the ethanol receptor or metabolic pathway of nematodes. Meanwhile, as a volatile organic compound, ethanol should be taken seriously as a vector molecule in the microbial–host interaction in nature.

Understanding how metabolites modulate longevity is crucial for reducing aging-related disease. Here, the authors demonstrate that α-ketobutyrate exhibits an anti-aging effect by coordinating NAD + -SIRT1 signaling and peroxisome function.

Abstract Optical microcavities have emerged as promising platforms for ultrasound detection. One of the main tendencies in recent studies is to develop high-Q microresonators for ultrasensitive ultrasound detection, while the nonlinear optical effects become significant but are generally neglected. Here, we propose a thermal-assisted microcavity Raman laser for ultrasound detection. Acoustic waves modulate the resonant frequency of the cavity mode, altering the coupled efficiency of a fixed-wavelength input laser, and therefore the output Raman power. Experimentally, the noise equivalent pressure reaches as low as 8.1 Pa at 120 kHz in air. Besides, it is found that the thermal effect involved in high-Q microcavities can compensate for the low-frequency noises, while without degrading their sensitivity to high-frequency acoustic waves above hundreds of kilohertz. Therefore, it enables long-standing stability during the measurements due to the natural resistance to laser frequency drifts and environmental disturbances, which holds great potential in practical applications of ultrasound sensing and imaging.

BackgroundThe incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCC) has increased in recent decades, and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the main cause of OPSCC. The data regarding causes of death (CODs) are vitally important in informing follow-up strategies and revising treatment strategies to deal with any possible preventable treatment-related COD. However, limited studies have assessed the competing COD by HPV status in patients with OPSCC. ObjectiveWe aimed to analyze the distribution of the competing COD according to HPV status in OPSCC. MethodsWe retrospectively included stage I-IVB patients with OPSCC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 2010 and 2015. The association between HPV status and head and neck cancer–specific mortality (HNCSM), second primary cancer mortality (SPCM), and noncancer-caused mortality (NCCM) were analyzed. The chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Fine and Gray model were used for statistical analysis. ResultsWe included 5852 patients in this study and 73.2% (n=4283) of them had HPV-related tumors. A total of 1537 (26.3%) patients died, including 789 (51.3%), 333 (21.7%), and 415 (27%) patients who died from head and neck cancer, second cancer, and noncancer causes, respectively. The 5-year HNCSM, SPCM, NCCM, and overall mortality were 14.7%, 6.5%, 7.7%, and 26.4%, respectively. Those with HPV-positive disease had a lower cumulative incidence of HNCSM (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR] 0.362, 95% CI 0.315-0.417; P

To stabilize the operation of pumped storage power station, an orthogonal experimental design was proposed to optimize the return channel with the splitter blades of the pump turbine. The calculation results of various return channel models under multiple operating conditions indicated that inlet distance a1 and blade number z considerably affect the efficiency and flow pattern in the flow passage. The optimal scheme improved efficiency by nearly 3% at 0.6Qd. The Savitzky–Golay filtering method and Fast Fourier Transform were used to analyze the unsteady characteristics of the pump turbine in pump model. The amplitude of pressure pulsations at the blade passing frequency in the vaneless space and the interference zone between the guide vane and return channel reduced considerably, and the pressure pulsation amplitude in the vaneless zone decreased by 50%, 48%, and 20% for 0.6Qd, 1.0Qd, and 1.1Qd operating conditions. A Continuous Wavelet Transform was used to analyze frequency signals during the shutdown transition process. The optimization of the splitter blades improved the flow pattern in their corresponding flow passages and suppressed high-amplitude pressure pulsations in the unit for the stable operation of the pumped storage power station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the stability and reliability of the solar DC centrifugal pump real-time operation and prevent the centrifugal pump failure caused by the unexpected shutdown of the system, a set of accurate and efficient centrifugal pump condition monitoring systems was built. A time series-based strategy for predicting the remaining using life (RUL) of centrifugal pumps was proposed. The time series of head and efficiency of centrifugal pumps at specific flow conditions were measured, the corresponding failure thresholds were set, and different differential autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models were developed to predict the remaining useful life of the pumps. The results show that the maximum prediction error of the head ARIMA model established under the design conditions of the pump was 0.040%, and the head time series reaches the failure threshold of 8 m at the 653rd data point; the maximum prediction error of the efficiency ARIMA model was 0.042%, and the efficiency time series reaches the failure threshold of 16% at the 672nd data point. According to the proposed prediction strategy, the RUL of the centrifugal pump under the design condition was 53 h. The head time series of the pump at high flow conditions reaches a failure threshold of 5 m at the 640th data point; the efficiency time series will reach a failure threshold of 12.5% at the 578th data point, and the RUL of the centrifugal pump at high flow conditions was 78 h. The established ARIMA model has a high prediction accuracy and can effectively predict the RUL of centrifugal pumps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights A pressure-self-controlled water-pesticide integrated sprinkler was developed for trellis crops. The dual-flow channel design integrates both water and pesticides and allows simultaneous downward irrigation of grape roots and upward spraying of grape branches and leaves. The comprehensive scoring method was employed to evaluate the spraying performance of the water-pesticide integrated sprinkler for both irrigation and spraying modes. To ensure optimal growth of plants, including for trellis-style grape cultivation, it is essential to provide water to plant roots, branches, and leaves. Unfortunately, existing sprinkler systems are not designed to accommodate irrigation and spraying at the same time. To address this issue, a pressure-self-controlled water-pesticide integrated sprinkler was developed for trellis crops in this research. To assess the performances of irrigation and spraying modes, several factors, including the droplet diameter, droplet velocity, droplet striking kinetic energy, spray uniformity, and velocity distribution, were evaluated. Advanced measurement tools such as a two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD) and a particle image velocimeter (PIV) were employed to experimentally study the hydraulic features of different working modes. This study provides precise working parameters, including pressure and installation height, for the sprinkler system under different conditions. These parameters offer valuable engineering guidance. Notably, during irrigation, the sprinkler dispersed water toward the ground to irrigate the roots. Furthermore, the spray droplet diameter and velocity decreased with increasing pressure. Based on an analysis of the parameters affecting the droplet striking kinetic energy, the recommended optimal working pressure is 250 kPa. The high-pressure water produced by the sprinkler in the spraying mode effectively covered the crop leaves at an optimal working pressure of 400 kPa, as determined by the spray distribution pattern at different heights. In this study, for the water-pesticide integrated sprinkler, we recommend an installation height of 1.4 m for optimal operation. These findings could promote the practical application of this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six new C-20 and one new C-19 quassinoids, named perforalactones F-L (1–7), were isolated from twigs of Harrisonia perforata. Spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic experiments were conducted to identify their structures. Through oxidative degradation of perforalactone B to perforaqussin A, the biogenetic process from C-25 quassinoid to C-20 via Baeyer–Villiger oxidation was proposed. Furthermore, the study evaluated the anti-Parkinson’s disease potential of these C-20 quassinoids for the first time on 6-OHDA-induced PC12 cells and a Drosophila Parkinson’s disease model of PINK1B9. Perforalactones G and I (2 and 4) showed a 10–15% increase in cell viability of the model cells at 50 μM, while compounds 2 and 4 (100 μM) significantly improved the climbing ability of PINK1B9 flies and increased the dopamine level in the brains and ATP content in the thoraces of the flies.