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Chemotherapy is an important factor leading to male infertility. It is crucial to discover safe and effective treatments to prevent male reproductive injury caused by chemotherapy. The Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide peptide (GLPP) has multiple pharmacological activities. The purpose of this study was to determine whether GLPP could protect the male sperm production from chemotherapeutic injury using a mouse model, with testicular damage induced by cyclophosphamide (CP). CP (50 mg/kg/day) was injected intraperitoneally into male ICR mice gavaged with different doses of GLPP at certain spermatogenic stages. The experimental results showed that GLPP alleviated the CP-induced reduction in reproductive organ coefficients and sperm parameters and reduced the morphological damage of testicular tissues in a dose-dependent manner. GLPP significantly improved the reproductive index, sperm-related parameters, sex hormone levels, and histological testis architecture at different spermatogenic stages. Furthermore, GLPP significantly increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), Nrf2, and HO-1, and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) and Keap-1 in the testicular tissue, indicating reduced oxidative stress. In addition, GLPP limited CP-induced apoptosis via a reduction in Bax expression and increase in Bcl-2 expression. This study suggests that GLPP plays a protective role in spermatogenesis by reducing chemotherapeutic injury and might be developed into drug for male patients receiving chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural design of steel–titanium composite plates significantly affects their corrosion resistance. To investigate the impact of defects of different shapes and sizes on the corrosion behavior of steel–titanium composite plates, this study designed six types of defects and conducted a series of characterization tests. The results showed that due to the galvanic interaction between carbon steel and titanium alloy, small defects initially accelerate corrosion, resulting in 50% to 200% more corrosion weight loss compared to large defects. However, in the later stages of immersion, the corrosion rate of small defects decreased by up to 35%, which was attributed to the accumulation of protective corrosion products. Additionally, there is an inverse relationship between the corrosion rate and the thickness ratio of the composite plate. The reduction in the area of Q345B also results in additional corrosion loss of up to 32%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seed size traits, including seed length (SL), seed width (SW), and seed thickness (ST), are crucial appearance parameters that determine soybean seed weight, yield, and ultimate utilization. However, there is still a large gap in the understanding of the genetic mechanism of these traits. Here, 281 soybeans were utilized to analyze the genetic architecture of seed size traits in different years through multiple (single-locus and multi-locus) genome-wide association study (GWAS) models, and candidate genes were predicted by integrating information on gene function and transcriptome sequencing data. As a result, two, seven, and three stable quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) controlling SL, SW, and ST were detected in multiple environments using the single-locus GWAS model, and concurrently detected by the results of the multi-locus GWAS models. These stable QTNs are located on 10 linkage disequilibrium blocks, with single genome regions ranging in size from 20 to 440 kb, and can serve as the major loci controlling soybean seed size. Furthermore, by combining gene functional annotation and transcriptome sequencing data of seeds at different developmental stages from two extreme soybean accessions, nine candidate genes, including Glyma.05G038000, Glyma.05G244100, Glyma.05G246900, Glyma.07G070200, Glyma.11G010000, Glyma.11G012400, Glyma.17G165500, Glyma.17G166500, and Glyma.20G012600 within the major loci that may regulate soybean seed size, were mined. Overall, these findings offer valuable insights for molecular improvement breeding as well as gene functional studies to unravel the mechanism of soybean seed size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus (P) stands as a pivotal macroelement in relation to the growth of plants. It plays a significant role in physiological processes, as components of biofilms and nucleotides, and in metabolic activities within plants. The deprivation of phosphorus detrimentally impacts the growth and developmental of plants. However, the rhizosphere's beneficial fungi and bacteria augment the efficacy of phosphorus uptake, participate in the molecular regulation of phosphorus, stimulate physiological alterations in plants, and facilitate signal transmission. In order to give readers a better understanding of the effects and positive roles of soil beneficial fungi and bacteria in regulating plant phosphorus acquisition and transport, this present review introduces the role and influence of rhizosphere microorganisms (fungi and bacteria) in assisting plant phosphorus absorption, and summarizes the key phosphorus transporters found in their interaction with plants. Using mixed microbial populations as composite microbial fertilizers has a positive effect on plants under phosphorus-deficiency conditions. It will be conducive to a better understanding of the mutualistic relationship between fungi, bacteria, and plants to provide a way to reduce the application of phosphorus fertilizers efficiently, and to provide a research background for the development of microbiological fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an enduring Chinese freshwater aquaculture product, the Eriocheir sinensis has a high economic value and is characterized by a catadromous life style that undergoes seawater–freshwater migration. However, little is known about their gut microbial status as they move from saltwater to freshwater acclimatization. Here, we sampled and cultivated Eriocheir sinensis megalopa from three aquaculture desalination ponds and investigated their gut microbiota diversity, community structures and biotic interactions from megalopa stage to the first juvenile stage after desalination for 9 days. Our results revealed that during the transition from megalopa to the first juvenile in Eriocheir sinensis, a significant change in gut microbial composition was observed (for instance, changes in relative abundance of dominant phyla), which was, however, not influenced by different sampling sites. The species diversity (such as the richness) of the gut microbiota showed a hump-shaped pattern along the succession. However, the compositional differences of the gut microbes showed constantly increasing patterns during the succession after freshwater adaption for all three sampling sites. Further co-occurrence analysis also showed that the complexity of the ecological networks in gut microbes was significantly enhanced during the development, such as increasing numbers of network links, connectivity and modularity, and was confirmed by decreasing average path length and proportions of negative links. Taken together, the differences in community structures and biological interactions of gut microorganisms were more pronounced in Eriocheir sinensis megalopa during desalination than in diversity and species compositions. This implies that the gut microbes of Eriocheir sinensis megalopa would become more robust and adaptive during the developmental process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we report the pathogenicity of a new strain of fungus, Rhizopus oryzae to honeybee larvae, isolated from the chalkbrood-diseased mummies of honeybee larvae and pupae collected from apiaries in China. Based on morphological observation and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region analyses, the isolated pathogenic fungus was identified as R. oryzae. Koch's postulates were performed to determine the cause-and-effect pathogenicity of this isolate fungus. The in vitro pathogenicity of this virulent fungus in honeybees was tested by artificially inoculating worker larvae in the lab. The pathogenicity of this new fungus for honeybee larvae was both conidial-concentration and exposure-time dependent; its highly infectious and virulent effect against the larvae was observed at 1 × 105 conidia/larva in vitro after 96 h of challenge. Using probit regression analysis, the LT50 value against the larvae was 26.8 h at a conidial concentration of 1 × 105 conidia/larva, and the LC50 was 6.2 × 103 conidia/larva. These results indicate that the new isolate of R. oryzae has considerable pathogenicity in honeybee larvae. Additionally, this report suggests that pathogenic phytofungi may harm their associated pollinators. We recommend further research to quantify the levels, mechanisms, and pathways of the pathogenicity of this novel isolated pathogen for honeybee larvae at the colony level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil crops are the second most cultivated economic crop in the world after food crops, and they are an important source of both edible and industrial oil. The growth of oil crops is limited by biotic and abiotic stresses, which hinder their yield and quality. Among all the agronomic measures, plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) play a crucial role in improving the yield, quality, and adaptability of oil crops. In this review, we considered the recent research on the sources of beneficial bacteria and their interactions with and influences on host plants, with a focus on summarizing the important roles and molecular mechanisms of PGPB in promoting growth and resisting biotic and abiotic stresses in oil crops. Finally, we outlined the current opportunities and challenges of microbial strategies for the improvement of the yield, quality, and adaptability of oil crops, providing a theoretical basis for the future use of microbial inoculants in these crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This academic paper addresses the challenges associated with trajectory planning for affordable and light-weight Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) swarms, despite limited computing resources and extensive cooperation requirements. Specifically, an imitation-based starling cluster cooperative trajectory planning technique is proposed for a fixed-wing model of a six-degree-of-freedom UAV cluster. To achieve this, dynamic trajectory prediction of the rapid random search tree is utilized to generate a track solution adapted to the terrain environment. Additionally, the Dubins aircraft path solution is applied as it is suitable for executing input track commands by the UAV model. Computational simulations on different cluster sizes show the approach can maintain the cluster state while navigating diverse terrains, with the track solution complying with the UAV's physical model properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of Ca and Sb elements on the corrosion resistance of E690 steel in a simulated marine environment. Electrochemical testing and dry/wet cyclic corrosion testing were conducted on prepared E690 steel specimens. The eroded specimens' microstructure was observed under a scanning electron microscope, and the inclusion morphology was analyzed using an energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The simulating liquid was designed to emulate the severe marine atmospheric environment in Xisha. Results showed that the addition of Ca and Sb elements effectively enhances the corrosion resistance of E690 steel in the simulated marine environment. The corrosion rates of E690 steel specimens with Ca and Sb additions were lower than those without, and the corrosion morphology was more uniform. These findings suggest that the addition of Ca and Sb elements can improve the corrosion resistance of E690 steel in simulated marine environments and have potential for use in marine engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few-shot semantic segmentation has attracted much attention because it requires only a few labeled samples to achieve good segmentation performance. However, existing methods still suffer from insufficient contextual information and unsatisfactory edge segmentation results. To overcome these two issues, this paper proposes a multi-scale context enhancement and edge-assisted network (called MCEENet) for few-shot semantic segmentation. First, rich support and query image features were extracted, respectively, using two weight-shared feature extraction networks, each consisting of a ResNet and a Vision Transformer. Subsequently, a multi-scale context enhancement (MCE) module was proposed to fuse the features of ResNet and Vision Transformer, and further mine the contextual information of the image by using cross-scale feature fusion and multi-scale dilated convolutions. Furthermore, we designed an Edge-Assisted Segmentation (EAS) module, which fuses the shallow ResNet features of the query image and the edge features computed by the Sobel operator to assist in the final segmentation task. We experimented on the PASCAL- 5 i dataset to demonstrate the effectiveness of MCEENet; the results of the 1-shot setting and 5-shot setting on the PASCAL- 5 i dataset are 63.5% and 64.7%, which surpasses the state-of-the-art results by 1.4% and 0.6%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil recovery is an essential parameter for reservoir development performance evaluation, but there is no specific research on the theoretical oil recovery prediction model of polymer microspheres (PMs)' conformance control. This research aims to establish an oil recovery prediction model that depends on the definition of oil recovery based on stream tube theory. PMs' enhanced oil recovery mechanism is to plug the pore throat to expand the swept area. The assumption that the stream tube between injection and production wells is trapezoidal is proposed. Based on this premise, the area sweep efficiency equation suitable for the rhombus inverse nine-spot well pattern is established based on the stream tube theory. The vertical sweep efficiency equation is optimized by introducing the equivalent mobility ratio. Additionally, the model's adaptability and validity are studied. The analysis results show that oil recovery decreases with increasing injection rate, injection concentration, and PMs size but increases with the increasing injection period. The theoretical oil recovery is 1.37%, and the actual oil recovery of the field application is 1.22%, with an error of 0.15%. This model has good consistency with the actual physical process of the field application. The oil recovery prediction model can provide oil recovery and optimize PMs' conformance control injection scheme. This study fills the gap in the mathematical model for oil recovery prediction of PMs' conformance control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between nutrients, heavy metals, and sediment bacterial communities play a key role in the health of crabs and the biogeochemical cycles of aquaculture systems. However, the effects of sediment improvement activities in crab culture on nutrients and heavy metals and the response of bacterial communities to the relevant changes are unclear. In this study, 24 water and sediment samples were collected from two aquaculture sites (total of 12 ponds, 6 at each site). High-throughput sequencing was used to determine the structure of the bacterial community and the diversity in water and sediment samples. The relationship between nutrients, heavy metals, and bacterial communities and the changes of the three before and after the improvement of the sediment were analyzed. The results showed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes were predominant at the phylum level of sediment. Sediment improvement has an effect on NH4+-N, sulfide, total organic carbon (TOC), and heavy metals in sediments to varying degrees. In addition, redundancy analysis found that NH4+-N, NO3−-N, TP, and heavy metals were key drivers in crab culture pond sediments. The results of functional prediction showed that carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur metabolism were the dominant processes in the two crab farming areas. Overall, changes in nutrients and heavy metals caused by sediment improvement further affected the structure and function of bacterial communities and may affect biogeochemical cycles. Our study has deepened the understanding of the effects of sediment improvement on nutrients, heavy metals, and bacterial communities in crab culture ponds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue phenotypic plasticity facilitates rapid adaptation of organisms to biotic and/or abiotic pressure. The reproductive capacity of honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) is plastic and responsive to pheromones produced by broods and the queen. Egg laying workers (ELWs), which could reactivate their ovaries and lay haploid eggs upon queen lost, have been commonly discussed from many aspects. However, it remains unclear whether midgut homeostasis in ELWs is affected during plastic changes. Here, we found that the expression of nutrition- and autophagy-related genes was up-regulated in the midguts of ELWs, compared with that in nurse workers (NWs) by RNA-sequencing. Furthermore, the area and number of autophagosomes were increased, along with significantly increased cell death in the midguts of ELWs. Moreover, cell cycle progression in the midguts of ELWs was increased compared with that in NWs. Consistent with the up-regulation of nutrition-related genes, the body and midgut sizes, and the number of intestinal proliferation cells of larvae reared with royal jelly (RJ) obviously increased more than those reared without RJ in vitro. Finally, cell proliferation was dramatically suppressed in the midguts of ELWs when autophagy was inhibited. Altogether, our data suggested that autophagy was induced and required to sustain cell proliferation in ELWs' midguts, thereby revealing the critical role of autophagy played in the intestines during phenotypic plasticity changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ascites is a typical symptom of liver cirrhosis that is caused by a variety of liver diseases. Ascites severely affects the life quality of patients and needs long-term treatment. 25a is a specific urea transporter inhibitor with a diuretic effect that does not disturb the electrolyte balance. In this study, we aimed to determine the therapeutic effect of 25a on ascites with a dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-induced cirrhotic rat model. It was found that 100 mg/kg of 25a significantly increased the daily urine output by 60% to 97% and reduced the daily abdominal circumference change by 220% to 260% in cirrhotic rats with a water intake limitation. The 25a treatment kept the serum electrolyte levels within normal ranges in cirrhotic rats. The H&E and Masson staining of liver tissue showed that 25a did not change the cirrhotic degree. A serum biochemical examination showed that 25a did not improve the liver function in cirrhotic rats. A Western blot analysis showed that 25a did not change the expression of fibrosis-related marker protein α-SMA, but significantly decreased the expressions of type I collagen in the liver of cirrhotic rats, indicating that 25a did not reverse cirrhosis, but could slow the cirrhotic progression. These data indicated that 25a significantly reduced ascites via diuresis without an electrolyte imbalance in cirrhotic rats. Our study provides a proof of concept that urea transporter inhibitors might be developed as novel diuretics to treat cirrhotic ascites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is a type of agricultural product that is widely used as a food spice, herb and traditional medicine. White garlic (WG) can be processed into several kinds of products, such as green garlic (GG), Laba garlic (LAG) and black garlic (BG), which have multiple health effects. In this study, GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), DPPH (1,1′-diphenyl-2-propionyl hydrazide) radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) in vitro assays were used to compare the composition, antioxidant and antiproliferation effects of different processed garlic extracts. The relationship between the constituents and the bioactivities was analyzed using the principal components analysis (PCA) and heatmap analysis. BG showed the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 0.63 ± 0.02 mg/mL) in DPPH radical assays and the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 0.80 ± 0.01 mg/mL) by hydroxyl radical assay. Moreover, GC-MS results showed that 12 organosulfur compounds were detected in the extracts of four garlic products, and allyl methyl trisulfide showed a positive relation with the anticancer activity on SMMC-7721 cells (hepatocellular carcinoma cells). The results suggested that the processing of garlic had a significant influence on the constituents and antioxidant effects and that GG, LAG and BG might be better candidates for the related functional food products compared to WG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of industrial waste as an agricultural resource is important for clean and sustainable agriculture. We assumed that industrial organic wastewater coupled with chemical fertilizer would increase cotton yield by enhancing nutrients absorption and utilization. To test this hypothesis, a two-year (2019–2020) field trial was conducted to assess the impacts of CK (0 kg ha−1), chemical fertilizer (CF) (N-P2O5-K2O: 228-131-95 kg ha−1), chemical fertilizer + organic wastewater (F0.6 (60%CF + OW: 1329 kg ha−1), F0.8 (80%CF + OW), F1.0 (CF + OW), F1.2 (120%CF + OW) and F1.4 (140%CF + OW)) on nutrient absorption and distribution, fertilizer use efficiency and cotton yield under drip irrigation system. Compared with CF, the soil organic matter, NH4+-N and AV-K increased significantly after F0.8-F1.4 treatments. The absorption of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) by plants after dripping organic wastewater (F0.8-F1.4) increased by 1.1–11.2% as compared with CF (F0.6, CF < F0.8, F1.0 < F1.2, F1.4). Under F0.8, treatment resulted in a higher distribution rate of N, P and K in reproductive organs compared with other counterparts. In addition, drip application of organic wastewater promoted the absorption of magnesium (Mg) and zinc (Zn) in leaves and Fe in roots with higher translocation of Zn and boron (B) to reproductive organs compared with other treatments. The absorption of N, P and K was positively correlated with Mg, negatively correlated with calcium (Ca) and sulfur (S), and positively correlated with manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe). The yield and fertilizer utilization rate of cotton were higher at F0.8. Conclusively, the use of 1329 kg ha−1 organic wastewater (organic mattered ≥ 20%, humic acid ≥ 20 g L−1, Bacillus subtilis ≥ 2 × 108 L−1) combined with chemical fertilizer (N-P2O5-K2O) at (182-104-76 kg ha−1) reduces the application of chemical fertilizer and can increase utilization efficiency of chemical fertilizer with a high cotton yield under mulch drip irrigation in arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corrosion resistance of the HRB400 steel rebar alloyed with Cr and rare earths (RE) was systematically studied from two aspects, including the properties of the passive film and the protectiveness of the rust layer. The results presented that Cr increased the corrosion resistance of the steel rebar through stabilizing the passive film and was not involved in the formation of corrosion pits, while the pitting corrosion was initiated by the dissolution of (RE)2O2S inclusion, resulting in the local acidification at the bottom of the corrosion pits, which decreased the stability of the passive film. As for the long-term corrosion process, both Cr and RE decreased the corrosion rate of the steel rebar, which was related to the promotion effect on the formation of α-FeOOH in the rust layer from Cr and RE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibacterial and pH-responsive composite films for active food packaging were fabricated based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), cassava starch, ethyl lauroyl arginate (LAE), and mulberry anthocyanin. With the incorporation of LAE and mulberry anthocyanin, the PVA/starch blend films exhibited a less compact and more heterogeneous surface structure. The tensile strength and elongation at break of the active films were not significantly affected when the mulberry anthocyanin content was less than 20%. Moreover, the incorporation of mulberry anthocyanin effectively improved the UV barrier property of the blend films. Notably, while mulberry anthocyanin showed obvious color changes in buffer solutions with different pH values, the changes were indistinguishable for the PVA/starch/mulberry anthocyanin films. By contrast, the color changes of the PVA/starch/LAE/mulberry anthocyanin films were more noticeable, indicating the addition of LAE increased the pH sensitivity of the blend films. Furthermore, the PVA/starch/LAE/mulberry anthocyanin films efficiently inhibited the growth of both Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) due to the strong antibacterial activity of LAE. According to the spoilage test, the active films containing 5% mulberry anthocyanin and 5% LAE effectively indicated and slowed down the spoilage process of dairy milk. Our results demonstrate that PVA/starch/LAE/mulberry anthocyanin films have high potential as bioactive packaging materials applied in the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ascosphaera apis is the causative agent of honey bee chalkbrood disease, and spores are the only known source of infections. Interference with sporulation is therefore a promising way to manage A. apis. The versicolorin reductase gene (StcU-2) is a ketoreductase protein related to sporulation and melanin biosynthesis. To study the StcU-2 gene in ascospore production of A. apis, CRISPR/Cas9 was used, and eight hygromycin B antibiotic-resistant transformants incorporating enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) were made and analyzed. PCR amplification, gel electrophoresis, and sequence analysis were used for target gene editing analysis and verification. The CRISPR/Cas9 editing successfully knocked out the StcU-2 gene in A. apis. StcU-2 mutants had shown albino and non-functional spore-cyst development and lost effective sporulation. In conclusion, editing of StcU-2 gene has shown direct relation with sporulation and melanin biosynthesis of A. apis; this effective sporulation reduction would reduce the spread and pathogenicity of A. apis to managed honey bee. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing has been efficiently performed in A. apis, a fungal honey bee brood pathogen, which offers a comprehensive set of procedural references that contributes to A. apis gene function studies and consequent control of chalkbrood disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of organic liquid fertilizer combined with chemical fertilizer is one of the key technologies used to simultaneously improve cotton yield and efficiently utilize resources. However, organic fertilizer is usually applied once as a base fertilizer during production, and few studies have been conducted on topdressing with water during the growth period. Therefore, in this study, Xinluzao 74 was used as the experimental material, and a single fertilizer application (CF) was used as a control in 2019–2020 under the conditions of integrated control of water and fertilizer with mulch drip irrigation. Five combinations of reduction in chemical fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer (OF1, OF2, OF3, OF4, and OF5) were used to investigate the influences of chemical fertilizer combined with organic liquid fertilizer on the leaf area index (LAI), canopy openness (DIFN), mean foliage tilt angle (MTA), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), canopy apparent photosynthesis (CAP), and yield and quality of cotton. The results show that among the different fertilization treatments, the OF2 treatment had the best results, not only ensuring a suitable LAI (4.8) and maintaining a large DIFN (0.1) but also increasing the light transmittance of the middle and lower canopies (0.02–0.03). At the same time, CAP increased significantly compared with that in the CF treatment, with an average increase of 12.8%. The high value lasted for a long time, and the late decay stage remained at 8.9 μmol m−2 s−1. The ratio of the population respiration rate to total photosynthesis (CR/TCAP) decreased significantly, with an average decrease of 13.5%. Compared with that in CF, the lint yield increased by 27.0% in the other treatments. The correlation analysis showed that lint yield was positively correlated with the relative chlorophyll content (SPAD value), PAR transmittance (PARU) and CAP in the upper canopy (p < 0.05) and significantly negatively correlated with PAR transmittance (PARM) in the middle canopy and PAR transmittance (PARD) and CR/TCAP in the lower canopy (p < 0.05). Therefore, under mulch drip irrigation, the OF2 treatment (OF + 80% CF) improved the canopy structure of cotton at the late growth stage, increased the population photosynthetic rate, and increased lint yield significantly; thus, this approach can be used as an effective fertilization method to achieve the goal of decreasing costs and increasing efficiency in cotton production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Src family kinases (SFKs) are non-receptor tyrosine kinases and play a key role in regulating signal transduction. The mechanism of SFKs in various tumors has been widely studied, and there are more and more studies on its role in the kidney. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a disease with complex pathogenesis, including oxidative stress (OS), inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, autophagy, and apoptosis. In addition, fibrosis has a significant impact on the progression of AKI to developing chronic kidney disease (CKD). The mortality rate of this disease is very high, and there is no effective treatment drug at present. In recent years, some studies have found that SFKs, especially Src, Fyn, and Lyn, are involved in the pathogenesis of AKI. In this paper, the structure, function, and role of SFKs in AKI are discussed. SFKs play a crucial role in the occurrence and development of AKI, making them promising molecular targets for the treatment of AKI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-dormant seeds are continuously aging and deteriorating during storage, leading to declining seed vigor, which is a challenge for the rice seed industry. Improving the storability of seeds is of great significance to ensure the quality of rice and national food security. Through a set of chromosome segment substitution lines population constructed using japonica rice NIP as donor parent and indica rice ZS97 as recurrent parent, we performed seed storability QTL analysis and selected four non-storable NILs to further investigate the storability regulatory mechanisms underlying it. The seeds were divided into four tissues, which were the embryo, endosperm, aleurone layer, and hull, and tissue-specific transcriptome and metabolome analyses were performed on them. By exploring the common differentially expressed genes and differentially accumulated metabolites, as well as the KEGG pathway of the four non-storable NILs, we revealed that the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway and diterpenoid biosynthesis pathway played a central role in regulating seed storability. Integrated analysis pinpointed 12 candidate genes that may take part in seed storability. The comprehensive analysis disclosed the divergent and synergistic effect of different seed tissues in the regulation of rice storability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Dyes play an important role in food, medicine, textile, and other industries, which make human life more colorful. With the increasing demand for food safety, the development of natural dyes becomes more and more attractive. (2) Methods: The literature was searched using the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, and SciFinder and this scoping review was carried out following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). (3) Results: 248 articles were included in this review. This review summarizes the research progress on natural dyes in the last ten years. According to structural features, natural dyes mainly include carotenoids, polyphenols, porphyrins, and alkaloids, and some of the newest dyes are summarized. Some pharmacological activities of carotenoids, anthocyanin, curcumin, and betalains in the last 10 years are summarized, and the biological effects of dyes regarding illumination conditions. The disadvantages of natural dyes, including sources, cost, stability, and poor bioavailability, limit their application. Here, some feasible strategies (potential resources, biotechnology, new extraction and separation strategies, strategies for improving stability) are described, which will contribute to the development and utilization of natural dyes. (4) Conclusion: Natural dyes show health benefits and potential in food additives. However, it is necessary for natural dyes to pass toxicity tests and quality tests and receive many regulatory approvals before their final entry into the market as food colorants or as drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urea transporter (UT) inhibitors are a class of promising novel diuretics that do not cause the imbalance of Na+, K+, Cl−, and other electrolytes. In our previous studies, 25a, a promising diuretic candidate inhibiting UT, was discovered and showed potent diuretic activities in rodents. Here, a sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantitation of 25a in rat plasma, urine, feces, bile, and tissue homogenates was developed and validated to support the preclinical pharmacokinetic studies. The tissue distribution, excretion, and plasma protein binding were investigated in rats. After a single oral dose of 25a at 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg, the drug exposure increased linearly with the dose. The drug accumulation was observed after multiple oral doses compared to a single dose. In the distribution study, 25a exhibited a wide distribution to tissues with high blood perfusion, such as kidney, heart, lung, and spleen, and the lowest distribution in the brain and testis. The accumulative excretion rate of 25a was 0.14%, 3.16%, and 0.018% in urine, feces, and bile, respectively. The plasma protein binding of 25a was approximately 60% in rats and 40% in humans. This is the first study on the preclinical pharmacokinetic profiles of 25a. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with other field-emission nanomaterials, 1D ZnO nanomaterials have some unique properties-such as high melting point, high thermal and chemical stability, and ambient insensitivity-which means they have promising potential applications as field emitters in harsh environments. This work proposed a water-assisted physical vapor deposition method to prepare various ZnO nanostructures simultaneously on a silicon substrate with one experimental run. Field emission characteristics of the as-grown ZnO nanomaterials were measured and analyzed. Emission-stimulated desorption was proposed and investigated. The gas released under the emission-stimulated desorption effect was measured in the way of monitoring the variation of the pressure. The results show that the slight variation of the pressure has almost no effects on the field-emissions, and field emission properties can be improved with the gases released from the surface of ZnO under the emission-stimulated-desorption effect. Finally, a low turn-on voltage in the range of 0.5-0.9 V/μm was achieved and a stable emission current was obtained. The ambient insensitivity of ZnO nanomaterials make them possible to be used as field emission cathodes in harsh environments with fluctuating pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chain reorganization of cooked starch during storage plays an important role in the performance of starchy products such as rice foods. Here, different analytical techniques (such as small-angle X-ray scattering) were used to reveal how microwave cooking influences the chain assembly of cooked indica rice starch undergoing storage for 0, 24, or 48 h. While stored, more short-range double helices, long-range crystallites, and nanoscale orders emerged for the microwave-cooked starch than for its conventionally cooked counterpart. For instance, after storage for 24 h, the microwave-cooked starch contained 46.8% of double helices, while its conventionally cooked counterpart possessed 34.3% of double helices. This could be related to the fact that the microwave field caused high-frequency movements of polar groups such as hydroxyls, which strengthened the interactions between starch chains and water molecules and eventually their assembly into double helices, crystallites, and nanoscale orders. This work provides further insights into the chain reassembly of microwave-cooked starch undergoing storage, which is closely related to the quality attributes of starch-based products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salt stress is one of the most severe adverse environments in rice production; increasing salinization is seriously endangering rice production around the world. In this study, a rice backcross inbred line (BIL) population derived from the cross of 9311 and wild rice Oryza longistaminata was employed to identify the favorable genetic loci of O. longistaminata for salt tolerance. A total of 27 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) related to salt tolerance were identified in 140 rice BILs, and 17 QTLs formed seven QTL clusters on different chromosomes, of which 18 QTLs were derived from O. longistaminata, and a QTL for salt injury score (SIS), water content of seedlings (WCS) under salt treatment, and relative water content of seedlings (RWCS) was repeatedly detected and colocalized at the same site on chromosome 2, and a cytochrome P450 86B1 (MH02t0466900) was suggested as the potential candidate gene responsible for the salt tolerance based on sequence and expression analysis. These findings laid the foundation for further improving rice salt tolerance through molecular breeding in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insect pollinators provide major pollination services for wild plants and crops. Honeybee viruses can cause serious damage to honeybee colonies. However, viruses of other wild pollinating insects have yet to be fully explored. In the present study, we used RNA sequencing to investigate the viral diversity of 50 species of wild pollinating insects. A total of 3 pathogenic honeybee viruses, 8 previously reported viruses, and 26 novel viruses were identified in sequenced samples. Among these, 7 novel viruses were shown to be closely related to honeybee pathogenic viruses, and 4 were determined to have potential pathogenicity for their hosts. The viruses detected in wild insect pollinators were mainly from the order Picornavirales and the families Orthomyxoviridae, Sinhaliviridae, Rhabdoviridae, and Flaviviridae. Our study expanded the species range of known insect pollinator viruses, contributing to future efforts to protect economic honeybees and wild pollinating insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Orthosiphon stamineus Benth. is a traditional medicine used in the treatment of diabetes and chronic renal failure in southern China, Malaysia, and Thailand. Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease and the number of diabetic patients in the world is increasing. This review aimed to systematically review the effects of O. stamineus in the treatment of diabetes and its complications and the pharmacodynamic material basis. (2) Methods: This systematic review was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), using the databases ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Web of Science. (3) Results: Thirty-one articles related to O. stamineus and diabetes were included. The mechanisms of O. stamineus in the treatment of diabetes and its complications mainly included inhibiting α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, regulating lipid metabolism, promoting insulin secretion, ameliorating insulin resistance, increasing glucose uptake, promoting glycolysis, inhibiting gluconeogenesis, promoting glucagon-likepeptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion and antiglycation activity. Phenolic acids, flavonoids and triterpenoids might be the main components for hypoglycemia effects in O. stamineus. (4) Conclusion: O. stamineus could be an antidiabetic agent to treat diabetes and its complications. However, it needs further study on a pharmacodynamic substance basis and the mechanisms of effective constituents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, the effects of boiling (BO), steaming (ST), and sous vide (SV) on the hydration characteristics, structural properties, and volatile profile of squid (Symplectoteuthis oualaniensis) mantle muscle (SMM) were investigated. Three cooking methods resulted in a dramatic decrease in proton mobility and freedom of protons, the relaxation time T2 decreased after cooking, and the water binding in the SMM was closer, but the SV treatment could retain more water in the SMM. SV resulted in a lower cooking loss (10.8%) than ST (49.0%) and BO (36.7%). Samples treated with SV had a better color and texture, the secondary structure β-fold of the squid protein was damaged by cooking to a certain extent, and the damage degree was BO > ST > SV. Compared with BO and ST, SV treatment caused more damage to the myosin heavy chain, paramyosin, and actin in SMM, improved the tenderness of SMM, and resulted in more regular internal reticular structures and less formation of fibrous structures. Cooking methods can significantly affect the volatile components of SMM, resulting in increasing volatile components or generating new volatile components in SMM including 2-methylbutanal, ethyl 2-methylpropanoate, acetic acid, and propyl methyl ketone in ST and BO samples and 2-methylbutanal, hexanal, and 2,3-pentanedione in SV samples. Therefore, SV resulted in the best quality squids and has substantial industrial application potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inonotus obliquus (Chaga mushroom) is a kind of medicine and health food widely used by folk in China, Russia, Korea, and some occidental countries. Among the extracts from Inonotus obliquus, Inonotus obliquus polysaccharide (IOPS) is supposed to be one of the major bioactive components in Inonotus obliquus, which possesses antitumor, antioxidant, anti-virus, hypoglycemic, and hypolipidemic activities. In this review, the current advancements on extraction, purification, structural characteristics, and biological activities of IOPS were summarized. This review can provide significant insight into the IOPS bioactivities as their in vitro and in vivo data were summarized, and some possible mechanisms were listed. Furthermore, applications of IOPS were reviewed and discussed; IOPS might be a potential candidate for the treatment of cancers and type 2 diabetes. Besides, new perspectives for the future work of IOPS were also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid pose classification and pose retrieval in 3D human datasets are important problems in shape analysis. In this paper, we extend the Multi-View Convolutional Neural Network (MVCNN) with ordered view feature fusion for orientation-aware 3D human pose classification and retrieval. Firstly, we combine each learned view feature in an orderly manner to form a compact representation for orientation-aware pose classification. Secondly, for pose retrieval, the Siamese network is adopted to learn descriptor vectors, where their L 2 distances are close for pairs of shapes with the same poses and are far away for pairs of shapes with different poses. Furthermore, we also construct a larger 3D Human Pose Recognition Dataset (HPRD) consisting of 100,000 shapes for the evaluation of pose classification and retrieval. Experiments and comparisons demonstrate that our method obtains better results than previous works of pose classification and retrieval on the 3D human datasets, such as SHREC'14, FAUST, and HPRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hair growth and morphology are generally regulated by the hair cycle in mammals. Fibroblast Growth Factor 5 (FGF5), which is a hair cycle regulator, has a role in regulating the hair cycle during the transition from the anagen phase to the catagen phase, and a hereditary long hair phenotype has been widely reported when FGF5 is mutated in humans and other species. However, there has been no such report in rabbits. Thus, the first exon of rabbit FGF5 was disrupted by the CRISPR/Cas9 system, and the phenotype of FGF5-/- rabbits was characterized while using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemistry, quantitative PCR, scanning electron microscopy, and western blotting. The results showed a significant and systemic long hair phenotype in the FGF5-/- rabbits, which indicated that FGF5 is a negative regulator of hair growth. In addition, a decreased diameter of the fiber and a higher area proportion of hair follicle clusters were determined in FGF5-/- rabbits as compared with the WT rabbits. Further investigation verified that prolonging the anagen phase in rabbits, with decreased BMP2/4 pathway signaling and increased VERSICAN pathway signaling, caused the systemic long hair phenotype. Taken together, these results indicate a systemic long hair phenotype by prolonging anagen in FGF5-/- rabbits, which could be widely used for Fur production and an ideal model for studying the mechanism of long hair in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the anticancer effect of Oroxin B (OB) both in vitro and in vivo, and the molecular mechanism involved in microRNA-221 and the PI3K/Akt/PTEN pathway through modulation of apoptosis in Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). DEN-induced rats and HepG2 cells based on the microfluidic chip were employed, while the mRNA and protein expression of microRNA-221, PI3K, p-Akt and PTEN were evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Based on Microfluidic Chip and DEN-induced rat model, OB effectively exerts anti-liver cancer effect both in vitro and in vivo, and the expression of miR-221 in OB treated groups was significantly lower than that in the control group (** p < 0.01). The RT-PCR and Western blot results suggested the PI3K mRNA and protein in OB treated groups were both lower than those in control group and indicated the overexpression of PTEN. Therefore, OB effectively exerts anticancer effects by positively regulating the PTEN gene and then inactivating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway through down-regulating the expression of the microRNA-221, thereby inducing apoptosis of liver cancer cells. This study offers a theoretical evidence for further development and clinical guidance of OB as an anti-tumor agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer is a highly efficient absorption promoter. In the present study, we studied the absorption-enhancing effects and the mechanism of PAMAM dendrimers with generation 0 to generation 3 (G0–G3) and concentrations (0.1–1.0%) on the pulmonary absorption of macromolecules. The absorption-enhancing mechanisms were elucidated by microarray, western blotting analysis, and PCR. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextrans (FDs) with various molecular weights were used as model drugs of poorly absorbable drugs. The absorption-enhancing effects of PAMAM dendrimers on the pulmonary absorption of FDs were in a generation- and concentration-dependent manner. The G3 PAMAM dendrimer with high effectiveness was considered to the best absorption enhancer for improving the pulmonary absorption of FDs. G3 PAMAM dendrimers at three different concentrations were non-toxic to Calu-3 cells. Based on the consideration between efficacy and cost, the 0.1% G3 PAMAM dendrimer was selected for subsequent studies. The results showed that treatment with a 0.1% G3 PAMAM dendrimer could increase the secretion of organic cation transporters (OCTs), OCT1, OCT2, and OCT3, which might be related to the absorption-enhancing mechanisms of the pulmonary absorption of FDs. These findings suggested that PAMAM dendrimers might be potentially safe absorption enhancers for improving absorption of FDs by increasing the secretion of OCT1, OCT2, and OCT3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The symptoms of asthma, breathlessness, insomnia, etc. all have relevance to pulmonary rhythmic disturbances. Epidemiology and toxicology studies have demonstrated that exposure to ambient air particles can result in pulmonary dysfunction. However, there are no data directly supporting a link between air pollution and circadian rhythm disorder. In the present study, we found that breathing highly polluted air resulted in changes of the molecular clock genes expression in lung by transcriptome profiling analyses in a rodent model. Compared to those exposed to filtered air, in both pregnant and offspring rats in the unfiltered group, key clock genes ( Per1 , Per2 , Per3 , Rev-erbα and Dbp ) expression level decreased and Bmal1 expression level increased. In both rat dams and their offspring, after continuous exposure to unfiltered air, we observed significant histologic evidence for both perivascular and peribronchial inflammation, increased tissue and systemic oxidative stress in the lungs. Our results suggest that chronic exposure to particulate matter can induce alterations of clock genes expression, which could be another important pathway for explaining the feedbacks of ambient particle exposure in addition to oxidative stress and inflammation., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.