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Ischemic stroke is a devastating condition that occurs due to the interruption of blood flow to the brain, resulting in a range of cellular and molecular changes. In recent years, there has been growing interest in the role of ferroptosis, a newly identified form of regulated cell death, in ischemic stroke. Ferroptosis is driven by the accumulation of lipid peroxides and is characterized by the loss of membrane integrity. Additionally, oxidative stress, which refers to an imbalance between prooxidants and antioxidants, is a hallmark of ischemic stroke and significantly contributes to the pathogenesis of the disease. In this review, we explore the interactions between ferroptosis and oxidative stress in ischemic stroke. We examine the underlying mechanisms through which oxidative stress induces ferroptosis and how ferroptosis, in turn, exacerbates oxidative stress. Furthermore, we discuss potential therapeutic strategies that target both ferroptosis and oxidative stress in the treatment of ischemic stroke. Overall, this review highlights the complex interplay between ferroptosis and oxidative stress in ischemic stroke and underscores the need for further research to identify novel therapeutic targets for this condition.

In rice cultivation and breeding, obtaining accurate information on the quantity and spatial distribution of rice plants is crucial. However, traditional field sampling methods can only provide rough estimates of the plant count and fail to capture precise plant locations. To address these problems, this paper proposes P2PNet-EFF for the counting and localization of rice plants. Firstly, through the introduction of the enhanced feature fusion (EFF), the model improves its ability to integrate deep semantic information while preserving shallow spatial details. This allows the model to holistically analyze the morphology of plants rather than focusing solely on their central points, substantially reducing errors caused by leaf overlap. Secondly, by integrating efficient multi-scale attention (EMA) into the backbone, the model enhances its feature extraction capabilities and suppresses interference from similar backgrounds. Finally, to evaluate the effectiveness of the P2PNet-EFF method, we introduce the URCAL dataset for rice counting and localization, gathered using UAV. This dataset consists of 365 high-resolution images and 173,352 point annotations. Experimental results on the URCAL demonstrate that the proposed method achieves a 34.87% reduction in MAE and a 28.19% reduction in RMSE compared to the original P2PNet while increasing R2 by 3.03%. Furthermore, we conducted extensive experiments on three frequently used plant counting datasets. The results demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed method.

In view of the current problems of complex models and insufficient data processing in ultra-short-term prediction of photovoltaic power generation, this paper proposes a photovoltaic power ultra-short-term prediction model named HPO-KNN-SRU, based on a Simple Recurrent Unit (SRU), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and Hunter–Prey Optimization (HPO). Firstly, the sliding time window is determined by using the autocorrelation function (ACF), partial correlation function (PACF), and model training. The Pearson correlation coefficient method is used to filter the principal meteorological factors that affect photovoltaic power. Then, the K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) algorithm is utilized for effective outlier detection and processing to ensure the quality of input data for the prediction model, and the Hunter–Prey Optimization (HPO) algorithm is applied to optimize the parameters of the KNN algorithm. Finally, the efficient Simple Recurrent Unit (SRU) model is used for training and prediction, with the Hunter–Prey Optimization (HPO) algorithm applied to optimize the parameters of the SRU model. Simulation experiments and extensive ablation studies using photovoltaic data from the Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre (DKASC) in Alice Springs, Australia, validate the effectiveness of the integrated model, the KNN outlier handling, and the HPO algorithm. Compared to the Support Vector Regression (SVR), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN), and Simple Recurrent Unit (SRU) models, this model exhibits an average reduction of 19.63% in Mean Square Error (RMSE), 27.54% in Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and an average increase of 1.96% in coefficient of determination (R2) values.

This study identified 45 calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) genes in cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), which are integral in plant growth, development, and stress responses. These genes, classified into four subgroups based on phylogenetic relationships, are unevenly distributed across all twenty peanut chromosomes. The analysis of the genetic structure of AhCDPKs revealed significant similarity within subgroups, with their expansion primarily driven by whole-genome duplications. The upstream promoter sequences of AhCDPK genes contained 46 cis-acting regulatory elements, associated with various plant responses. Additionally, 13 microRNAs were identified that target 21 AhCDPK genes, suggesting potential post-transcriptional regulation. AhCDPK proteins interacted with respiratory burst oxidase homologs, suggesting their involvement in redox signaling. Gene ontology and KEGG enrichment analyses affirmed AhCDPK genes’ roles in calcium ion binding, protein kinase activity, and environmental adaptation. RNA-seq data revealed diverse expression patterns under different stress conditions. Importantly, 26 AhCDPK genes were significantly induced when exposed to Ca deficiency during the pod stage. During the seedling stage, four AhCDPKs (AhCDPK2/-25/-28/-45) in roots peaked after three hours, suggesting early signaling roles in pod Ca nutrition. These findings provide insights into the roles of CDPK genes in plant development and stress responses, offering potential candidates for predicting calcium levels in peanut seeds.

Excessive nitrogen and insufficient calcium could significantly impact peanut yields. This study investigated the effects of nitrogen and calcium fertilizers on nutrient absorption, utilization, and yield; experiments were conducted using the peanut cultivar from Xianghua 2008 in a split-plot arrangement with two calcium fertilizer levels (Ca0: 0 and Ca1: 568 kg CaO ha−1) in the main plots and six nitrogen fertilizer gradients (N0: 0, N45.0: 45.0, N90.0: 90.0, N112.5: 112.5, N135.0: 135.0, and N157.5: 157.5 kg N ha−1) in subplots between 2015 and 2016 in Changsha, China. We examined the impact of different rates of calcium and nitrogen fertilizers on the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), agronomic traits, dry matter quality, yield and yield composition, nutrient accumulation, and distribution. The combined application of calcium and nitrogen fertilizers significantly affected the yield and yield components, Pn, main stem height, dry matter, and nutrient accumulation. Under the same calcium level, nitrogen application significantly increased the main stem height and Pn and promoted the accumulation of dry matter and nutrients in the plant, particularly in the kernel. Under the same nitrogen treatment, calcium significantly increased Pn and promoted the accumulation of dry matter, calcium, and magnesium. The pod yield increased gradually with an increasing nitrogen application rate (0–112.5 kg ha−1) and peaked at N112.5, increasing by 52.3–138.0% compared with N0. However, excessive nitrogen application (N > 112.5 kg ha−1) decreased the pod yield. Under different nitrogen fertilizer levels, calcium application increased pod yields by 11.5–29.6% by promoting Pn, nutrient uptake, accumulation in the individual plant, and nutrient accumulation in the kernel. Therefore, this study suggested that adjusting the calcium (568 kg ha−1) and nitrogen (112.5 kg ha−1) fertilizer rates significantly improved peanut growth and productivity by enhancing photosynthetic efficiency and nutrient accumulation in calcium-deficient acidic red soil.

This prospective study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of decellularized porcine conjunctiva (DPC) in the management of severe symblepharon. Sixteen patients with severe symblepharon were enrolled in this study. After symblepharon lysis and Mitomycin C (MMC) application, tarsus defects were covered with residual autologous conjunctiva (AC), autologous oral mucosa (AOM), or DPC throughout the fornix, and DPC was used for all the exposed sclera. The outcomes were classified as complete success, partial success, or failure. Six symblepharon patients had chemical burns and ten had thermal burns. Tarsus defects were covered with DPC, AC, and AOM in two, three, and eleven cases, respectively. After an average follow-up of 20.0 ± 6 months, the anatomical outcomes observed were complete successes in twelve (three with AC+DPC, four with AC+AOM+DPC, and five with AOM+DPC) (75%) cases, partial successes in three (one with AOM+DPC and two with DPC+DPC) (18.75%) cases, and failure in one (with AOM+DPC) (6.25%) case. Before surgery, the depth of the narrowest part of the conjunctival sac was 0.59 ± 0.76 mm (range, 0–2 mm), tear fluid quantity (Schirmer II tests) was 12.5 ± 2.26 mm (range, 10–16 mm), and the distance of the eye rotation toward the opposite direction of the symblepharon was 3.75 ± 1.39 mm (range, 2–7 mm). The fornix depths increased to 7.53 ± 1.64 mm (range, 3–9 mm), eye movement was significantly improved, and the distance of eye movement reaching 6.56 ± 1.24 mm (range, 4–8 mm) 1 month after the operation; the postoperative Schirmer II test (12.06 ± 2.90 mm, range, 6–17 mm) was similar to that before surgery. Goblet cells were finally found in fifteen patients by conjunctival impression cytology in the transplantation area of DPC, except for one patient who failed. DPC could be considered an alternative for ocular surface reconstruction of severe symblepharon. Covering tarsal defects with autologous mucosa is necessary for extensive reconstruction of the ocular surface.

In recent years, pathogenic infections have been a growing health threat due to the proliferation of drug-resistant bacteria, so photothermal therapy (PTT) has gained considerable interest in biological and medical fields, owing to its noninvasive and highly effective properties. However, it is hard to achieve selective bacteria targeting while generating a large amount of heat at infected sites. Cationic electrostatic interaction is considered to be a common antimicrobial strategy. Herein, an organic molecule named RT-MN was synthesized with four positively charged quaternary ammonium salts that can bind to negatively charged bacteria. Under near-infrared 808 nm laser irradiation, RT-MN could be efficiently converted into a large amount of heat to eradicate bacteria. In addition, its good water solubility and biological safety proved that RT-MN has excellent biological application prospects. Overall, four such positively charged photosensitizer RT-MN, as a non-antibiotic treatment for resistant bacteria, could be promising for the exploration of highly effective antibacterial agents.

Light is vital for plant growth and development, and the germination of many plant seeds and the development of seedlings are very sensitive to the light environment. Under no or low light conditions, pepper seedlings will accelerate the elongation of the hypocotyl to obtain light. To elucidate the molecular mechanism by which light regulates hypocotyl elongation in pepper, RNA sequencing was performed to analyze the hypocotyls and cotyledons of the yellowing mutant R24 under three different light intensity treatments. A total of 35,341 gene were identified; moreover, during the treatment, 9695 new genes and 13,123 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were observed, respectively. Some genes related to brassino-lide receptor protein kinase BRI1, light capture proteins LHCA and LHCB, and auxin response factor may regulate the response of hot pepper cotyledons and hypocotyls to different light intensity. KEGG functional enrichment analysis revealed that the most abundant pathways were phenylpropane biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, and carbon metabolism. This study provides a valuable reference for understanding the molecular mechanism of pepper’s response to different light intensities at the seedling stage and for improving the local light environment to overcome the hypocotyl elongation of pepper crop under low light conditions.

The adulteration of honey with different sugar syrups is common and difficult to detect. To ensure fair trade and protect the interests of apiarists, a rapid, simple and cost-effective detection method for adulterants in honey is needed. In this work, fluorescence emission spectra were obtained for honey and sugar syrups between 385 and 800 nm with excitation at 370 nm. We found substantial differences in the emission spectra between five types of honey and five sugar syrups and also found differences in their frequency doubled peak (FDP) intensity at 740 nm. The intensity of the FDP significantly declined (p < 0.01) when spiking honey with ≥10% sugar syrup. To validate this method, we tested 20 adulterant-positive honey samples and successfully identified 15 that were above the limit of detection. We propose that fluorescence spectroscopy could be broadly adopted as a cost-effective, rapid screening tool for sugar syrup adulteration of honey through characterization of emission spectra and the intensity of the FDP.

Activating KRAS mutations occur in about 30% of pulmonary adenocarcinoma (AC) cases and the discovery of specific inhibitors of G12C-mutated KRAS has considerably improved the prognosis for a subgroup of about 14% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, even in patients with a KRAS G12C mutation, the overall response rate only reaches about 40% and mutations other than G12C still cannot be targeted. Despite the fact that one-carbon metabolism (1CM) and epigenetic regulation are known to be dysregulated by aberrant KRAS activity, we still lack evidence that co-treatment with drugs that regulate these factors might ameliorate response rates and patient prognosis. In this study, we show a direct dependency of Methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2 (MTHFD2) and Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2) expression on mutationally activated KRAS and their prognostic relevance in KRAS-mutated AC. We show that aberrant KRAS activity generates a vulnerability of AC cancer cell lines to both MTHFD2 and EZH2 inhibitors. Importantly, co-inhibition of both factors was synergistically effective and comparable to KRASG12C inhibition alone, paving the way for their use in a therapeutic approach for NSCLC cancer patients.

X-ray sources based on pulsed electron accelerators stimulate the development of bremsstrahlung converter designs. The numerical optimization of transmission-type X-ray targets for maximum X-ray output by pulsed electron beams was carried out in the present work. The targets featured a combination of a heavy element (tungsten or molybdenum) X-ray conversion layer and a titanium membrane that served as the vacuum window, thermal shielding for converter heat, and an electron dump. The energy spectrum of the electron beam generated via explosive emission was analyzed via the space-charge effect, and was utilized for the source sampling algorithm for electron transportation simulation with a Monte Carlo method for X-ray emission analysis. It was revealed that the transmission photon intensity of a mono-material target is primarily affected by the thickness of the target, and there exists an optimal target thickness within which the photon fluence is restricted by insufficient electron stopping; when exceeded, the extra thickness of the X-ray converter target imposes absorption and attenuates the generated X-ray. Analysis on dual-layer targets proved that this optimized converter target thickness, combined with a proper titanium window, produces the highest X-ray photon emissions.

The antibacterial activity of propolis has long been of great interest, and the chemical composition of propolis is directly dependent on its source. We recently obtained a type of propolis from China with a red color. Firstly, the antibacterial properties of this unusual propolis were determined against Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Studies on its composition identified and quantified 14 main polyphenols of Chinese red propolis extracts (RPE); quantification was carried out using liquid chromatography triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (LC-QQQ-MS/MS) and RPE was found to be rich in pinobanksin, pinobanksin-3-acetate, and chrysin. In vitro investigations of its antibacterial activity revealed that its activity against S. aureus and MRSA is due to disruption of the cell wall and cell membrane, which then inhibits bacterial growth. Despite its similar antibacterial activities against S. aureus and MRSA, metabolomic analysis further revealed the effects of RPE on bacteria metabolism were different. The untargeted metabolomic results showed that a total of 7 metabolites in 12 metabolic pathways had significant changes (Fold change > 2, p < 0.05 *) after RPE treatment in S. aureus, while 11 metabolites in 9 metabolic pathways had significant changes (Fold change > 2, p < 0.05 *) after RPE treated on MRSA. Furthermore, RPE downregulated several specific genes related to bacterial biofilm formation, autolysis, cell wall synthesis, and bacterial virulence in MRSA. In conclusion, the data obtained indicate that RPE may be a promising therapeutic agent against S. aureus and MRSA.

Modelling of a mineral dissolution front propagation is of interest in a wide range of scientific and engineering fields. The dissolution of minerals often involves complex physico-chemical processes at the solid–liquid interface (at nano-scale), which at the micro-to-meso-scale can be simplified to the problem of continuously moving boundaries. In this work, we studied the diffusion-controlled congruent dissolution of minerals from a meso-scale phase transition perspective. The dynamic evolution of the solid–liquid interface, during the dissolution process, is numerically simulated by employing the Finite Element Method (FEM) and using the phase–field (PF) approach, the latter implemented in the open-source Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE). The parameterization of the PF numerical approach is discussed in detail and validated against the experimental results for a congruent dissolution case of NaCl (taken from literature) as well as on analytical models for simple geometries. In addition, the effect of the shape of a dissolving mineral particle was analysed, thus demonstrating that the PF approach is suitable for simulating the mesoscopic morphological evolution of arbitrary geometries. Finally, the comparison of the PF method with experimental results demonstrated the importance of the dissolution rate mechanisms, which can be controlled by the interface reaction rate or by the diffusive transport mechanism.

A sudden dam failure is usually simulated by the rapid removal of a gate in laboratory tests and numerical simulations. The gate-opening time is often determined according to the Lauber and Hager instantaneous collapse criterion (referred to as the Lauber–Hager criterion), which is established for a rectangular open channel with a dry bed. However, this criterion is not suitable for non-rectangular channels or initial wet-bed conditions. In this study, the effect of the gate-opening time on the wave evolution is investigated by using the large eddy simulation (LES) model. The instantaneous dam-break, namely, a dam-break without a gate, is simulated for comparison. A gate-opening criterion for generating dam-break flow in a non-rectangular wet-bed channel is proposed in this study, which can be used as an extension of the Lauber–Hager criterion and provides a more comprehensive and reasonable estimate of the gate opening time.