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Abstract In transportation, roads sometimes have cracks due to overloading and other reasons, which seriously affect driving safety, and it is crucial to identify and fill road cracks in time. Aiming at the defects of existing semantic segmentation models that have degraded the segmentation performance of road crack images and the standard convolution makes it challenging to capture the spatial and channel coupling relationship between pixels. It is difficult to differentiate crack pixels from background pixels in complex backgrounds; this paper proposes a semantic segmentation model for road cracks that combines channel-spatial convolution with the aggregation of frequency features. A new convolutional block is proposed to accurately identify cracked pixels by grouping spatial displacements and convolutional kernel weight dynamization while modeling pixel spatial relationships linked to channel features. To enhance the contrast of crack edges, a frequency domain feature aggregation module is proposed, which uses a simple windowing strategy to solve the problem of mismatch of frequency domain inputs and, at the same time, takes into account the effect of the frequency imaginary part on the features to model the deep frequency features effectively. Finally, a feature refinement module is designed to refine the semantic features to improve the segmentation accuracy. Many experiments have proved that the model proposed in this paper has better performance and more application potential than the current popular general model.

316L stainless steel (SS) is widely applied as microimplant anchorage (MIA) due to its excellent mechanical properties. However, the risk that the oral microorganisms can corrode 316L SS is fully neglected. Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of 316L SS is essential to the health and safety of all patients because the accelerated corrosion caused by the oral microbiota can trigger the release of Cr and Ni ions. This study investigated the corrosion behavior and mechanism of subgingival microbiota on 316L SS by 16S rRNA and metagenome sequencing, electrochemical measurements, and surface characterization techniques. Multispecies biofilms were formed by the oral subgingival microbiota in the simulated oral anaerobic environment on 316L SS surfaces, significantly accelerating the corrosion in the form of pitting. The microbiota samples collected from the subjects differed in biofilm compositions, corrosion behaviors, and mechanisms. The oral subgingival microbiota contributed to the accelerated corrosion of 316L SS via acidic metabolites and extracellular electron transfer. Our findings provide a new insight into the underlying mechanisms of oral microbial corrosion and guide the design of oral microbial corrosion-resistant materials.

Background The occurrence of chronic inflammation resulting from infection with human papillomaviruses is an important factor in the development of cervical cancer (CC); thus, deciphering the crosstalk between the tumor microenvironment and innate immune cells during the establishment of immune tolerance is vital for identifying potential treatment strategies.Methods Single-cell RNA sequencing data and primary tumor samples from patients with CC were used to evaluate the functional role of Siglec-10 on dendritic cells (DCs). Patient-derived tumor fragment platforms were used to examine the ability of Siglec-10 blockade to reinvigorate DC-mediate T-cell activation and tumor clearance.Results Here, we demonstrated that Siglec-10 is a prominent inhibitory checkpoint for DCs infiltrated in CC. CC epithelial cells use their aberrant surface sialylated structures to induce the transformation of conventional DCs into phenotypes characterized by low immunogenicity and high immunotolerance. Additionally, Siglec-10+ DCs suppress the function of adaptive T cells via galectin-9 signaling to strengthen the immunosuppressive CC microenvironment. Disturbance of Siglec-10 signaling restored the DC-mediated tumoricidal response and increased adaptive T cells sensitivity to programmed cell death protein 1 inhibition.Conclusion Our study confirms the checkpoint role of Siglec-10 on DCs and proposes that targeting Siglec-10 may be a promising avenue for immunotherapy against CC.

Abstract Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic neoplasm, and most patients experience recurrence and chemoresistance. Even the promising immunotherapy showed limited efficacy in ovarian cancer, probably due to the immunosuppressive microenvironment. However, the behind mechanisms of the immune exclusion or cold phenotype in ovarian cancer still remain to be explored. As a cancer dominated by copy number variations instead of mutations, ovarian cancer contains a high fraction of aneuploid, which might correlate with immune inhibition. Nevertheless, whether or how aneuploid affects ovarian cancer is still unclear. For exploring the role of aneuploid cancer cells and the potential ploidy-immune relationship, herein, the ploidy information was first comprehensively analyzed combining the karyotype data and copy number variation data obtained from Mitelman and cBioPortal databases, respectively. Ovarian cancer showed strong ploidy heterogeneity, with high fraction of aneuploid and recurrent arm-level and whole chromosome changes. Furthermore, clinical parameters were compared between the highly-aneuploid and the near-diploid ovarian cancers. Aneuploid indicated high grade, poor overall survival and poor disease-free survival in ovarian cancer. To understand the biofunction affected by aneuploid, the differentially expressed genes between the highly-aneuploid and the near-diploid groups were analyzed. Transcription data suggested that aneuploid cancer correlated with deregulated MHC expression, abnormal antigen presentation, and less infiltration of macrophages and activated T cells and higher level of T cell exclusion. Furthermore, the ploidy-MHC association was verified using the Human Protein Atlas database. All these data supported that aneuploid might be promising for cancer management and immune surveillance in ovarian cancer.

Persister cells are transiently tolerant to antibiotics and are associated with recalcitrant chronic infections due to recolonization of host cells after antibiotic removal. Brucella spp. are facultative pathogens that establish intracellular infection cycles in host cells which results in chronic persistent infections. Brucella abortus forms multi-drug persister cells which are promoted by the (p)ppGpp synthetase Rsh during rifampicin exposure. Here, we confirmed that Rsh promoted persister cells formation in B. abortus stationary phase treated with rifampicin and enrofloxacin. Deletion of the gene for Rsh decreased persister cells level in the presence of these drugs in different growth phases. However, persister cells formation by deletion strain varied in different growth phases in the presence of other antibiotics. Rsh also was involved in persister cells formation during rifampicin treatment under certain stress conditions, including acidic conditions, exposure to PBS, and heat stress. Moreover, Rsh impacted persister cell levels during rifampicin or enrofloxacin treatment in RAW264.7 macrophages. Certain typeIItoxin-antitoxin modules were upregulated under various stress conditions in B. abortus. We established that Rsh positively regulated the type II toxin-antitoxin mbcTA. Moreover, rifampicin-tolerant persister cells formation was elevated and ATP levels were decreased when mbcTA promoter was overexpressed in Rsh deletion background in stationary phase. Our results establish that (p)ppGpp synthetase Rsh plays a key role in B. abortus persistence and may serve as a potent novel target in combination with rifampicin in the development of new therapeutic approaches and prevention strategies to treat chronic infections of Brucella.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) has the ability to invade human cortical bones and cause intracellular infections in osteoblasts, which may lead to a long-term infection that is difficult to eliminate. It is critical to identify the underlying mechanisms of the osteoblast response to the intracellular S. aureus. More recently, multiple circular RNA (circRNA) functions have been identified, including serving as protein scaffolds or miRNA sponges and being translated into polypeptides. The role that circRNAs play in intracellular S. aureus infection of osteoblasts has not, to our knowledge, been investigated. Here, we established an intracellular infection model of S. aureus in osteoblasts and compared the circRNA expression of osteoblasts between the infected and control groups using RNA sequencing technology, by which a significant difference was found. In total, 117 upregulated and 125 down-regulated differentially expressed circRNAs (DEcircRNAs) were identified, and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was employed to validate the results of RNA sequencing. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses demonstrated that DEcircRNAs were enriched in processes associated with macromolecule modification, cellular component organization or biogenesis, and intracellular non-membrane-bound organelles. Finally, a potentially important network of circRNA-miRNA-mRNA based on the DEcircRNAs was constructed. Overall, this study revealed the circRNA expression profile of human osteoblasts infected by intracellular S. aureus for the first time, and identified the circRNAs that may contribute to the pathogenesis of infectious diseases caused by intracellular S. aureus infection in human osteoblasts.

Late detection, peritoneal dissemination, chemoresistance and weak response to targeted therapeutics lead to high mortality in ovarian cancer. More efficient and specific tumor imaging and therapeutic agents are needed to improve the resection rate of surgery and to eliminate residual disease. The expression patterns of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) receptor make it a suitable target for ovarian cancer. Here, we report a strategy to develop an organic near-infrared probe for FSH receptor-targeted tumor imaging and photothermal therapy. The FSH-Rh760 probe was conjugated from the Rh760 fluorophore with the FSH β subunit 33–53 peptide. FSH-Rh760 specifically distinguished peritoneal metastatic ovarian cancerous foci from surrounding normal tissues with a high tumor-to-background ratio. The fluorescence signals in tumors peaked at 2 h and were cleared at 120 h postinjection. FSH-Rh760 treatment rapidly increased the abdomen temperature of mice up to ∼43 °C upon exposure to a near-infrared laser and effectively suppressed peritoneal tumor growth with tumor specificity. No significant systemic toxicities were observed. This study demonstrates the targeting ability and biocompatibility of FSH receptor-targeted theranostics and highlights its potential for clinical application in imaging-guided precision tumor resection and photothermal therapy to eliminate cancer lesions intraoperatively and postoperatively.

Background: To provide new ideas for the clinical and mechanism research of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), this study systematically reviews clinical research and the progress of basic research of acupuncture in the treatment of COPD. Methods: PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched using acupuncture and COPD as keywords in the last 10 years, and the included literature was determined according to exclusion criteria. Findings: Acupuncture can relieve clinical symptoms, improve exercise tolerance, anxiety, and nutritional status, as well as hemorheological changes (blood viscosity), reduce the inflammatory response, and reduce the duration and frequency of COPD in patients with COPD. Mechanistically, acupuncture inhibits M1 macrophage activity, reduces neutrophil infiltration, reduces inflammatory factor production in alveolar type II epithelial cells, inhibits mucus hypersecretion of airway epithelial cells, inhibits the development of chronic inflammation in COPD, and slows tissue structure destruction. Acupuncture may control pulmonary COPD inflammation through the vagal-cholinergic anti-inflammatory, vagal-adrenomedullary-dopamine, vagal-dual-sensory nerve fiber-pulmonary, and CNS-hypothalamus-orexin pathways. Furthermore, acupuncture can increase endogenous cortisol levels by inhibiting the HPA axis, thus improving airway antioxidant capacity and reducing airway inflammation in COPD. In conclusion, the inhibition of the chronic inflammatory response is the key mechanism of acupuncture treatment for COPD.

Cold spray (CS) is a highly potential solid-state additive manufacturing (AM) technique. In situ shot-peening-assisted CSAM was proposed to additively manufacture fully dense deposits using cost-effective and renewable nitrogen gas. The role of in situ shot-peening particles is critical but remains unclear. Here, the process was quantitatively modeled to visualize the dynamic deformation, energy conversion, as well as cell/sub-grain size and microhardness evolutions, compared to those during the conventional CSAM process, identifying the key role of in situ shot-peening particles in the AA6061 extreme deformation and microstructure characteristics during in situ shot-peening-assisted CSAM. High-fidelity modeling was verified fully by comparing the experimental and model-reproduced deformation profiles, cell/sub-grain size distributions, and increases in microhardness. The results show that the kinetic energy of in situ shot-peening particles was 470 times higher and dissipated mainly through AA6061 plastic deformation (86.36% of total energy), leading to significant enhancement of microhardness and tensile strength. Moreover, the mixing ratio of large-size SS410 particles required to create a fully dense deposit was evaluated from an energy perspective, in good agreement with the experiment. This study elucidates the microforging principle during in situ shot-peening-assisted CSAM, providing scientific guidelines for high-quality and low-cost CSAM of high-strength aluminum alloys.

Vanadium dioxide, as one of superior pseudocapacitive electrode candidates in supercapacitors, suffers from the detrimental dissolution in aqueous electrolytes and poor intrinsic electronic conductivity. Herein, an ultrathin Ni3N shell is deposited on the VO2 surfaces (VO2@Ni3N) to inhibit the inevitable dissolution during charge/discharge processes. Meanwhile, the Ni3N coating layer also provides sufficient electron transport pathways for the rapid surface faradic reactions of VO2, promoting the electrochemical reaction kinetics. The designed VO2@Ni3N anode exhibits significant energy storage ability, especially at large current density (2058 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, 711 F g−1 at 7 A g−1), and the considerable cycling lifespans (capacitance retention of 91.3% after 5000 cycles). The asymmetric supercapacitor presents an energy density of 41.73 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 1176.7 W kg−1. This study may enlighten the design of advanced pseudocapacitive materials for practical electrochemical energy storage technologies.

In this study, the by-products of Chinese softshell turtle processing were used as raw materials, which provided the possibility to improve the extraction efficiency of Chinese softshell turtle oil and make it high-value utilization to provide a new source of profit for production enterprises. The extraction experiment of turtle oil was carried out by using ultrasonic combined with complex enzymatic hydrolysis (The pH of enzymatic hydrolysis was controlled at 7.5~8.5), and the extraction parameters were optimized by single factor experiments combined with orthogonal experiment, and the optimal extraction process conditions of ultrasonic-complex enzymatic hydrolysis method were obtained: The ratio of solid to liquid was 1:1.5 (g/mL), the amount of protease was 2.4%, the ratio of enzyme was 1:1.5 (neutral protease:alkaline protease), the enzymatic hydrolysis time was 2 h, the enzymatic hydrolysis temperature was 65 ℃, the ultrasonic power was 180 W, and the ultrasonic time was 30 min. The extraction rate of Chinese softshell turtle oil was 81.65%±0.62%. After the Chinese softshell turtle oil was refined, its physical and chemical indicators were all in line with the national aquatic industry standard (SC/T 3502-2016) refined fish oil first-class standard. At the same time, fatty acid composition analysis showed that the refined Chinese softshell turtle oil contained a total of 28 kinds of fatty acids, of which saturated fatty acids accounted for 23.81% of the total, monounsaturated fatty acids accounted for 46.94% of the total, polyunsaturated fatty acids accounted for 26.38% of the total, DHA and EPA content accounted for 10.05% of the total.

The inability to converge at the edge of a workpiece during polishing affects the edge profile accuracy and surface quality of the workpiece. In this study, a bias trajectory generation method based on the lifting bonnet method that can maintain the morphology of polished edges is presented. Firstly, by establishing the polishing parameters and the decreasing rule in line with the principles of the lifting bonnet method, we obtained the residual height spacing, the radius of the polishing area, the centre offset position, and the pressing depth for each offset trajectory. Subsequently, the modified bias trajectory algorithm correction coefficients were obtained by fitting the edge trajectories using cubic Bessel curves, which were multiplied with the bias amount to obtain the final modified bias trajectory. Finally, an experiment was designed to compare the edge effect of the modified bias trajectory with the traditional grating trajectory. The experimental findings indicate that the reduction in edge collapse following the implementation of the modified offset trajectory was 1.30 μm. In contrast, the edge collapse after polishing with the traditional grating trajectory amounted to 98.67 μm. Moreover, the edge collapse ensuing traditional polishing trajectory was 75.9 times more pronounced than that observed after using the modified offset trajectory. It is shown that the modified bias trajectory method can not only maintain the original edge morphology of the workpiece but can also promote the convergence of the edge effect to a certain extent.

Abstract Background Few studies examined the relationship between triglyceride/glucose index (TyG index) and atherosclerosis in Japanese adults. Therefore, this study evaluated their relationship, as measured based on the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) in Japanese adults. Methods A total of 912 participants was selected from the NAGALA (NAFLD in Gifu Area, Longitudinal Analysis) study conducted from 2004 to 2012. The relationship between the TyG index and baPWV was estimated through a logistic model. Subgroup analyses by sex, age, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and fatty liver was performed. The formula for TyG index was ln (½fasting triglyceride level [mg/dL] × fasting plasma glucose level [mg/dL]). Results A linear relationship between TyG and baPWV was discovered after adjusting for underlying confounders. An increased risk of baPWV was observed after adjusting for sex, age, BMI, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fatty liver, eGFR, and TyG as a continuous variable (adjusted odds ratio [adj OR], 1.57; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.14–2.18). Compared with the TyG index in the first tertile, the probabilities of subjects in the third tertile that developed to baPWV were 1.78-fold higher (adj OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.08–2.95: P for trend 0.024). Moreover, stable associations were observed between the TyG index and baPWV in different variables through subgroup analyses. Conclusions The highest tertile (above 8.57) of the TyG index was positively and linearly related to subclinical atherosclerosis in Japanese adults and may be valuable as a predicted marker.

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the prognostic factors related to overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with de novo metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) aged ≥ 65 years in nonendemic areas. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was queried for elderly patients with M1 stage NPC at initial diagnosis between 2004 and 2016. This study examined 100 patients and evaluated the relationship of sex, age, race, pathological grade, T stage, N stage, sequence number, site of metastasis, number of metastatic organs, and other related factors with OS and CSS. The median survival and follow-up time were 10 and 48 months, respectively. The survival curves for race, bone metastasis, radiation, and chemotherapy significantly affected OS on the log-rank test. Advanced N stage and liver metastasis may be associated with poor survival. Race, bone metastasis, and chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors of OS. Bone metastasis was associated with poor survival. The survival curves for CSS were significantly different between races, N stage, sequence number, and bone metastasis. In Cox regression multivariate analysis, only sequence number had an independent effect on prognosis. This study revealed that chemotherapy prolonged survival in elderly patients with metastatic NPC, whereas bone metastasis shortened survival.

Drought stress is a major environmental threat that limits plant growth and crop productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to uncover the molecular mechanisms behind drought tolerance in crops. Here, OsWRKY76 positively regulated drought stress in rice. OsWRKY76 expression was induced by PEG treatment, dehydration stress, and exogenous MeJA rather than by no treatment. Notably, OsWRKY76 knockout weakened drought tolerance at the seedling stage and decreased MeJA sensitivity. OsJAZ12 was significantly induced by drought stress, and its expression was significantly higher in OsWRKY76-knockout mutants than in wild-type ZH11 under drought stress. Yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays showed that OsWRKY76 interacted with OsJAZ12. OsWRKY76 weakened the interaction between OsbHLH148 and OsJAZ12 in yeast cells. The OsJAZ12 protein repressed the transactivation activity of OsbHLH148, and this repression was partly restored by OsWRKY76 in rice protoplasts. Moreover, OsDREB1E expression was lower in OsWRKY76-knockout mutants than in wild-type ZH11 under drought stress, but it was upregulated under normal growth conditions. Yeast one-hybrid, electrophoretic mobility shift, and dual-luciferase assays showed that OsWRKY76 and OsbHLH148 bound directly to the OsDREB1E promoter and activated OsDREB1E expression in response to drought stress. These results suggest that OsWRKY76 confers drought tolerance through OsbHLH148-mediated jasmonate signaling in rice, offering a new clue to uncover the mechanisms behind drought tolerance.

The graphite, which is treated to be potato-shaped, is widely applied in Li-ion batteries as the anodic material. Sequential batch shaping is the main method at present. However, the small height of the shaping cavity of the existing structure leads to the problem of low processing capacity and high cost. In this work, a new structure of the shaping machine was developed with the aim of shaping graphite by large output and costless. The equipment system for graphite rounding in a pilot scale at a treatment amount of 25 kg raw material each run was established. The results showed that the ratio of the diameters of the final product by an undersized percentage corresponding to 10% was 11.15 μm, 50% was 18.94 μm, and 90% was 29.54 μm, and tap density was 0.945 g/cm3, the yield reached 48%, under the optimized conditions of 1833 rpm rotating speed of shaping disk, 2646 rpm rotating speed of classifier, and 40 min shaping period. All the above characteristics of the rounded graphite are in line with the requirements for applying in the anode of Li-ion batteries. In short, the present study aims to provide a new structure of the shaping machine, contributing to the efficient and cost-effective rounding of graphite and revealing the structure of the shaping machine, contributing to promoting the wide improvement of the shaping machine.

Abstract The protection of marine materials against corrosion using marine bacterial biofilms is a promising strategy. However, little is known about the mechanisms of this attractive corrosion prevention method. In this work, the corrosion behaviors of X80 carbon steel (CS) in the presence of three different marine Vibrio species were studied. The results demonstrated that all the three Vibrio spp. displayed significant corrosion protection with a weight loss reduction of up to 68%. Moreover, their corrosion prevention performance was tightly related to their abilities to form biofilms, which was in the order of Vibrio sp. EF187016 > Vibrio alginolyticus > Vibrio parahaemolyticus. To further investigate the corrosion prevention mechanism caused by marine biofilms, the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of Vibrio sp. EF187016 was extracted and added to 3.5 wt% NaCl for abiotic corrosion testing. The results suggested that the EPS inhibited corrosion, which means EPS can play a significant role in corrosion protection by biofilm.

Objective. In this study, we utilized gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue-modified indocyanine green (GnRHa-ICG) to improve the accuracy of intraoperative recognition and resection of endometriotic lesions. Methods. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR) expression was detected in endometriosis tissues and cell lines via immunohistochemistry and western blotting. The in vitro binding capacities of GnRHa, GnRHa-ICG, and ICG were determined using fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. In vivo imaging was performed in mouse models of endometriosis using a near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging system and fluorescence navigation system. The ex vivo binding capacity was determined using confocal fluorescence microscopy. Results. GnRHa-ICG exhibited a significantly stronger binding capacity to endometriotic cells and tissues than ICG. In mice with endometriosis, GnRHa-ICG specifically imaged endometriotic tissues (EMTs) after intraperitoneal administration, whereas ICG exhibited signals in the intestine. GnRHa-ICG showed the highest fluorescence signals in the EMTs at 2 h and a good signal-to-noise ratio at 48 h postadministration. Compared with traditional surgery under white light, targeted NIRF imaging-guided surgery completely resected endometriotic lesions with a sensitivity of 97.3% and specificity of 77.8%. No obvious toxicity was observed in routine blood tests, serum biochemicals, or histopathology in mice. Conclusions. GnRHa-ICG specifically recognized and localized endometriotic lesions and guided complete resection of lesions with high accuracy.

A method was established for the determination of 18 flavonoids in tea by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS). The tea samples were extracted by 70% (V/V) methanol aqueous solution, and separation was achieved on a Kinetex F5 column (2.1 mm × 100 mm, 2.6 μm) with methanol and 0.1% formic acid in water as the mobile phase with a gradient elution. The samples were detected in TOF/MS and information-dependent acquisition (IDA)-MS/MS modes. The results showed that the relative standard deviations of 18 flavonoids were less than 5.0 ppm. The correlation coefficients (R2) of the linear equation were greater than 0.998 in the range of 0.10–200 ng/mL. The limits of detection were 0.0010–0.040 ppm, and the limits of quantification were 0.0020–0.10 ppm. The recoveries ranged from 73.8% to 107% at spiked levels of 0.0020–1.0 ppm, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) being less than 10%. The method was simple, specific, and reliable. It could be used for the rapid screening and quantitative analysis of flavonoids in tea.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of radiomics-based MRI in predicting microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodThe databases of PubMed, Cochrane library, Embase, Web of Science, Ovid MEDLINE, Springer, and Science Direct were searched for original studies from their inception to 20 August 2022. The quality of each study included was assessed according to the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 and the radiomics quality score. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was plotted and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were performed to explore the source of the heterogeneity. Deeks’ test was used to assess publication bias. ResultsA total of 15 studies involving 981 patients were included. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, DOR, and AUC were 0.79 (95%CI: 0.72–0.85), 0.81 (95%CI: 0.73–0.87), 4.1 (95%CI:2.9–5.9), 0.26 (95%CI: 0.19–0.35), 16 (95%CI: 9–28), and 0.87 (95%CI: 0.84–0.89), respectively. The results showed great heterogeneity among the included studies. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the results of this study were statistically reliable. The results of subgroup analysis showed that hepatocyte-specific contrast media (HSCM) had equivalent sensitivity and equivalent specificity compared to the other set. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method had high sensitivity and specificity than other methods, respectively. The investigated area of the region of interest had high specificity compared to the volume of interest. The imaging-to-surgery interval of 15 days had higher sensitivity and slightly low specificity than the others. Deeks’ test indicates that there was no publication bias (P=0.71).ConclusionRadiomics-based MRI has high accuracy in predicting MVI in HCC, and it can be considered as a non-invasive method for assessing MVI in HCC.

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) applies a sinusoidal oscillating current to modulate intrinsic oscillatory activity. Relevant studies of tACS have indicated that tACS can increase spontaneous brain activity in the occipital area. However, few studies have compared the effects of tACS with different current intensities on spontaneous brain activity in the occipital region. In this study, 10-Hz tACS was delivered to the occipital region at different current intensities (i.e., 1 and 2 mA). We investigated the effect of the tACS on both eyes-open and eyes-closed resting-state electroencephalography (EEG). A total of 20 subjects and fifteen subjects were recruited to participate in the 1-mA tACS experiment and the 2-mA tACS experiment, respectively. Ten subjects participated in both experiments. The experimental results demonstrated that both 1-mA tACS and 2-mA tACS could increase occipital resting-state EEG activities. For the eyes-open condition, alpha activity elicited by 2-mA tACS increased significantly greater than that elicited by 1-mA tACS, while 1-mA tACS could produce greater alpha activity compared to 2 mA for the eyes-closed condition. These results suggested that the optimal current intensity might be different for the eyes-open and eyes-closed resting-state conditions, laying a foundation for the subsequent study of occipital tACS on task-state EEG activities.

Peonies are significant ornamental plants that are primarily propagated through distant cross-breeding to create new varieties. However, hybrid failure is a critical issue that impedes the advancement of breeding. Numerous studies have demonstrated that endogenous hormones in the seed embryo constitute a significant factor in embryo failure. Nevertheless, it is still unknown how plant hormones control the development of peony embryos at the molecular level. In this study, we characterized the endogenous hormone levels in peony seeds of hybrid-aborted, hybrid-normal, and self-crossing normal after 26 days of pollination (DAP). Our findings show that the hybrid-aborted embryos had significantly higher amounts of ABA, IAA, and GA. In addition, the ratio of GA+IAA/ABA was lower than that of the hybrid-normal seeds and higher than that of the self-crossing normal seeds. To further investigate the mechanism of hormone control on peony embryo development, we conducted a transcriptome sequencing analysis of the three seed types. Results revealed that differentially expressed genes involved in phytohormone metabolism and signal transduction significantly enriched the aborted embryos. Furthermore, we examined the expression levels of six hormones in different seeds and used the Gene Common Expression Trend analysis to analyze genes highly correlated with phytohormone in the KEGG pathway. We used protein interaction networks to explore the interactions between proteins in the hormone pathway in aborted embryos. Then we identified key genes and transcription factors (TFs) such as Abscisic acid-insensitive 5 (ABI5), Auxin Response Factor 5 (ARF5), Gibberellin Insensitive Dwarf 1 (GID1), Arabidopsis Response Regulator4 (ARR4), Jasmonate-zim-domain protein 1 (JAZ1), Brassinazole-resistant 1 (BZR1), etc., whose functions require further investigation. Our findings establish a foundation for the metabolic regulation of peony hybrid embryo abortion via networks regulating phytohormone signaling. However, further research is needed to determine the exact mechanisms by which hormones regulate peony embryo development and to explore new methods for improving the success rate of hybridization.

Heavy metal (HM) pollution in the marine environment has been of concern for decades. The potential impact of HMs carried by emerging marine pollutants such as microplastics (MPs) has attracted attention only in recent years. In this study, we investigated the single and combined chronic toxic effects (growth, burrowing behavior, and histopathology) of cadmium (Cd, three concentrations of low, medium, and high) and polystyrene (PS) microspheres (1 μm, 10 μg/L) on the coastal polychaete Perinereis aibuhitensis. Cd bioaccumulation under two exposure scenarios was also explored. Our results showed that Cd and PS did not affect worm growth for single or combined exposure, while 13.08 μg/L of Cd (CdL) alone significantly decreased the burrowing time of P. aibuhitensis in sediment. The presence of PS mitigated the hormetic effect of Cd on worm burrowing behavior, and this influence was Cd concentration-related. Cd body burdens in worms exposed to the medium and high Cd concentrations (CdM and CdH) were significantly greater than those of control worms with or without the presence of PS. In addition, Cd bioaccumulation was significantly higher with the coexistence of PS than those of Cd alone at the CdL and CdM groups. Histopathological analyses demonstrated a trend of epidermal and intestinal damages for single Cd/PS and their combined groups, and the contribution of PS-MPs should not be ignored. Our results indicate that the toxic effects and bioaccumulation pattern of Cd could be altered with the presence of PS-MPs for P. aibuhitensis, especially at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) as emerging contaminants have become a global environmental issue due to their small size and high bioavailability. However, very little information is available regarding their impact on zooplankton, especially when food availability is a limiting factor. Therefore, the present study aims at evaluating the long-term effects of two different sizes (50 nm and 1 μm) of amnio-modified polystyrene (PS-NH2) particles on brine shrimp, Artemia parthenogenetica, by providing different levels of food (microalgae) supply. Larvae were exposed to three environmentally relevant concentrations (5.5, 55, and 550 μg/L) of MNPs over a 14-days of exposure with two food levels, high (3 × 105~1 × 107 cells/mL), and low (1 × 105 cells/mL) food conditions. When exposed to high food levels, the survival, growth, and development of A. parthenogenetica were not negatively affected at the studied exposure concentrations. By comparison, when exposed to a low food level, a U shape trend was observed for the three measured effects (survival rate, body length, and instar). Significant interactions between food level and exposure concentration were found for all three measured effects (three-way ANOVA, p < 0.05). The activities of additives extracted from 50 nm PS-NH2 suspensions were below toxic levels, while those from 1-μm PS-NH2 showed an impact on artemia growth and development. Our results demonstrate the long-term risks posed by MNPs when zooplankton have low levels of food intake.

The corrosion of carbon steel causes dramatic economic losses each year. Since conventional corrosion prevention approaches may cause pollution problems to the environment, ecofriendly and effective corrosion approaches are desired. Microbiologically influenced corrosion inhibition (MICI) has been reported as a sustainable corrosion prevention method. This work aims to evaluate the corrosion inhibition effect of two bacterial strains, Tenacibaculum mesophilum D-6 and Bacillus sp. Y-6 by choosing Q235 carbon steel as a model system. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and a series of electrochemical techniques were applied to study the corrosion prevention effect. The electrochemical and pitting results indicated that T. mesophilum D-6 displayed a better corrosion protection effect. T. mesophilum D-6 formed a denser and thicker biofilm on the Q235 surface than Bacillus sp. Y-6. The maximum thickness of the T. mesophilum D-6 biofilms was 11.6 ± 0.7 μm, which is about twice as thick than that of Bacillus sp. Y-6. The corrosion prevention mechanism was ascribed to the formation of biofilms as a barrier to block corrosive agents such as O2. This study provides a theoretical foundation for the application of biofilms as green and effective corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel.

The bactericide benzalkonium bromide is widely used to kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). However, the extensive use of benzalkonium bromide will enhance bacterial drug resistance and cause environmental pollution. In this study, benzalkonium bromide combined with Cu-bearing 2205 duplex stainless steel (2205-Cu DSS) was used to kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa; the germicidal rate of the combination of benzalkonium bromide and 2205-Cu DSS was 24.2% higher than that of using benzalkonium bromide alone, after five days. The antibacterial efficacy was evaluated using an antibacterial test and biofilm observation. The results showed that, in the presence of P. aeruginosa, the combination of 23.44 ppm benzalkonium bromide and 2205-Cu DSS showed the best antibacterial efficacy.

Oil spill is a major marine environmental pollution issue. Research regarding the long-term effects of oil spills on the early life stage of marine fish is still limited. In this study, the potential adverse impact of crude oil from one oil spill accident which occurred in the Bohai Sea on the early life stages of marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma, McClelland, 1839) was evaluated. A 96-h acute test (larvae) and a 21-d chronic test (embryo–larvae) of water-accommodated fractions (WAFs) from crude oil were conducted, respectively. The results of the acute test showed that only the highest concentration of WAFs (100.00%) significantly affected the mortality of larvae (p < 0.01) and that the 96 h-LC50 was 68.92% (4.11 mg·L-1 expressed as total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs)). Larval heart demonstrated histopathological alterations in all WAF-exposed groups. The chronic test results showed that, except for larval mortality, the total hatching success (%)/hatching time of embryos in WAF treatments was not significantly different from those of the control group (p > 0.05), and no malformation was found in surviving larvae after 21 d of exposure. Nevertheless, the exposed embryos and larvae in the highest concentration of WAFs (60.00%) demonstrated significantly reduced heart rate (p < 0.05) and increased mortality (p < 0.01), respectively. Overall, our results indicated that both acute and chronic WAF exposures had adverse impacts on the survival of marine medaka. In the early life stages, the heart of the marine medaka was the most sensitive organ which showed both structural alteration and cardiac dysfunction.

Accurate cell detection in dense bacterial biofilms is challenging. Here, the authors report an image analysis pipeline that is able to accurately segment and classify single bacterial cells in 3D fluorescence images: Bacterial Cell Morphometry 3D (BCM3D).

Separation of 99TcO4 − from nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site is hampered by the extreme conditions. Here, the authors propose a solution by developing an alkaline-resistant metal organic framework material featuring unique recognition sites for selective incorporation of 99TcO4 − anions.

Abstract Background Most cancers favor glycolytic-based glucose metabolism. Hexokinase-2 (HK2), the first glycolytic rate-limiting enzyme, shows limited expression in normal adult tissues but is overexpressed in many tumor tissues, including ovarian cancer. HK2 has been shown to be correlated with the progression and chemoresistance of ovarian cancer and could be a therapeutic target. However, the systemic toxicity of HK2 inhibitors has limited their clinical use. Since follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) receptor (FSHR) is overexpressed in ovarian cancer but not in nonovarian healthy tissues, we designed FSHR-mediated nanocarriers for HK2 shRNA delivery to increase tumor specificity and decrease toxicity. Results HK2 shRNA was encapsulated in a polyethylene glycol-polyethylenimine copolymer modified with the FSH β 33–53 or retro-inverso FSH β 33–53 peptide. The nanoparticle complex with FSH peptides modification effectively depleted HK2 expression and facilitated a shift towards oxidative glucose metabolism, with evidence of increased oxygen consumption rates, decreased extracellular acidification rates, and decreased extracellular lactate and glucose consumption in A2780 ovarian cancer cells and cisplatin-resistant A2780CP counterpart cells. Consequently, cell proliferation, invasion and migration were significantly inhibited, and tumor growth was suppressed even in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer. No obvious systemic toxicity was observed in mice. Moreover, the nanoparticle complex modified with retro-inverso FSH peptides exhibited the strongest antitumor effects and effectively improved cisplatin sensitivity by regulating cisplatin transport proteins and increasing apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. Conclusions These results established HK2 as an effective therapeutic target even for cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer and suggested a promising targeted therapeutic approach.

Background Novel therapies are needed to treat recurrent and advanced cervical cancer (CC), as their prognosis remains very poor. Although therapies targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) pathway have been approved for CC, a large subset of patients exhibit innate resistance. Using checkpoint inhibitors in combination could enhance their efficacy.Methods Blood samples, tumor specimens, and peritumorous (PT) tissues were obtained from patients with CC. The inhibitory receptor expression and phenotypical analysis of CD8+ T cells in CC specimens were analyzed by flow cytometry. The ligands of CD96 expressed by tumor cells were measured by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Sensitivity to pembrolizumab was evaluated by an ex vivo treatment assay based on the single-cell culture of CC specimens. The efficacies of PD-1 and/or CD96 blockades were explored using an ex vivo treatment assay and an human papillomavirus-positive TC-1 xenograft mouse model in vivo.Results We found that CD96 expression was elevated on CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) from patients with CC who were insensitive to the PD-1 blockade. These CD96-expressing CD8+ TILs often coexpressed PD-1. The ratio of the CD96+CD8+/CD96−CD8+ T-cell gene signature from the scRNA-seq data was significantly associated with the poor survival of patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma. The costimulatory receptor CD226, which competes with CD96, was downregulated in tumors compared with blood and PT tissue. CD96 and T-cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT) were upregulated on intratumoral CD8+ T cells. The CD226/CD96/TIGIT signaling ligands were widely expressed in CC tumor tissues. Phenotypical profiling showed that PD-1+CD96+CD8+ TILs exhibited a terminally exhausted effector phenotype with high levels of T-cell immunoglobulin mucin receptor 3 (TIM-3) and granzyme B (GZMB) and extremely low levels of proinflammatory cytokines and cytotoxic molecules. PD-1+CD96 cells exhibited a precursor exhausted phenotype with TCF-1 positivity. CD96 was further upregulated by CD8+ TILs on PD-1 blockade. Treatment with the CD96 blockade significantly enhanced the PD-1 blockade to blunt tumor growth and improve the function of CD8+ TILs in both mouse and CC specimen models.Conclusions Our findings showed that CD96 and PD-1 cooperatively and negatively regulate the function of CD8+ TILs, and CD96 blockade has promise for use in combination with PD-1 blockade for the treatment of CC.

Abstract Background Leaves of the medicinal plant Ampelopsis grossedentata, which is commonly known as vine tea, are used widely in the traditional Chinese beverage in southwest China. The leaves contain a large amount of dihydromyricetin, a compound with various biological activities. However, the transcript profiles involved in its biosynthetic pathway in this plant are unknown. Results We conducted a transcriptome analysis of both young and old leaves of the vine tea plant using Illumina sequencing. Of the transcriptome datasets, a total of 52.47 million and 47.25 million clean reads were obtained from young and old leaves, respectively. Among 471,658 transcripts and 177,422 genes generated, 7768 differentially expressed genes were identified in leaves at these two stages of development. The phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway of vine tea was investigated according to the transcriptome profiling analysis. Most of the genes encoding phenylpropanoid biosynthesis enzymes were identified and found to be differentially expressed in different tissues and leaf stages of vine tea and also greatly contributed to the biosynthesis of dihydromyricetin in vine tea. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first formal study to explore the transcriptome of A. grossedentata. The study provides an insight into the expression patterns and differential distribution of genes related to dihydromyricetin biosynthesis in vine tea. The information may pave the way to metabolically engineering plants with higher flavonoid content.

This paper presents a longitudinal–torsional transducer for use during the ultrasonic vibration-assisted milling (UVAM) of honeycomb aramid material. The mechanism of longitudinal–torsional conversion was analyzed to guide the design of a vibration transducer. The transducer features five spiral grooves around the front cover plate, which function under the excitation of a group of longitudinal piezoelectric ceramics. A portion of the longitudinal vibration was successfully converted into torsional vibration. The resonant frequency, longitudinal vibration displacement and torsional amplitude at the top of the disk milling cutter were 24,609 Hz, 19 μm and 9 μm, respectively. In addition, the directivity of the longitudinal–torsional transducer was theoretically analyzed. Compared with conventional milling, UVAM with the longitudinal-torsional could significantly reduce the cutting force (40–50%) and improve the machining stability.

Perovskite materials have high potential for the renewable energy sources such as solar PV cells, fuel cells, etc. Different structural distortions such as crystal structure and lattice parameters have a critical impact on the determination of the perovskite’s structure strength, stability, and overall performance of the materials in the applications. To improve the perovskite performance and accelerate the prediction of different structural distortions, few ML models have been established to predict the type of crystal structures and their lattice parameters using the basic atom characteristics of the perovskite materials. In this work, different ML models such as random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), neural network (NN), and genetic algorithm (GA) supported neural network (GA-NN) have been established, whereas support vector regression (SVR) and genetic algorithm-supported support vector regression (GA-SVR) models have been assessed for the prediction of the lattice parameters. The prediction model accuracy for the crystal structure classification is almost 88% in average for GA-NN whereas for the lattice constants regression model GA-SVR model gives ~95% in average which can be further improved by accumulating more robust datasets into the database. These ML models can be used as an alternative process to accelerate the development of finding out new perovskite material by providing valuable insight for the behaviours of the perovskite materials.

Alkyl-PAHs are the predominant form of PAHs in crude oils which are supposed to demonstrate different toxicities compared to non-alkyl PAHs. Little information is available about the toxicity of alkyl-PAHs on marine Artemia. This study addressed and compared the lethal, behavioral, growth and developmental toxicities of three alkyl-PAHs, namely 3-methyl phenanthrene (3-mPhe), retene (Ret) and 2-methyl anthracene (2-mAnt), to their non-alkyl forms, phenanthrene (Phe) and anthracene (Ant) using Artemia parthenogenetica (nauplii,

Maximum likelihood (ML) method for direction of arrival (DOA) estimation achieves an excellent performance in array signal processing, but the complexity and computational load of searching the multidimensional nonlinear function prevented it from practical application. Based on squirrel search algorithm (SSA), an improved SSA (ISSA) for ML DOA estimation is proposed in this paper, which can reduces the computational complexity. The idea of spatial variation and diffuse inspired by the invasive weed optimization(IWO) algorithm is applied to ISSA. The simulation experiments compared ISSA with SSA, IWO, seeker optimization algorithm(SOA), sine cosine algorithm (SCA), genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and differential evolution (DE) method for ML DOA estimator show that the proposed algorithm has faster convergence speed, fewer iterations and lower root mean square error(RMSE) under different number of signal sources, different signal to noise ratio(SNR) and different population size. Therefor the proposed algorithm does not only ensure the estimation accuracy, but also greatly reduce the computation complexity of multidimensional nonlinear optimization for the ML method. Finally, the test experiment using Micro Electronic Mechanical Systems(MEMS) vector hydrophone array in Fenhe lake show the engineering practicability of proposed ML DOA estimator with ISSA.The results obtained will be valuable in the application of engineering.

The international Argo Program was launched at the turn of the millennium. It has since collected over 2 million vertical profiles of temperature and salinity from the upper 2000 m of the global ocean. Gridded interpolation is a technology that gives full play to the advantages of these profiles because they are scattered. This study develops a global gridded Argo dataset, called GDCSM-Argo, by using an improved gradient-dependent correlation scale method. The dataset is theoretically verified, its error-related statistics are recorded, and it is compared with other datasets to establish its reliability. The results show that the maximum mean RMSEs are 0.8 °C for temperature and 0.1 for salinity, and more than 90% of the analysis results are reliable under the statistical probability of 95%. Not only can GDCSM-Argo adequately preserve large-scale signals in the ocean but also retain more mesoscale features than other gridded Argo datasets. Preliminary applications also verify that GDCSM-Argo can systematically describe the spatio-temporal features of multiple elements in the global ocean, and is a useful tool in many areas of research.

Over the past decades, China has suffered from negative environmental impacts from distempered dust-laden airflow-purification activities. After a decade of effort, dust-laden airflow purification and powder particle recycling have been realized in specialized companies in China, and law enforcement for illegal activities of dust-laden airflow discharge has also been made increasingly strict. Thus, up to now, dust-laden airflow purification in China should be developed toward being more in-depth and refined to promote industrial applications of dust-laden airflow purification. This article reviews the status of existing technologies for dust-laden airflow purification. A novel and environmentally friendly technology for purifying the dust-laden airflow is proposed which uses a metal bag filter to collect dust particles. The bottlenecks in the dust-laden airflow-purification system are analyzed. Some preliminary experiments of pinch technologies are also conducted. Finally, in order to provide directional guidance for the future development of metal bag filters, some key points regarding the metal bag filter purification system are proposed to point towards a future trend in dust-laden airflow purification.

The presence of plastic cosmetic microbeads in the environment due to their extensive use in society and inevitable dispersal into wastewater is concerning. Therefore, it is vital to understand the processes of microplastic uptake and elimination by aquatic organisms, and to further assess their potential to cause harmful effects and wider impacts. We therefore investigated the short-term (48-h) and long-term (21-d) uptake, elimination, and effects of exposure to polyethylene microbeads (a mixture of fragments and spheres extracted from commercially available facial scrubs) on the freshwater snail, Biomphalaria glabrata. We found fast uptake in the short-term (75 μg/g/h) and the long-term (6.94 μg/g/h) in B. glabrata exposed to 800 particles/200-mL and 80 particles/200-mL, respectively. Irregular fragments were more easily ingested and egested compared to spheres (ANOVA, p < 0.05) in both 48-h and 21-d exposures. The mean size of the fragments in B. glabrata tissues (413 ± 16 μm) after 48-h exposure was significantly larger than that of the standard sample (369 ± 26 μm) (ANOVA, F3,20 = 3.339, p = 0.033), suggesting that aggregation in the gut may occur. Floating feces containing microbeads were observed in the long-term exposure, which could alter the fate, behavior, and bioavailability of egested microbeads. No significant effects on survival and growth were shown within 48-h or 21-d exposure periods. Thus, further studies on the specific features of microplastics (e.g., their shape and size) influencing uptake and elimination, as well as toxic molecular mechanisms, should be explored in future ecotoxicological studies.

Background. Mounting evidence has shown that sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), a class III histone deacetylase, alleviated several types of neuropathic pain in the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion and regulated some aberrant behaviors in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Methods. In this context, the effect of SIRT1 on neuropathic pain in the VTA-NAc pathway was investigated in the model of chronic constrictive injury (CCI). Results. SIRT1 was localized in the VTA neurons in naive mice. The expression of SIRT1 was decreased in the contralateral VTA of CCI mice. After microinjection of SRT1720 (an activator of SIRT1) in the contralateral VTA of CCI mice, the established thermal hyperalgesia was attenuated. However, it was further exacerbated by EX-527 (an inhibitor of SIRT1). The elevated level of acetyl-histone 3 was reduced by SRT1720 but further elevated by EX-527 in the contralateral VTA of CCI mice. The increased expression of Fos in both VTA and NAc was downregulated by SRT1720 but further upregulated by EX-527 in CCI mice. Conclusions. The discovery of the effect of SIRT1 on neuropathic pain in the VTA represents an important step forward in understanding the analgesic mechanisms of the VTA-NAc pathway.

Background: The development of nanoparticle drug delivery systems with targeted ligands has the potential to increase treatment efficiency in ovarian cancer. Methods: We developed a 21-amino acid peptide, YTRDLVYGDPARPGIQGTGTF (L-FP21) conjugated to polyethylenimine (PEI) and methoxy polyethylene glycol (mPEG) to prepare a nanoparticle drug vehicle to target follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) in ovarian cancer. At the same time, we optimized the ligand of the nanoparticle vehicle using D-peptides, which consist of D-amino acids (D-FP21). Nanoparticle vehicles carrying the therapeutic gene plasmid growth-regulated oncogene alpha (pGRO-α) short hairpin RNA (shRNA) (FP21-PEG-PEI/pGRO-α) were prepared for further investigation. Results: Compared with L-FP21, D-FP21 exhibited improved biological stability and higher uptake rate for FSHR-expressing ovarian cancer cells. The cytotoxicity of the L, D-FP21-PEG-PEI/pGRO-α complexes were significantly lower than that of the PEI/pGRO-α complex. The nanoparticle drug with the targeted ligand showed higher transfection efficiencies and improved anti-proliferation effects for ovarian cancer cells than that without the targeted ligand (mPEG-PEI/pGRO-α). Furthermore, an in vivo evaluation of an antitumor assay indicated that D-FP21-PEG-PEI/pGRO-α inhibited the growth of tumor spheroids considerably more than L-FP21-PEG-PEI/pGRO-α; their tumor inhibition rates were 58.5% and 33.3%, respectively. Conclusions: D-FP21-PEG-PEI/plasmid DNA is a safe and efficient gene delivery vehicle for ovarian cancer targeted therapy.

Plant WRKY transcription factors play crucial roles in plant growth and development, as well as plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we identified and characterized a WRKY transcription factor in rice, OsWRKY50. OsWRKY50 functions as a transcriptional repressor in the nucleus. The transcription of OsWRKY50 was repressed under salt stress conditions, but activated after abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. OsWRKY50-overexpression (OsWRKY50-OX) plants displayed increased tolerance to salt stress compared to wild type and control plants. The expression of OsLEA3, OsRAB21, OsHKT1;5, and OsP5CS1 in OsWRKY50-OX were much higher than wild type and control plants under salt stress. Furthermore, OsWRKY50-OX displayed hyposensitivity to ABA-regulated seed germination and seedling establishment. The protoplast-based transient expression system and yeast hybrid assay demonstrated that OsWRKY50 directly binds to the promoter of OsNCED5, and thus further inhibits its transcription. Taken together, our results demonstrate that rice transcription repressor OsWRKY50 mediates ABA-dependent seed germination and seedling growth and enhances salt stress tolerance via an ABA-independent pathway.

WRKY transcription factors (TFs) have been reported to respond to biotic and abiotic stresses and regulate plant growth and development. However, the molecular mechanisms of WRKY TFs involved in drought stress and regulating plant height in rice remain largely unknown. In this study, we found that transgenic rice lines overexpressing OsWRKY55 (OsWRKY55-OE) exhibited reduced drought resistance. The OsWRKY55-OE lines showed faster water loss and greater accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide radical (O2−·) compared to wild-type (WT) plants under drought conditions. OsWRKY55 was expressed in various tissues and was induced by drought and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. Through yeast two-hybrid assays, we found that OsWRKY55 interacted with four mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) that could be induced by drought, including OsMPK7, OsMPK9, OsMPK20-1, and OsMPK20-4. The activation effects of the four OsMPKs on OsWRKY55 transcriptional activity were demonstrated by a GAL4-dependent chimeric transactivation assay in rice protoplasts. Furthermore, OsWRKY55 was able to reduce plant height under normal conditions by decreasing the cell size. In addition, based on a dual luciferase reporter assay, OsWRKY55 was shown to bind to the promoter of OsAP2-39 through a yeast one-hybrid assay and positively regulate OsAP2-39 expression. These results suggest that OsWRKY55 plays a critical role in responses to drought stress and the regulation of plant height in rice, further providing valuable information for crop improvement.

Considerable attention has been devoted to the in-situ deposition of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (ZnO-NWs) on the surface of organic supports, due to their very wide applications in superhydrophobicity, UV shielding, and nanogenerators. However, the poor interfacial bond strength between ZnO-NWs and its support limits their applications. Herein, we developed a facile process to grow robust ZnO-NWs on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric surface through simultaneous radiation-induced graft polymerization, hydrothermal processing, and in-situ nano-packaging; the obtained materials were denoted as PDMS@ZnO-NWs@PET. The introduction of an adhesion and stress relief layer greatly improved the attachment of the ZnO-NWs to the support, especially when the material was subjected to extreme environment conditions of external friction forces, strong acidic or alkaline solutions, UV-irradiation and even washing with detergent for a long time. The PDMS@ZnO-NWs@PET material exhibited excellent UV resistance, superhydrophobicity, and durability. The ZnO-NWs retained on the fabric surface even after 30 cycles of accelerated washing. Therefore, this process can be widely applied as a universal approach to overcome the challenges associated with growing inorganic nanowires on polymeric support surfaces.

Functional textiles with unique functions, including free cutting, embroidery and changeable shape, will be attractive for smart wear of human beings. Herein, we fabricated a sandwich-like humidity sensor made from silver coated one-dimensional magnetite nanowire (Fe3O4 NW) arrays which were in situ grown on the surface of modified polypropylene nonwoven fabric via simultaneous radiation induced graft polymerization and co-precipitation. The humidity sensor exhibits an obvious response to the relative humidity (RH) ranging from RH 11% to RH 95% and its response value reaches a maximum of 6600% (ΔI/I0) at 95% relative humidity (RH). The humidity sensor can be tailored into various shapes and embroidered on its surface without affecting its functionalities. More interesting, the intensity of its response is proportional to the size of the material. These features permit the sensor to be integrated into commercial textiles or a gas mask to accurately monitor a variety of important human activities including respiration, blowing, speaking and perspiration. Moreover, it also can distinguish different human physical conditions by recognizing respiration response patterns. The sandwich-like sensor can be readily integrated with textiles to fabricate promising smart electronics for human healthcare.

The self-resonating water jet offers the advantages of both a cavitation jet and a pulsed jet, and thus has been widely used for many practical applications. In the present study, the 120° -impinging edge Helmholtz nozzle was investigated for better erosion performance. The oscillating mechanism was analyzed from both numerical and experimental perspectives. The results showed that the cavitation clouds in the chamber dominate the oscillating frequency. The frequency resulting from the non-linear interaction was also observed in the simulation. The dominant frequency increases linearly as pressure decreases without entrained air. The frequency modulation was achieved through various inspiratory methods, and the modulation range was dependent on the pressure drop. The erosion performance was improved with entrained air, and the improvement was effected by the inspiratory method. The oscillating frequency was determined by the forced frequency of entrained air, and the best erosion performance was achieved at the frequency closest to the fundamental frequency. A feasible method to improve the erosion performance was investigated in this preliminary study, which could provide a guide for practical applications.

In order to improve the erosion capacity of a supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) jet, the influence of a nano-silica additive on the rock erosion characteristics was experimentally investigated. By impinging the SC-CO2 jets with nano-silica mass fractions of 0 wt % (pure SC-CO2 jet), 3 wt %, 6 wt %, 9 wt %, 12 wt %, 15 wt %, and 18 wt % on specimens of red sandstone, the erosion volumes under various operating conditions were measured and analyzed. Results show that an appropriate amount of nano-silica additive can greatly enhance the erosion ability of a SC-CO2 jet. The effect on the erosion ability largely depends on the operating conditions. For instance, when the other conditions are fixed, 6 wt %, 9 wt %, 12 wt %, and 15 wt % were the optimum mass fractions, successively, with the inlet pressure increasing from 30 MPa to 60 MPa. With the increase in ambient pressure, the optimum mass fraction is unchanged under the constant inlet pressure, while it increases under the constant pressure drop. Additionally, the optimum mass fraction decreases when the fluid temperature increases. In addition, the optimal standoff distances are about five times the nozzle diameter of the nano-silica SC-CO2 jet, and three times for the pure jet. This research provides a new method for effectively enhancing the rock erosion performance of a SC-CO2 jet.

Recently, salusin-β has been reported to have pro-atherosclerotic effects, but salusin-α has anti-atherosclerotic effects. Our previous study has shown that salusin-β but not salusin-α promotes vascular inflammation in apoE-deficient mice. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we observed the effect of salusins on inflammatory responses and the MAPK-NF-κB signaling pathway in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).HUVECs were incubated with different concentrations of salusin-α and salusin-β. The levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mRNA expressions of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were quantified using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The protein expressions of VCAM-1, MCP-1, I-κBα, NF-κB, p-JNK and p-p38 MAPK were measured using western blotting analysis. Our results showed that in HUVECs, salusin-β could up-regulate the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, VCAM-1 and MCP-1, promote I-κBα degradation and NF-κB activation, and increase the phosphorylation of JNK and p38 MAPK. These effects could be inhibited by p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580 and/or JNK inhibitor SP600125. In contrast, salusin-α could selectively decrease VCAM-1 protein, but did not show any effect on the expressions of VCAM-1 mRNA, TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1, I-κBα, NF-κB, p-JNK or p-p38 MAPK.Salusin-β was able to promote inflammatory responses in HUVECs via the p38 MAPK-NF-κB and JNK-NF-κB pathways. In contrast, salusin-α failed to show any significant effects on the inflammatory responses in HUVECs. These results provide further insight into the mechanisms behind salusins in vascular inflammation and offer a potential target for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.