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The avian leukosis virus (ALV) strain DL00766 was isolated from a farm in China. The phylogenetic analysis showed that env had the highest homology with the E subgroup reference strain, ranging from 94.5% to 94.9%, whereas gp85 had the highest homology with the B and E subgroups, which were 89.0% to 91.3% and 91.3% to 91.8%. In addition, point mutation analysis of gp85 showed that a 400 bp long fragment in gp85 of DL00766 had the highest homology with subgroup B, ranging from 90.1% to 97.5%, and only 82.7% to 83.1% with E subgroup. These results indicate, DL00766 may be an AVL subgroup E isolate with a subgroup B-like gp85 region. This is also the first finding that the E subgroup is used as a recombinant subject, and the subgroup B provides a recombinant virus of an exogenous gene.

Salivary glucose is frequently utilized in diabetes mellitus (DM), and it might be proposed as a potential biomarker candidate for DM, as it is non-invasive and cost-effective and achieves adequate diagnostic performance for DM patients. However, salivary glucose levels may change under specific conditions. It is consequently essential to maintain a consistent strategy for measuring saliva, taking into account the possibility of external factors influencing salivary glucose levels. In this study, we analyzed salivary glucose levels under different handling conditions and donor-dependent factors, including age, interdiurnal variations, and collection and processing methods. A structured questionnaire was used to determine the symptoms and predisposing factors of DM. The glucose oxidase peroxidase method was used to estimate glucose levels in the blood and saliva of people in a fasting state. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of such conditions on salivary glucose levels. We found that these extraneous variables should be taken into account in the future when salivary glucose is used as a predictive biomarker for DM.

Background: Saliva cortisol is considered to be a biomarker of depression prediction. However, saliva collection methods can affect the saliva cortisol level. Objective: This study aims to determine the ideal saliva collection method and explore the application value of saliva cortisol in depression prediction. Methods: 30 depressed patients and 30 healthy controls were instructed to collect saliva samples in the morning with six collection methods. Simultaneous venous blood was collected. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the cortisol level. The 24-observerrated Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD-24) was used to assess the severity of depression. Results: The significant differences in saliva cortisol levels depend on the saliva collection methods. The level of unstimulated whole saliva cortisol was most correlated with blood (r = 0.91). The stimulated parotid saliva cortisol can better predict depression. The area under the curve was 0.89. In addition, the saliva cortisol level of the depression patients was significantly higher than the healthy controls. The correlation between the cortisol level and the HAMD-24 score was highly significant. The higher the saliva cortisol level, the higher the HAMD-24 score. Conclusions: All the above findings point to an exciting opportunity for non-invasive monitoring of cortisol through saliva.

Optical buffer is a key technology to control optical routing and solve channel competition, which directly determines the performance of information processing and storage. In this study, a switchable optical buffer using the nonreciprocal silicon-on-insulator (SOI) magneto-optical micro-ring (MOMR) array coupled with Sagnac ring was introduced, which can exceed the time-bandwidth limitation. The transmission equations and propagation characteristics of optical signal in 1 × 3 micro-rings and Sagnac ring coupled 1 × 3 micro-rings based on two kinds of phase-change materials were studied. The group time delay, effective buffer time and readout operation in the buffer were also investigated.

Mg2SiO4 holds promise for its application in the microwave communication field due to its low dielectric constant and high Q×f value. However, its high negative τf and high sintering temperature limit its application in low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) devices. In this work, Li2TiO3 and CaTiO3 were introduced to improve the τf, and LiF was chosen to decrease the sintering temperature. According to XRD patterns and SEM micrographs, the ceramic systems displayed a complex-phase structure, and the microstructure was densified when CaTiO3 was added. All of the relative densities, dielectric constants, and Q×f values first increased and then decreased as the sintering temperature increased. The MLLC11.5 ceramics sintered at 800 °C could be obtained with the highest Q×f value of 54,581 GHz (at 8.06 GHz), εr of 14.13, and τf of + 5.81 ppm/°C. Furthermore, it was proven that the MLLC11.5 powders could be co-fired without any reaction with Ag powders at 800 °C, indicating its potential for LTCC application. The MLLC11.5 composition was used to prepare a GPS antenna and showed good prospects for its application in electronic communications.

Through numerical calculations, it could be found that when the blade surface quality reaches a certain level, the surface quality of the blade was continuously improved, and the guarantee effect on its performance would be weakened. Under this circumstance, continuing to improve the surface quality of the blade had no positive effect on the performance of the blade. Studies had shown that when the blade surface equivalent grit roughness K s reaches 4.96 (about R a = 0.8 µm), the blade performance was close to the smooth surface of the blade, and no further processing was required to improve the surface roughness. When the surface equivalent grit K s was greater than 4.96 µm, the surface roughness had a great influence on the blade performance. When K s was larger than 40 µm, the negative effect is significantly increased. For the different characteristics of the blade and different processing conditions, four kinds of robot-based blade surface grinding schemes were proposed, of which the core content was the robot layout. Based on the robot group’s fitting to the spatial surface and the path planning, the experimental verification was carried out.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic inflammatory disease, and the rapidly increasing DM is becoming a major problem of global public health. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history of treating diabetes. It has been developed and utilized because of its good efficacy and no toxic side effects. Lobelia chinensis is a traditional whole grass herbal. With the continuous deepening of pharmacological research on TCM, the active ingredients of L. chinensis are continuously revealed, which contained the alkaloids, flavonoids, flavonoid glycosides and amino acids that have the good effects of anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-diabetic. In order to further explore the targets of active ingredients and its anti-diabetic mechanism, a feasible network pharmacology analysis model based on chemical, pharmacokinetic and pharmacological data was developed by network construction method to clarify the anti-diabetic mechanism of L. chinensis. The present study conducted by gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC/MS), which identified 208 metabolites of L. chinensis, of which 23 ingredients may have effective pharmacological effects after absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) screening. Network pharmacological analysis on the active ingredients revealed that 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in L. chinensis affects the insulin resistance signaling pathway by acting on GSK3B, TNF, and MAPK1, acacetin affects the diabetic pathway by acting on INSR, DPP4, and GSK3B, that regulate type 2 diabetes, non-insulin-dependent DM, and inflammatory diseases. These results successfully indicated the potential anti-diabetic mechanism of the active ingredients of L. chinensis.

Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been recently shown to be a major obstacle to antiviral immunity by binding to its receptor programmed death 1 (PD-1) on specific IFN-γ producing T cells in chronic hepatitis B. Currently, IFN-α is widely used to treat hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, but its antiviral effect vary greatly and the mechanism is not totally clear. We found that IFN-α/γ induced a marked increase of PD-L1 expression in hepatocytes. Signal and activators of transcription (Stat1) was then identified as a major transcription factor involved in IFN-α/γ-mediated PD-L1 elevation both in vitro and in mice. Blockage of the PD-L1/PD-1 interaction by a specific mAb greatly enhanced HBV-specific T cell activity by the gp96 adjuvanted therapeutic vaccine, and promoted HBV clearance in HBV transgenic mice. Our results demonstrate the IFN-α/γ-Stat1-PD-L1 axis plays an important role in mediating T cell hyporesponsiveness and inactivating liver-infiltrating T cells in the hepatic microenvironment. These data raise further potential interest in enhancing the anti-HBV efficacy of IFN-α and therapeutic vaccines.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), as a novel cancer therapy strategy, might be a promising approach due to the depth-penetration property in tissue. Sonosensitizers are the key element for efficient SDT. However, the development of sonosensitizers with strong sonosensitization efficacy is still a significant challenge. Herein, an urchin-shaped copper-based metalloporphyrin liposome nanosystem (FA–L–CuPP) is constructed and identified as an excellent sonosensitizer. Under ultrasound (US) irradiation, FA–L–CuPP can be highly excited to generate several reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as singlet oxygen (1O2) and free radicals (⋅OH). The molecular orbital distribution calculations reveal that a strong intramolecular charge transfer might occur in the CuPP complex under US irradiation, which could afford enough energy to the surrounding O2 and H2O to concert 1O2, O2− and ⋅OH. Working as “ammunitions”, the largely produced ROS can kill 4T1 tumor cells, effectively inhibiting tumor growth. This work provides an urchin-shaped nanosonosensitizer based on a copper complex, which might provide an idea to design a novel sonosensitizer for noninvasive and precise SDT antitumor applications.

Abstract Fatty acid desaturases play a key role in producing polyunsaturated fatty acids by converting single bonds to double bonds. In the present study, a total of 13, 12, 8 and 8 candidate fatty acid desaturases genes were identified in the Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus nidulans genomes through database searches, which were classified into five different subfamilies based on phylogenetic analysis. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis was performed to characterize conserved motifs and gene structures, which could provide an intuitive comprehension to learn the relationship between structure and functions of the fatty acid desaturases genes in different Aspergillus species. In addition, the expression pattern of 13 fatty acid desaturases genes of A. oryzae was tested in different growth stages and under salt stress treatment. The results revealed that the fatty acid desaturases genes in A. oryzae were highly expressed in adaptive phase growth and up-regulated under salt stress treatment. This study provided a better understanding of the evolution and functions of the fatty acid desaturases gene family in the four Aspergillus species, and would be useful for seeking methods to improve the production of unsaturated fatty acids and enhance efforts for the genetic improvement of strains to adapt to the complex surrounding environment.

Interfacial reaction between quartz and potassium silicate glass was studied at both 900 °C and 1000 °C. The results showed that no phase transformation was observed for the pure quartz at 900 °C or 1000 °C. Instead, for quartz particles in K2O-SiO2 glass, the transformation from quartz to cristobalite occurred at the quartz/glass interface at first, and then the cristobalite crystals transformed into tridymite. The tridymite formed at the interface between particles and glass became the site of heterogeneous nucleation, which induces plenty of tridymite precipitation in potassium silicate glass. The influential mechanism of firing temperature and size of quartz particles on transformation rate was discussed.

Conflicts between humans and wildlife, especially wild boar ( Sus scrofa), have caused serious problems across the world in recent years. It is necessary to effectively control wild boar agricultural damage that may be influenced by many factors. In this study, we collected data on agricultural damage caused by wild boars from November 2009 to October 2010 using field surveys and social interviews in Taohongling National Nature Reserve of Jiangxi Province, China. We constructed models using binary logistic regression analysis to predict damage risks and to identify the factors influencing damage risks. About 8.1 % of croplands were damaged by wild boars, and the damage to rice, cotton, and other crops were not distributed based on their respective availability as shown by the result of a chi-square goodness-of-fit test. Five factors (Japanese silvergrass, soil conditions, terrain, distances to settlements, and water sources) were explained in a model based on damage area (area-based model) with the prediction accuracy being 72.1 %. In addition to these five factors, one additional factor (i.e. distance to forest edge) was retained in a model based on damage frequency (frequency-based model) with the prediction accuracy being 83.1 %. Caution is needed when we apply these two models to predict boar damage to crops, and it is recommended that both models be used in combination to predict the damage probabilities more accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway plays crucial roles in regulating both innate and adaptive immunity. However, the role of TSC1, a critical negative regulator of mTOR, in peripheral T cell homeostasis remains elusive. With T cell-specific Tsc1 conditional knockout (Tsc1 KO) mice, we found that peripheral naïve CD8+ T cells but not CD4+ T cells were severely reduced. Tsc1 KO naïve CD8+ T cells showed profound survival defect in an adoptive transfer model and in culture with either stimulation of IL-7 or IL-15, despite comparable CD122 and CD127 expression between control and KO CD8+ T cells. IL-7 stimulated phosphorylation of Akt(S473) was diminished in Tsc1 KO naïve CD8+T cells due to hyperactive mTOR-mediated feedback suppression on PI3K-AKT signaling. Furthermore, impaired Foxo1/Foxo3a phosphorylation and increased pro-apoptotic Bim expression in Tsc1 KO naïve CD8+T cells were observed upon stimulation of IL-7. Collectively, our study suggests that TSC1 plays an essential role in regulating peripheral naïve CD8+ T cell homeostasis, possible via an mTOR-Akt-FoxO-Bim signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperbranched polyglycerols 1 and 2 have been synthesized from pentaerythritol and glycidol in a one-pot process by anion ring-opening polymerization. These polymers are modified easily to sulfate or carboxylate-based polyglycerols 3–5 with the SO3–Py complex and sodium chloroacetate, respectively. Polyglycerols 3–5 have been used for the first time as additives for biomimetic crystallization of calcium carbonate. The morphologies of calcite crystals can be controlled by adjusting the functionality, the molecular weight and the secondary structure of the polymer as well as the Ca2+ concentration. Polyglyerol carboxylate 3-Na is capable of mediating the formation of uniform polycrystalline spherules with stacked multilayers. Interestingly, a successive rod–dumbbell–sphere transition can be observed directly, providing considerable insight into the mechanism of formation of calcite microspheres in the presence of 3-Na. Sulfate-based polyglycerols 5-H, 5-Na and 5-Im with different cations (e.g., H+, Na+, imidazolium, respectively) give rise to the mesocrystals with morphologies from truncated rhombohedra to rounded Chinese lantern-like particles to spherules, respectively. In this study, a structural transition from single crystal to mesocrystal to polycrystal has been carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prospective study including 166 participants aims to evaluate the association between seminal prosaposin and the outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles in humans. The generalized linear model (GLM) was used to analyze the associations between seminal prosaposin concentrations and normal fertilization rates and good embryos proportion. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) was used to evaluate the association between embryo parameters and the prosaposin concentrations. Each model was adjusted for age of the couples, female basal FSH, AFC and BMI, starting dose and oocyte yield of IVF cycles and smoker. GLM models suggested that prosaposin was significantly associated with fertilization rate (P = 0.005) and good embryo proportion (P = 0.038) while none of the semen parameters (sperm concentration, motility, progressive motility, normal morphology rate, postwash sperm concentration and motility) was significantly associated with the parameters in the cohort. Using GEE, it was also shown that prosaposin was positively associated with the occurrence of early cleavage and negatively associated with uneven cleavage pattern on day 3. In both the overall population and the normozoospermia patients, the prosaposin was significantly associated with pregnancy with adjustment with covariates. In conclusion, our data suggested that seminal prosaposin concentration could provide more information regarding normal fertilization and embryo development in IVF than traditional semen parameters.

Defining and loading of immunogenic and safe cancer antigens remain a major challenge for designing dendritic cell (DC)-based cancer vaccines. In this study, we defined a prototype strategy of using DC-based vaccines pulsed with placenta-derived heat shock protein gp96 to induces anti-tumor T cell responses. Placental gp96 was efficiently taken up by CD11c+ bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) and resulted in moderate BMDC maturation. Splenocytes and cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) generated with mouse BMDCs pulsed with placental gp96 specifically lysed B16 melanoma and LLC lung carcinoma cells. In both transplantable melanoma and lung carcinoma mice models, immunization with placental gp96-stimulated BMDCs led to a significant decrease in tumor growth and mouse mortality with respect to mice treated with liver gp96-pulsed BMDCs or placental gp96 alone. This vaccine induced strong cross-reactive tumor-specific T cell responses. Our results revealed that DCs pulsed with placenta-derived gp96 represent an effective immunotherapy to induce tumor-reactive immune responses, possibly via loading DCs with its associated carcinoembryonic antigens.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211490.].

As a result of rapid economic growth over the previous three decades, China has become the second largest economy worldwide since 2010. However, as a developing country with the largest population, this rapid economic growth primarily based on excessive consumption and waste of resources. Thus, China has been facing particularly severe ecological and environmental problems in speeding up industrialization and urbanization. The impact of the health risk factors is complex and difficult to accurately predict. Therefore, it is critical to investigate potential threats in the context of the human-animal-environment interface to protect human and animal health. The “One Health” concept recognizes that human health is connected to animal and environmental health. This review primarily discusses specific health problems in China, particularly zoonoses, and explains the origin and development of the One Health approach, as well as the importance of a holistic approach in China.

The pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus is a complicated process involving much gene regulation. The molecular mechanism of mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaf in the treatment of diabetes is not fully understood. In this study, we used the Illumina HiSeq™ 2,500 platform to explore the liver transcriptome of normal mice, STZ-induced diabetic mice, and mulberry leaf-treated diabetic mice, and we obtained 52,542,956, 52,626,414, and 52,780,196 clean reads, respectively. We identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) during the pathogenesis of diabetes in mice. The functional properties of DEGs were characterized by comparison with the GO and KEGG databases, and the results show that DEGs are mainly involved in the metabolic pathway. qRT-PCR was used to analyse 27 differential genes involved in liver expression in different groups of diabetic mice. Among the DEGs, the expression of Scube1, Spns3, Ly6a, Igf2, and other genes between the control (C) and diabetic control (DC) groups was significantly upregulated; the expression of Grb10, Mup2, and Fasn was significantly downregulated; the expression of the Sqle, Lss, and Irs2 genes between the C group and diabetic group treated with mulberry (DD) was significantly upregulated; the expression of Fabp2, Ly6a, and Grb10 was significantly downregulated; and the expression of Sqle and Lss was significantly upregulated in the DC and DD groups, but Tap1, Igf2, and Spns3 were significantly downregulated. The results of Western blot validation showed that dynamic changes in proteins, such as IGF2, Ly6a, Grb10, and UBD, occurred to regulate the incidence of diabetes by influencing the insulin receptor substrate (IRS) signaling pathway.

A method to structure the Jones quaternion utilizing Pauli matrices is proposed, improving the quaternion theory of polarization optics. It is proved that the Stokes quaternion is the double product of the Jones quaternion and its Hermitian transpose and that the rotation axis of the output three-adjacent-point Stokes quaternions is a mapping from the rotation axis of the three-adjacent-reflection-point Stokes quaternions in the optical fiber and that the rotation angle among the output three adjacent points is the doubleness of the rotation angle among the three adjacent reflection points in the optical fiber. The three-point quaternion method to measure birefringence distribution is proposed and implemented, the experimental result shows that the average birefringence is 0.263/m in the fiber under test, and the corresponding average beat length is 26 m. We also demonstrated the paraxial approximate quaternion Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula of exponential quaternions multiplying for cascaded optical components; then, a quaternion interpolation method to estimate the error of birefringence measurement is proposed, and the relative error calculated was less than 5%. The previously cited works indicate that the quaternion algorithm is very effective in the research of the polarization in optical fibers.

This study examines the effects of P53 in transdifferentiation of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) into smooth muscle cells induced by oscillatory shear stress. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were planted on slide and treated with 4 dyne/cm² oscillatory shear stress (OSS). Results showed that the expression P53 was decreased time dependent after OSS. The OSS also attenuated the endothelial cells marker vWF and CD31 expression but enhanced the marker of smooth muscle cell α-SMA and SM22 expression in EPCs. After EPCs were pretreated with P53 agonist, the changes of angiogenesis in vitro were detected by matrix gel, and the expressions of alpha-SMA and SM22 were detected by Western blot. The results showed that simple oscillatory shear stress could decrease but P53 agonist could improve the ability of angiogenesis on EPCs, and down-regulate the expression of a-SMA and SM22. From the above results, we speculate that P53 may play a role in the transdifferentiation of EPCs into smooth muscle cells induced by OSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schwertmannite-mediated removal of arsenic from contaminated water has attracted increasing attention. However, schwertmannite chemical synthesis behavior under different H2O2 supply rates for ferrous ions oxidation is unclear. This study investigated pH, ferrous ions oxidation efficiency, and total iron precipitation efficiency during schwertmannite synthesis by adding H2O2 into FeSO4 · 7H2O solution at different supply rates. Specific surface area and arsenic (III) removal capacity of schwertmannite have also been studied. Results showed that pH decreased from ~3.48 to ~1.96, ~2.06, ~2.12, ~2.14, or ~2.17 after 60 h reaction when the ferrous ions solution received the following corresponding amounts of H2O2: 1.80 mL at 2 h (treatment 1); 0.90 mL at 2 h and 14 h (treatment 2); 0.60 mL at 2, 14, and 26 h (treatment 3); 0.45 mL at 2, 14, 26, and 38 h (treatment 4), or 0.36 mL at 2, 14, 26, 38, and 50 h (treatment 5). Slow H2O2 supply significantly inhibited the total iron precipitation efficiency but improved the specific surface area or arsenic (III) removal capacity of schwertmannite. For the initial 50.0 μg/L arsenic (III)-contaminated water under pH ~7.0 and using 0.25 g/L schwertmannite as an adsorbent, the total iron precipitation efficiency, specific surface area of the harvested schwertmannite, and schwertmannite arsenic(III) removal efficiency were 29.3%, 2.06 m2/g, and 81.1%, respectively, in treatment 1. However, the above parameters correspondingly changed to 17.3%, 16.30 m2/g, and 96.5%, respectively, in treatment 5.

To assess the status of avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) in wild ducks in China, we examined samples from 528 wild ducks, representing 17 species, which were collected in China over the past 3 years. Virus isolation and PCR showed that 7 ALV-J strains were isolated from wild ducks. The env genes and the 3'UTRs from these isolates were cloned and sequenced. The env genes of all 7 wild duck isolates were significantly different from those in the prototype strain HPRS-103, American strains, broiler ALV-J isolates and Chinese local chicken isolates, but showed close homology with those found in some layer chicken ALV-J isolates and belonged to the same group. The 3'UTRs of 7 ALV-J wild ducks isolates showed close homology with the prototype strain HPRS-103 and no obvious deletion was found in the 3'UTR except for a 1 bp deletion in the E element that introduced a binding site for c-Ets-1. Our study demonstrated the presence of ALV-J in wild ducks and investigated the molecular characterization of ALV-J in wild ducks isolates.

Emerging evidence suggests that tumor-initiating cells (TICs) are the most malignant cell subpopulation in tumors because of their resistance to chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Targeting TICs may be a key innovation for cancer treatment. In this study, we found that PPARγ agonists inhibited the cancer stem cell-like phenotype and attenuated tumor growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) initiated by NOX2 upregulation were partially responsible for the inhibitory effects mediated by PPARγ agonists. However, PPARγ agonist-mediated ROS production significantly activated AKT, which in turn promoted TIC survival by limiting ROS generation. Inhibition of AKT, by either pharmacological inhibitors or AKT siRNA, significantly enhanced PPARγ agonist-mediated inhibition of cell proliferation and stem cell-like properties in HCC cells. Importantly, in nude mice inoculated with HCC Huh7 cells, we demonstrated a synergistic inhibitory effect of the PPARγ agonist rosiglitazone and the AKT inhibitor triciribine on tumor growth. In conclusion, we observed a negative feedback loop between oxidative stress and AKT hyperactivation in PPARγ agonist-mediated suppressive effects on HCCs. Combinatory application of an AKT inhibitor and a PPARγ agonist may provide a new strategy for inhibition of stem cell-like properties in HCCs and treatment of liver cancer.

The mammalian target of the rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, which drives cell proliferation, is frequently hyperactivated in a variety of malignancies. Therefore, the inhibition of the mTOR pathway has been considered as an appropriate approach for cancer therapy. In this study, we examined the roles of mTOR in the maintenance and differentiation of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), the conversion of conventional cancer cells to CSCs and continuous tumor growth in vivo. In H-Ras-transformed mouse liver tumor cells, we found that pharmacological inhibition of mTOR with rapamycin greatly increased not only the CD133+ populations both in vitro and in vivo but also the expression of stem cell-like genes. Enhancing mTOR activity by over-expressing Rheb significantly decreased CD133 expression, whereas knockdown of the mTOR yielded an opposite effect. In addition, mTOR inhibition severely blocked the differentiation of CD133+ to CD133- liver tumor cells. Strikingly, single-cell culture experiments revealed that CD133- liver tumor cells were capable of converting to CD133+ cells and the inhibition of mTOR signaling substantially promoted this conversion. In serial implantation of tumor xenografts in nude BALB/c mice, the residual tumor cells that were exposed to rapamycin in vivo displayed higher CD133 expression and had increased secondary tumorigenicity compared with the control group. Moreover, rapamycin treatment also enhanced the level of stem cell-associated genes and CD133 expression in certain human liver tumor cell lines, such as Huh7, PLC/PRC/7 and Hep3B. The mTOR pathway is significantly involved in the generation and the differentiation of tumorigenic liver CSCs. These results may be valuable for the design of more rational strategies to control clinical malignant HCC using mTOR inhibitors.

In the study of TAVR, 3-dimensional (3D) printed aortic root models and pulsatile simulators were used for simulation training and teaching before procedures. The study was carried out in the following three parts: (1) experts were selected and equally divided into the 3D-printed simulation group and the non-3D-printed simulation group to conduct four times of TAVR, respectively; (2) another 10 experts and 10 young proceduralists were selected to accomplish three times of TAVR simulations; (3) overall, all the doctors were organized to complete a specific questionnaire, to evaluate the training and teaching effect of 3D printed simulations. For the 3D-printed simulation group, six proceduralists had a less crossing-valve time (8.3 ± 2.1 min vs 11.8 ± 2.7 min, P < 0.001) and total operation time (102.7 ± 15.3 min vs 137.7 ± 15.4 min, P < 0.001). In addition, the results showed that the median crossing-valve time and the total time required were significantly reduced in both the expert group and the young proceduralist group (all P<0.001). The results of the questionnaire showed that 3D-printed simulation training could enhance the under- standing of anatomical structure and improve technical skills. Overall, cardiovascular 3D printing may play an important role in assisting TAVR, which can shorten the operation time and reduce potential complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the clinical effects of venetoclax combined with azacitidine or decitabine in relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia. Methods: 208 eligible first-line participants, who were diagnosed and treated for relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia between January 2022 and December 2022, were recruited from the Department of Hematology of Loudi Central Hospital, China. The patients were randomly divided into study and control groups at the point of recruitment. Patients in the control group received venetoclax combined with decitabine, while those in the study group received venetoclax in combination with azacitidine. Clinical data for the two groups were recorded. The primary endpoints of this study included efficacy, routine blood indices, and adverse reactions. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in baseline characteristics between the two groups (p > 0.05), indicating comparability. The total effectiveness of the treatment (i.e., efficacy) in the study group was higher than in the control group (p < 0.05), while the control group had a higher risk of platelet, red blood cell, and neutrophil absolute count reduction than the study group (p < 0.05). The platelet count and hemoglobin level were lower in the control group after treatment compared to the study group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The combination of venetoclax with azacitidine improves the efficacy and blood routine indices of patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, while reducing adverse reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the adaptability and precision of the slider-hole-wheel seed-metering device to meet the requirements of precision sowing, the single factor simulation experiments and the three factors three levels of orthogonal simulation experiments were carried out based on the discrete element method. The rotation speed of the seeding shaft, the shape of the hole, and the depth of the hole were set as experiment factors. The results of simulation experiments showed that the qualified rate was the highest when the rotation speed of the seeding shaft was 30 r/min, the shape of the hole was oval, and the depth of the hole was 9 mm. The qualified rate, replay rate, and miss-seeding rate were 89.09%, 3.64%, and 7.27%, respectively. The hybrid rice seeds of Zhongnong 2008, Chuangliangyou 4418, and Gangyou 898 were chosen as the materials for the bench and field seeding performance tests to verify the reliability of the simulation results. The test results showed that the qualified rate of Zhongnong 2008, Chuangliangyou 4418, and Gangyou 898 seed in bench tests were 85.07%, 85.20%, and 82.13%, and the qualified rate of Zhongnong 2008, Chuangliangyou 4418, and Gangyou 898 seed in field tests were 82.13%, 82.27%, and 80.53%. The seeding performance with the three kinds of rice seeds could meet the agronomic requirements for precision sowing of hybrid rice. The paper provided the basis for the structure optimization and seeding performance improvement of the slider -holewheel seed-metering device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of high-efficiency, low-cost, and earth-abundant electrocatalysts for overall water splitting remains a challenge. In this work, Ni-modified MoS2 hybrid catalysts are grown on carbon cloth (Ni-Mo-S@CC) through a one-step hydrothermal treatment. The optimized Ni-Mo- S@CC catalyst shows excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity with a low overpotential of 168 mV at a current density of 10 mAcm-2 in 1.0m KOH, which is lower than those of Ni-Mo-S@CC (1:1), Ni-Mo-S@CC (3:1), and pure MoS2. Significantly, the Ni-Mo-S@CC hybrid catalyst also displays outstanding oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with a low overpotential of 320 mV at a current density of 10 mAcm-2, and remarkable long-term stability for 30 h at a constant current density of 10 mAcm-2. Experimental results and theoretical analysis based on density functional theory demonstrate that the excellent electrocatalytic performance can be attributed mainly to the remarkable conductivity, abundant active sites, and synergistic effect of the Ni-doped MoS2. This work sheds light on a unique strategy for the design of high-performance and stable electrocatalysts for water-splitting electrolyzers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]