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The use of glass fiber‒reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars in seawater–sea sand geopolymer mortars (SSGMs) for coastal engineering has gained significant traction because of the potential to enhance the utilization of noncorrosive GFRP reinforcements and natural resources. However, the durability of GFRP bars under the combined impact of prestressing and SSGM cover in seawater environments must be further investigated. In this study, the tensile strength (TS), interlaminar shear strength, and transverse shear strength degradation of GFRP bars were evaluated through hydrothermal seawater aging tests with immersion temperatures including room temperature, 40°C, and 60°C for 83, 180, 270, and 365 days. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were performed to investigate the degradation mechanisms of the GFRP bars after conditioning. The test findings indicated that the effect of increasing the thickness of the SSGM cover on GFRP durability was insignificant. However, without the SSGM cover, GFRP bars demonstrated superior strength retention than SSGM-covered bars after 365 days of seawater immersion because of the absence of alkali ion attack. With the application of prestressing, a greater reduction in strength retention was observed due to increased microcrack formation and penetration of OH− ions and water molecules into glass fibers. In addition, the test results were compared with the bars embedded with seawater–sea sand cement-based mortars, while the SSGM-covered GFRP bars exhibited higher TS retention under identical hydrothermal aging conditions. The high addition of ground granulated blast furnace slag in SSGM contributes to a more compact microstructure, resulting in reduced water diffusion from the outer part of the SSGM. Additionally, the strong alkali-binding capacity of the gel led to a decrease in the pH of the pore solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meat yield, determined by muscle growth and development, is an important economic trait for the swine industry and a focus of research in animal genetics and breeding. PDZ and LIM domain 5 (PDLIM5) are cytoskeleton-related proteins that play key roles in various tissues and cells. These proteins have multiple isoforms, primarily categorized as short (PDLIM5-short) and long (PDLIM5-long) types, distinguished by the absence and presence of an LIM domain, respectively. However, the expression patterns of swine PDLIM5 isoforms and their regulation during porcine skeletal muscle development remain largely unexplored. We observed that PDLIM5-long was expressed at very low levels in pig muscles and that PDLIM5-short and total PDLIM5 were highly expressed in the muscles of slow-growing pigs, suggesting that PDLIM5-short, the dominant transcript in pigs, is associated with a slow rate of muscle growth. PDLIM5-short suppressed myoblast proliferation and myogenic differentiation in vitro. We also identified two single nucleotide polymorphisms (−258 A > T and −191 T > G) in the 5′ flanking region of PDLIM5, which influenced the activity of the promoter and were associated with muscle growth rate in pigs. In summary, we demonstrated that PDLIM5-short negatively regulates myoblast proliferation and differentiation, providing a theoretical basis for improving pig breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common and lethal cancer. ZNF687 has been disclosed to take part in diversified cancers' progression by serving as a facilitator. However, the detailed regulatory functions of ZNF687 in the CRC have not been investigated. This work is planned to probe the impacts of ZNF687 on CRC progression. The IHC, RT‐qPCR, and western blot assays were used to examine mRNA and protein gene expressions. The cell proliferation measurement was accompanied by a CCK‐8 assay. The Transwell assay was performed to evaluate cell invasion and migration. The angiogenesis ability was evaluated by a tube formation experiment. The m6A level was evaluated through MeRIP and m6A dot blot assays. The binding ability between ZNF687 and FTO (fat mass and obesity associated protein) was tested through an RIP assay. The β‐catenin nuclear translocation was assessed through an immunofluorescence assay. The tumor growth was evaluated through an in vivo assay. ZNF687 exhibited higher expression in CRC cells and resulted in a poor prognosis. Additionally, ZNF687 inhibition suppressed CRC cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis. Furthermore, the suppression of ZNF687 retarded the Wnt pathway. Through rescue assays, the reduced cell migration, proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis mediated by ZNF687 knockdown could be reversed after BML‐284 (the activator of the Wnt pathway) treatment. Finally, it was explained that ZNF687 knockdown inhibited in vivo tumor growth. This study manifested that FTO‐mediated ZNF687 aggravated tumor growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis of CRC through Wnt/β‐catenin pathway. This finding may provide a hopeful molecular target for CRC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basalt fiber–reinforced polymer (BFRP), a composite material known for its cost-effectiveness and excellent resistance to chloride ion corrosion, combined with environmentally friendly geopolymer is expected to contribute to the development of sustainable marine engineering structures. However, concerns still remain regarding the durability of this structure in marine environments. This paper presents an experimental investigation of the durability of basalt fiber–reinforced polymer bars immersed in seawater under the combined effects of the seawater sea-sand geopolymer mortar (SSGM) covering and prestressing. The prestress level was maintained at 20% of the ultimate tensile strength of the BFRP at room temperature in the first 7 days; the alkaline content of the SSGM, represented by the mass ratio of Na2O in the alkaline activator to the precursor, was either 4% or 6%; and the seawater temperatures were room temperature, 40°C, or 60°C. The prestress losses of the BFRP bars were monitored over the entire period, and tensile tests were conducted at 30, 60, 120, and 240 days. The results show that the prestress losses of the BFRP were less than 40% after 240 days of immersion. Prestress accelerated the degradation of the BFRP performance due to fiber damage and microcracking. The alkalinity of the activator in the SSGM did not have a significant effect on the tensile strengths of the BFRP bars immersed in seawater. However, the higher the alkalinity, the higher was the compressive strength of the SSGM and the lower were the prestress losses of the BFRP, which was attributed to the increased compactness friction caused by shrinkage of the SSGM. Carbonates combined with hydrogen ions in the water to form carbonic acid, and hydroxyl groups combined with the cations in the sea sand and the SSGM to form a strongly alkaline solution; these solutions were harmful to the long-term performance of the BFRP bars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), commonly known as "superbugs", is a highly pathogenic bacterium that poses a serious threat to human health. There is an urgent need to replace traditional antibiotics with novel drugs to combat S. aureus. Sortase A (SrtA) is a crucial transpeptidase involved in the adhesion process of S. aureus. The reduction in virulence and prevention of S. aureus infections have made it a significant target for antimicrobial drugs. In this study, we combined virtual screening with experimental validation to identify potential drug candidates from a drug library. Three hits, referred to as Naldemedine, Telmisartan, and Azilsartan, were identified based on docking binding energy and the ratio of occupied functional sites of SrtA. The stability analysis manifests that Naldemedine and Telmisartan have a higher binding affinity to the hydrophobic pockets. Specifically, Telmisartan forms stable hydrogen bonds with SrtA, resulting in the highest binding energy. Our experiments prove that the efficiency of adhesion and invasion by S. aureus can be decreased without significantly affecting bacterial growth. Our work identifies Telmisartan as the most promising candidate for inhibiting SrtA, which can help combat S. aureus infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-exposure image fusion as a technical means to bridge the dynamic range gap between real scenes and image acquisition devices, which makes the fused images better quality and more realistic and vivid simulation of real scenes, has been widely concerned by scholars from various countries. In order to improve the adaptive fusion effect of multi-exposure images, this paper proposes a fusion algorithm based on multilayer perceptron (MLP) based on the perceptron model and verifies the feasibility of the algorithm by the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), correlation coefficient (PCC), structural similarity (SSMI) and HDR-VDR-2, an evaluation index of HDR image quality. Comparison with other algorithms revealed that the average PSNR of the MLP algorithm improved by 4.43% over the Ma algorithm, 7.88% over the Vanmail algorithm, 10.30% over the FMMR algorithm, 11.19% over the PMF algorithm, and 11.19% over the PMF algorithm. For PCC, the MLP algorithm improves by 20.14%, 17.46%, 2.31%, 11.24%, and 15.36% over the other algorithms in that order. For SSMI, the MLP algorithm improved by 16.99%, 8.96%, 17.17%, 14.41%, and 4.85% over the other algorithms, in that order. For HDR-VDR-2, the MLP algorithm improved by 3.02%, 2.79%, 6.84%, 4.90%, and 6.55% over the other algorithms, in that order. The results show that the MLP algorithm can avoid image artifacts while retaining more details. The MLP-based adaptive fusion method is a step further in the theoretical study of multi-exposure image fusion, which is of great significance for subsequent research and practical application by related technology vendors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]