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As an important indicator for assessing regional water resources, the study of the spatiotemporal evolution and driving factors of water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) is essential for achieving sustainable water resource utilization. This study focuses on Yulin City, a typical arid region located on the Loess Plateau in northwestern China. By constructing an evaluation index system for regional WRCC and combining an improved fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model with the TOPSIS evaluation model, a comprehensive WRCC evaluation model is established. Additionally, Geodetector is used to explore the main driving factors behind the evolution of regional WRCC. This multidimensional analytical framework aims to deeply analyze the dynamic evolution trends of WRCC and the driving mechanisms of different factors in its spatiotemporal changes. The results indicate that (1) from 2011 to 2020, the overall WRCC of Yulin City showed a trend of positive improvement, with Shenmu, Yuyang, and Fugu areas performing the best, and by 2020, more than half of the counties had achieved Grade 3 or above; (2) the spatial variability of WRCC in Yulin City was more significant than its temporal changes; and (3) in terms of driving mechanisms, the northern six counties gradually shifted from traditional economic-driven factors to ecological and environmental drivers, whereas the southern six counties remained constrained by economic factors. Overall, water resource factors remain the primary driving force for the socio-economic development and environmental sustainability of the entire Yulin City. The study provides valuable information for water resource allocation and differentiated management in arid regions.

One of the greatest challenges in creating effective decision-making systems for connected enterprises is the management of cross-domain information. In manufacturing value networks where supply chains are increasingly intertwined, and closed-loop lifecycle management requires traversing several domains, ontologies are proving to be a reliable reference for cross-domain semantic interoperability. However, ontology development, implementation, and management are fragmented and difficult for new users of ontologies to grasp. This is a significant challenge in environments where ontologies are vital for managing effective data exchanges in complex industrial processes. The OntoCommons project has evolved an ontology ecosystem that aims to lower the entry barrier to using ontologies. Building on this ambition, we present a holistic approach to the integration and management of ontologies horizontally across manufacturing ecosystems, including the creation of reference documentation for manufacturing value networks and related standards, available tools for working with ontologies, and examples of vertical integration of knowledge from application level with domain-level and top-level ontology reference documentation. As a novel research direction, we propose a meta-level approach to ontology-driven knowledge management in manufacturing ecosystems. Based on evidence from recent breakthroughs, we present future and emerging research directions.

Microorganisms inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants and regulate body metabolism by maintaining intestinal health. The state of gastrointestinal health is influenced not only by the macro-level factors of optimal development and the physiological structure integrity but also by the delicate equilibrium between the intestinal flora and immune status at the micro-level. Abrupt weaning in young ruminants causes incomplete development of the intestinal tract resulting in an unstable and unformed microbiota. Abrupt weaning also induced damages to the microecological homeostasis of the intestinal tract, resulting in the intestinal infections and diseases, such as diarrhea. Recently, nutritional and functional yeast culture has been researched to tackle these problems. Herein, we summarized current known interactions between intestinal microorganisms and the body of young ruminants, then we discussed the regulatory effects of using yeast culture as a feed supplement. Yeast culture is a microecological preparation that contains yeast, enriched with yeast metabolites and other nutrient-active components, including β-glucan, mannan, digestive enzymes, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and some other unknown growth factors. It stimulates the proliferation of intestinal mucosal epithelial cells and the reproduction of intestinal microorganisms by providing special nutrient substrates to support the intestinal function. Additionally, the β-glucan and mannan effectively stimulate intestinal mucosal immunity, promote immune response, activate macrophages, and increase acid phosphatase levels, thereby improving the body’s resistance to several disease. The incorporation of yeast culture into young ruminants’ diet significantly alleviated the damage caused by weaning stress to the gastrointestinal tract which also acts an effective strategy to promote the balance of intestinal flora, development of intestinal tissue, and establishment of mucosal immune system. Our review provides a theoretical basis for the application of yeast culture in the diet of young ruminants.

BackgroundMaternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) is a known risk factor for offspring developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore whether the increased COPD risk associated with MSDP could be attributed to tobacco dependence (TD). MethodsThis case-control study used data from the nationwide cross-sectional China Pulmonary Health study, with controls matched for age, sex, and smoking status. TD was defined as smoking within 30 minutes of waking, and the severity of TD was assessed using the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence. COPD was diagnosed when the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second to forced vital capacity was

Abstract Structural variations (SVs) are a major source of domestication and improvement traits. We present the first duck pan‐genome constructed using five genome assemblies capturing ∼40.98 Mb new sequences. This pan‐genome together with high‐depth sequencing data (∼46.5×) identified 101,041 SVs, of which substantial proportions were derived from transposable element (TE) activity. Many TE‐derived SVs anchoring in a gene body or regulatory region are linked to duck's domestication and improvement. By combining quantitative genetics with molecular experiments, we, for the first time, unraveled a 6945 bp Gypsy insertion as a functional mutation of the major gene IGF2BP1 associated with duck bodyweight. This Gypsy insertion, to our knowledge, explains the largest effect on bodyweight among avian species (27.61% of phenotypic variation). In addition, we also examined another 6634 bp Gypsy insertion in MITF intron, which triggers a novel transcript of MITF, thereby contributing to the development of white plumage. Our findings highlight the importance of using a pan‐genome as a reference in genomics studies and illuminate the impact of transposons in trait formation and livestock breeding.

This study delves into a profound exploration, using simple yet effective Monte Carlo ray‐tracing simulations, of the influence of the refractive indices of multiple quantum wells (MQWs) and p‐type electron blocking layer (p‐EBL) on the photon propagation and subsequent light extraction behavior in AlGaN‐based ultraviolet‐C (UVC) light‐emitting diodes (LEDs), covering both transverse‐electric (TE) and transverse‐magnetic (TM) polarized light. Remarkably, the refractive index contrasts at the heterointerfaces of p‐EBL/MQWs/n‐AlGaN have a relatively minor impact on the extraction efficiency of TE‐polarized light but exert a significant influence on TM‐polarized light. This discrepancy arises from the substantial effect of total internal reflection at these heterointerfaces on the propagation of photons emitted at large angles. Thus, this observation elucidates the oversight of photon propagation in the conventional design of MQWs and p‐EBL in AlGaN‐based UVA and UVB LEDs, where TE‐polarized emission predominates. Building upon simulation results, a highly effective strategy for extracting TM‐polarized light in AlGaN‐based UVC LEDs is further demonstrated by combining refractive index engineering with inclined sidewalls. The findings suggest refractive index engineering can serve as a novel design parameter for AlGaN‐based UVC LEDs dominated by TM‐polarized emission, expanding the range of techniques available for enhancing device performance.

Multi-horizontal submerged jets stilling basins have been utilized in large-scale water conservancy and hydropower projects due to its stable flow pattern, high energy dissipation rate and less atomization. This study employs vorticity criterion, Q criterion, λ2 criterion and Ω criterion to investigate the characteristics of vortex formation and turbulent dissipation in multi-horizontal submerged jets stilling basins with various configurations, including crest overflowing orifice alone (COO), combination of crest overflowing orifice and mid-discharge orifice (COO-MO) and mid-discharge orifice alone (MO). The results indicate that the Q criterion and λ2 criterion are effective in identifying vortex structure within multi-horizontal submerged jets stilling basin. Specifically, the stronger intensity of vortex structure and vortex dissipation are mainly distributed in the vicinity of the vertical drop, which gradually weakens for the increasing distance to the vertical drop. Furthermore, the intensity and number of vortexes with COO-MO are the largest. This conclusion can provide guidance for energy dissipation and bottom protection of stilling pool.

BackgroundKisspeptin has been indicated to be a biomarker of fetal growth. Although some evidence suggested that maternal kisspeptin concentrations in early pregnancy were associated with increased fetal growth, studies are still limited and the effect of kisspeptin in late pregnancy remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the associations between maternal kisspeptin in late pregnancy and fetal growth.MethodsBased on the Shanghai-Minhang Birth Cohort study, 724 mother-neonate pairs were included in this study. We measured maternal kisspeptin concentrations in the urine samples collected in late pregnancy and neonatal anthropometric indices at birth. The associations between maternal kisspeptin and neonatal anthropometry were investigated using multiple linear regression models.ResultsHigher maternal urinary kisspeptin concentrations were associated with lower neonatal birth weight, head circumference, upper arm circumference, abdominal skinfold thickness, triceps skinfold thickness, and back skinfold thickness. The inverse associations were more pronounced for the highest kisspeptin levels versus the lowest. These patterns were consistent in analyses stratified by neonatal sex, with notably stable associations between maternal kisspeptin concentrations and skinfold thickness.ConclusionThe present study suggested that maternal kisspeptin concentrations in late pregnancy might be inversely associated with fetal growth. The physiological mechanisms of maternal kisspeptin might differ from those in early pregnancy. Further studies are required to assess associations between maternal kisspeptin and energy homeostasis and explore the physiological roles of kisspeptin in late pregnancy.

Real-time and accurate traffic light status recognition can provide reliable data support for autonomous vehicle decision-making and control systems. To address potential problems such as the minor component of traffic lights in the perceptual domain of visual sensors and the complexity of recognition scenarios, we propose an end-to-end traffic light status recognition method, ResNeSt50-CBAM-DINO (RC-DINO). First, we performed data cleaning on the Tsinghua–Tencent traffic lights (TTTL) and fused it with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s traffic light dataset (S2TLD) to form a Chinese urban traffic light dataset (CUTLD). Second, we combined residual network with split-attention module-50 (ResNeSt50) and the convolutional block attention module (CBAM) to extract more significant traffic light features. Finally, the proposed RC-DINO and mainstream recognition algorithms were trained and analyzed using CUTLD. The experimental results show that, compared to the original DINO, RC-DINO improved the average precision (AP), AP at intersection over union (IOU) = 0.5 (AP50), AP for small objects (APs), average recall (AR), and balanced F score (F1-Score) by 3.1%, 1.6%, 3.4%, 0.9%, and 0.9%, respectively, and had a certain capability to recognize the partially covered traffic light status. The above results indicate that the proposed RC-DINO improved recognition performance and robustness, making it more suitable for traffic light status recognition tasks.

Abstract Background Human immunodeficiency virus type one (HIV-1) is the leading cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS remains a global public health concern but can be effectively suppressed by life-long administration of combination antiretroviral therapy. Early detection and diagnosis are two key strategies for the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. Rapid and accurate point-of-care testing (POCT) provides critical tools for managing HIV-1 epidemic in high-risk areas and populations. Methods In this study, a POCT for HIV-1 RNA was developed by CRISPR-Cas13a lateral flow strip combined with reverse transcriptase recombinase-aided amplification (RT-RAA) technology, the results can be directly observed by naked eyes. Results Moreover, with the degenerate base-binding CRISPR-Cas13a system was introduced into the RT-RAA primer designing, the technology developed in this study can be used to test majority of HIV-1 RNA with limit of detection (LOD) 1 copy/μL, while no obvious cross-reaction with other pathogens. We evaluated this method for detecting HIV-1 RNA of clinical samples, the results showed that the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy were 91.81% (85.03- 96.19%), 100% (92.60–100%), 100% (96.41–100%), 39.14% (25.59–54.60%) and 92.22% (86.89–95.88%), respectively. The lowest viral load detectable by this method was 112copies/mL. Conclusion Above all, this method provides a point-of-care detection of HIV-1 RNA, which is stable, simple and with good sensitivity and specificity. This method has potential to be developed for promoting early diagnosis and treatment effect monitoring of HIV patients in clinical.

Abstract Background The exact mechanisms of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remain largely unknown. We intended to authenticate critical genes linked to T2DM progression by tandem single-cell sequencing and general transcriptome sequencing data. Methods T2DM single-cell RNA-sequencing data were submitted by the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and ArrayExpress (EBI), from which gene expression matrices were retrieved. The common cell clusters and representative marker genes were ascertained by principal component analysis (PCA), t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), CellMarker, and FindMarkers in two datasets (GSE86469 and GSE81608). T2DM-related differentially expressed marker genes were defined by intersection analysis of marker genes and GSE86468-differentially expressed genes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were utilized to assign representative marker genes with diagnostic values by GSE86468, GSE29226 and external validation GSE29221, and their prospective target compounds were forecasted by PubChem. Besides, the R package clusterProfiler-based functional annotation was designed to unveil the intrinsic mechanisms of the target genes. At last, western blot was used to validate the alternation of CDKN1C and DLK1 expression in primary pancreatic islet cells cultured with or without 30mM glucose. Results Three common cell clusters were authenticated in two independent T2DM single-cell sequencing data, covering neurons, epithelial cells, and smooth muscle cells. Functional ensemble analysis disclosed an intimate association of these cell clusters with peptide/insulin secretion and pancreatic development. Pseudo-temporal trajectory analysis indicated that almost all epithelial and smooth muscle cells were of neuron origin. We characterized CDKN1C and DLK1, which were notably upregulated in T2DM samples, with satisfactory availability in recognizing three representative marker genes in non-diabetic and T2DM samples, and they were also robustly interlinked with the clinical characteristics of patients. Western blot also demonstrated that, compared with control group, the expression of CDKN1C and DLK1 were increased in primary pancreatic islet cells cultured with 30 mM glucose for 48 h. Additionally, PubChem projected 11 and 21 potential compounds for CDKN1C and DLK1, respectively. Conclusion It is desirable that the emergence of the 2 critical genes indicated (CDKN1C and DLK1) could be catalysts for the investigation of the mechanisms of T2DM progression and the exploitation of innovative therapies.

This paper establishes a scientific training model for sports tourism based on the nonlinear differential equation. This paper takes sports tourism as the research object. Then the nonlinear differential equation method is used to model communication, access, risk assessment and transparency. Then this paper analyzes and discusses how to improve residents' participation in sports tourism sports projects. Finally, this paper finds that the method has a good application prospect in the analysis and modeling sports tourism basketball projects by experimental simulation.

Cyber-security research on networked multi-sensor systems is crucial due to the vulnerability to various types of cyberattacks. For the development of effective defense measures, attention is required to gain insight into the complex characteristics and behaviors of cyber attacks from the attacker’s perspective. This paper aims to tackle the problem of distributed consensus estimation for networked multi-sensor systems subject to hybrid attacks and missing measurements. To account for both random denial of service (DoS) attacks and false data injection (FDI) attacks, a hybrid attack model on the estimator-to-estimator communication channel is presented. The characteristics of missing measurements are defined by random variables that satisfy the Bernoulli distribution. Then a modified consensus-based distributed estimator, integrated with the characteristics of hybrid attacks and missing measurements, is presented. For reducing the computational complexity of the optimal distributed estimation method, a scalable suboptimal distributed consensus estimator is designed. Sufficient conditions are further provided for guaranteeing the stability of the proposed suboptimal distributed estimator. Finally, a simulation experiment on aircraft tracking is executed to validate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed algorithm.

BackgroundExposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during pregnancy might affect thyroid-related hormone levels in pregnant women. However, most previous studies focused on the effects of PFAS containing 8-10 carbon atoms, and few studies have estimated the associations between PFAS with longer carbon chain and thyroid-related hormone levels. ObjectiveTo examine the associations between PFAS exposure and thyroid-related hormones in pregnant women. MethodsThe present study was based on the Jiashan Birth Cohort from September 2016 to April 2018. We analyzed 13 PFAS in maternal blood samples (n=781) by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, as well as total triiodothyronine (T3), total thyroxine (T4), free T3 (FT3), free T4 (FT4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroglobulin antibody (TG-Ab), and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. PFAS were divided into three groups:low concentration, medium concentration and high concentration according to the tertile of their concentrations. We estimated the associations between PFAS concentrations and thyroid-related hormones in pregnant women by multiple linear regression. ResultsIn the multiple linear regression models, a change in perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA) concentrations from the low concentration group to the high concentration group was associated with a −0.10 (95%CI: −0.20, 0) nmol·L−1 change in T3, −0.15 (95%CI: −0.28, −0.02) pmol·L−1 change in FT3, and −3.02 (95%CI: −5.66, −0.39) pmol·L−1 change in FT4, respectively. A change in perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) concentrations from the low concentration group to the high concentration group was associated with a −0.10 (95%CI: −0.20, 0) nmol·L−1 change in T3. Compared with the low concentration group, the concentration of T4 in the medium concentration group of perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) increased by 6.10 (95%CI: 0.44, 11.75) nmol·L−1. No statistically significant associations were found between PFAS and TSH concentration. The negative associations of PFAS with thyroid-related hormones were more pronounced in pregnant women with positive TG-Ab and/or TPOAb. ConclusionExposure to PFAS during pregnancy may affect thyroid-related hormone homeostasis in pregnant women, and the effect is stronger in TG-Ab and/or TPOAb-positive pregnant women.

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges to families around the world. The prolonged school closures in Hong Kong have forced young students to stay at home and adapt to remote learning for over a year, putting their mental health conditions at risk. Focusing on primary school students and their parents, the main objective of our research is to investigate the socioemotional factors and their associations with mental health conditions. Methods A total of 700 Hong Kong primary schoolers (mean age = 8.2) reported their emotional experiences, loneliness, and academic self-concept via a user-friendly online survey; 537 parents reported depression and anxiety, perceived child depression and anxiety, and social support. Responses from students and parents were paired to account for the family context. Structural Equation Modeling was used for correlations and regressions. Results The results of students’ responses showed that positive emotional experiences were negatively associated with loneliness and positively related to academic self-concept among students. Furthermore, the paired sample results showed that, during the one-year societal lockdown and remote learning period, the socioemotional factors were associated with mental health conditions among primary school students and their parents. Among our family sample in Hong Kong, evidence supports the unique negative association between students-reported positive emotional experiences and parents-reported child depression and anxiety, as well as between social support and parents’ depression and anxiety. Conclusions These findings highlighted the associations between socioemotional factors and mental health among young primary schoolers during the societal lockdown. We thus call for more attention to the societal lockdown and remote learning context, especially since the social distancing practice could be “the new normal” for our society to handle the future pandemic crisis.

Abstract Studies have indicated dietary restriction of methionine/cystine provided a therapeutic benefit in diseases such as cancer. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie the interaction between methionine/cystine restriction (MCR) and effects on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) have remained elusive. Here, we discovered the dietary restriction of methionine/cystine has a large effect on cellular methionine metabolism as assayed in a ECA109 derived xenograft model. RNA-seq and enrichment analysis suggested the blocked tumor progression was affected by ferroptosis, together with the NFκB signaling pathway activation in ESCC. Consistently, GSH content and GPX4 expression were downregulated by MCR both in vivo and in vitro. The contents of Fe2+ and MDA were negatively correlated with supplementary methionine in a dose-dependent way. Mechanistically, MCR and silent of SLC43A2, a methionine transporter, diminished phosphorylation of IKKα/β and p65. Blocked NFκB signaling pathway further decreased the expression of SLC43A2 and GPX4 in both mRNA and protein level, which in turn downregulated the methionine intake and stimulated ferroptosis, respectively. ESCC progression was inhibited by enhanced ferroptosis and apoptosis and impaired cell proliferation. In this study, we proposed a novel feedback regulation mechanism underlie the correlation between dietary restriction of methionine/cystine and ESCC progression. MCR blocked cancer progression via stimulating ferroptosis through the positive feedback loop between SLC43A2 and NFκB signaling pathways. Our results provided the theoretical basis and new targets for ferroptosis-based clinical antitumor treatments for ESCC patients.

The genus Flagelliphantes Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 1996 was proposed by Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 1996 to accommodate three ex-Lepthyphantes species distributed in northern Eurasia. Male Flagelliphantes are easlily recognised by having a hood-shaped thumb on the embolus. The females have a long, S-shaped scape and the posterior median plate of the epigyne is grossly enlarged (“hypertrophied”).While examining Linyphiidae Blackwall, 1859 specimens from Yunxia Cave in China’s Jilin Province, we discovered a new cave-dwelling species of the genus Flagelliphantes, F. yunxia sp. n. In this paper, we provide detailed description and photos of its diagnostic somatic and genitalic features. It is the first record of the genus from China.

Abstract Background Verticillium wilt is one of the most devasting diseases for many plants, leading to global economic loss. Cotton is known to be vulnerable to its fungal pathogen, Verticillium dahliae, yet the related genetic mechanism remains unknown. Results By genome-wide association studies of 419 accessions of the upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutum, we identify ten loci that are associated with resistance against Verticillium wilt. Among these loci, SHZDI1/SHZDP2/AYDP1 from chromosome A10 is located on a fragment introgressed from Gossypium arboreum. We characterize a large cluster of Toll/interleukin 1 (TIR) nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptors in this fragment. We then identify a dual-TIR domain gene from this cluster, GhRVD1, which triggers an effector-independent cell death and is induced by Verticillium dahliae. We confirm that GhRVD1 is one of the causal gene for SHZDI1. Allelic variation in the TIR domain attenuates GhRVD1-mediated resistance against Verticillium dahliae. Homodimerization between TIR1-TIR2 mediates rapid immune response, while disruption of its αD- and αE-helices interface eliminates the autoactivity and self-association of TIR1-TIR2. We further demonstrate that GhTIRP1 inhibits the autoactivity and self-association of TIR1-TIR2 by competing for binding to them, thereby preventing the resistance to Verticillium dahliae. Conclusions We propose the first working model for TIRP1 involved self-association and autoactivity of dual-TIR domain proteins that confer compromised pathogen resistance of dual-TIR domain proteins in plants. The findings reveal a novel mechanism on Verticillium dahliae resistance and provide genetic basis for breeding in future.

Abstract Background Students with special educational needs (SEN) often face dehumanization, which negatively impacts their mental health, daily functioning, and educational outcomes. This study seeks to address the research gap in dehumanization literature by examining the prevalence, dynamics, and consequences of self-dehumanization and other-dehumanization among SEN students. Moreover, by utilizing psychological experiments, the study aims to identify potential intervention strategies and make recommendations to minimize the negative psychological consequences derived from the dual model of dehumanization. Methods This two-phase, mixed-methods study incorporates cross-sectional surveys and quasi-experimental designs. Phase 1 investigates the self-dehumanization of SEN students and other-dehumanization from non-SEN peers, teachers, parents, and the public. Phase 2 involves four experimental studies to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions emphasizing human nature and uniqueness in reducing self-dehumanization and other-dehumanization of SEN students, as well as their associated negative consequences. Discussion The study fills a research gap by examining dehumanization in SEN students, applying dyadic modeling, and identifying potential solutions to ameliorate dehumanization and its negative consequences. The findings will contribute to the advancement of the dual model of dehumanization, increase public awareness and support for SEN students in inclusive education, and promote changes in school practice and family support. The 24-month study in Hong Kong schools is expected to provide significant insights into inclusive education in school and community settings.

We report the precise real-time probing of chiral exceptional points with an electrical and spectral method and the consequences of chiral mode collapsing by an active platform of hybridised non-Hermitian metasurfaces with gated graphene microribbons.

Abstract A double‐stranded RNA (dsRNA) phage phiYY is able to kill a pyomelanin‐producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain, which was isolated from a 40‐year‐old man with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and chronic lung infection. Phage therapy was used as a last resort for this patient. The three‐course nebulized phiYY treatment was used to reduce the bacterial burden and clinical symptoms of the patient. Recurrences of P. aeruginosa infections were observed 1–3 days post phage therapy. The recurrent isolates exhibited distinct antibiotic‐susceptibility profiles compared with the original strain yet were still susceptible to phiYY. This assay represents the application of dsRNA phage in the treatment of chronic lung infection, albeit the safety and efficacy of the dsRNA phage require further assessment.

Abstract In this article, selective laser melting (SLM) equipment is used to print 316L stainless steel parts under different process parameters, and the surface roughness of the parts is measured. Based on back propagation neural networks (BP neural networks, BPNN), the upper surface roughness prediction model is established. The laser power, scanning speed, and scanning interval are used as model input, and the surface roughness of the workpiece is output. This model can easily and quickly predict the surface roughness of SLM metal printing, with high prediction accuracy, and can provide a basis for the optimization of SLM process parameters.

Seeking a low-cost, high-efficiency greenhouse mapping technology has immense significance. While greenhouse extraction methods using deep learning have been proposed, the challenge of extracting dense small objects remains an unresolved problem. The inherent downscaling strategy in general-purpose semantic segmentation (SS) models renders them unsuitable for such tasks. In contrast, the dramatically increasing computational complexity associated with this problem may result in an unaffordable cost for consumer-level applications. To address the aforementioned challenges, this study presents a novel greenhouse mapping model based on remote sensing (RS) images, which not only exhibits high precision and robust generalization capabilities but also offers significant lightweight advantages. To meet broader needs, we also provide corresponding customizable and scalable rules that allow for a trade-off between accuracy and speed. To evaluate the performance of our model, we select several representative works to conduct benchmark experiments on a self-annotated dataset. The results demonstrate that our method can provide more powerful visual representations for greenhouse segmentation with minimal cost. Compared to the control group, the proposed method achieves an mIoU improvement of 1.116 %-10.77 % using only 3.282 M parameters, while maintaining a considerable inference speed. Code will be available at: https://github.com/W-qp/EGENet.git

Yearly epidemics of seasonal influenza cause an enormous disease burden around the globe. An understanding of the rules behind the immune response with repeated vaccination still presents a significant challenge, which would be helpful for optimizing the vaccination strategy. In this study, 34 healthy volunteers with 16 vaccinated were recruited, and the dynamics of the BCR repertoire for consecutive vaccinations in two seasons were tracked. In terms of diversity, length, network, V and J gene segments usage, somatic hypermutation (SHM) rate and isotype, it was found that the overall changes were stronger in the acute phase of the first vaccination than the second vaccination. However, the V gene segments of IGHV4-39, IGHV3-9, IGHV3-7 and IGHV1-69 were amplified in the acute phase of the first vaccination, with IGHV3-7 dominant. On the other hand, for the second vaccination, the changes were dominated by IGHV1-69, with potential for coding broad neutralizing antibody. Additional analysis indicates that the application of V gene segment for IGHV3-7 in the acute phase of the first vaccination was due to the elevated usage of isotypes IgM and IgG3. While for IGHV1-69 in the second vaccination, it was contributed by isotypes IgG1 and IgG2. Finally, 41 public BCR clusters were identified in the vaccine group, with both IGHV3-7 and IGHV1-69 were involved and representative complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) motifs were characterized. This study provides insights into the immune response dynamics following repeated influenza vaccination in humans and can inform universal vaccine design and vaccine strategies in the future.

This study explores a new type of nanofiber membrane using water-soluble polymer material, polyethylene glycol (PEG), as the main raw material. The membrane is prepared by combining PEG with polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and urushiol (UR) through electrospinning. The research findings demonstrate that the degradation rate of the nanofiber membrane can be controlled by adjusting the UR content, enabling the production of wound dressings that match the required healing time. Additionally, the addition of UR provides the nanofiber membrane with certain antimicrobial effects against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. When combined with nano zinc oxide (ZnO), the antimicrobial effect of the nanofiber membrane reaches 99%. Furthermore, cytotoxicity experiments conducted on the nanofiber membrane meet the relevant standards. The results of this study provide a reliable option for researching and developing PEG materials with improved drug delivery effects. The nanofiber membrane possesses the characteristic of regulating degradation rate and shows potential for application in the field of wound healing, providing support for wound repair and tissue remodeling.

BackgroundPortal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a serious complication of liver cirrhosis (LC) and is closely related to gut homeostasis. The study aimed to investigate the composition of gut microbiota and its putative role in PVT development in LC.Methods33 patients with LC admitted between January 2022 and December 2022 were enrolled in this study. Based on imaging findings, they were categorized into LC without PVT (n = 21) and LC with PVT (n = 12) groups. Fecal samples were collected from each participant and underwent 16S rDNA sequencing.ResultsD-Dimer and platelet elevations were the main clinical features of LC with PVT. The alpha and beta diversity of the gut microbiota in LC with PVT group was found to be significantly higher compared to the control group. The structure of the gut microbiota was significantly different between the two groups. Based on LEfSe data, the genera Akkermansia, Eubacterium hallii group, Fusicatenibacter, and Anaerostipes were enriched in the LC with PVT, while Enterococcus, Weissella, Bacteroides, and Subdoligranulum were enriched in those of the LC subjects. Changes in microbiota structure result in significant differences in gut microbiota metabolism between the two groups. Altered levels of the microbiota genera were shown to be correlated with coagulation factor parameters. In animal experiments, the addition of Bacteroides reversed the CCl4-induced PVT.ConclusionLiver cirrhosis with PVT led to a disorder in the gut microbiota, which was characterized by an increase in pathogenic bacteria and a decrease in beneficial bacteria. Furthermore, modulating the gut microbiota, especially Bacteroides, may be a promising therapeutic approach to reduce the progression of PVT in LC.

IntroductionUrban green space is one of the most closely related ecosystem services to residents’ lives, and it can be regarded as a preventive public health measure. Residents living in parks and other green environments can help improve their physical and mental health, reduce stress and even prevent crime and violence. Therefore, based on the actual situation in China, this paper analyzes the relationship between urban green space and the health of middle-aged and older adults and its mechanisms.MethodsThis study used multiple linear regression, based the data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2013, 2015, and 2018, to explore the relationship between urban green space and the health of middle-aged and older adults. At the same time, group regression was conducted to identify the heterogeneity of health effects of urban green space.ResultsThe research shows that the increase of urban green space areas can significantly improve the health status of middle-aged and older adults. After a series of robustness tests, the results are still valid. In addition, the health effects of urban green space are different because of gender, age, education level, marital status residence, geographical location of the respondents and park quantity distribution. Further research found that reducing hot weather and optimizing air quality are the potential mechanisms of urban green space affecting the health of middle-aged and older adults, providing new evidence for the causal mechanism between urban green space and the health of middle-aged and older adults.DiscussionThis study expanded the research scope of the impact of urban green space on the health of middle-aged and older adults, covering a representative sample in China. The results show that urban green space has an important impact on the health of middle-aged and older adults. Policy suggestions are made to help cities optimize the landscape and residents to enjoy ecology.

ABSTRACT Osteoporosis is a common disease that has a significant impact on patients, healthcare systems, and society. World Health Organization (WHO) diagnostic criteria for postmenopausal women were established in 1994 to diagnose low bone mass (osteopenia) and osteoporosis using dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA)‐measured bone mineral density (BMD) to help understand the epidemiology of osteoporosis, and identify those at risk for fracture. These criteria may also apply to men ≥50 years, perimenopausal women, and people of different ethnicity. The DXA Health Informatics Prediction (HIP) project is an established convenience cohort of more than 36,000 patients who had a DXA scan to explore the epidemiology of osteoporosis and its management in the Republic of Ireland where the prevalence of osteoporosis remains unknown. In this article we compare the prevalence of a DXA classification low bone mass (T‐score

Abstract. Background:. CD5L (CD5 molecular-like) plays an important role in lipid metabolism and immune regulation. This study aimed to investigate the roles of CD5L on liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC). Methods:. We analyzed the CD5L mRNA expression and its potential prognostic value based on The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to investigate the CD5L levels in LIHC tissues. Serum CD5L levels in LIHC were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to investigate the effect of CD5L treatment on HepG2 and QSG-7701 cell proliferation. CD5L expression correlated genes were exhumed based on the LinkedOmics. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses for CD5L associated genes were performed. The correlation between CD5L and tumor immune infiltration was analyzed by using Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) 2.0. Results:. CD5L mRNA and protein levels were significantly decreased in LIHC tumor tissue compared with non-tumor control tissues. Moreover, serum CD5L levels were significantly lower in LIHC patients than that in healthy subjects. Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 and Kaplan-Meier plotter analysis showed that a high-CD5L expression was correlated with favorable overall survival in LIHC patients, except the LIHC patients with hepatitis virus. CCK-8 results showed that CD5L treatment significantly decreased HepG2 cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner, and CD5L treatment had no effect on the proliferation of non-tumor hepatocyte line QSG-7701. CD5L associated genes were enriched in the immune response biological process, and CD5L expression levels were positively correlated with the immune infiltrates of CD8+ T cell and M1 macrophage cells but negatively correlated with CD4+ T cells and M0 macrophage cell infiltration. Conclusions:. Exogenous CD5L inhibits cell proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma. CD5L may act as a role of prognostic marker.

Species of the Pholcus phungiformes group exhibit high diversity in Liaoning Province of northeastern China. This paper summarizes the current knowledge on this species-group from this area. A checklist of 22 species recorded from this province is given, accompanied with a distribution map of the species. Pholcus xiuyan Zhao, Zheng & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀) is described as new to science, and P. yuhuangshan Yao & Li, 2021 is reported from Liaoning for the first time.

The growing complexity and interdisciplinary nature of Materials Science research demand efficient data management and exchange through structured knowledge representation. Domain-Level Ontologies (DLOs) for Materials Science have emerged as a valuable tool for describing materials properties, processes, and structures, enabling effective data integration, interoperability, and knowledge discovery. However, the harmonization of DLOs, and, more generally, the establishment of fully interoperable multi-level ecosystems, remains a challenge due to various factors, including the diverse landscape of existing ontologies. This work provides, for the first time in literature, a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art of DLOs for Materials Science, reviewing more than 40 DLOs and highlighting their main features and purposes. Furthermore, an alignment methodology including both manual and automated steps, making use of Top-Level Ontologies’ (TLO) capability of promoting interoperability, and revolving around the engineering of FAIR standalone entities acting as minimal data pipelines (“bridge concepts”), is presented. A proof of concept is also provided. The primary aspiration of this undertaking is to make a meaningful contribution towards the establishment of a unified ontology framework for Materials Science, facilitating more effective data integration and fostering interoperability across Materials Science subdomains.

Gesture recognition has always been one of the important research directions in the field of computer vision. The dynamic gesture has the problems of complex backgrounds and many interference factors. The gesture recognition model based on deep learning usually has high computational cost and poor real-time performance. In addition, deep learning models are limited to recognizing existing categories in the training set and their performance largely depends on the amount of labeled data. To address the above problems, this paper presents a dynamic gesture recognition method named 3SCKI based on a three-stream coordinate attention (CA) network, knowledge distillation, and image-text contrastive learning. Specifically, 1) CA is utilized for feature fusion to make the model focus more on target gestures and reduce background interference, 2) traditional knowledge distillation loss is improved to reduce the amount of calculation and improve the real-time performance. Specifically, the guidance function is added to make the student network only learn the classification probability correctly identified by the teacher network, and 3) multi-granularity context prompt template integration method is proposed to construct an improved CLIP visual language model MG-CLIP. It aligns text and visual concepts from the image level to the object level to the part level. Through comparative learning of image features and text features, gesture classification is performed, enabling the model to identify image categories that have not appeared during the training phase. The proposed method is evaluated on the ChaLearn LAP large-scale isolated gesture dataset (IsoGD). The results show that our proposed method can obtain recognition rates of 65.87% on the validation set of IsoGD. For single mode data, 3SCKI can obtain the state-of-the-art recognition accuracy on RGB, Depth, and Optical Flow data (61.22%, 58.84%, and 50.30% of the validation set of IsoGD, respectively).

Early cancer diagnosis increases therapy efficiency and saves huge medical costs. Traditional blood-based cancer markers and endoscopy procedures demonstrate limited capability in the diagnosis. Reliable, non-invasive, and cost-effective methods are in high demand across the world. Worm-based diagnosis, utilizing the chemosensory neuronal system of C. elegans, emerges as a non-invasive approach for early cancer diagnosis with high sensitivity. It facilitates effectiveness in large-scale cancer screening for the foreseeable future. Here, we review the progress of a unique route of early cancer diagnosis based on the chemosensory neuronal system of C. elegans. We first introduce the basic procedures of the chemotaxis assay of C. elegans: synchronization, behavior assay, immobilization, and counting. Then, we review the progress of each procedure and the various cancer types for which this method has achieved early diagnosis. For each procedure, we list examples of microfluidics technologies that have improved the automation, throughput, and efficiency of each step or module. Finally, we envision that microfluidics technologies combined with the chemotaxis assay of C. elegans can lead to an automated, cost-effective, non-invasive early cancer screening technology, with the development of more mature microfluidic modules as well as systematic integration of functional modules.

With an increasing number of human-computer interaction application scenarios, researchers are looking for computers to recognize human emotions more accurately and efficiently. Such applications are desperately needed at universities, where people want to understand the students’ psychology in real time to avoid catastrophes. This research proposed a self-aware face emotion accelerated recognition algorithm (SFEARA) that improves the efficiency of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in the recognition of facial emotions. SFEARA will recognize that critical and non-critical regions of input data perform high-precision computation and convolutive low-precision computation during the inference process, and finally combine the results, which can help us get the emotional recognition model for international students. Based on a comparison of experimental data, the SFEARA algorithm has 1.3× to 1.6× higher computational efficiency and 30% to 40% lower energy consumption than conventional CNNs in emotion recognition applications, is better suited to the real-time scenario with more background information.

Summary: Water-energy-food nexus (WEFN) is the core content in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, the value of soil and crops’ carbon sink function has not yet been fully considered in the managment practices of WEFN system. Here, we developed a water-energy-food-carbon nexus (WEFCN) planning framework that incorporates carbon sequestration and multiple mathematical optimization methods into the practical WEFN management for Henan Province, which is one of major grain-producing areas in China. Uncertainties from multiple objectives, scenarios, and different stakeholder interests are captured. We found that wheat has the largest carbon sequestration, followed by corn and oil-bearing crops, while other crops have implicit carbon sequestration. Since chemical fertilizer produces the most carbon emissions, the usage of chemical fertilizer needs to be reasonably controlled. Overall, the proposed framework supports optimal decision-making for regional-scale WEFCN management and further unlocks the hidden value of agricultural carbon mitigation.

Abstract Noncarrier injection (NCI) operation mode is an emerging driving mode for nanoscale light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) for application in nanopixel light‐emitting displays. However, the luminescence intensity of the NCI‐LED with traditional epitaxial structure is relatively low because of the absence of external carrier injection. Therefore, improving the luminescence intensity by optimizing the epitaxial structure of the LED is an important technical measure. In this work, the tunneling behavior of the NCI‐LED under reverse bias, which plays a key role in increasing the luminescence intensity, is studied through modeling and simulation. The dynamic variation of carrier concentration in each voltage cycle is studied to explore the working process of the NCI‐LED. Results show that the luminescence output of the NCI‐LED is highly sensitive to doping concentrations, and reducing the number of multiquantum wells can increase the probability of interband tunneling so as to improve dramatically the carrier number contributing to luminescence. This simulation work can deepen the understanding of the NCI mode and serve as an important guidance for the rational design of the NCI‐LEDs.

IntroductionPollution reduction, carbon reduction, green expansion and economic growth—the synergistic effects of the four—have become essential in maintaining urban ecological security and promoting a green and low-carbon transition. And it is inherently consistent with the globally accepted concept of sustainable development. MethodsBased on the evaluation index system and the coupling mechanism of the four, we adopt the entropy method and the coupling coordination model to measure the synergistic level of “pollution reduction, carbon reduction, green expansion and economic growth” in 243 cities above prefecture level in China from 2005 to 2020. Furthermore, the study examined the temporal and spatial evolution and regional differences by utilizing the center of gravity-standard deviation ellipse, Dagum Gini coefficient method, Kernel density estimation, and Markov chain. In addition, the spatial econometric model was used to analyze the driving factors affecting the synergistic development.ResultsThe results show that the overall synergistic level is rising, the spatial distribution characteristics of “high in the east and low in the west.” The standard deviation ellipse shows a “northeast–southwest” pattern, and the center of gravity moves in a “southeast–northwest–southwest” migration trend. Regional differences are mainly rooted in inter-regional differences. The intra-regional differences are East > West > Central, with the most prominent East–West inter-regional differences. Without considering the spatial factor, the synergistic level shows a steady increase and has continuity. Under the spatial condition, the synergistic level has a positive spatial correlation. However, the positive spatial correlation decreases significantly as the years go by. Also, the probability of “rank locking” of synergistic development has been reduced, and there is a leapfrog shift. In terms of driving factors, the innovation level, level of external openness, population size, and industrial structure positively drive synergistic development. While government intervention negatively affects synergistic development. DiscussionsBased on the above findings,policy recommendations are proposed to strengthen the top-level design and build a policy system, play the radiation linkage, apply precise policies according to local conditions, and optimize the industrial structure fully. Which is of great significance for improving the urban ecological resilience and helping to achieve the “double carbon” target.

Objective We aimed to establish an easy-to-use screening questionnaire with risk factors and suspected symptoms of COPD for primary health care settings. Methods Based on a nationwide epidemiological study of pulmonary health among adults in mainland China (China Pulmonary Health, CPH study) between 2012 and 2015, participants ≥40 years who completed the questionnaire and spirometry tests were recruited and randomly divided into development set and validation set by the ratio of 2:1. Parameters including sex, age, BMI, residence, education, smoking status, smoking pack-years, biomass exposure, parental history of respiratory diseases and daily respiratory symptoms were initially selected for the development of scoring system. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under curve (AUC), positive and negative predictive values were calculated in development set and validation set. Results After random split by 2:1 ratio, 22443 individuals were assigned to development set and 11221 to validation set. Ten variables were significantly associated with COPD independently in development set after a stepwise selection by multivariable logistic model and used to develop scoring system. The scoring system yielded good discrimination, as measured by AUC of 0.7737, and in the validation set, the AUC was 0.7711. When applying a cutoff point of ≥16, the sensitivity in development set was 0.69 (0.67 − 0.71); specificity 0.72 (0.71 − 0.73), PPV 0.25 (0.24 − 0.26) and NPV 0.94 (0.94 − 0.95). Conclusion We developed and validated a comprehensive screening questionnaire, COPD-CPHS, with good discrimination. The score system still needs to be validated by large cohort in the future. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15412555.2022.2042504 .

ABSTRACT Introduction: The objective of this study is to investigate the possible impact of coronary artery disease (CAD) on clinical outcomes of catheter ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: Patients with AF who underwent coronary computed tomography and catheter ablation were enrolled. The presence of stenotic severity and plaque, characteristics of coronary arteries, clinical data, and adverse outcomes of catheter ablation were analysed. Results: A total of 243 patients were enrolled, 100 (41%) patients with CAD. The CHA2DS2-VASc (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥ 75 years, diabetes mellitus, stroke or transient ischemic attack, vascular disease, age 65-74 years, and sex category) score of AF patients with CAD was significantly (P

Currently, aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation primarily relies on an area-based approach (ABA), particularly at a large scale. With the advancement of individual tree detection techniques and the availability of multi-platform remotely sensed data, the individual tree-based approach (ITA) provides the potential of accurate and nondestructive fine AGB mapping. However, the performances of the two approaches on upscaling AGB from individual tree to stand level have not been thoroughly investigated. This study conducted the nondestructive AGB estimation using both ITA and ABA and compared the AGB estimates and their spatial uncertainties from an individual tree- to stand-level based on multi-platform LiDAR and Landsat 8 OLI imagery, taking Larix olgensis that is one of the most notable afforestation tree species in northeastern China as an example. Results showed that the point cloud segmentation (PCS) outperformed CHM-based individual tree crown delineation algorithms and obtained the highest accuracy of individual tree AGB estimate (R2 = 0.97, RMSE = 28.58 kg, rRMSE = 21.13%) for the dense larch plantations (about 1265 trees/ha). The plot-level AGB estimate aggregated by all detected trees and its uncertainty based on Monte Carlo simulation were 158.16 and 3.64 Mg·ha−1, respectively. The average pixel-level AGB of larch plantations in Maorshan Forest Farm estimated by ITA and ABA were similar (129.66 v.s 144.38 Mg·ha−1). ITA outperformed ABA in terms of pixel-level AGB accuracy and spatial uncertainty of pixel-level and stand-level AGB estimates. The overestimation of low AGB values, typical in ABA, was effectively eliminated by the ITA. The upscaling frameworks proposed in this study for AGB estimation and spatial uncertainty quantification based on ITA and ABA could be extended to other plantations or uncomplex forests. This study contributes to the accurate quantification of AGB and understanding of the uncertainties in the carbon stock of forest ecosystems at multi-scales.

Polarimetry is an important part of a polarized 3He system. This work describes a laser detection setup which measures the free induction decay nuclear magnetic resonance (FID NMR) signal in the spin-polarized 3He system. The setup provides a novel approach to the high precision real-time polarization measurement of the polarized 3He systems. This laser detection method is based on Faraday rotation effect, which utilizes a linearly polarized laser beam to detect the FID signal of the magnetic moment of 3He atoms which precess along the direction of the main magnetic field. Compared with traditional pick-up coils, experimental results demonstrate that the laser detection method has a signal-to-noise ratio improvement of 106% and consequently higher precision in 3He polarization measurement. The laser detection method proposed in this paper can replace the pickup coils, and it has various applications in the polarization measurement of 3He systems or in precision measurement experiments.

Abstract Background In recent years, programmed cell death protein-1 inhibitors, including sintilimab, have significantly prolonged the overall survival time of patients with unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the cost-effectiveness of sintilimab is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of sintilimab plus bevacizumab biosimilar compared with lenvatinib as first-line treatment in patients with unresectable or metastatic HCC. Methods A lifetime partitioned survival model was developed to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of sintilimab plus bevacizumab biosimilar vs. lenvatinib for advanced HCC from a Chinese healthcare system perspective. The clinical and safety data were derived from two recent randomized clinical trials, the ORIENT-32 and REFLECT studies. Utility data were obtained from previous studies. Long-term direct medical costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were predicted. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to verify the robustness of the model. Results Compared with lenvatinib, combination therapy with sintilimab and bevacizumab biosimilar yielded an additional 0.493 QALYs at a higher cost ($33,102 vs. $21,037) (2021 US dollars). This resulted in a deterministic incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $24,462 per QALY in the base-case analysis. The ICERs were sensitive to the utility of post-progression and the cost of bevacizumab biosimilar. A lower ICER was estimated when the dose of bevacizumab biosimilar decreased from 15 mg to 7.5 mg per kilogram in the scenario analysis. In the probabilistic sensitivity analysis, the probability of being cost-effective for sintilimab treatment at willingness-to-pay (WTP) thresholds of one ($12,516) and three times the gross domestic product per capita in China ($37,547) were 11.6% and 88.6%, respectively. Conclusion Sintilimab plus bevacizumab biosimilar is likely to be a cost-effective treatment option as a first-line treatment for unresectable or metastatic HCC in China when WTP threshold is over $23,650.

Abstract Background Intestinal barrier dysfunction, which is associated with reactive enteric glia cells (EGCs), is not only a result of early sepsis but also a cause of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Inhibition of platelet activation has been proposed as a potential treatment for septic patients because of its efficacy in ameliorating the organ damage and barrier dysfunction. During platelet activation, CD40L is translocated from α granules to the platelet surface, serving as a biomarker of platelet activation a reliable predictor of sepsis prognosis. Given that more than 95% of the circulating CD40L originate from activated platelets, the present study aimed to investigate if inhibiting platelet activation mitigates intestinal barrier dysfunction is associated with suppressing reactive EGCs and its underlying mechanism. Methods Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) was performed to establish the sepsis model. 24 h after CLP, the proportion of activated platelets, the level of sCD40L, the expression of tight-junction proteins, the intestinal barrier function and histological damage of septic mice were analyzed. In vitro, primary cultured EGCs were stimulated by CD40L and LPS for 24 h and EGCs-conditioned medium were collected for Caco-2 cells treatment. The expression of tight-junction proteins and transepithelial electrical resistance of Caco-2 cell were evaluated. Results In vivo, inhibiting platelet activation with cilostazol mitigated the intestinal barrier dysfunction, increased the expression of ZO-1 and occludin and improved the survival rate of septic mice. The efficacy was associated with reduced CD40L+ platelets proportion, decreased sCD40L concentration, and suppressed the activation of EGCs. Comparable results were observed upon treatment with compound 6877002, a blocker of CD40L-CD40-TRAF6 signaling pathway. Also, S-nitrosoglutathione supplement reduced intestinal damage both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, CD40L increased release of TNF-α and IL-1β while suppressed the release of S-nitrosoglutathione from EGCs. These EGCs-conditioned medium reduced the expression of ZO-1 and occludin on Caco-2 cells and their transepithelial electrical resistance, which could be reversed by CD40-siRNA and TRAF6-siRNA transfection on EGCs. Conclusions The inhibition of platelet activation is related to the suppression of CD40L-CD40-TRAF6 signaling pathway and the reduction of EGCs activation, which promotes intestinal barrier function and survival in sepsis mice. These results might provide a potential therapeutic strategy and a promising target for sepsis.

Hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells (HFMSCs) are slow cycling label retaining cells with self-regeneration ability, high proliferative potential, and multi-directional differentiation. HFMSCs can induce and promote the regeneration of the epidermis, hair follicles and sebaceous glands. HFMSCs have important advantages in regenerative medicine because of their abundance, wide availability, expansion in vitro, no genetic manipulation, no tumor formation and no ethical restriction. The synergy and antagonism between Wnt and other signaling pathways such as Shh, Notch and BMP signaling pathways play a crucial role in the regulation of stem cell homeostasis, epidermal development and hair follicle regeneration. The dysregulation of these pathways may result in hair loss diseases or skin tumors. This paper summarizes the classification and some specific biomarkers of HFMSCs, and discusses the induction of HFMSCs and the biomolecular pathways that affect hair regeneration, so as to shed light on the treatment strategies of hair diseases.

Abstract Background Obesity (waist circumference, body mass index (BMI)) and lifestyle factors (dietary habits, smoking, alcohol drinking, Sedentary behavior) have been associated with risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in observational studies, but whether these associations are causal is unclear. Methods We performed a univariable and multivariable Mendelian randomization study to evaluate these associations. Genetic instruments associated with exposures at the genome-wide significance level (P

Abstract Background Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that can affect multiple systems. Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease that may be primary SS (pSS) or occur together with other autoimmune diseases, including SLE. This study aimed to explore the shared gene signatures in SLE and pSS. Methods Gene expression data sets of SLE (GSE50772 and GSE81622) and pSS (GSE84844 and GSE48378) were obtained and analyzed for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). A protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. Gene ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were carried out for the DEGs. Results We screened 232 and 110 DEGs from the SLE and pSS data sets, respectively. We found 32 shared DEGs, which were all upregulated in patients compared with controls. Among these 32 DEGs, 11 genes showed a more than twofold change in all data sets (IFI27, IFI44L, RSAD2, IFIT1, IFI44, USP18, IFI6, HERC5, EPSTI1, OAS1, and OAS3). PPI analysis showed that 29 genes interacted with each other. GO analysis showed that these 32 shared DEGs were mainly enriched in biological processes associated with the type I interferon signaling pathway, defense response to viruses, response to viruses, negative regulation of viral genome replication, and the immune response. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis showed that these 32 DEGs were related to virus infection. Conclusion This study showed that alterations to biological processes associated with the response to virus infection play critical roles in both SLE and pSS.