Search

Cellulose nanowhiskers as one kind of renewable and biocompatible nanomaterials evoke much interest because of its versatility in various applications. Herein, the sisal cellulose nanowhiskers with ultrathin diameter of 5–10 nm, high crystallinity of 74% and C6 carboxylate groups converted from C6 primary hydroxyls were prepared via a 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO)/NaBr/NaClO system selective oxidization combined with mechanical homogenization. The effects of sodium hydroxide concentration in alkali pretreatment on the final sisal cellulose nanowhiskers were explored. It was found that with the increase of sodium hydroxide concentration, the sisal fiber crystalline type would change from cellulose I to cellulose II. The versatile sisal cellulose nanowhiskers would be particularly useful for applications in the nanocomposites as reinforcing phase, as well as in tissue engineering, filtration, pharmaceutical and optical industries as additives.

Background Immune dysfunction is one of the mechanisms to promote polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Various immune cells have been reported to be involved in the development of PCOS. Meanwhile, the disturbance of metabolism is closely related to PCOS. The aim of this study is to explore the association of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) with the metabolic dysfunction in PCOS. Methods 68 PCOS patients and 40 controls were recruited in this study and we collected the peripheral blood of participants’ during their follicular phase. The frequencies of MAIT cells and MDSCs were determined by flow cytometry after being stained with different monoclonal antibodies. And the concentrations of cytokines were determined by ELISA. Results Compared to controls with normal metabolism, the frequency of MDSCs, CD8+MAIT cells and CD38+CD8+MAIT cells were significantly decreased in PCOS patients with normal metabolism, however, proportion of CD4+MAIT cells exhibited a noticeable increase. Similar results of CD8+MAIT, CD38+CD8+MAIT cells and reduced expression of IL-17 were observed in PCOS patients with metabolic dysfunction as compared to controls with metabolic disorders. PCOS patients with excessive testosterone levels displayed significantly decreased levels of CD8+MAIT, CD38+CD8+MAIT cells, MDSCs and Mo-MDSCs as compared to PCOS patients with normal testosterone concentrations. PCOS patients with abnormal weight showed a lower level and activation of CD8+MAIT cells. On the contrary, they displayed an enrichment of CD4+MAIT cells. PCOS patients with glucose metabolic disorder displayed a remarkable dysregulation of MDSCs and Mo-MDSCs. MDSCs were positively correlated with MAIT cells. Negative correlations between the frequency of CD8+MAIT cells, CD38+CD8+MAIT cells and body mass index were revealed. CD4+MAIT cells positively correlated with BMI. Mo-MDSCs were found to be negatively related to the levels of 2hour plasma glucose and HOMA-IR index. Conclusion The impairment of CD8+MAIT cells and MDSCs is involved in the metabolic dysfunction of PCOS.

Telomerase and micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are simultaneously upregulated in a variety of tumor cells and have emerged as promising tumor markers. However, sensitive detection of telomerase and miRNAs in situ remains a great challenge due to their low expression levels. Here, we designed a Boolean logic "AND" signal amplification strategy based on functionalized ordered mesoporous nanoparticles (FOMNs) to achieve ultrasensitive detection of telomerase and miR-21 in living tumor cells. Briefly, the strategy uses telomerase as an input to enable the release of DNA3-ROX-BHQ hairpins by making the wrapping DNA1 form a DNA-a hairpin with the joint participation of dNTPs. Subsequently, DNA2-Ag, DNA3-ROX-BHQ, and the second input miR-21 participated in hybridization chain reaction to amplify fluorescence and Raman signals. Experimental results showed the intensity of output dual signals relevant to the expression levels of telomerase and miR-21. The Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) not only enhanced the fluorescence signals but also allowed to obtain more sensitive Raman signals. Therefore, even if expression of tumor markers is at a low level, the FOMN-based dual-signal logic operation strategy can still achieve sensitive detection of telomerase and miR-21 in situ. Furthermore, FOMNs can detect miR-21 expression levels in a short time. Consequently, this strategy has a potential clinical application value in detection of tumor markers and the assessment of tumor treatment efficacy.

Purpose As a new human resource management practice, developmental idiosyncratic deals (developmental I-deals) play an important role in attracting, retaining and motivating employees to promote creativity. Based on the social cognitive theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of developmental I-deals on team creativity through team creative-efficacy and the moderating role of error management atmosphere in this process. Design/methodology/approach To reduce the effects of common method biases and causal lag effect, this study was divided into three stages for data collection, with a time interval of a month. A total of 365 employee samples (72 team samples) from seven internet enterprises in Shanghai and Wuhan were selected, and Bootstrap method and Johnson-Neyman method were used to test the hypothesis. Findings The results of this study show that developmental I-deals positively affect team creativity, and team creative-efficacy mediates the relationship between developmental I-deals and team creativity. Error management atmosphere strengthens the impact of developmental I-deals on team creative-efficacy and further strengthens the indirect effect of developmental I-deals on team creativity through team creative-efficacy. Originality/value Based on the social cognitive theory, this study examines the impact of developmental I-deals on team creativity through team creative-efficacy and the moderating role of error management atmosphere in this process. First, the study of I-deals category was further refined. The existing research defines the concept of I-deals in a general way and does not classify it in detail. Second, the internal mechanism of I-deals is revealed. Third, it expands the multi-level research of I-deals.

Lilium pumilum plays an important role in lilium resistance breeding because of its wide distribution and strong stress resistance. It is of great significance to establish an efficient cryopreservation procedure for Lilium pumilum. In this study, the cryopreservation protocol of Lilium pumilum shoot tips by vitrification was established as follows: The 2 months old tissue-culture plants, which outer scales of small bulbs at the base of small plants were removed and only the 1–2 layers scales that encasing the shoot tips were retained were precultured on Murashige Skoog medium (MS) with 0.5M sucrose and 25µM abscisic acid(ABA) for 7 days at 4℃ in the dark; Then, the 2 mm shoot tips were gain under stereoscopic microscope in an ultra-clean workbench, and 10 shoot tips were put into a 1.5ml frozen centrifuge tube and added 1ml Loading solution (MS + 0.4M sucrose + 2M glycerin) for 20min at 25°C; then the Loading solution was removed, precooled PVS2 solution (MS + 0.4M sucrose + 30% glycerol + 15% ethylene glycol + 15%DMSO) was added for 80min at 0℃; The tube was plunged into liquid nitrogen and keeping. When it was needed, the tube was removed from the liquid nitrogen tank, and rapidly thawed in 37 ℃ water bath for 60s; After that, PVS2 solution was removed and shoot tips were washed twice for 10 min each time with unloading solution (MS + 1.2M sucrose) at 25 ℃. Subsequently, the shoot tips were incubated on medium (MS + 30 g·L− 1 sucrose + 6.5 g·L− 1 agar) for regeneration. With this procedure, the shoot tips survival rate was 93.64% and the recovery rate was 63.33%. Further biochemical studies showed that adding exogenous ABA increased the contents of endogenous osmotic regulatory substances (proline, soluble sugar, soluble protein) and reduced the activities of caspase-3-like and caspase-9-like enzyme that characterize programmed cell death (PCD). This suggests that the addition of ABA during preculture phase improved viability of shoot tips by affecting osmotic stress and PCD.

This paper reports an improved traditional fiber degumming method, where sisal fibers were treated by alkali oxygen and pectinase, respectively, after the solute alkali pretreatment. To explore the influence of various factors on its degumming, efficiency of degumming through single factor and orthogonal experiments was aasessed. The results showed that pectinase/alkali-oxygen method after the first alkali treatment had a good effect on the degumming of sisal fiber, and most of the non-cellulose components such as hemicellulose, lignin and pectin had been removed. After pectinase treatment, the cellulose content and crystallinity were 71.87% and 66.29%, respectively. After alkaline oxygen treatment, the cellulose content was 77.16%, and the crystallinity was 69.09%. In terms of degumming rate, alkali oxygen treatment worked better than pectinase treatment, the degumming rate of pectinase method was about 10%, while that of alkali-oxygen method was more than 20%. In other hand, the pectinase method was much milder and had less damage to fibers. It would provide some references for the future application and development of sisal fiber.

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI) is responsible for liver dysfunction, which involves reactive oxygen species (ROS) as the most critical marker. Real-time monitoring of ROS during HIRI can provide significant chance for early diagnosis and timely intervention. However, there is no probe available to track ROS fluctuations during HIRI in vivo, as it is extremely challenging to design reversibly responsive fluorescent probe in near-infrared region. Here, a reversible redox probe REPOMs emitting beyond 1500 nm is proposed to fill the blank, using rare earth ions-doped nanoparticles as emitter, and molybdenum-based polyoxometalate nanoclusters as the ROS-recognition site and emission modulator. REPOMs exhibited excellent response towards the repeated cycle between ROS and glutathione, based on which the time-resolved ROS changes during HIRI were successfully obtained. This reversible probe may provide a powerful tool to promote the hepatology research in the future.

A robust and sensitive analytical method for the simultaneous determination of 9 mycotoxins, AA, and 5-HMF by UHPLC-MS/MS was developed. Clean-up of the extracts was achieved by d-SPE with EMR-lipid. A new column phase (C

Reliable measurement of daytime and night-time blood pressure (BP), and degree of BP dipping during sleep during ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) requires an accurate definition of sleep time (diurnal definition). However, superiority of any diurnal definition on ABPM remains unclear. The present study compared mean daytime and night-time SBP and DBP using different methods for diurnal definition: patient's diary, wide-defined and narrow-defined fixed periods, and actigraphy, in a Chinese population with diagnosed essential hypertension. We hypothesize that BP values from actigraphy are different from BP obtained by other methods and associated with end-organ damage (i.e. impaired renal function, proteinuria, left ventricular hypertrophy).From April 2017 to October 2019, 203 Chinese patients diagnosed with hypertension were recruited prospectively from Lek Yuen Clinic and 179 completed a 48-h ABPM study, wearing a validated actigraph and completed a sleep diary. Presence of end-organ damage was retrieved from the computerized clinical management system. The differences in the mean BP values provided by different diurnal definition were compared using paired t tests and Bland-Altman plots. The prevalence of elevated BP, dipping status categories, overall percentage agreement and the Kappa statistic were calculated by pairwise comparisons between different diurnal definitions. The reproducibility was also estimated and logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between BP values from different diurnal definitions and end-organ damage.Mean daytime and night-time BP values were similar regardless of the definition used (mean difference2 mmHg). Kappa statistics and overall percentage agreement found excellent agreement between different definitions to diagnose elevated daytime BP (Kappa ranged from 0.80 to 0.91) and night-time BP (Kappa ranged from 0.74 to 0.89). Good agreement to diagnose nondipping was also detected (Kappa ranged from 0.65 to 0.78). Furthermore, ABPM values were most reproducible when diurnal periods were defined by patient's diary (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.82-0.93). Daytime and night-time BP values obtained using different diurnal definitions did not differ in their association to end-organ damage.Differing definitions of diurnal periods provide similar mean BP values among a Chinese hypertensive population and have good agreement for diagnosis of elevated BP and dipping status. In individual patients, clinicians should be aware that different definitions of diurnal periods can lead to a 3-5 mmHg difference in patient's BP values and may affect the diagnosis of elevated BP in patients with BP close to diagnostic thresholds. The current study supports using the patient's diary to define diurnal periods, which provided the best reproducibility.

The modeling and multi-energy flow calculation of an integrated energy system (IES) are the bases of its operation and planning. This paper establishes the models of various energy sub-systems and the coupling equipment for an electricity-gas-thermal IES, and an integrated multi-energy flow calculation model of the IES is constructed. A simplified calculation method for the compressor model in a natural gas network, one which is not included in a loop and works in constant compression ratio mode, is also proposed based on the concept of model reduction. In addition, a numerical conversion method for dealing with the conflict between nominal value and per unit value in the multi-energy flow calculation of IES is described. A case study is given to verify the correctness and speed of the proposed method, and the electricity-gas-thermal coupling interaction characteristics among sub-systems are studied.

Skin is the largest organ of the human body. Skin wound is one of the most common forms of wound. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been used to aid skin wound healing via their paracrine factors. Because the secretome of MSCs can be greatly enriched and amplified by treatment with IFN‐γ and TNF‐α (IT), we here tested whether supernatant derived from MSCs pretreated with IT, designated as S‐MSCs‐IT, possesses improved wound healing effect by using a murine model of cutaneous excision, S‐MSCs‐IT was found to be more potent in promoting angiogenesis, constricting collagen deposition and accelerating wound closure than control supernatant (S‐MSCs) during the healing of skin wound. VEGFC, but not VEGFA, was greatly upregulated by IT and was found to be a key factor in mediating the improved wound healing effect of S‐MSCs‐IT. Our results indicate that the beneficial paracrine effect of MSCs on wound healing can be enhanced by pretreatment with inflammatory cytokines. IT treatment may represent a new strategy for optimizing the therapeutic effect of MSCs on skin injuries., TNF‐α and IFN‐γ stimulation upregulates the expression of VEGFC in mesenchymal stromal cells, which acts on endothelial cells and promotes angiogenesis, thus accelerating skin wound healing.

Background This study aims to explore the predictive factors of central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) in patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) without capsule invasion. Methods From January 2016 to October 2018, 1,622 patients with PTMC, who underwent surgical treatment at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, were enrolled in the present study. A model of multivariate logistic regression was developed to find the variables that were independently associated with CLNM. The results were presented in the odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The nomogram for predicting CLNM was developed based on the results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis. The distance (distance >0) from tumor to capsule is defined as the shortest distance from the tumor boundary to the capsule or trachea. Results The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that age, gender, tumor maximum diameter, tumor mean diameter, and tumor volume were independently associated with CLNM. In the 692 cases without capsular invasion, the distance from the capsule was not correlated to the CLNM. The joint model, which included age, gender, tumor volume, and capsular invasion, were analyzed using the ROC curve. The cut-off point for the prediction of CLNM was defined as a value of 0.208. The area under the ROC curve was 0.687, the sensitivity was 65.4%, and the specificity was 63.3%. Conclusions Gender, age, maximum diameter, mean diameter, tumor volume, and capsular invasion were independently associated with the CLNM. When there was no capsular invasion, the distance between the tumor and capsule was not correlated to the CLNM, suggesting that considering whether the tumor is close to the capsule may not be necessary for low-risk PTMC.

Annular epidermolytic ichthyosis (AEI) is a rare autosomal dominant ichthyosis that was recently described in 10 separate families in the English literature. There are no reports on the phenotypic heterogeneity of AEI. We investigated, for the first time, a large Chinese AEI pedigree exhibiting interfamilial phenotypic heterogeneity. We collected clinical data and DNA from the members of the family, and skin lesions were obtained from two patients with different phenotypes. Skin imaging examinations were performed. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) and Sanger sequencing were used to detect gene mutations. The characteristic features of granular layer degeneration in the two biopsies were verified via histological methods. The missense mutation c.1436T > Cin KRT1 was detected in all nine patients. This study demonstrates that AEI may present with different clinical phenotypes and that mutation analysis for suspected cases is necessary to obtain a precise diagnosis.

Despite a strong evidence on the negative association between HIV-related stigma and quality of life (QoL), few studies have examined the indirect effects of this relationship. This study aimed to examine the association between HIV-related stigma and QoL and the indirect effects of positive coping and perceived stress in people living with HIV and depressive symptoms (PLWHD). This study used baseline date from a randomized controlled trial. Structural equation model was used to examine the association between HIV-related stigma and QoL as well as the indirect effects of positive coping and perceived stress. Perceived and internalized stigma had negative direct (

The synchronous vibration in magnetically suspended control moment gyros is a common problem due to unavoidable rotor mass imbalance. This work proposes an optimal notch filter for suppressing the synchronous vibration force. The synchronous vibration force is firstly modelled, and the preliminary design of phase-shift notch filter is given to ensure the system stability. Then the optimal phase of notch filter is discussed, and its theoretical expression is given. Finally, simulation results illustrate the superiority of the notch filter with optimal phase, and experimental results verify the effectiveness of optimal notch filter.

Background Lipid peroxidation yields a large number of aldehydes and carbonyl-containing compounds, of which the reactive and toxic compound 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE) derived from ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-6 PUFAs) is the most extensively studied. The high reactivity of 4-HNE enables this compound to crosslink with various biomolecules and thus contribute to the pathological processes of several diseases, such as atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes mellitus, and neurodegenerative disorders. Scope and approach From the perspective of food safety, the emergence of lipid peroxidation contaminants in foodstuffs remains a major concern of consumers, health departments, and industries. This review highlights the latest developments regarding the formation pathways, toxicity, analysis methods, occurrence in foodstuff, and mitigation strategies for 4-HNE. Future prospects on measuring and controlling 4-HNE in food are also discussed. Key findings and conclusions The determination of 4-HNE levels in different types of foods indicates that PUFAs-rich vegetable oil and oil-based food are major intake sources of 4-HNE. Considering the toxicity of 4-HNE, sensitive detection techniques combined with feasible control methods should be an effective solution for food quality maintenance and safety assurance. However, current detection methods and 4-HNE control strategies possess inherent advantages and limitations. Therefore, effective 4-HNE detection and new controlling technologies that are practically viable at the industrial level need to be developed.

A stretchable, 3D tubular structure formed due to processing-induced wrinkles is proposed as a platform to develop adaptive stretchable electronics. This integrated structure is fabricated by releasing a pre-stretched 2D film-substrate precursor, resulting in a wrinkled surface, that shows a strong directional dependence that drives the tube formation. This 3D shape adaptivity can control the radial opening and closing of the tube through longitudinal strain, which inspires the development of a dual-channel piezoresistive strain sensor/switch concomitant with mechanochromic effect and an intriguing tactile responsive artificial Mimosa pudica device. In addition, the system is compatible with 2D film deposition technologies, which allows customized electrode patterns to be coated on the pre-stretched 2D precursor followed by wrapped inside as precursor released. Upon sealing the tube, this “coating and self-wrapping” feature allows for the invention of a highly stretchable tactile switch, and a stretchable tubular supercapacitor with dual stimuli-responsiveness.

Multi-stimuli responsive (MSR) chromic materials which can exhibit a color change when exposed to external stimuli demonstrate huge potential in developing new intelligent devices. However, they commonly require complicated synthesis processes that are not suitable for mass production. To facilitate the fabrication of MSR devices, for the first time, we propose a facile 3D integration strategy to rationally assemble various commercial chromic materials, light shielding layers, and a stretchable substrate into a set of MSR devices equipped with thermo-/photo-/mechanochromic characteristics with negligible cross-interferences. Notably, the mechanochromic sensitivity can be readily adjusted to multiple levels via facile pre-stretching methods. Moreover, two types of MSR units are integrated into an interactive electronic device, which exhibits thermo-/photo-/electrochromic responses, and two levels of mechanochromic responses with color changes at 100% and 200% strain, respectively. In addition, another highly sensitive MSR unit is applied to a wearable motion/environmental monitoring chromic device, which can detect finger bending within 30% strain, and monitor environmental stimuli (UV, temperature) with thermal mapping capability. A smartphone-based colorimetric analysis app was also developed for finger bending detection. Comprehensive quantitative characterization and finite element analysis are used to elucidate the performance and intrinsic mechanisms of these MSR responses.

Lithium (Li) metal is deemed to be the most promising anode for new-generation lithium batteries due to its high specific capacity (3860 mA h g-1) and low redox potential (-3.04 V vs. SHE). However, Li dendritic formation during battery cycling results not only in poor performance, such as low coulombic efficiency and short cycling, but also serious safety risks such as fire and explosion. In this paper, we propose a novel interlayer with a 3D network which is rich in N-containing functional groups and Co nanoparticles to guide uniform Li nucleation/growth and thus relieve the Li dendritic formation. As a result, the as-designed composite delivers an ultra-long lifespan of 1500 h with a small and stable voltage profile of 38.1 mV for symmetric cells. The composite electrode also exhibits a prominent electrochemical performance in full cells with LiFePO4 as the cathode for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Our findings provide strong support for inducing the uniform nucleation of Li by introducing lithiophilic sites, which is important for inhibiting Li dendritic formation.

The vibration suppression in the presence of gyroscopic effects is an important issue for safe operations in magnetic bearing levitated varying speed rotor system. This paper proposes a synchronous vibration control method with a two-stage notch filter for the magnetically suspended rotor system with strong gyroscopic effects. First, the dynamics of the magnetically suspended rotor system with synchronous vibrations in the rotational motion is modeled. Then the proposed two-stage notch filter is designed and the solution of the two-stage switching point is derived to distinguish low speed and high speed. Stability analysis is also presented in the low-speed region and the high-speed region, respectively. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the stability can be guaranteed by adjusting the phase shift angle of the notch filter over the entire speed range. Further experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed suppression method.

Background To distinguish acute progressive ischemic stroke (APIS) from acute non-progressive ischemic stroke (ANPIS) is clinically critical for the precise treatment and prevention of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) deterioration. Serum proteins could reflect the unique pathophysiological processes of APIS. It is expected to find serum protein biomarkers to identify APIS at the early state, especially when typical symptoms have not been present in conventional clinical indices. Methods We recruited 178 subjects, including 133 AIS patients and 45 healthy controls. The discovery set, which included 10 age- and sex- matched cases from each of the APIS, ANPIS and control groups, was used for serum proteomic analysis with a mass spectrometry-based proteomics. The disrupted proteins of APIS were screened, of which, those common to ANPIS and specific to APIS were particularly concerned. Potential biomarkers of APIS were screened based on the theoretical knowledge to explain the mechanism and diagnostic value, and subsequently tested in the validated set (25 APIS patients, 88 ANPIS patients, and 35 controls). Results We found that 46 serum proteins were disturbed in the APIS patients; 23 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were common to these two groups, and 23 DEPs were associated with APIS alone. Enrichment analysis suggested that complement activation, cytolysis, proteolysis, positive regulation of fibrinolysis, blood coagulation were specifically associated with APIS; while inflammatory response, neutrophil chemotaxis, oxygen transport, and positive regulation of cell death process were common to AIPS and ANPIS. Serum amyloid A1 (SAA1) and S100 calcium binding protein A9 (S100-A9) jointly conferred a moderate value (AUC = 0.799) to diagnose APIS and to distinguish APIS from ANPIS (AUC = 0.699). Conclusions This study provides human serum proteomic evidence that inflammation, oxidative stress, and necrosis in APIS are common to ANPIS; the progressive feature of APIS may be mainly associated with complement activation, more serious inflammation, and lipid metabolic disorder; SAA1 and S100-A9 may be considered as potential biomarker panel of APIS.

On basis of vibration images and transfer learning, this work presents a method for fault diagnosis of rotating machinery. Vibration images can be regarded as a combination of several traditional single-point sensors, which provide abundant full-field vibration information. The frequency-domain features of vibration acceleration are extracted according to the motion phase in images. Then proposed method utilizes a transfer learning method, called joint distribution adaptation, to construct a shared feature space. In this space, the marginal probability distribution and conditional distribution of vibration signals in two different conditions are minimized. Afterwards, the k-Nearest Neighbor classifier is used in this space for fault diagnosis. Experimental results manifest the proposed method can effectively diagnose faults under different working conditions and between different machineries, and the diagnosis accuracy is above 90%.

In this paper, a three-dimensional axis orbit reconstruction method based on machine vision is proposed for rotating machinery. Firstly, the center of rotor is marked and its motion is videotaped. Secondly, the local phase of captured image sequences is extracted, which is linear with the axis orbit displacement. Combined with the binocular stereo vision, three-dimensional axis orbit is reconstructed. According to the linear relation between phase and displacement, the actual axis orbit can be obtained. Finally, the experiment is performed on a permanent magnet synchronous motor, and the experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Litter size is one of the important economic traits of livestock. Seasonal oestrus, ovulation and lambing of sheep have severely restricted the development of sheep farming in Xinjiang, China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the polymorphisms and genetic correlation between GRM1, GNAQ and HCRTR1 genes and the seasonal reproduction and litter size in three sheep breeds. The DNA mixed pool sequencing and PCR-SSCP methods were used to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of GRM1, GNAQ and HCRTR1 genes in seasonal oestrous (Kazakh and Chinese Merino [Xinjiang Junken type]) and perennial oestrous (Hu) sheep breeds. The association between genetic polymorphism and litter size was also analysed. The results showed that T945C in exon 2 of GRM1 gene, C589T in exon 2 of HCRTR1 gene and A191G in exon 2 of GNAQ gene were identified by Sanger sequencing, and three genotypes were existed in each SNP site, which all belonged to the synonymous mutation. GRM1 (CC), GNAQ (GA) and HCRTR1 (TC) were the dominant genotypes of seasonal reproduction and litter size in Kazakh sheep and Chinese Merino sheep, respectively, while, in perennial oestrous Hu sheep populations, the dominant genotypes were GRM1 (TC), GNAQ (GA) and HCRTR1 (TC), respectively, and association analysis also confirmed the results. The above results implied that GRM1, GNAQ and HCRTR1 genes are significantly associated with lambing traits in Kazakh, Chinese Merino and Hu sheep. Among them, the locus of GRM1 (T945C), GNAQ (A191G) and HCRTR1 (C589T) might be considered as a potential molecular marker, which controls seasonal reproduction and litter size in sheep.

Pre-metastatic niche formation is critical for the colonization of disseminated cancer cells in distant organs. Here we find that lung mesenchymal stromal cells (LMSCs) at pre-metastatic stage possess potent metastasis-promoting activity. RNA-seq reveals an upregulation of complement 3 (C3) in those LMSCs. C3 is found to promote neutrophil recruitment and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which facilitate cancer cell metastasis to the lungs. C3 expression in LMSCs is induced and sustained by Th2 cytokines in a STAT6-dependent manner. LMSCs-driven lung metastasis is abolished in Th1-skewing Stat6-deficient mice. Blockade of IL-4 by antibody also attenuates LMSCs-driven cancer metastasis to the lungs. Consistently, metastasis is greatly enhanced in Th2-skewing T-bet-deficient mice or in nude mice adoptively transferred with T-bet-deficient T cells. Increased C3 levels are also detected in breast cancer patients. Our results suggest that targeting the Th2-STAT6-C3-NETs cascade may reduce breast cancer metastasis to the lungs., The formation of the pre-metastatic niche enables the colonisation of disseminated cancer cells in distant organs. Here, the authors show that Th2 cytokines induce Complement 3 production in lung mesenchymal stromal cells, which recruits neutrophils and promotes the formation neutrophil extracellular traps, facilitating breast cancer cell metastasis to the lungs.

Cellulose nanowhiskers as one kind of renewable and biocompatible nanomaterials evoke much interest because of its versatility in various applications. Herein, the sisal cellulose nanowhiskers with length of 100–500 nm, ultrathin diameter of 6–61 nm, high crystallinity of 74.74 % and C6 carboxylate groups converted from C6 primary hydroxyls were prepared via a 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO)/NaBr/NaClO system selective oxidization combined with mechanical homogenization. The effects of sodium hydroxide concentration in alkali pretreatment on the final sisal cellulose nanowhiskers were explored. It was found that with the increase of sodium hydroxide concentration, the sisal fiber crystalline type would change from cellulose I to cellulose II. The versatile sisal cellulose nanowhiskers would be particularly useful for applications in the nanocomposites as reinforcing phase, as well as in tissue engineering, filtration, pharmaceutical and optical industries as additives.

Background Post-esophagectomy patients often experience a clinically relevant deterioration of quality of life after esophagectomy due to malnutrition, impaired exercise capacity, and psychological problems. The widespread use of mobile health (mHealth) has been increasingly promising for interdisciplinary healthcare givers to deliver efficient and potential cost-effective interventions in cancer patients. However, comprehensive interventions delivered by mHealth with a rigorous design of randomized controlled trial in post-esophagectomy patients were scarce. Methods This study developed the first comprehensive intervention model by mHealth with a parallel RCT design, providing nutrition, physical exercise, and psychological support for post-esophagectomy patients. A total of 120 patients will be randomized into the intervention group or the control group receiving treatment as usual. Participants in the intervention group will receive the 3-month intervention of the CIMmH program via the enhanced WeChat platform and by specialists (offline). The online program includes nutrition guidelines, physical exercise instructions, and psychological courses. All participants will be assessed at baseline, 1, and 3 months after esophagectomy. The primary outcomes are health-related QOL, weight, and physical fitness measured by 6-minute walking distance. Secondary outcomes include nutritional biomarkers, body composition, strength, interleukin-6, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and coping. Discussion This study is among the first efforts to innovatively develop a comprehensive intervention program to prompt rehabilitation in post-esophagectomy patients. Once proven effective, CIMmH could be integrated into the management of post-esophagectomy patients. Key messages Esophageal cancer, QOL, Nutrition, Physical exercise, Psychological support, mHealth

Background: Immune dysfunction is one of the mechanisms to promote polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Various immune cells have been reported to be involved in the development of PCOS. Meanwhile, the disturbance of metabolism is closely related to PCOS. This study is to explore the effect of mucosal-associated invariant T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells on the pathogenesis and the metabolic dysfunction of PCOS patients.Methods: 68 PCOS patients and 20 controls were recruited in this study and we collected the peripheral blood of participants’ during their follicular phase. The frequencies of MAIT cells and MDSCs were determined by flow cytometry after being stained with different monoclonal antibodies. And the concentrations of cytokines were determined by ELISA.Results: Compared to control group, the frequency of MDSCs, CD8+MAIT cells and CD38+CD8+MAIT cells were significantly decreased of PCOS patients with normal metabolism, however, proportion of CD4+MAIT cells exhibited a noticeable increase. PCOS patients with abnormal weight showed a lower level and activation of CD8+MAIT cells. On the contrary, they displayed an enrichment of CD4+MAIT cells. PCOS patients with glucose metabolic disorder displayed a remarkable dysregulation of MDSCs and Mo-MDSCs. MDSCs were positively correlated with MAIT cells. Negative correlations between the frequency of CD8+MAIT cells, CD38+CD8+MAIT cells and body mass index were revealed. CD4+MAIT cell was positively correlated with BMI. Mo-MDSCs were found to be negatively related to the levels of 2hour plasma glucose and HOMA-IR index.Conclusion: The MAIT cells subpopulations and MDSCs played distinct roles in the etiology and metabolic disorders of PCOS.

The roasting-induced formation of thermal contaminants in coffee beans, including 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), acrylamide (AA), furan (F), 2-methyl furan (2-MF), and 3-methyl furan (3-MF), was investigated using a kinetic modeling approach. Results showed that AA and 5-HMF formation and elimination occur simultaneously in coffee beans during roasting and that the related reactions follow first-order reaction kinetics. The concentrations of F, 2-MF, and 3-MF increased throughout the roasting experiment, and variations in the concentrations of these compounds during roasting could be best described by empirical, logistic model. The increase in weight loss and decrease in moisture content of the beans during roasting also displayed first-order reaction kinetics. High coefficients of determination (R

In this study, all-cellulose nanocomposites were developed by depositing one-dimensional jute cellulose nanowhiskers on a hydrolyzed two dimensional electrospun nanofibrous membrane via an immersion-drying process. The prepared nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared, field emission scanning electron microscope, thermal gravimetric analysis, Brunauer, Emmett and Teller specific surface area, and mechanical properties. The versatile all-cellulose nanocomposites have the potential to be used in ultrafiltration, medical application, catalyst supports, etc.

This study, for the first time, predicts oxidative stability in camellia oils by partial least squares (PLS) built with proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) and α-tocopherol content. The pred...

The rotor mass imbalance is common in rotating machinery, which can lead to the synchronous vibration in the magnetically suspended centrifugal compressor (MSCC) system. This work proposes a synchronous vibration control method based on the optimal notch filter. Firstly, the dynamics of the magnetically suspended rotor (MSR) system with mass imbalance is modeled. Then phase-shift notch filter for the synchronous vibration suppression is designed according to theoretical stability analysis of the whole system. Furthermore, in order to optimize the dynamic performance of the notch filter, its phase angle is taken as the variable to be optimized. Taking the integral of the absolute value of time multiplies current as the objective function, the optimized design flow of the phase angle is given. The proposed optimized method does not rely on accurate mathematical model, and is more direct. Finally, the simulation and experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of the optimal notch filter and also prove the system stability.

The TCP family genes have been under selection during domestication in maize and related andropogoneae crops. They encode plant-specific transcription factors involved in growth and development, especially in shaping the plant morphology and architecture. Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is the most productive in harvesting tonnage and 5th economically valuable crops worldwide for supporting world’s sugar and fuel ethanol production. Based on recently published sugarcane genome, we performed a genome-wide analysis of this gene family in the sugarcane genome and identified 22 TCP genes (SsTCPs), with 1–4 alleles each. They distributed across 28 chromosomes of S. spontaneum. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all 22 SsTCP genes can be classifed into two major groups: class I and class II. All 22 groups of SsTCPs showed species-specific clustering with TCPs of sorghum which indicate close relationship between sorghum and Saccharum. Structural organization of SsTCP genes showed that 37 SsTCPs are intronless and of the 22 SsTCPs with introns exist in coding region, which are different with TCPs of sorghum and wheat that located in UTR region. Expression study showed that transcripts of class I SsTCPs were more abundant than transcripts of class II SsTCPs. Moreover, the expression of SsTCP5–4, SsTCP6–2, SsTCP8–1, SsTCP12, SsTCP13, SsTCP15–1, SsTCP17–1 and SsTCP17–6 displayed significant change after plant hormones treatments, which suggest their function related to plant hormones. Cis-element analysis of SsTCPs’s promoter suggests that subfunctionalization may have occurred for homoeologous genes. Taken together, our analysis of TCPs in S. spontaneum provide a good starting for further studies to elucidate their specific function in sugarcane.

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) combined with partial least squares (PLS) was developed for the rapid determination of squalene and sterols (brassicasterol, campesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol) in 119 vegetable oils from 7 different species. The 1H NMR spectra of these oil samples were correlated to the reference value determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method by PLS regression, using outlier removal, selection of input X-variables and data pretreatments. Auto-scaling (UV) was chosen as the best pre-processing for the PLS models of stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, and squalene. Pareto variance (Par) was more suitable for the PLS model of brassicasterol. The model for squalene was further improved by a reduced number of variables with variable importance for the projection (VIP) scores technique. The study demonstrated the potential application of NMR coupled with PLS as a rapid and nondestructive technique for the routine analysis of squalene and sterols in vegetable oils.

A rapid method for the determination of fatty acid (FA) composition in camellia oils was developed based on the 1H NMR technique combined with partial least squares (PLS) method. Outliers detection, LVs optimization and data pre-processing selection were explored during the model building process. The results showed the optimal models for predicting the content of C18:1, C18:2, C18:3, saturated, unsaturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated FA were achieved by Pareto scaling (Par) pretreatment, with correlation coefficient (R2) above 0.99, the root mean square error of estimation and prediction (RMSEE, RMSEP) lower than 0.954 and 0.947, respectively. Mean-centering (Ctr) was more suitable for the model of C16:0 and C18:0 with the best performance indicators (R2 ≥ 0.945, RMSEE ≤ 0.377, RMSEP ≤ 0.212). This study indicated that 1H NMR has the potential to be applied as a rapid and routine method for the analysis of FA composition in camellia oils.

A magnetically suspended rotor (MSR) system always suffers from the non-coincidence of the inertia axis and geometric axis, which results in synchronous vibration varied with the rotational speed. To effectively suppress the synchronous vibration torques for the MSR with significant gyroscopic effects, a consolidated vibration control and stability analysis method is proposed here. The MSR system with inherent gyroscopic effects belongs to a class of cross-coupled antisymmetric system. First, a class of cross-coupled antisymmetric system with synchronous vibration influence is modelled. Then, the principle and implementation of the proposed scheme used for synchronous vibration suppression are analysed in detail. Moreover, a stability analysis method for a class of cross-coupled antisymmetric system is developed, which is not limited to the specific MSR system with gyroscopic effects. Finally, the simulation and experiments are performed in the typical magnetically suspended flywheel to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed stability analysis method and the vibration suppression algorithm.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the phenolic profile of grape and kiwi juice pomace by HPLC-ESI-MS, and their correlation with antioxidant properties determined with DPPH, FRAP and OH scavenging assays. A total of 32 compounds have been identified including anthocyanins, flavonols, flavan-3-ols and phenolic acids. Significantly higher relative amounts of anthocyanin monoglucosides, flavan-3-ols (catechin, epicatechin, and procyanidin), and flavonols (quercetin and its derivatives) were found for grape pomace. Whereas kiwi pomace contained higher amounts of quinic acid, caffeic acid and its derivatives. Although grape pomace had higher total phenolic content (TPC), it showed lower OH scavenging capacity than kiwi pomace, but better DPPH scavenging activity and reducing power. This indicated that the antioxidant activities do not only rely on the TPC but also associate with their phenolic profiles. Overall the two pomaces could potentially be exploited as an inexpensive source of natural antioxidants for food production.