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Closed-cell aluminum foams with different contents of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were fabricated by using modified melt foaming method. In order to effectively disperse MWCNTs, orthogonal tests were utilized to determine the optimal ball-milling parameters. The existence forms of MWCNTs in aluminum foams and the compressive properties of the foams were investigated. Considered from the dispersion degree and structural changes of MWCNTs, the optimal parameters were obtained, the parameters mainly referred to weight ratio of MWCNTs to aluminum powder, weight ratio of ball to powder, milling rate and milling time, respectively. The results showed that MWCNTs mainly existed in three forms: totally embedded in cell wall, partly embedded in cell wall and totally exposed on cell wall surface, respectively. The reasons were mainly due to the existence of defects and amorphous carbon on the surface of MWCNTs, which promoted the wettability between the aluminum matrix and MWCNTs. In addition, with the MWCNT content increasing, the yield strength, structural stiffness and energy absorption capacity of the foams increased first and then decreased. Meanwhile, under the present conditions the foams with MWCNT content of 0.5% possessed the optimal comprehensive mechanical properties and the reasons were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(a) Formation of chitosan nanoparticles (CSP), (b) deposition of CSPs and free chitosan chains onto mPAN to form CSPM/mPAN, (c) Cu(II) chelation of CSPM/mPAN to form CSPM-Cu(II)/mPAN. • Using homogeneous hybrid and copper ion enhancement to prepare a separation layer. • The chitosan separation layer was homogeneous hybrided by chitosan nanoparticles. • Cu(II) chelation improved the hydrophilicity and crosslinking density of the layer. • The separation layer showed excellent separation performance and 100% anti-bacteria. A novel method of homogeneous hybrid and copper ion (Cu(II)) enhancement was employed to prepare chitosan separation layer over polyacrylonitrile support. Firstly, chitosan nanoparticles (CSPs) and free chitosan molecules in the suspension prepared through adding sodium polyphosphate (SPP) into chitosan solution were simultaneously electrostatically attracted onto the surface of alkali-treated polyacrylonitrile (mPAN) support to obtain chitosan separation layer (CSPM) that was homogeneously hybrided by CSPs. Then, CSPM/mPAN membrane obtained was immersed into CuSO 4 solution for chelation cross-linking to obtain CSPM-Cu(II)/mPAN membrane. Results showed the ratio of chitosan to SPP and Cu(II) chelation had markedly affected on the membrane performance. When the ratio of chitosan to SPP was 3.4, CSPM 3.4 -Cu(II)/mPAN membrane had a Na 2 SO 4 rejection of 93.3% with a pure water flux of 74.8 L/(m2·h), simultaneously increasing by 30.3% rejection and 24.0% flux compared with CSPM 3.4 /mPAN membrane due to improvement of hydrophilicity and cross-linking degree resulted from Cu(II) enhancement. CSPM 3.4 -Cu(II)/mPAN membrane showed 3.6 fold flux and almost the same rejection compared with chitosan nanofiltration membrane by interfacial cross-linking reported. Meanwhile, CSPM 3.4 -Cu(II)/mPAN membrane exhibited 100% anti-bacteria to Escherichia coli, 96.1% flux recovery rate and separation stability. This work provides a new way for nanofiltration membrane preparation and performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hishimonus hamatus Kuoh is a leafhopper species native to China that feeds on Chinese jujube leaves. This leafhopper species has been verified to transmit jujube witches' broom (JWB) disease, caused by phytoplasma, a fatal plant pathogen, which belongs to the phytoplasma subgroup 16SrV-B. The transmission of JWB phytoplasma largely relies on the feeding behavior of piercing-sucking leafhoppers. However, the specific mechanisms behind how and why the infection of JWB influences the feeding behavior of these leafhoppers are not fully understood. To address this, a study was conducted to compare the feeding patterns of H. hamatus when feeding JWB-infested jujube leaves to healthy leaves using the electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique. Then, a widely targeted metabolome analysis was performed to identify differences in the metabolite composition of JWB-infected jujube leaves and that of healthy jujube leaves. The results of EPG analyses revealed that when feeding on JWB-infected jujube leaves, H. hamatus exhibited an increased frequency of phloem ingestion and spent longer in the phloem feeding phase compared to when feeding on healthy leaves. In addition, the results of metabolomic analyses showed that JWB-infected leaves accumulated higher levels of small-molecular carbohydrates, free amino acids, and free fatty acids, as well as lower levels of lignans, coumarins and triterpenoids compared to healthy leaves. The above results indicated that the H. hamatus preferentially fed on the phloem of infected leaves, which seems to be linked to the transmission of the JWB phytoplasma. The results of metabolomic analyses partially imply that the chemical compounds might play a role in making the infected leaves more attractive to H. hamatus for feeding., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Purpose: This study is to investigate the [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI PET/CT diagnosis performance in biliary tract carcinoma (BTC) and analyze the association between [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI PET/CT and clinical indexes., Methods: A prospective study (NCT05264688) was performed between January 2022 and July 2022. Fifty participants were scanned using [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI and [ 18 F]FDG PET/CT and acquired pathological tissue. We employed the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare the uptake of [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI and [ 18 F]FDG, and the McNemar test was used to compare the diagnostic efficacy between the two tracers. Spearman or Pearson correlation was used to assess the association between [ 68  Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI PET/CT and clinical indexes., Results: In total, 47 participants (mean age 59.09 ± 10.98 [range 33-80 years]) were evaluated. The [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI detection rate was greater than [ 18 F]FDG in primary tumors (97.62% vs. 85.71%), nodal metastases (90.05% vs. 87.06%), and distant metastases (100% vs. 83.67%). The uptake of [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI was higher than [ 18 F]FDG in primary lesions (intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, 18.95 ± 7.47 vs. 11.86 ± 0.70, p = 0.001; extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, 14.57 ± 6.16 vs. 8.80 ± 4.74, p = 0.004), abdomen and pelvic cavity nodal metastases (6.91 ± 6.56 vs. 3.94 ± 2.83, p < 0.001), and distant metastases (pleural, peritoneum, omentum, and mesentery, 6.37 ± 4.21 vs. 4.50 ± 1.96, p = 0.01; bone, 12.15 ± 6.43 vs. 7.51 ± 4.54, p = 0.008). There was a significant correlation between [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI uptake and fibroblast-activation protein (FAP) expression (Spearman r = 0.432, p = 0.009), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (Pearson r = 0.364, p = 0.012), and platelet (PLT) (Pearson r = 0.35, p = 0.016). Meanwhile, a significant relationship between [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI metabolic tumor volume and carbohydrate antigen199 (CA199) (Pearson r = 0.436, p = 0.002) was confirmed., Conclusion: [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI had a higher uptake and sensitivity than [ 18 F]FDG in the diagnosis of BTC primary and metastatic lesions. The correlation between [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI PET/CT indexes and FAP expression, CEA, PLT, and CA199 were confirmed., Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov: NCT 05,264,688., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Insect general odorant-binding proteins (GOBPs) play irreplaceable roles in filtering, binding, and transporting host odorants to olfactory receptors. Grapholita funebrana (Treitscheke) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), an economically important pest of fruit crops, uses fruit volatiles as cues to locate host plants. However, the functions of GOBPs in G. funebrana are still unknown. Three GOBP genes, namely, GfunGOBP1, GfunGOBP2, and GfunGOBP3, were cloned, and their expression profiles in different tissues were detected by the method of real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The binding properties of recombinant GfunGOBPs (rGfunGOBPs) to various ligands were investigated via fluorescence binding assays. The three GfunGOBPs were mainly expressed in the antennae of both male and female moths. All these three rGfunGOBPs could bind to sex pheromones, while having varying affinities toward these pheromones. The three rGfunGOBPs also displayed a wide range of ligand-binding spectrums with tested host odorants. The rGfunGOBP1, rGfunGOBP2, and rGfunGOBP3 bound to 34, 33, and 30 out of the 41 tested odorants, respectively. Three rGfunGOBPs had overlapping binding activities to β-myrcene, (-)-α-phellandrene, and ethyl isovalerate with the Ki less than 3.0 μM. The rGfunGOBP1 and rGfunGOBP3 could selectively bind to several insecticides, whereas rGfunGOBP2 could not. Three rGfunGOBPs had the dual functions of selectively binding to sex pheromones and host odorants. Moreover, the rGfunGOBP1 and rGfunGOBP3 can also serve as 'signal proteins' and bind to different insecticides. This study contributed to elucidating the potential molecular mechanism of the olfaction for G. funebrana, and thereby promotes the development of effective botanical attractants or pheromone synergists to control G. funebrana., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The olfactory system must detect and discriminate various semiochemicals in the environment. In response to such diversity, insects have evolved a family of odorant-gated ion channels composed of a common receptor (coreceptor, Orco) and a ligand-binding tuning odorant receptor (OR) that confers odour specificity. This study aims to examine the expression pattern of Orco gene of Grapholita molesta (GmolOrco) and to elucidate the role of GmolOrco in detecting G. molesta sex pheromone and green leaf volatiles by using gene silencing via RNA interference (RNAi) coupled antennal electrophysiological (EAG). Multiple sequence alignment showed that GmolOrco shared high sequence similarities with the Orco ortholog of lepidopterans. The results of real-time quantitative PCR detection demonstrated that GmolOrco was predominantly expressed in adult antennae and had the highest expression quantity in adult period among the different developmental stages. Compared with the noninjected controls, GmolOrco expression in GmolOrcodouble-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-injected males was reduced to 39.92% and that in females was reduced to 40.43%. EAG assays showed that the responses of GmolOrco-dsRNA injected males to sex pheromones (Z)-8-dodecenyl acetate (Z8-12:OAc) and (Z)-8-dodecenyl alcohol (Z8-12:OH) were significantly reduced, and the GmolOrco-dsRNA-injected female to green leaf volatile (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate also significantly declined. We inferred that Orco-mediated olfaction was different in male and female G. molesta adults and was mainly involved in recognizing the sex pheromones released by female moths., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The oriental armyworm Mythimna separata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a major migratory pest of cereal crops in East Asia, South Asia and Australia. To comprehensively understand the ecological tolerance of M. separata, we collected life table data of individuals from four consecutive generations reared under outdoor natural fluctuating temperatures from 15 April to 17 October 2018 in Yangling, Shaanxi, China. The results showed that the immature stage in early summer and summer were shorter than in spring and autumn. High mortality in late larval instar and pupal stages was observed in the summer generation. The adult pre-oviposition period in autumn was longer than the other seasons. The population in the earlier two seasons had heavier pupae and higher fecundity than the population in the latter two seasons. The intrinsic rate of increase and the finite rate of increase was the highest in early summer (r = 0.1292 day-1, λ = 1.1391 day-1), followed by spring (r = 0.1102 day-1, λ = 1.1165 day-1), and was the lowest in summer (r = 0.0281 day-1, λ = 1.0293 day-1). The results of this study would be useful to predict the population dynamics of M. separata and deepen our standing of the adaptiveness of this migratory pest in natural fluctuating ambient environments.

In order to repair the load-bearing cancellous bone defect of the human lower extremity, the development of a porous scaffold with high porosity, appropriate pore size, low elastic modulus and high fatigue strength has been faced with great challenges. In this study, the Ti6Al4V coaxial scaffolds with five types of beam angles and three types of pore sizes were designed using CAD and fabricated with the use of SLM. The porous characteristics and mechanical properties of scaffolds were investigated systematically. The results show that the porosity of the coaxial scaffolds is 63-69%, and the pore size is 480-700 μm. Meanwihle, the elastic modulus and compressive strength of the coaxial scaffolds were 1.08-1.85 GPa, 40-88 MPa, respectively. Moreover, the fatigue strength of the coaxial scaffolds with 500-40°, 600-40°, 700-40° were 1387, 1110 and 420 MPa, respectively. The pore size and porosity of the coaxial scaffolds in our study satisfied the size requirements for bone cells growth. Meanwhile, the low elastic modulus and high fatigue strength of the scaffolds also met the bio-mechanical bearing requirements of cancellous bone implants. Our study provided a reference for the design of biomimetic cancellous bone implants with good dynamic load-bearing mechanical properties.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) cancer susceptibility candidate 2 (CASC2) has been characterized as a tumor suppressor in glioma. Although CASC2 may predict the prognosis of glioma patients, the role and mechanism of CASC2 in human glioblastoma remain to be fully illuminated. Expression of CASC2 and miR- 18a was detected using RT-qPCR. Cell growth was evaluated by MTT assay, colony formation assay, and flow cytometry; metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were determined with transwell assay and Western blot, respectively. The target binding between CASC2 and miR-18a was predicted on Starbase software, and confirmed by luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation. Xenograft experiment measured tumor growth. As a result, CASC2 was downregulated and miR-18a was upregulated in glioblastoma tumor tissues and cells (T98 and A172). Overexpression of CASC2 promoted apoptosis rate and E-cadherin expression, but suppressed cell viability, colony-forming ability, migration, invasion, and expression of N-cadherin and Vimentin in T98 and A172 cells, accompanied with tumor growth inhibition in vivo ; whereas, silencing of CASC2 exerted the opposite effect on cell growth, metastasis and EMT of T98 and A172 cells in vitro . However, reintroduction of miR-18a could reverse CASC2 upregulation-mediated suppression on above cell behaviors in vitro . More importantly, miR-18a was a downstream target for CASC2, and was negatively regulated by CASC2. Collectively, this study demonstrated that CASC2 served as tumor suppressor in glioblastoma by inhibiting cell growth, metastasis and EMT both in vitro and in vivo partially via CASC2- miR-18a axis.

Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) act in recognizing odor molecules and their most well-studied functions are transporting odors across the sensillum lymph to olfactory receptor neurons within the insect antennal sensillum. The adults of Grapholita molesta highly depend on olfactory cues in locating host plants and selecting oviposition sites, in which OBPs play an important role in perceiving and recognizing host plant volatiles. Exploring the physiological function of OBPs could facilitate our understanding of their importance in insects' chemical communication. In this study, three OBP genes were cloned and named GmolOBP4, GmolOBP5, and GmolOBP10. Quantitative real-time PCR results indicated that GmolOBP4 and GmolOBP10 were predominantly expressed in adult antennae and GmolOBP5 was expressed in multiple tissues, including head, legs, and wings in addition to antennae. The binding affinities of the three recombinant GmolOBPs (rGmolOBPs) with four sex pheromone components and twenty-nine host plant volatiles were measured using 1-N-Phenyl-naphthylamine as a fluorescence probe. The three rGmolOBPs exhibited specific binding properties to potential ligands, GmolOBP4 and GmolOBP10 bound to minor sex pheromone components, such as (Z)-8-dodecenyl alcohol and dodecanol, respectively. rGmolOBP4 showed intermediate binding ability with hexanal, benzyl alcohol, and pear ester, rGmolOBP5 had a weak affinity for benzaldehyde, pear ester and, methyl jasmonate, and rGmolOBP10 showed strong binding capacity toward hexanol, decanol, and α-ocimene. We speculate that the GmolOBP4 and GmolOBP10 have dual functions in perception and recognition of host plant volatiles and sex pheromone components, while GmolOBP5 may serve other function(s)., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Aim: To investigate the morphology of lymph vessel capillaries in both human gastric carcinomas and their peritumoral tissues, as well as the relation of this morphology to lymphatic metastasis., Methods: The morphology and fine distribution of both lymph vessels and capillaries in and around the primary foci of gastric carcinoma were studied using the 5'Nase Alpase double staining method. The total amount of opened vessels and the opening rate of lymph vessels and capillaries were counted using a light microscope (100 × magnification), and the maximal luminal area, perimeter and diameter were measured using an image analysis technique., Results: Lymph vessels and capillaries displayed strong 5'Nase-positive staining (brown and dark brown), while blood vessels and capillaries revealed significant Alpase activity (blue). There were many lymph vessels, capillaries and solid strip-like tissues found in the gastric carcinoma samples analyzed. The total amount of lymphatics in the metastatic group (gastric carcinoma vs peritumoral tissue) and non-metastatic group was 26.9 ± 14.2 vs 10.4 ± 4.0, 11.4 ± 3.4 and 9.7 ± 3.2, P < 0.01, respectively. Their opening rates were 21.2 vs 47.5 and 40.4 vs 46.0, P < 0.01, respectively. Their maximal luminal areas were 1502.98 ± 1236.91 vs 5526.80 ± 4853.42; 1918.14 ± 2299.24 vs 3836.16 ± 3549.16; 5526.80 ± 4853.42 vs 3836.16 ± 3549.16, P < 0.05, their perimeters were 220.33 ± 130.25 vs 441.43 ± 276.51; 241.79 ± 171.13 vs 333.80 ± 199.66; 441.43 ± 276.51 vs 333.80 ± 199.60, P < 0.05, and their diameters were 28.80 ± 14.98 vs 59.39 ± 28.53; 25.37 ± 15.79 vs 46.22 ± 20.85; 59.39 ± 28.53 vs 46.22 ± 20.85, P < 0.05, respectively. In summary, the lymphatics found in gastric carcinoma samples from the metastatic group were significantly lower than those of the other groups., Conclusion: There are newly formed lymph capillaries found in gastric carcinoma. Dilation of lymph capillaries may be related to edema found in peritumoral connective tissues. The observed lymph node metastases from gastric carcinoma occur through mature lymph capillaries that invade in and around primary gastric carcinoma foci.