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Since 2017, a fishing moratorium has been enforced in Lake Honghu as part of Chang–Jiang’s biodiversity conservation strategy. However, given that the lake is a semi-closed aquatic ecosystem and no longer serves as a habitat for certain fishes of the mid–lower Chang–Jiang basin, the efficacy of this moratorium remains uncertain. To address the question from a trophic ecology perspective, a stomach content analysis was performed on captured anchovies of C. brachygnathus, a current predominant species in Lake Honghu, from November 2020 to October 2021. The results showed that copepods, shrimps, and macrophytes were the main components of this anchovy’s diet, and there were size-related shifts in diets. The dominance of C. brachygnathus, a pelagic–littoral omnivore in this lake, implies a lacustrine environment shift triggered by continued human disturbances. The utilization of macrophytes as the main food items by large-sized anchovies of Lake Honghu has partially contributed to the rapid degradation of submerged vegetation. This highlights the need to remove large-sized individuals of C. brachygnathus and Carassius auratus, another benthic-omnivorous dominant fish, in order to effectively restore the aquatic vegetation and ecosystem of Lake Honghu. The current implementation of fishing moratoriums in subtropical shallow floodplain lakes such as Lake Honghu should be reviewed critically.

During the actual wind power generation process, wind turbines are often affected by side effects such as blade vibrations, input constraints, and actuator faults. This can lead to a reduction in power generation efficiency and even result in unforeseen losses. This study discusses a robust adaptive fault-tolerant boundary control approach to address the issues of input-constrained and actuator-fault problems in wind turbine blade vibration control. By employing projection mapping techniques and hyperbolic tangent functions, a novel robust adaptive controller based on online dynamic updates is constructed to constrain vibrations, compensate for unknown disturbance upper bounds, and ensure the robustness of the coupled system. Additionally, considering the possibility of actuator faults during the control process, a fault-tolerant controller is proposed to effectively suppress elastic vibrations in the wind turbine blade system even in the presence of actuator faults. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is validated through numerical simulations.

Radix Astragali, one of the most popular herbs in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is used to strengthen the immune system, protect liver function, fight bacteria and viruses, and treat diabetes, heart failure and seasonal allergies. In recent years, a new form of Radix Astragali material processed by cell wall disrupting technology, namely ultrafine granular powder (UGP) has been introduced into the market. In order to determine chemical consistency and homogeneity of the UGP material prepared from sliced traditional materials (TM) of Radix Astragali, multiple batches of the UGP and TM samples derived from Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus were analyzed by UHPLC/DAD-MS using isoflavones and triterpenoid glycosides as marker compounds. The results demonstrated that the chemical profiles of UGP was identical or similar to that of TM, but UGP was highly homogeneous in terms of marker compound contents as assessed, e.g., by the relative standard deviation values of the nine marker compounds in the range of 8.55%−43.80% for TM2 compared against 1.70%−8.38% for UGP2. Macromolecular component preparation and 1H NMR analyses indicated that TM4 and its corresponding UGP4 produced similar polysaccharides, but the later had approximately two-fold dissolution rate of the polysaccharides when compared to the former (yield 7.22 ± 0.35% vs 3.39 ± 0.20%). This study confirms that UGP of Radix Astragali is chemically consistent and homogenous, supporting its use as a promising material in TCM prescriptions.

The feeding amount of bass farming is closely related to the number of bass. It is of great significance to master the number of bass to achieve accurate feeding and improve the economic benefits of the farm. In view of the interference caused by the problems of multiple targets and target occlusion in bass data for bass detection, this paper proposes a bass target detection model based on improved YOLOV5 in circulating water system. Firstly, acquiring by HD cameras, Mosaic-8, a data augmentation method, is utilized to expand datasets and improve the generalization ability of the model. And K-means clustering algorithm is applied to generate suitable coordinates of prior boxes to improve training efficiency. Secondly, Coordinate Attention mechanism (CA) is introduced into backbone feature extraction network and neck feature fusion network to enhance attention to targets of interest. Finally, Soft-NMS algorithm replaces Non-Maximum Suppression algorithm (NMS) to re-screen prediction boxes and keep targets with higher overlap, which effectively solves the problems of missed detection and false detection. The experiments show that the proposed model can reach 98.09% in detection accuracy and detection speed reaches 13.4ms. The proposed model can help bass farmers under the circulating water system to accurately grasp the number of bass, which has important application value to realize accurate feeding and water conservation.

Vicia mingyueshanensis, a new species from the Mingyue Mountain Region of western Jiangxi, China, is described and illustrated. It is a perennial climbing liana that always links to riparian woods. A morphological comparison indicated that the new species is closely similar to Vicia taipaica K. T. Fu and Vicia dichroantha Diels; however, it differs from the other two species by several salient characters, such as plant indumentum, stipule shape, corolla colour, bractlet shape and calyx shape. Photographs, a preliminary conservation assessment, table of morphological characters and distribution map comparing this new species to two morphologically-similar species are also provided.

Abstract Myocardial fibrosis detected by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has been reported in patients with desmin‐related myopathy, although its characteristics remain unclear. Here, we describe a case of desmin‐related restrictive cardiomyopathy wherein CMR imaging revealed myocardial oedema, ischaemia, and fibrosis in the left ventricle; the different types and processes of myocardial injury were detected by CMR. Middle wall left ventricular enhancement may be a feature of late gadolinium enhancement, and the lateral wall is often involved in cases of myocardial injury. CMR is useful for the early detection of cardiac involvement and the prediction of prognosis in patients diagnosed with desmin‐related myopathy.

Exosomes isolated from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) had shown beneficial effect on acute lung injury (ALI). However, the effective components in MSC-derived exosomes need further investigation. ALI mice model was established by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection. In vitro inflammatory model was established by LPS stimulation of MLE-12 cells. The cell proliferation was evaluated by EdU assay. TUNEL and Annexin V/PI were applied to evaluate the apoptosis of tissue and cell respectively. HE staining was performed to evaluate the lung injury. Transmission electronic microscope was used to observe isolated exosomes. Level of cytokines, MDA, KGF were determined by ELISA kit. Direct interaction of miR-132-3p and TRAF6 were verified by dual luciferase assay. The level of mRNA or proteins were determined by qRT-PCR or western blots respectively. TRAF6 was upregulated while miR-132-3p was downregulated in LPS-stimulated ALI model. MiR-132-3p negatively regulated TRAF6 by direct binding. MiR-132-3p potentiated proliferation and suppressed apoptosis of LPS-induced MLE-12 cells at least partly dependent on targeting TRAF6. Treatment of exosome alleviated the LPS-induced ALI in mice and LPS-induced inflammatory response in MLE-12 cells. Moreover, overexpression of miR-132-3p promoted the protective effect of exosomes in LPS-induced MLE-12 cells injury and LPS-induced ALI. Mechanically, it was suggested that miR-132-3p inactivated PI3K/Akt signalling via targeting TRAF6. In the present study, our results indicated that miR-132-3p mediated protective effect of MSC-derived exosomes on LPS-induced ALI. Exosomal miR-132-3p ameliorated LPS-induced ALI via targeting TRAF6 and inactivating PI3K/Akt signalling.

The hoverfly Eristalinus arvorum (Fabricius, 1787) (Diptera: Syrphidae), which belongs to the tribe Eristalini, is well known as a pollinating agent for crops and flowering plants in agricultural and natural ecosystems. Large quantity, wide distribution and their ecological function of the hoverfly E. arvorum make them an appropriate candidate for use as pollinators and environmental indicator species. However, little information has been known on the morphology and the biological cycle of the hoverfly. In this study, feeding experiments under artificial climate chamber and morphological qualitative and quantitative observations were carried out to study the morphology and the biological cycle of the hoverfly E. arvorum. The morphology of eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults of E. arvorum were described in detail for the first time. A complete generation of E. arvorum lasts about 30.12 ± 0.14 days, and there is no significant difference in body length between males (10.27 ± 0.29 mm) and females (11.16 ± 0.45 mm). The most noteworthy morphological features of E. arvorum are the stripes on the compound eyes, the mesonotum, and the abdomen of adults, the chorionic structure consisting of fusiform units on the egg's surface, and the anterior spiracles and pupal spiracles of the pupae. Thus, the detailed description based on morphology and life history will provide the basis for the identification, biodiversity conservation and artificial breeding of the hoverfly E. arvorum.

Improving formability and mechanical properties have always been one of the challenges in additively manufactured Nickel-based superalloys. In this work, the effect of a coaxially coupled alternating magnetic field (AMF) on surface morphology and mechanical properties of plasma arc-based additively manufactured Inconel 718 deposit were investigated. Results exhibit that the Lorentz force induced by AMF strongly alters the flow behavior of the plasma jet and the molten pool, suppressing the tendency of the liquid metal in the molten pool to flow down on the two sides face of the deposit, which in turn remarkably improved the surface accuracy of the thin-walled deposit. Furthermore, the electromagnetic stirring induced by AMF can effectively enhance the convection between the dendrites, which could not only contribute to the formation of finer dendrites but also alleviate the enrichment of the elements (i.e., Nb and Mo) at the solid–liquid interface and inhibits the precipitation of Laves phases. The smallest primary dendritic arm spacing (∼13 μm) and lowest Laves phases area fraction (3.12 %) were witnessed in the bottom region of the AMF-assisted deposit. The mechanical test confirmed that the deposit's microhardness and tensile properties were moderately improved compared with the counterpart without AMF.

Along with the extensive application of energy storage devices, the spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are unquestionably classified into the secondary resources due to its high content of several valuable metals. However, current recycling methods have the main drawback to their tedious process, especially the purification and separation process. Herein, we propose a simplified process to recycle both cathode (LiCoO2) and anode (graphite) in the spent LIBs and regenerate newly high-performance anode material, CoO/CoFe2O4/expanded graphite (EG). This process not only has the advantages of succinct procedure and easy control of reaction conditions, but also effectively separates and recycles lithium from transition metals. The 98.43% of lithium is recovered from leachate when the solid product CoO/CoFe2O4/EG is synthesized as anode material for LIBs. And the product exhibits improved cyclic stability (890 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 after 700 cycles) and superior rate capability (208 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1). The merit of this delicate recycling design can be summarized as three aspects: the utilization of Fe impurity in waste LiCoO2, the transformation of waste graphite to EG, and the regeneration of anode material. This approach properly recycles the valuable components of spent LIBs, which introduces an insight into the future recycling.

The autonomous navigation of unmanned surface vehicles (USV) depends mainly on effective ship target detection to the nearby water area. The difficulty of target detection for USV derives from the complexity of the external environment, such as the light reflection and the cloud or mist shield. Accordingly, this paper proposes a target detection technology for USV on the basis of the EfficientDet algorithm. The ship features fusion is performed by Bi-directional Feature Pyra-mid Network (BiFPN), in which the pre-trained EfficientNet via ImageNet is taken as the backbone network, then the detection speed is increased by group normalization. Compared with the Faster-RCNN and Yolo V3, the ship target detection accuracy is greatly improved to 87.5% in complex environments. The algorithm can be applied to the identification of dynamic targets on the sea, which provides a key reference for the autonomous navigation of USV and the military threats assessment on the sea surface.

Abstract Background Mortality and complications remain high after acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) open surgery and are associated with coagulation dysfunction. Platelets play an important role in the process of coagulation. This study explored the relationship between postoperative platelet counts and 3-year mortality after operation in patients with ATAAD undergoing open aortic repair surgery. Methods Patients with ATAAD who underwent Total Arch Replacement and Frozen Elephant Trunk in Fuwai Hospital from 2011 to 2015 were selected for this study. The perioperative data were collected and sorted through the electronic clinical case system. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for death within three years after surgery. Results A total of 495 patients were included in the analysis. After correction for confounding factors, decreased postoperative platelet count remained an independent factor that was associated with lower mortality (OR = 0.918, 95% CI 0.853–0.988, P = 0.023). Conclusions The study indicated that decreased postoperative platelet count may lead to increased 3-year mortality, in patients with ATAAD who underwent open aortic repair surgery.

Although methylmercury (MeHg) has been recognized as a typical heavy metal posing huge damages to various life processes of fish, the response mechanisms of marine fish at early life stages (ELSs) to MeHg is still poorly understood. In this study, non-targeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based metabolomic and transcriptomic approaches were used to explore response mechanisms of juvenile flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) to long-term sublethal MeHg exposure (0 and 1.0 μg L-1; 30 d). After exposure, growth parameters of flounder were significantly decreased. Metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses of liver tissue showed obvious difference about biological pathways and identified biomarkers (around 2502 genes and 16 secondary metabolites). Those significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and their enriched pathways were mainly related to immune response, oxidative stress, lipids metabolism, glycometabolism, amino acid and nucleotide metabolism and regulation of protein processes, while those identified secondary metabolites were mainly enriched in tryptophan metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid metabolism and glutathione metabolism. Additionally, multi-omic method was used to explore response mechanisms of key pathways under MeHg stress. In this regard, only 57 DEGs and 6 secondary metabolites were significantly enriched in 7 pathways to constitute an integrated regulatory network, including glutathione metabolism, thyroid hormone synthesis, linoleic acid metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, tryptophan metabolism pathway, serotonergic synapse and African trypanosomiasis. Above all, we could speculate that antioxidative function, lipids metabolism, nervous system and amino acid metabolism were the more sensitive targets in response to MeHg stress, which were conductive to deeply understand the response mechanisms of fish at ELSs under MeHg exposure. Those identified biomarkers could also be widely used for toxicological studies of pollutants and ecological risks monitoring.

The neural stem cells (NSCs) in the ventricular-subventricular zone of the adult mammalian spinal cord may be of great benefit for repairing spinal cord injuries. However, the sources of NSCs remain unclear. Previously, we have confirmed that cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons (CSF-cNs) have NSC potential in vitro. In this study, we verified the NSC properties of CSF-cNs in vivo. In mouse spinal cords, Pkd2l1+ CSF-cNs localized around the central canal express NSC markers. In vitro, Pkd2l1+ CSF-cNs form a neurosphere and express NSC markers. Activation and proliferation of CSF-cNs can be induced by injection of the neurotrophic factors basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) into the lateral ventricle. Spinal cord injury (SCI) also induces NSC activation and proliferation of CSF-cNs. Collectively, our results demonstrate that Pkd2l1+ CSF-cNs have NSC properties in vivo and may be involved in SCI recovery.

This study investigated the fracture characteristics of plain concrete and polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete (PFRC) using pre-notched three-point bending beam tests with the digital speckle correlation method (DSCM). Then, the fracture instability behavior of the two types of beams was simulated in finite elements based on the plastic damage model and the cohesion model, for which the applicability was assessed. Furthermore, the stability of the Big Gang Mountain Dam made from plain concrete or PFRC subjected to the earth-quake loading was simulated with the plastic damage model. The results show that the limiting length of the non-local deformation zone can be used as an indicator of instability damage in a concrete structure. The simulation results of the plastic damage model agreed well with the local deformation in the pre-notched three-point bending beam test obtained from the DSCM. The plastic damage model was found to be capable of describing the residual strength phenomenon, which the cohesive model was not capable of. The damage evolution regions of the PFRC dam are strictly constrained in some regions without the occurrence of the local deformation band across the dam, and PFRC can dramatically reduce the failure risk under earthquake loading. The numerical solution proves that PFRC is an advisable material for avoiding failure in concrete dams.

In this paper, a Lotka–Volterra (L-V) competitor–competitor–mutualist system with time-varying delays is studied. Some dynamical behaviors of the considered system are investigated. Firstly, we obtain the boundedness, permanence and periodic solution of the system using the comparison principle of differential equations and inequality estimation method. Then, the global attractiveness of the system is analyzed by multiple Lyapunov functionals. Meanwhile, the existence and global attractivity of positive periodic solutions is derived. In the third section, in order to validate the practicability and feasibility of the obtained theoretical results, we conducted numerical simulations using MATLAB function ddesd. Finally, the fourth section is where conclusions are drawn.

A microstructure determines macro functionality. A controlled periodic structure gives the surface specific functions such as controlled structural color, wettability, anti-icing/frosting, friction reduction, and hardness enhancement. Currently, there are a variety of controllable periodic structures that can be produced. Laser interference lithography (LIL) is a technique that allows for the simple, flexible, and rapid fabrication of high-resolution periodic structures over large areas without the use of masks. Different interference conditions can produce a wide range of light fields. When an LIL system is used to expose the substrate, a variety of periodic textured structures, such as periodic nanoparticles, dot arrays, hole arrays, and stripes, can be produced. The LIL technique can be used not only on flat substrates, but also on curved or partially curved substrates, taking advantage of the large depth of focus. This paper reviews the principles of LIL and discusses how the parameters, such as spatial angle, angle of incidence, wavelength, and polarization state, affect the interference light field. Applications of LIL for functional surface fabrication, such as anti-reflection, controlled structural color, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), friction reduction, superhydrophobicity, and biocellular modulation, are also presented. Finally, we present some of the challenges and problems in LIL and its applications.

This study utilizes the genetic algorithm (GA) and Levenberg–Marquardt (L–M) algorithm to optimize the parameter acquisition process for two commonly used viscoelastic models: 2S2P1D and Havriliak–Negami (H–N). The effects of the various combinations of the optimization algorithms on the accuracy of the parameter acquisition in these two constitutive equations are investigated. Furthermore, the applicability of the GA among different viscoelastic constitutive models is analyzed and summarized. The results indicate that the GA can ensure a correlation coefficient of 0.99 between the fitting result and the experimental data of the 2S2P1D model parameters, and it is further proved that the fitting accuracy can be achieved through the secondary optimization via the L–M algorithm. Since the H–N model involves fractional power functions, high-precision fitting by directly fitting the parameters to experimental data is challenging. This study proposes an improved semi-analytical method that first fits the Cole–Cole curve of the H–N model, followed by optimizing the parameters of the H–N model using the GA. The correlation coefficient of the fitting result can be improved to over 0.98. This study also reveals a close relationship between the optimization of the H–N model and the discreteness and overlap of experimental data, which may be attributed to the inclusion of fractional power functions in the H–N model.

Carbon steels are widely used structural materials in vessel and marine engineering. Many studies acknowledge that the pitting corrosion of these materials are heavily subject to their metallurgic factors. Although much attention has been paid on inclusions and microstructure, little had been dealt with metallurgical processing including deoxidizing degrees. Deoxidization is one of the most important processes in steelmaking. Stronger deoxidizing degree helps to improve steel’s mechanical property and welding property. However, some studies demonstrated that weaker deoxidizing degree tends to improve pitting corrosion resistance. Manufacturing ordinary structural steels nowadays have been changed from mould casting to continuous casting. However, the deoxidizing degree of continuous casting steel may be different due to different deoxidization techniques. Particularly, the oxygen content in current steels has a fairly low level, which may be harmful to pitting corrosion resistance of steels. In this study, the influence of oxygen content in carbon hull steels on corrosion and mechanical properties of steel was investigated by mechanical properties tests and alternate immersion test. Results show increased oxygen content when there is duction of deoxidization of molten steel in the range permitted by continuous casting. Interestingly, the average corrosion rate of steel slightly decreases and an obvious enhancement of resistance to pitting is observed. The average pit depth corresponding to the high oxygen side of the pit depth-oxygen curve is about 22.7% lower than that of the low oxygen side. The mechanical and cold bending properties of tested steels are able to meet technical code requirements and can reach the level of Grade D hull steel. Findings of this study suggest that solid solution oxygen in steel plays a major role in improving pitting resistance. It can enhance the thermodynamic stability of iron, elevate the corrosion potential of the iron in the pit, and reduce the pitting rate. Therefore, using oxygen as a corrosion resistant element is an economic strategy to reduce the cost of corrosion resistant steel.

2-(hetero)aryl N-heteroarenes are ubiquitously applied in numerous fields of science and useful for the development of bioactive molecules and drugs, but there is a lack of general methods for their synthesis. Here, the authors report an iridium(III)-catalyzed method for direct α-arylation of N-heteroarenes with aryl and heteroaryl boronic acids, by a H2O-mediated H2-evolution cross-coupling strategy.

Abstract Background Spodoptera frugiperda is a serious pest that causes devastating losses to many major crops, including corn, rice, sugarcane, and peanut. Camptothecin (CPT) is a bioactive secondary metabolite of the woody plant Camptotheca acuminata, which has shown high toxicity to various pests. However, the effect of CPT against S. frugiperda remains unknown. Results In this study, bioassays have been conducted on the growth inhibition of CPT on S. frugiperda larvae. Histological and cytological changes were examined in the midgut of larvae fed on an artificial diet supplemented with 1.0 and 5.0 µg/g CPT. The potential molecular mechanism was explored by comparative transcriptomic analyses among midgut samples obtained from larvae under different treatments. A total of 915 and 3560 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified from samples treated with 1.0 and 5.0 µg/g CPT, respectively. Among the identified genes were those encoding detoxification-related proteins and components of peritrophic membrane such as mucins and cuticle proteins. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses indicated that part of DEGs were involved in DNA replication, digestion, immunity, endocrine system, and metabolism. Conclusions Our results provide useful information on the molecular basis for the impact of CPT on S. frugiperda and for future studies on potential practical application.

Mesothelin (MSLN) is overexpressed by many cancers, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and has consequently become a target for anti-cancer therapeutics. Mature, membrane bound MSLN is cleaved by proteases, releasing a shed form that transits to the circulation. Many patients with mesothelioma and ovarian cancer have abnormally high serum MSLN concentration. However, serum MSLN concentration in PDAC patients rarely exceeds levels of healthy controls. Here, serum MSLN concentration in advanced PDAC patients was examined pre- and post-treatment. Serum MSLN did not correlate with tumor MSLN expression, nor with changes in tumor burden as assessed by PDAC serum tumor marker CA19–9. Subsequently, tumor-bearing mouse models were used to investigate the fate of shed MSLN in PDAC versus a control cervical cancer model. Efficiency of MSLN secretion into the serum was cell-line dependent. Tumors from some PDAC lines had poor MSLN secretion efficiency although these lines had similar or higher MSLN shedding rate, total and surface MSLN expression. Measurements of compartment-specific MSLN concentration taken at equilibrium suggested that tumors with poor MSLN secretion efficiency trapped shed MSLN in the tumor microenvironment (TME), a finding confirmed by dynamic experiments using a doxycycline-inducible MSLN expression system. Tumors with the poorest MSLN secretion efficiency had higher collagen density and increased abundance of MSLN binding partner MUC16. The tumor with the worst secretion efficiency could rebind shed MSLN to the cancer cell surface. Altogether, these data suggest that PDAC can trap shed MSLN within the TME. This finding has potential significance for design of MSLN-targeted therapeutics.

Unlike classical correlation, quantum entanglement cannot be freely shared among many parties. This restricted shareability of entanglement among multi-party systems is known as monogamy of entanglement, which is one of the most fundamental properties of entanglement. Here, we summarize recent theoretical progress in the field of monogamy of entanglement. We firstly review the standard CKW-type monogamy inequalities in terms of various entanglement measures. In particular, the squashed entanglement and one-way distillable entanglement are monogamous for arbitrary dimensional systems. We then introduce some generalized version of monogamy inequalities which extend and sharpen the traditional ones. We also consider the dual polygamy inequalities for multi-party systems. Moreover, we present two new definitions to define monogamy of entanglement. Finally, some challenges and future directions for monogamy of entanglement are highlighted.

IntroductionWhile tranexamic acid (TXA) is widely used in patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) who undergo surgical repair to reduce blood loss and transfusion requirement, the optimal dosage of TXA is unknown in these patients.Materials and MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study that compared high-dose (>50 mg/kg) and low-dose TXA (≤50 mg/kg) in patients with ATAAD who underwent surgical repair. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed between the two groups and results were analyzed in matched cases. The primary outcome was postoperative blood loss within 3 days after surgery. The secondary outcomes were total blood loss after surgery and perioperative blood transfusion, and safety outcomes were also assessed.ResultsThrough medical record screening, 529 patients were identified. After PSM, 196 patients in the high-dose group and 196 patients in the low-dose group were matched and included in the final analysis. Postoperative blood loss in 3 days after surgery was 940 mL (710–1,010 mL) in the low-dose group and 695 mL (620–860 mL) in the high-dose group. The difference was statistically significant (P

Melatonin (MT) is a key plant growth regulator. To investigate its effect at different growth stages on the yield of soybean under nitrogen deficiency, 100 μM MT was applied to soybean supplemented with zero nitrogen (0N), low nitrogen (LN), and control nitrogen (CK) levels, during the plant vegetative growth (V3) and filling (R5) stages. This study revealed that the application of MT mainly enhanced the nitrogen fixation of plants by increasing the root nodule number and provided more substrates for glutamine synthetase (GS) under 0N supply. However, under the LN supply, more ammonium was assimilated through the direct promotion of nitrate reductase (NR) activity by MT. MT enhanced the activity of ammonium-assimilation-related enzymes, such as GOGAT and GDH, and the expression of their coding genes, promoted the synthesis of chlorophyll and amino acids, and increased the photosynthetic capacity under nitrogen deficiency. Exogenous MT directly upregulated the expression of genes involved in the photosynthetic system and stimulated dry-matter accumulation. Thus, MT alleviated the inhibitory effect of nitrogen deficiency on soybean yield. This mitigation effect was better when MT was applied at the V3 stage, and the seed weight per plant increased by 16.69 and 12.20% at 0N and LN levels, respectively. The results of this study provide a new theoretical basis to apply MT in agriculture to improve the resilience of soybean plants to low nitrogen availability.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a disabling condition with significant morbidity and mortality. Currently, no effective SCI treatment exists. This study aimed to identify potential biomarkers and characterize the properties of immune cell infiltration during this pathological event. To eliminate batch effects, we concurrently analyzed two mouse SCI datasets (GSE5296, GSE47681) from the GEO database. First, we identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using linear models for microarray data (LIMMA) and performed functional enrichment studies on those DEGs. Next, we employed bioinformatics and machine-learning methods to identify and define the characteristic genes of SCI. Finally, we validated them using immunofluorescence and qRT-PCR. Additionally, this study assessed the inflammatory status of SCI by identifying cell types using CIBERSORT. Furthermore, we investigated the link between key markers and infiltrating immune cells. In total, we identified 561 robust DEGs. We identified Rab20 and Klf6 as SCI-specific biomarkers and demonstrated their significance using qRT-PCR in the mouse model. According to the examination of immune cell infiltration, M0, M1, and M2 macrophages, along with naive CD8, dendritic cell-activated, and CD4 Follicular T cells may have a role in the progression of SCI. Therefore, Rab20 and Klf6 could be accessible targets for diagnosing and treating SCI. Moreover, as previously stated, immune cell infiltration may significantly impact the development and progression of SCI.

To improve the mechanical properties of calcareous sand, it is proposed that microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technology be used. A series of solidification tests were conducted in natural seawater and freshwater environments. The standard stress path static triaxial apparatus was used to conduct shear tests on calcareous sand and solids under varying reinforcement conditions. The composite power-exponential (CPE) model is proposed to describe the stress–strain relationship curve of the solid, and the method for determining model parameters is presented. The experimental results showed that the strength of calcareous sand with solids increased with the increase in number of reinforcement times for both test environments. Owing to the high salinity of seawater, which inhibits the activity of urease in bacterial solutions, the reinforcement strength in the seawater environment was generally lower than that in the freshwater environment. The compactness had an evident effect on the strength of the added solids. With the increase in compactness, the strength of the sample also increased, but the rate of increase was reduced. The simulation results showed that the established constitutive model can accurately describe the stress–strain relationship of microbial-reinforced calcareous sand and verified the applicability of the model.

The novel high-Mn austenitic steel is becoming a promising steel for cryogenic applications of LNG tanks. The welded joints take a critical role in cryogenic service for storage tanks. In this work, we developed well-matched high-Mn welding consumables and prepared the welded joints by shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), submerged arc welding (SAW) and gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). The detailed welding parameters were proposed first, then the welding quality, mechanical properties, and microstructure were investigated. The results show that good welding quality, excellent mechanical properties, and stable levels of mechanical properties were obtained for high-Mn steel welded joints using similar welding consumables, the solid core of electrodes, and solid welding wires. Notably, the lowest cryogenic absorbed energy was found at 5 mm away from the fusion line rather than at the fusion line. The hardness of the welded joints was detected to be less than 280 HV due to the whole austenitic microstructure.

The tuberous roots of Potentilla anserina (Pan) are an edible and medicinal resource in Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China. The triterpenoids from tuberous roots have shown promising anti-cancer, hepatoprotective, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we carried out phylogenetic analysis of squalene synthases (SQSs), squalene epoxidases (SQEs), and oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs) in the pathway of triterpenes. In total, 6, 26, and 20 genes of SQSs, SQEs, and OSCs were retrieved from the genome of Pan, respectively. Moreover, 6 SQSs and 25 SQEs genes expressed in two sub-genomes (A and B) of Pan. SQSs were not expanded after whole-genome duplication (WGD), and the duplicated genes were detected in SQEs. Twenty OSCs were divided into two clades of cycloartenol synthases (CASs) and β-amyrin synthases (β-ASs) by a phylogenetic tree, characterized with gene duplication and evolutionary divergence. We speculated that β-ASs and CASs may participate in triterpenes synthesis. The data presented act as valuable references for future studies on the triterpene synthetic pathway of Pan.

Background: LMB-100 is a mesothelin (MSLN)-targeting recombinant immunotoxin (iTox) carrying a Pseudomonas exotoxin A payload that has shown promise against solid tumors, however, efficacy is limited by the development of neutralizing anti-drug antibodies (ADAs). Tofacitinib is an oral Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor that prevented ADA formation against iTox in preclinical studies. Methods: A phase 1 trial testing LMB-100 and tofacitinib in patients with MSLNexpressing cancers (pancreatic adenocarcinoma, n=13; cholangiocarcinoma, n=1; appendiceal carcinoma, n=1; cystadenocarcinoma, n=1) was performed to assess safety and to determine if tofacitinib impacted ADA formation. Participants were treated for up to 3 cycles with LMB-100 as a 30-minute infusion on days 4, 6, and 8 at two dose levels (100 and 140 µg/kg) while oral tofacitinib was administered for the first 10 days of the cycle (10 mg BID). Peripheral blood was collected for analysis of ADA levels, serum cytokines and circulating immune subsets. Results: The study was closed early due to occurrence of drug-induced pericarditis in 2 patients. Pericarditis with the combination was not reproducible in a transgenic murine model containing human MSLN. Two of 4 patients receiving all 3 cycles of treatment maintained effective LMB-100 levels, an unusual occurrence. Sustained increases in systemic IL-10 and TNF-α were seen, a phenomenon not observed in prior LMB-100 studies. A decrease in activated T cell subsets and an increase in circulating immunosuppressive myeloid populations occurred. No radiologic decreases in tumor volume were observed. Discussion: Further testing of tofacitinib to prevent ADA formation is recommended in applicable non-malignant disease settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Perioperative coagulopathy and blood transfusion are common in patients undergoing Stanford type A acute aortic dissection (AAD) repair. The autologous platelet-rich plasmapheresis (aPRP) technique is a blood conservation approach to reduce blood transfusions and morbidity in patients at high risk of bleeding. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of aPRP on outcomes, especially in postoperative acute kidney injury (post-AKI), in patients undergoing AAD surgery. Methods Six hundred sixty patients were divided into aPRP and non-aPRP groups according to aPRP use. The primary endpoint was the difference in the incidence of post-AKI between two groups. The secondary endpoints were risk factors for post-AKI and to assess clinical outcomes. The risk factors associated with post-AKI were calculated, and all outcomes were adjusted by propensity-score matching analysis. Results A total of 272 patients (41.2%) received aPRP, whereas 388 were in the non-aPRP group. Compared to non-aPRP group, the occurrence of post-AKI increased by 14.1% (p = 0.002) and 11.1% (p = 0.010) with and without propensity adjustment in the aPRP group, respectively. The aPRP group required fewer intraoperative transfusions (p

Abstract. Background:. Aspirin has demonstrated safety and efficacy for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis following total hip arthroplasty (THA); however, inconsistent dose regimens have been reported in the literature. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the safety and efficacy of 100 mg aspirin twice daily with rivaroxaban in VTE prophylaxis following THA. Methods:. Patients undergoing elective unilateral primary THA between January 2019 and January 2020 were prospectively enrolled in the study and randomly allocated to receive 5 weeks of VTE prophylaxis with either oral enteric-coated aspirin (100 mg twice daily) or rivaroxaban (10 mg once daily). Medication safety and efficacy were comprehensively evaluated through symptomatic VTE incidence, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) on Doppler ultrasonography, total blood loss (TBL), laboratory bloodwork, Harris hip score (HHS), post-operative recovery, and the incidence of other complications. Results:. We included 70 patients in this study; 34 and 36 were allocated to receive aspirin and rivaroxaban prophylaxis, respectively. No cases of symptomatic VTE occurred in this study. The DVT rate on Doppler ultrasonography in the aspirin group was not significantly different from that in the rivaroxaban group (8.8% vs. 8.3%, χ2 = 0.01, P = 0.91), confirming the non-inferiority of aspirin for DVT prophylaxis (χ2 = 2.29, P = 0.01). The calculated TBL in the aspirin group (944.9 mL [658.5–1137.8 mL]) was similar to that in the rivaroxaban group (978.3 mL [747.4–1740.6mL]) (χ2 = 1.55, P = 0.12). However, there were no significant inter-group differences in HHS at post-operative day (POD) 30 (Aspirin: 81.0 [78.8–83.0], Rivaroxaban: 81.0 [79.3–83.0], χ2 = 0.43, P = 0.67) and POD 90 (Aspirin: 90.0 [89.0–92.0], Rivaroxaban: 91.5 [88.3–92.8], χ2 = 0.77, P = 0.44), the incidence of bleeding events (2.9% vs. 8.3%, χ2 = 0.96, P = 0.33), or gastrointestinal complications (2.9% vs. 5.6%, χ2 = 1.13, P = 0.29). Conclusion:. In terms of safety and efficacy, the prophylactic use of 100 mg aspirin twice daily was not statistically different from that of rivaroxaban in preventing VTE and reducing the risk of blood loss following elective primary THA. This supports the use of aspirin chemoprophylaxis following THA as a less expensive and more widely available option for future THAs. Trial Registration:. Chictr.org, ChiCTR18000202894; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=33284

We conducted an integrative system biology of metabolome and transcriptome profile analyses during pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) seed germination and utilized a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to describe the functionality and complexity of the physiological and morphogenetic processes as well as gene expression and metabolic differences during seed germination stages. In total, 489 metabolites were detected, including 40 differentially accumulated metabolites. The transcriptomic analysis showed the expression of 6 984 genes changed significantly throughout the whole germination process. Using WGCNA, we identified modules related to the various seed germination stages and hub genes. In the initial imbibition stage (stage 1), the pivotal genes involved in RNA transduction and the glycolytic pathway were most active, while in the sprouting stage (stage 4), the pivotal genes were involved in multiple metabolic pathways. In terms of secondary metabolic pathways, we found flavonoid 4-reductase genes of anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway are most significantly affected during pomegranate seed germination, while the flavonol synthase gene was mainly involved in the regulation of isoflavonoid biosynthesis.