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Fiber optic sensors are often used as acoustic sensors to detect sound waves because of their apparent advantages, such as anti-electromagnetic interference and strong adaptation to the environment. The transverse vibration mode of the fiber caused by the acoustic wave can be obtained, and the principle of the optical fiber sensor to detect the acoustic wave signal was explored by using a simple model. It is found that the acoustic wave can effectively cause the change in birefringence of the fiber only when the number of azimuthal modes is 2, and the acoustic wave was detected by using a fiber sensor. It is found, by analyzing the detection mechanism, that the spectral width is proportional to the acoustic impedance of the surrounding medium, and the acoustic interaction between the TR22 mode and the surrounding medium is much weaker than that of the TR21 mode. This provides a theoretical basis for the detection of acoustic signals by fiber optic sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel patterns sequence exchanged method is proposed for motion-induced errors compensation of VSPM. • The appropriate projection sequences of VSPM are designed in dynamic measurement. • The proposed framework is verified with simulations and experiments and expands the application of VSPM in dynamic measurement, whether it is uniform or non-uniform motion. Phase shifting profilometry has found broad application in high-accuracy dynamic optical measurement. However, due to the nature of its multi-frame projection, motion-induced errors are unavoidable in dynamic scenarios. This paper proposes a patterns sequence exchanged method to suppress the motion-induced errors in variant shifting-phase methods (VSPM) which project four fringe patterns. For each of the three original methods in VSPM, a set of four encoded patterns is divided into two subsets by analyzing its computational characteristics. Patterns grouped into one subset should be adjacent when projected. To compensate for both the motion-induced shifting-phase errors and wrapped phase errors, an auxiliary patterns set, also containing four complete variant shifting-phase images, is constructed by extracting two different but adjacent subsets from two patterns sets captured consecutively. The essence of constructing the auxiliary patterns set is to change the projection sequence of patterns, and calculate another shifting-phase and wrapped phase with opposite errors tendencies. This is because the patterns sequence plays a crucial role in dynamic measurement. For different projection sequence of patterns, the object motion introduces different error order relative to the original projection sequence, thus causing different error forms. According to the original and auxiliary patterns sets, the motion-induced shifting-phase errors and wrapped phase errors of VSPM are compensated, then further get high-accuracy absolute phase. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed compensation method without any iterative calculation, which further expands the application of VSPM in high-speed dynamic measurement, whether it is uniform or non-uniform motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the nutrient budgets and biogeochemical dynamics in the coastal regions of northern Beibu Gulf (CNBG). Nutrient concentrations varied spatially and seasonally among the different bays. High nutrient levels were found in the regions with high riverine inputs and intensive mariculture. Using a three end-member mixing model, nutrient biogeochemistry within the ecosystem was estimated separately from complex physical mixing effects. Nutrient consumption dominated in most bays in summer, whereas nutrient regeneration dominated in winter, likely due to phytoplankton decomposition, vertical mixing and desorption. Through the Land-Ocean Interaction Coastal Zone (LOICZ) model, the robust nutrient budgets were constructed, indicating that the CNBG behaved as a sink of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon. River-borne nutrient inputs were the dominant nutrient source, while residual flows and water exchange flows transported nutrient off the estuaries. This study could help us better understand nutrient cycles and nutrient sources/sinks in the CNBG. • The CNBG behaved as a sink of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon. • Riverine inputs was the dominant nutrient source, water exchange flows was the main nutrient output. • Nutrient consumption dominated in summer, nutrient regeneration dominated in winter. • Microbial nitrogen removal exceeded nitrogen fixation in the CNBG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instance segmentation technology can provide accurate and efficient segmentation methods for visual perception of marine scenes, especially in the development of unmanned ships. However, the community lacks suitable open-source datasets. In order to address the problem of insufficient datasets, an instance segmentation dataset for the marine ship was collected and labeled. Our dataset, named MariShipInsSeg, consists of 4k high-quality visible light marine ship images with 8,413 instances. Due to marine ships being photographed far away, which causes ship objects with less detail information. Therefore, a global method is adopted to make full use of global location and semantic information, which is helpful for ship instance segmentation. We proposed a new method called Global Mask R-CNN (GM R-CNN), which utilized Precise RoI Pooling and Global Mask Head aiming to preserve global information of instances for improving the performance of ship instance segmentation. Experiments on the challenging MS COCO dataset and MariShipInsSeg dataset show that Global Mask R-CNN achieves state-of-the-art performance. Without any bells and whistles, the proposed GM R-CNN achieves 38.7% mask AP on MS COCO test-dev and 48.6% mask AP on MariShipInsSeg testing sets, which are gain of 1.6% and 1.9% compared with Mask R-CNN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D object detection based on LiDAR point cloud has wide applications in autonomous driving and robotics. Recently, many approaches use voxelization representation in feature extraction and apply 3D convolution neural networks for 3D object detection. How to get expressive 3D voxelization representation is important for the detection performance. Therefore, we propose a new 3D object detection framework (DVFENet) based on dual-branch voxel feature extraction, which can provide rich and complete 3D information. The first branch is a graph-attention-network-based voxel feature extraction, which applies an improved voxel graph attention feature extractor (VGAFE) on large-scale voxelization. This branch uses graph convolution networks with an attention mechanism to extract more local neighborhood and context information. The second branch is a 3D-sparse-convolution-based voxel feature extraction that captures finer geometric features based on small-scale voxelization. We also design a decoupled RPN module that can obtain task-specific features to reduce the task conflict. Experiments on the challenging KITTI 3D object detection benchmark and nuScenes detection task show that our method achieve good performance. At the same time, we conduct extensive experiments to verify the effectiveness of each component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photodynamic inactivation (PDI), as a new non-thermal decontamination and preservation technology, exhibits the advantages of low cost, free of residue and non-microbial resistance. Curcumin (CUR) as a natural photosensitizer could effectively inactivate food spoilage bacteria at an absorbance wavelength (420–470 nm) light illumination. In this study, the in vitro influence of PDI process parameters on the inactivation of Staphylococcus saprophyticus and the antimicrobial mechanism was analyzed. Approximate 5 log CFU/ml reduction was obtained when treated with 25 μM CUR and 4.32 J/cm2 of blue LED. Obvious cell wrinkles, cell membrane disruption, intracellular contents leakage and increased membrane permeability of S. saprophyticus cell were observed after CUR-PDI treatment. Further, generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species, along with decreased intracellular enzyme activities and increased degree of cell membrane depolarization verified cell damage. The in vivo photo-antibacterial effect (1.04 log CFU/g and 0.81 log CFU/g) was validated on fresh millet dough sheet at two initial bacterial loads (5 log CFU/g and 3 log CFU/g, respectively). These findings illustrated that CUR mediated PDI could be applied to inhibit S. saprophyticus growth and possibly prevent spoilage of fresh dough products. • Photoactivated curcumin caused ~5log CFU/ml reduction of Staphylococcus saprophyticus in vitro. • Curcumin combined blue light illumination disrupted the integrity of S. saprophyticus cell membrane. • Increased ROS level after the combined treatment can induce cell death. • The antimicrobial efficacy was validated by fresh dough sheet with different bacterial loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a liquid conductive material, gallium-based liquid metal (LM) is suitable for various applications from soft electronics and robotics to medical treatment and energy equipment. Although LM has high surface tension, it is easy to adhere to most substrate surfaces due to its easy oxidation in the air and the existence of gallium oxide layer on the surface. The applications of gallium-based liquid metal are limited by the wetting nature. In response to the issue, we propose a simple and low-cost ultrasonic method to prepare LM micro-droplet coating (LMDC), thereby converting various surfaces into nonwetting surfaces and further preventing the adhesion of LM. The LM does not leave any residue when moving, bouncing, and rolling on the coating surface. Moreover, the coating has certain conductivity, which can realize stable conductive connection between LM and metal substrate. This surface solves the problem of wettability and conductivity of LM. In order to prove the practicability of LMDC, we prepared floating switch to monitor the movement of human hands and temperature warning for drug storage. The results showed the LMDC interface had the non-wettability and conductivity of LM, which will broaden gallium-based liquid metal applications. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ship segmentation is an important task in maritime surveillance systems. A great deal of research on image segmentation has been done in the past few years, but there appears to be some problems when directly utilizing them for ship segmentation under complex maritime background. The interference factors decreasing segmentation performance usually are from the peculiarity of complex maritime background, such as the existence of sea fog, large wakes and large waves. To deal with these interference factors, this paper presents an integrated ship segmentation method based on discriminator and extractor (ISDE). Different from traditional segmentation methods, our method consists of two components in light of the structure: Interference Factor Discriminator (IFD) and Ship Extractor (SE). SqueezeNet is employed for the implementation of IFD as the first step to make a judgment on what interference factors are contained in the input image. While DeepLabv3 + and improved DeepLabv3 + are employed for the implementation of SE as the second step to finally extract ships. We collect a ship segmentation dataset and conduct intensive experiments on it. The experimental results demonstrate that our method for ship segmentation outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of segmentation accuracy, especially for the images contain sea fog. Besides our method can run in real time as well. • An integrated ship segmentation method consisting of Interference Factor Discriminator and Ship Extractor for complex maritime background. • An improved DeepLabv3 + which is more suitable for ship segmentation task is proposed. • A collected and manually labeled ship segmentation dataset will be public to the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural medicinal plants, also named herbs, have attracted considerable research attention for their potential pharmacological activities, such as antitumor and longevity-promoting activities. Our previous review proposed that maintaining the homeostatic balance between aging and cancer may benefit organisms to enable tumor-free longevity. Congea chinensis Moldenke (CCM) is a plant species that grows on the border of Yunnan Province of China. Its medicinal value has been few reports until now. Thus, screening and extraction the ingredients from CCM that are both active tumor suppressors and TERT activators is a therapeutic strategy for improving tumor-free longevity. To extract and evaluate the cytotoxic antitumor and TERT transcription-promoting activities of the plant CCM. The ingredients extracted from CCM were tested for transcriptional activation of p53 using pGL4-p53-GFP cells and for TERT expression using a real-time PCR assay. In vitro antitumor activity was detected by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay and Annexin V/PI staining assay. The cell-permeable probe H 2 DCFDA was used to detect intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Western blot was performed to verify predicated proteins regulated by the ingredients. RNA-sequence analysis was applied to predicate the underlying mechanism of CCM. Both CCM and MPRC2-8, two novel extracts of Congea chinensis Moldenke, activated the expression of p53 and TERT and were selectively cytotoxic toward tumor cells. In addition, the cytotoxic mechanism of MPRC2-8 was identified as ROS generation-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, MPRC2-8 showed opposite regulatory effects on the SIRT1-p53 axis in A549 and HT-29 cells, which have different p53 statuses. RNA-seq analysis showed that CCM and MPRC2-8 induced the p53, apoptosis and ROS signaling pathways, consistent with the results of cellular experiments in vitro. Our study reveals that CCM and MPRC2-8 have two complementary activities, antitumor activity and TERT-activating activity, with potential antitumor and longevity-improving effects. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Seasonal patterns of influenza A subtypes and B lineages in tropical/subtropical regions across age have remained to be explored. The impact of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic on seasonal influenza activity have not been well understood.Methods: Based on a national sentinel hospital-based influenza surveillance system, the epidemiology of influenza virus during 2006/07-2015/16 was characterized in the subtropical city, Chengdu. Chengdu is one of the most populous cities in southwestern China, where the first reported case of A/H1N1pdm09 in mainland China was identified. Wavelet analysis was applied to identify the periodicities of A/H3N2, seasonal A/H1N1, A/H1N1pdm09, Victoria, and Yamagata across age, respectively. The persistence and age distribution patterns were described during the pre-pandemic (2006/07-2008/09), pandemic (2009/10), and post-pandemic (2010/11-2015/16) seasons.Results: A total of 10,981 respiratory specimens were collected, of which 2516 influenza cases were identified. Periodicity transition from semi-annual cycles to an annual cycle was observed for composite influenza virus as well as A/H3N2 along in Chengdu since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Semi-annual cycles of composite influenza virus and A/H3N2 along were observed again during 2014/15-2015/16, coinciding with the emergence and predominance of A/H3N2 significant antigenic drift groups. However, A/H1N1pdm09, Victoria, and Yamagata generally demonstrated an annual winter-spring peak in non-pandemic seasons. Along with periodicity transitions, age groups with higher positive rates shifted from school-aged children and adults to adults and the elderly for A/H1N1pdm09 during 2009/10-2010/11 and for A/H3N2 during 2014/15-2015/16.Conclusions: Differences in periodicity and age distribution by subtype/lineage and by season highlight the importance of increasing year-round influenza surveillance and developing subtype/lineage- and age-specific prevention and control measures. Changes of periodicity and age shifts should be considered in public health response to influenza pandemics and epidemics. In addition, it is suggested to use quadrivalent influenza vaccines to provide protection against both influenza B lineages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing point cloud classification researches are usually conducted on datasets with complete structure and clear semantics. However, in real point cloud scenes, the occlusion and truncation may destroy the completeness of objects affecting the classification performance. To solve this problem, we propose an incomplete point cloud classification network (IPC-Net) with data augmentation and similarity measurement. The proposed network learns the feature representation of incomplete point clouds and the semantic differences compared to the complete ones for classification. Specifically, IPC-Net adopts a random erasing-based data augmentation to deal with incomplete point clouds. IPC-Net also introduces an auxiliary loss function weighted by attention scores to measure the similarity between the incomplete and the complete point clouds. Extensive experiments verify that IPC-Net has the ability to classify incomplete point clouds and significantly improves the robustness of point cloud classification under different completeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Exposure to perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate was ubiquitous in the Chinese adult population. • Urinary perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate were associated with significant changes in thyroid function markers. • Co-exposure to three goitrogenic anions was inversely associated with serum FT4, TT4, and FT3. Evidence on environmental exposure to perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate, three thyroidal sodium iodine symporter (NIS) inhibitors, and thyroid function in the Chinese population remains limited. To investigate the associations of environmental exposure to perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate with markers of thyroid function in Chinese adults. A total of 2441 non-pregnant adults (mean age 50.4 years and 39.1% male) with a median urinary iodine of 180.1 μg/L from four communities in Shenzhen were included in this cross-sectional study. Urinary perchlorate, nitrate, thiocyanate, and thyroid profiles, including serum free thyroxine (FT4), total thyroxine (TT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), total triiodothyronine (TT3), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), were measured. Generalized linear model was applied to investigate the single-analyte associations. Weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were used to examine the association between the co-occurrence of three anions and thyroid profile. The median levels of urinary perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate were 5.8 μg/g, 76.4 mg/g, and 274.1 μg/g, respectively. After adjusting for confounders, higher urinary perchlorate was associated with lower serum FT4, TT4, and TT3, and higher serum FT3 and TSH (all P < 0.05). Comparing extreme tertiles, subjects in the highest nitrate tertile had marginally elevated TT3 (β : 0.02, 95% CI: 0.00–0.04). Each 1-unit increase in log-transformed urinary thiocyanate was associated with a 0.04 (95% CI: 0.02–0.06) pmol/L decrease in serum FT3. The WQS indices were inversely associated with serum FT4, TT4, and FT3 (all P < 0.05). In the BKMR model, the mixture of three anions was inversely associated with serum FT4, TT4, and FT3. Our study provides evidence that individual and combined environmental exposure to perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate are associated with significant changes in thyroid function markers in the Chinese population with adequate iodine intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CXCR4 is a member of chemokine receptors and plays a vital role in numerous diseases and cancer processes, which makes the CXCR4/CXCL12 chemotactic axis a potential therapeutic target. In this study, we used lentiviral vectors as a novel technology to produce a monoclonal antibody against CXCR4. Lentivirus vector pLV-CXCR4-Puro was successfully constructed and a hybridoma cell line 1A4 was generated. The CXCR4 monoclonal antibody (MAb) 1A4 had high titer and affinity, and the isotype was identified as IgG1a. The recombinant lentivirus vector could effectively stimulate the production of 39 kDa CXCR4 antibody in vivo after immunization. Western blot analysis showed that the MAb could recognize the CXCR4 antigen expressed on transfected 293T cells as well as various human cancer cell lines. Immunofluorescence assays showed that MAb 1A4 mainly localized and strongly stained on the membrane of transfected 293T cells. Immunohistochemistry assays demonstrated that 1A4 could recognize strong expression of CXCR4 on the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Thus, the method using lentiviral vectors may have application on effective and large-scale production of the CXCR4 monoclonal antibody, which will be a potential tool for the diagnosis and treatment of human cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Urinary perchlorate and thiocyanate were positively associated with central thyroid hormones sensitivity. • Co-occurrence of perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate was positively associated with central thyroid hormones sensitivity. • The positive association of co-exposure of three anions with central thyroid hormones sensitivity was mostly attributed to thiocyanate. Perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate are three well-known sodium iodine symporter inhibitors, however, associations of their individual and concurrent exposure with central thyroid hormones sensitivity remain unclear. To investigate the associations of urinary perchlorate, nitrate, thiocyanate, and their co-occurrence with central thyroid hormones sensitivity among US general adults. A total of 7598 non-pregnant adults (weighted mean age 45.9 years and 52.9% men) from National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2007–2012 were included in this cross-sectional study. Central sensitivity to thyroid hormones was estimated with the Parametric Thyroid Feedback Quantile-based Index (PTFQI). Ordinary least-squares regression, weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression, and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were performed to examine the associations of three anions and their co-occurrence with PTFQI. The weighted mean values of urinary perchlorate, nitrate, thiocyanate, and perchlorate equivalent concentration (PEC) were 5.48 μg/L, 57.59 mg/L, 2.65 mg/L, and 539.8 μg/L, respectively. Compared with the lowest quartile, the least-square means difference (LSMD) of PTFQI was −0.0516 (LSMD ± SE: −0.0516 ± 0.0185, P < 0.01) in the highest perchlorate quartile. On average, PTFQI decreased by 0.0793 (LSMD ± SE: −0.0793 ± 0.0205, P < 0.001) between the highest and lowest thiocyanate quartile. Compared with those in the lowest quartile, participants in the highest PEC quartile had significantly decreased PTFQI levels (LSMD ± SE: −0.0862 ± 0.0188, P < 0.001). The WQS of three goitrogens, was inversely associated with PTFQI (β : −0.051, 95% CI: −0.068, −0.034). In BKMR model, PTFQI significantly decreased when the levels of three anions were at or above their 60th percentiles compared to the median values. Higher levels of urinary perchlorate, thiocyanate, and co-occurrence of three goitrogens were associated with increased central thyroid hormones sensitivity among US general adults. Further studies are warranted to replicate our results and elucidate the underlying causative mechanistic links. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In order to develop a promising vaccine candidate utilizing a combined approach to induce both antibody production and T-cell activity, the DNA fragment containing MA of HCV with five conserved epitopes was synthesized. Two types of HCV vaccine candidates (the DNA type and DNA/polymers) were constructed using MA. PLA–PEG–PLA and PLGA–PEG–PLGA were synthesized and used as micelles with encapsulated plasmid pcDNA3.1(+)-MA. The preparation of copolymers, the cloning and analysis of recombinant plasmid DNA, in vitro expression, and immunogenicity in transgenic mice were evaluated in detail. The results indicated that even single immunization and oral immunization with DNA/polymers achieved satisfying immune responses in vivo tests. As biodegradable and nontoxic triblock copolymers, the novel copolymers demonstrated a great advantage, as they made long-term and single-immunizing vaccines possible; in addition, the copolymers showed a better adjuvant effect and scarcely any side effects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Alzheimer's disease (AD) is identified as "forgetfulness" or "dementia", and is mainly caused by "kidney essence deficiency" which ultimately induces "encephala reduction". Therefore, herbal formulas possessing the efficacy of nourishing kidney essence or replenishing brain marrow are commonly served as effective strategies for AD treatment. Shenzao jiannao oral liquid (SZJN), a traditional Chinese preparation approved by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), is used for the treatment of insomnia and mind fatigue at present for its efficacy of nourishing kidneys. In present study, we found that SZJN could improve cognitive function of AD-like mice. This study aims to investigate the effects of SJZN on ameliorating cognitive deficits of AD-like mouse model, and to illuminate the underlying mechanisms from the perspective of neuroprotection and neurogenesis. Kunming mice (28 ± 2 g) were randomly allocated into seven groups: control, sham, model, donepezil and SZJN groups (low, middle and high). The AD mouse model was established by A β 42 combined with scopolamine. SZJN were intragastrically administrated at doses of 0.3, 1.5 and 7.5 g/kg for 28 days. Morris water maze (MWM) test was applied to determine the cognitive function. Hematoxylin eosin (HE) and Nissl staining were carried out to evaluate pathological damages in the cortex and hippocampal tissues. To explore the protective effects of SZJN on multiple pathogenic factors of AD, protein levels of A β 42, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3, synaptophysin (SYP), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and neurogenesis related proteins were assessed using Immunofluorescence (IF) and western blot analysis. In vitro , the AD cell model was established by transduction of APP 695swe genes into Neural stem cells (NSCs) isolated from the hippocampal tissues of neonatal C57BL/6 mice. Cell viability assay and neurosphere formation assay were carried out to verify the efficacy of SZJN on proliferation of NSCs. Our results demonstrated that SZJN (1.5 g/kg and 7.5 g/kg) treatment significantly ameliorated cognitive deficits of AD-like mice. SZJN (7.5 g/kg) treatment significantly retarded the pathological damages including neuronal degeneration, neuronal apoptosis, Aβ peptides aggregation and reaction of astrocytes in AD-like mice. In addition, SZJN (7.5 g/kg) increased the expression of BDNF and SYP, and restored the abnormal level of MDA and SOD in the brain of AD-like mice. Furthermore, SZJN treatment for 28 days remarkably increased the proliferation of NSCs evidenced by more Nestin+ and BrdU+ cells in the hippocampal DG regions, and increased the amount of mature neurons marked by NeuN both in the cortex and hippocampal DG regions. In vitro , SZJN treatement (16, 32, 64 mg/ml) promoted the proliferation of NSCs evidenced by the increased amount and enlarged size of the neurospheres (p < 0.05). Our findings indicated that SZJN could ameliorate cognitive deficits by protecting neurons from death and triggering endogenous neurogenesis. Therefore, SZJN may be considered as a promising agent to restore neuronal loss and deter the deterioration in AD patients. Shenzao jiannao oral liquid, an herbal formula, ameliorates cognitive impairments by rescuing neuronal death and triggering endogenous neurogenesis in AD-like mice induced by a combination of A β 42 and scopolamine. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following publication of the original article [1], the author reported an error in the title. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic low-grade inflammation (CLGI) is associated with obesity and is one of its pathogenetic mechanisms. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of Gram-negative bacterial cell walls, is the principal cause of CLGI. Studies have found that capsaicin significantly reduces the relative abundance of LPS-producing bacteria. In the present study, TRPV1 -knockout ( TRPV1 -/- ) C57BL/6J mice and the intestinal epithelial cell line Caco-2 ( TRPV1 -/- ) were used as models to determine the effect of capsaicin on CLGI and elucidate the mechanism by which it mediates weight loss in vivo and in vitro. We found that the intragastric administration of capsaicin significantly blunted increases in body weight, food intake, blood lipid, and blood glucose in TRPV1 -/- mice fed a high-fat diet, suggesting an anti-obesity effect of capsaicin. Capsaicin reduced LPS levels in the intestine by reducing the relative abundance of Proteobacteria such as Helicobacter , Desulfovibrio, and Sutterella . Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) levels decreased following decreases in LPS levels. Then, the local inflammation of the intestine was reduced by reducing the expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 mediated by TLR4. Attenuating local intestinal inflammation led to the increased expression of tight junction proteins zonula occludens 1 (ZO-1) and occludin and the restoration of the intestinal barrier function. Capsaicin increased the expression of ZO-1 and occludin at the transcriptional and translational levels, thereby increasing trans-endothelial electrical resistance and restoring intestinal barrier function. The restoration of intestinal barrier function decreases intestinal permeability, which reduces the concentration of LPS entering the circulation, and reduced endotoxemia leads to decreased serum concentrations of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-6, thereby attenuating CLGI. This study sheds light on the anti-obesity effect of capsaicin and its mechanism by reducing CLGI, increasing our understanding of the anti-obesity effects of capsaicin. It has been confirmed that capsaicin can stimulate the expression of intestinal transmembrane protein ZO-1 and cytoplasmic protein occludin, increase the trans-epithelial electrical resistance value, and repair intestinal barrier function.

Introduction: Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) is a common and serious complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Elucidating the metabolic characteristics of SHPT may provide a new theoretical basis for its prevention and treatment. This study aimed to perform a metabolomic analysis of SHPT in patients with CKD stages 3-5 not receiving dialysis., Methods: A total of 76 patients with CKD, 85 patients with CKD-SHPT, and 67 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. CKD was diagnosed according to the criteria specified in the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes 2012 guidelines. SHPT was diagnosed by experienced clinicians according to the Renal Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative Clinical Practice Guidelines. Serum renal function markers and the lipid profile were analyzed. Untargeted ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to analyze the serum metabolites of patients with CKD and SHPT. Multivariate analysis of the data was performed using principal component analysis and partial least square discriminant analysis. Serum differential metabolites were identified and further characterized using databases. Pathway enrichment analysis was performed using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database. Correlations between differential metabolites and clinical parameters were determined using the Spearman correlation., Results: The serum metabolomic profiles of patients with CKD with and without SHPT differed significantly. Differential metabolites were mainly enriched in the top four Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways: phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis; sphingolipid metabolism; glycerophospholipid metabolism; and phenylalanine metabolism. In total, 31 differential metabolites were identified; of these, L-tryptophan and (R)-(+)-1-phenylethylamine were decreased, while other amino acids and their derivatives, uremia toxins, carnitine, and lipids, were increased significantly in patients with SHPT compared to those without. The 14 lipid metabolites were positively correlated with levels of Urea, serum creatinine, cystatin C, and triglycerides and negatively correlated with the estimated glomerular filtration rate and levels of total and high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol., Discussion: Disturbed amino acid and lipid metabolism were more apparent in patients with SHPT than in those without. This metabolomic profile of SHPT may provide a therapeutic foundation for its future clinical management., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Gan, Wang, Li, Zhang and Xu.)

Background: There is growing interest in the role of physical activity in patients with of Alzheimer's disease (AD), particularly regarding its impact of cognitive function, gut microbiota, metabolites, and neurotrophic factors., Objective: To investigate the impact of multisensory fusion training (MSFT) combined with 7, 8-dihydroxyflavone (DHF) on the behavioral characteristics, protein expression, microbiome, and serum metabolome using the AD model in mice induced with amyloid-β (Aβ)., Methods: We assessed cognitive ability, anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors in Aβ mice using behavioral measures. Western blotting was employed to detect the expression of relevant proteins. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolomics were used to analyze changes in the intestinal microbial composition and serum metabolic profile, respectively, of Aβ mice., Results: The behavioral outcomes indicated that a 4-week intervention combining DHF and MSFT yielded remarkable improvements in cognitive function and reduced anxiety and depression-like behaviors in Aβ mice. In the hippocampus of Aβ mice, the combined intervention increased the levels of BDNF, VGF, PSD-95, Nrf2, p-GSK3β and p-CREB proteins. Analyses of sequence and metabolomic data revealed that Bacteroides and Ruminococcaceae were remarkably more abundant following the combined intervention, influencing the expression of specific metabolites directly linked to the maintenance of neuronal and neurobehavioral functions. These metabolites play a crucial role in vital processes, such as amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and neurotransmitter metabolism in mice., Conclusion: Our study highlighted that MSFT combined with DHF improves cognitive impairment, anxiety, and depression-like behavior in Aβ mice through multiple mechanisms, and further validated the correlation between the gut microbiome and serum metabolome. These findings open up a promising avenue for future investigations into potential treatment strategies for AD., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2024 Guo et al.)

Zeolite synthesis under acidic conditions has always presented a challenge. In this study, we successfully prepared series of ZSM-5 zeolite nanosheets (Z-5-SCA-X) over a broad pH range (4 to 13) without the need for additional supplements. This achievement was realized through aggregation crystallization of ZSM-5 zeolite subcrystal (Z-5-SC) with highly short-range ordering and ultrasmall size extracted from the synthetic system of ZSM-5 zeolite. Furthermore, the crystallization behavior of Z-5-SC was investigated, revealing its non-classical crystallization process under mildly alkaline and acidic conditions (pH<10), and the combination of classical and non-classical processes under strongly alkaline conditions (pH≥10). What's particularly intriguing is that, the silanol nest content in the resultant Z-5-SCA-X samples appears to be dependent on the pH values during the Z-5-SC crystallization process rather than its crystallinity. Finally, the results of the furfuryl alcohol etherification reaction demonstrate that reducing the concentration of silanol nests significantly enhances the catalytic performance of the Z-5-SCA-X zeolite. The ability to synthesize zeolite in neutral and acidic environments without the additional mineralizing agents not only broadens the current view of traditional zeolite synthesis but also provides a new approach to control the silanol nest content of zeolite catalysts., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Aims: This study aims to explore the gender differences in cognitive improvements after two months of atypical antipsychotic treatment in first episode schizophrenia (FES)., Methods: 82 patients with FES, including 50 male patients and 32 female patients, were enrolled in the present study. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) were respectively conducted to evaluate the clinical symptoms and cognitive function of patients with FES at baseline and after treatment. Repeated measure ANOVA was performed to compare gender differences in cognitive domains scores between baseline and 2-month follow-up. Stepwise liner regression model was performed to explore the effect factors of cognitive improvements in patients., Results: There was no significant difference in age of onset, education years, PANSS scores, duration of untreated psychosis and Olanzapine equivalent doses between male and female patients (all p > 0.05). In the comparisons of cognition function, male patients exhibited better performance in social cognition compared with female patients at baseline (t = 3.20, p < 0.05). After treatment, improvements of attention/vigilance and working memory were both found in male patients and female patients (attention/vigilance, F = 11.867, p < 0.05; working memory, F = 18.265, p < 0.05). In addition, improvement of speed of information processing was only found in female patients (F = 11.65, p < 0.01). Significant interaction between time and gender was found in speed information of processing (F = 4.140, p = 0.045). Stepwise liner regression model revealed that improvements of negative symptoms promote improvements of cognitive function in female patients (all p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Our findings revealed gender differences of cognitive improvements in patients with FES after 2-month treatment. It provides new evidence for gender differences in cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, and also provides preliminary clues for further individualized cognitive intervention strategies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Li, Cao, Liang, Li, Zhou, Du and Xie.)

Introduction: Upper limb rehabilitation assessment plays a pivotal role in the recovery process of stroke patients. The current clinical assessment tools often rely on subjective judgments of healthcare professionals. Some existing research studies have utilized physiological signals for quantitative assessments. However, most studies used single index to assess the motor functions of upper limb. The fusion of surface electromyography (sEMG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) presents an innovative approach, offering simultaneous insights into the central and peripheral nervous systems., Methods: We concurrently collected sEMG signals and brain hemodynamic signals during bilateral elbow flexion in 15 stroke patients with subacute and chronic stages and 15 healthy control subjects. The sEMG signals were analyzed to obtain muscle synergy based indexes including synergy stability index ( SSI ), closeness of individual vector ( C V ) and closeness of time profile ( C T ). The fNIRS signals were calculated to extract laterality index ( LI )., Results: The primary findings were that C V , SSI and LI in posterior motor cortex (PMC) and primary motor cortex (M1) on the affected hemisphere of stroke patients were significantly lower than those in the control group ( p  < 0.05). Moreover, C V , SSI and LI in PMC were also significantly different between affected and unaffected upper limb movements ( p  < 0.05). Furthermore, a linear regression model was used to predict the value of the Fugl-Meyer score of upper limb (FMul) ( R 2  = 0.860, p  < 0.001)., Discussion: This study established a linear regression model using force, C V , and LI features to predict FMul scale values, which suggests that the combination of force, sEMG and fNIRS hold promise as a novel method for assessing stroke rehabilitation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Ye, Tao, Gong, Ma, Wu, Li, Kang, Tang, Zuo and Shi.)

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most common clinical emergencies characterized by rapid progression, difficulty in early diagnosis, and high mortality. Currently, there are no effective AKI early diagnostic methods and treatments. Therefore, identifying new mechanisms of AKI have become urgent for development new targets for early diagnosis and treatment of AKI in the current clinical setting., Methods: In this study, systematic analysis and comparison of serum metabolic profiles of clinical AKI patients, chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, and healthy subjects were performed using untargeted metabolomics. Moreover, the first spatial metabolomic analysis of kidney tissues in an AKI mouse model using MALDI-TOF MS technology was conducted. Differentially expressed metabolites were identified using a comprehensive, publicly available database. The metabolic data obtained were evaluated using principal component analysis, (orthogonal) partial least squares discriminant analysis, and metabolic pathway analysis to explore the unique serum metabolic profile of the patients, as well as to characterize the spatial distribution of differential metabolites in the kidneys of AKI mice., Results: Significant changes in the metabolite levels of amino acids, carnitine, and lipids were observed in the AKI and CKD groups versus the healthy population, suggesting that kidney injury may lead to abnormalities in various metabolic pathways, such as amino acids, fatty acids, and lipids. The significant difference between the AKI and CKD groups were found for the first time in these indexes including amino acid, carnitine, fatty acid, and lipid levels. Additionally, spatial metabolomics results revealed that amino acid, carnitine, organic acid, and fatty acid metabolites were more likely significantly altered in the renal cortex, while lipid metabolites were both differentially distributed in the cortex and medulla of the AKI group., Conclusion: Abnormalities in the serum metabolism of amino acids, carnitine, and lipids in patients with kidney diseases, such as AKI and CKD, are closely associated with the physiological dysfunction of kidney injury. Metabolic differences between patients with AKI and CKD were compared for the first time, showing that fatty acid oxidative inhibition was more severe in patients with AKI. Furthermore, spatial metabolomics has revealed metabolic reprogramming with tissue heterogeneity in AKI mice model. Our study provides valuable information in the molecular pathological features of AKI in the kidney tissues., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 (YIG) thin films are highly needed in microwave devices, but the low saturation magnetization and low dielectric constant greatly limit the application of YIG thin films. It was reported that the ion substitution, for example, Pr 3+ , could increase the dielectric constant of Y 3- x Pr x Fe 5 O 12 (YPr x IG). Unfortunately, the dielectric loss would also be significantly increased. In this work, [YPr 0.20 IG/YPr 0.15 IG/YPr 0.10 IG] N multilayer films were fabricated via the chemical solution deposition method, by designing a periodic structure with the [YPr 0.20 IG/YPr 0.15 IG/YPr 0.10 IG] composition gradient stack. In comparison to the average composition of YPr 0.15 IG, high saturation magnetization, high dielectric constant, and low loss were successfully simultaneously achieved in the multilayer structure. The N = 6 film exhibited a higher saturation magnetization of 252.8 emu/cm 3 than the value (213.1) of the YPr 0.15 IG (average composition) film. The dielectric constant of the N = 6 film reached 25.6 in contrast to the value of 18.3 for the YPr 0.15 IG film at 12.4 GHz, which was the contribution of the rapid flip of the electric dipole of a single-unit dielectric material and the accumulation of interface charge. Furthermore, the dielectric loss of the film with N = 6 decreased to 0.0036 compared with the value (0.0102) of the average composition film. This work demonstrated a strategy of designing a periodic structure with a composition gradient stack unit to realize a good comprehensive dielectric property through taking advantage of the multiple effects of "coherent growth, component matching, and interface accumulation".

Humans can learn continuously grasping various objects dexterously. This ability is enabled partly by underlying neural mechanisms. Most current works of anthropomorphic robotic grasping learning lack the capability of continual learning (CL). They utilize large datasets to train grasp models and the trained models are difficult to improve incrementally. By incorporating several discovered neural mechanisms supporting CL, we propose a neuro-inspired continual anthropomorphic grasping (NICAG) approach. It consists of a CL framework of anthropomorphic grasping and a neuro-inspired CL algorithm. Compared with other methods, our NICAG approach achieves better CL capability with lower loss and forgetting, and gets higher grasping success rate. It indicates that our approach performs better on alleviating forgetting and preserving grasp knowledge. The proposed system offers an approach for endowing anthropomorphic robotic hands with the ability to learn grasping objects continually and has great potential to make a profound impact on robots in households and factories., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Recently, biodegradable plastics (BPs) are emerging as a sustainable alternative to traditional plastics. When released into an aquatic environment, the biodegradable performance of BPs is influenced by biochemical processes, especially the developed plastisphere. However, studies addressing the biodegrading capacity of BPs and traditional plastics within the plastisphere are still limited. Here, we investigated plastisphere community variations and their capacity to biodegrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and starch-based plastics (SBP) for four time periods (15, 30, 45, and 80 days) in three freshwaters. Unexpectedly, there is no significant difference in the microbial communities and network structure of the plastisphere between SBP and PET. Moreover, SBP tended to age rapidly at the early stage (0-15 days), while the aging degree of SBP and PET did not display an obvious difference at 80 days. Partial least squares path modeling suggested that plastic aging was mainly dominated by keystone taxa of network and aquatic environmental factors. These results suggest that the aging rate of commercial BPs may not be as fast as we imagine in freshwaters (SBP ≈ PET), and the environmental behaviors of BPs in the aquatic environment should be paid more attention to., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Plastics in the environment provide a new and unique habitat for microorganisms - known as the plastisphere. The microbial succession within the plastisphere and their potentials for plastic degradation in freshwater ecosystems is still not clear. Here, we investigated variation of microbial communities in plastisphere and their capacity to biodegrade non-biodegradable plastics (non-BPs), i.e., polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), and biodegradable plastics (BPs), i.e., polylactic acid+polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PLA+PBAT) for four-time periods (15, 30, 45, and 80 days) in three freshwaters. Results showed that the aging degree of plastics increased with succession of plastisphere, with higher degradation rates of BP blends than those of non-BPs. High-throughput sequencing from 112 biofilm samples revealed that bacterial and fungal community structure of the plastisphere were potentially affected by plastic types and gradually converge during biofilm succession. The plastisphere of BPs reached the mature phase more quickly than those of non-BPs and increased co-exclusion to complete for resources. Furthermore, ecological networks involving plastic aging indices, environmental factors and bacterial and fungal operational taxonomic units were established. Ecological networks revealed that BPs may pose the ability to attract and retain key microorganisms (of the orders Bacillales, Myxococcales and Xanthomonadales) that significantly influence community composition such that biodegradative functions were increased in freshwaters., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: The effects of climatic conditions on the prevalence of individual influenza (sub)types are not well understood in the subtropics. This study aims to evaluate the associations between meteorological factors and seasonal epidemics of A(H3N2), A(H1N1)pdm09, and type B influenza viruses, as well as to estimate the interactions between climatic variables in a subtropical basin region., Methods: The seasonality of influenza (sub)types during 2010-2019 were characterized in Chengdu Plain Economic Zone, a densely populated and highly humid plain area in Sichuan Basin in subtropical Southwest China. Generalized additive models were adopted to assess the independent exposure-response relationship between meteorological variables and influenza prevalence. The interactions of meteorological variables were further estimated using bivariate response surface models and strata models., Results: Our analyses indicated that the temperature, relative humidity, and absolute humidity have exhibited a major influence on influenza infection in Chengdu Plain Economic Zone. Low temperature was shown to promote the prevalence of A(H1N1)pdm09 and type B in winter-spring days at all levels of relative humidity. High risk of A(H3N2) infections was observed at low temperature or high temperature, and at higher relative humidity. Moreover, absolute humidity decreased or increased influenza (sub)type infections within different ranges., Conclusions: This study found different nonlinear relationships between meteorological factors and the seasonality of influenza (sub)types, as well as significant interactive effects between climatic variables, contributing to the research on the climate drivers of influenza prevalence in warm-humid basin regions in the subtropics., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction and Objectives: Omenn syndrome (OS) is a very rare type of severe combined immunodeficiencies manifested with erythroderma, eosinophilia, hepatosplenomegaly, lymph-adenopathy, and elevated level of serum IgE. OS is inherited with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Germline mutations in the human RAG1 gene cause OS., Materials and Methods: In this study, we investigated a 2-month-old boy with cough, mild anaemia, pneumonia, immunodeficiency, repeated infection, feeding difficulties, hepatomegaly, growth retardation, and heart failure. Parents of the proband were phenotypically normal., Results: Karyotype analysis and chromosomal microarray analysis found no chromosomal structural abnormalities (46, XY) and no pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) in the proband. Whole-exome sequencing identified a novel homozygous single nucleotide deletion (c.2662delC) in exon 2 of the RAG1 gene in the proband. Sanger sequencing confirmed that both the proband parents were carrying this variant in a heterozygous state. This variant was not identified in two elder sisters and one elder brother of the proband and in the 100 ethnically matched normal healthy individuals. This novel homozygous deletion (c.2662delC) leads to the frameshift, which finally results in the formation of the truncated protein (p.Leu888Phefs*3) V(D)J recombination-activating protein 1 with 890 amino acids compared with the wildtype V(D)J recombination-activating protein 1 of 1043 amino acids. Hence, it is a loss-of-function variant., Conclusions: Our present study expands the mutational spectrum of the RAG1 gene associated with OS. We also strongly suggested the importance of whole-exome sequencing for the genetic screening of patients with OS., Competing Interests: The authors confirm that there are no conflicts of interest.

Recent demonstrations of metasurfaces present their great potential to implement flat and multifunctional optical elements, which are accomplished with the designs of planar optics and micro-/nano- fabrications. Integrating metasurfaces in three dimensions has manifested drastically increasing advantages in manipulating light fields by extending design freedom. However, fabricating three-dimensional metasurfaces remain a tough challenge due to the lack of stereo printing protocols. Herein, we demonstrate laser nanoprinting of floated silver nanoparticle array in transparent hydrogel films for 3D metasurface to achieve color patterning. It is found that spatially resolved nanoparticles can be produced through laser induced photoreduction of silver ions and robustly anchored to the gel backbones by a focused femtosecond laser beam within a pH-responsive smart hydrogel matrix. With the aid of expansion properties of the pH-responsive hydrogel, repetitive coloration of the patterned plasmonic nanoparticle array over a wide spectrum range is achieved via reversible regulation of nanoparticle spacing from 550 to 350 nm and vice versa. This approach allows broadband 3D color-regulation in nanoscale for applications in active spectral filtering, information encryption, security tagging and biological colorimetric sensing, etc., (© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Medicinal plants have a variety of values and are an important source of new drugs and their lead compounds. They have played an important role in the treatment of cancer, AIDS, COVID-19 and other major and unconquered diseases. However, there are problems such as uneven quality and adulteration. Therefore, it is of great significance to find comprehensive, efficient and modern technology for its identification and evaluation to ensure quality and efficacy. In this study, deep learning, which is superior to conventional identification techniques, was extended to the identification of the part and region of the medicinal plant Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis from the perspective of spectroscopy. Two pattern recognition models, partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and support vector machine (SVM), were established, and the overall discrimination performance of the three types of models was compared. In addition, we also compared the effects of different sample sizes on the discriminant performance of the models for the first time to explore whether the three models had sample size dependence. The results showed that the deep learning model had absolute superiority in the identification of medicinal plant. It was almost unaffected by factors such as data type and sample size. The overall identification ability was significantly better than the PLS-DA and SVM models. This study verified the superiority of the deep learning from examples, and provided a practical reference for related research on other medicinal plants., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Yue, Li and Wang.)

Macamides are characteristically found in maca ( Lepidium meyenii Walper). Fatty acid derivatives are also an important type of constituent in maca, since they not only relate to the biosynthesis of macamides in the postharvest process but also possess some bioactivities. To study their comprehensive profiles in maca tubers processed via the air-drying method, ultraperformance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) analyses were performed to identify macamide and fatty acid molecules. Their contents in maca tubers that were processed via air drying and freeze drying, respectively, were further quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses comparing with eight macamide and three fatty acid reference standards. A total of 19 macamides (including four novel ones) and 16 fatty acid derivatives (two found in maca for the first time) were identified. Quantification analyses results showed the eight macamides with contents ranging from 31.39 to 1163.19 μg/g (on dry tuber), and fatty acids from 18.71 to 181.99 μg/g in the air-dried maca, but there were only three macamides and one fatty acid detected with very low contents (3.97-34.36 μg/g) in the freeze-dried maca. The results demonstrated that the air-drying method can increase the accumulations of macamides and fatty acids in the metabolism of maca in the postharvest process. The biosynthesis of two types of macamides, i.e., N -benzyl-oxo-octadecadienamides and N -benzyl-oxo-octadecatrienamides, was further elucidated in detail. These results provide more valuable insights into the phytochemicals of maca, which is helpful to explain its health benefits., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

The efficiency of single treatment of conventional chemotherapy drugs is unpleasantly reduced by the physiological barriers of tumors. In this regard, nanoparticles have become attractive for achieving such medical purpose of targeted cancer therapy by delivering anti-tumor agents to the needed area. A novel drug deliverer, poly (ethylene glycol) carboxyl-poly (ε-caprolactone) (PEG-PCCL), has been reported to be highly hydrophilic and stable, while little is known about its organic toxicity. This study focused on systemic toxicity assessments of PEG-PCCL. The pharmacokinetics of PTX-loaded PEG-PCCL (PEG-PCCL/PTX) and its anti-tumor effect were preliminarily investigated. In the present work, PEG-PCCL was characterized by laser particle size analyzer and transmission electron microscopy. The cytotoxicity was investigated by MTT test, LDH leakage assay, immunofluorescence, and transmission electron microscopy. Hemolysis, phlebitis, and organ toxicity tests were performed to demonstrate the biocompatibility and acute biotoxicity. H22 tumor-bearing mice were used to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of the micells of PEG-PCCL/PTX and its anti-tumor effect. The results showed that the size of PEG-PCCL nanospheres was 97 ± 2.6 nm. PEG-PCCL treatment showed little cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility, and did not exhibit organ toxicity. PTX-loading efficiency was 49.98%. The pharmacokinetic study on H22 tumor-bearing mice revealed that PEG-PCCL/PTX has higher stability and slower release than PTX alone. Together, these results suggest that PEG-PCCL nanosphere has little toxicity to organisms and is a potential candidate of biocompatible drug vehicle for hydrophobic drugs.

Objective: To establish high cell density cultivation process of recombinant Helicobacter pylori multi-epitope vaccine engineering bacteria BIB., Methods: Based on the results of shake flask fermentation, the process was magnified into volume of a 50 L fermenter to optimize and verify the factors affecting the yield of the target protein, such as the fermentation medium, working seed inoculation amount, inducer concentration, induction starting time, induction duration, inducer adding mode and feeding strategy., Results: After activated in modified TB medium at 37°C for 8 h, the BIB working seed was inoculated at 5% (v/v) and was induced for expression for another 11 h by the final concentration of 5 mmol/L lactose. In growth phase, glucose at rate of 80 ml/h was used as carbon source, and in induction phase, glycerol at rate of 40 ml/h was used as carbon source; ammonia water was added dropwise to control pH at about 7.0, and revolution speed is adjusted to control the dissolved oxygen at above 30%; ultimately the output of bacterial body was 70 g/L and protein expression amount was about 32%., Conclusion: After high cell density cultivation of the recombinant engineering bacteria, expression and yield of the target protein rBIB significantly increased.

Objective: To study immunization procedures and preparation methods of specific IgY antibodies (IgY-Hp, IgY-IB) produced by hens immunized with Helicobacter pylori (Hp) bacterial antigen and recombinant Hp specific antigen IB, detect the inhibition effects on Hp growth and Hp urease activity, and study the effects of oral administration for treating Hp infection., Methods: By using recombinant cholera toxin subunit B (rCTB) as an adjuvant, hens received intramuscular injection immunization for continuous 7 times at an interval of 14 days. Then, the eggs were collected; IgY was purified., Results: On day 49 after hens were immunized, levels of two antibodies all reached 1:12800; after they were purified by Ammonium sulfate precipitation, their purity was over 80%. IgY-Hp could inhibit Hp growth and inhibit Hp urease activity; although in vitro, IgY-IB could not inhibit Hp growth but could inhibit Hp urease activity. The experiments in vivo found that when IgY-Hp or IgY-IB with sucralfate dual oral therapy was used to treat Hp infected mouse model, the cure rate all could reach 83.3%., Conclusion: According to immunization procedure, high titer specific IgY antibody (1:12800) can be obtained in 49 days and its titer remains stable. Oral administration of the specific IgY antibodies in Hp infected mice can reach a cure rate of 83.3%, and the antibodies are expected to become new drugs and therapeutic methods of targeted therapy against Hp infection.

Objective: To investigate different protective effects of recombinant H. pylori multi-epitope antigen (rIB) with cholera toxin subunit B (rCTB) as the intramolecular/extramolecular adjuvant though different immunization routes in a Helicobacter pylori infected mouse model., Methods: By using rCTB as the intramolecular/extramolecular adjuvant of rIB, BALB/c mice were immunized through oral administration or intramuscular injection, on day 0, 14, 28. Every 14 days, ELISA was used to detect serum specific IgG and IgA titers after immunization. After the last immunization, H. pylori SS1 challenge was performed, and urease test, Gram staining after smearing of mouse gastric tissue, PCR, pathology and immunohistochemistry were used to evaluate preventive effect of the recombinant protein vaccine., Results: After immunization three times, intramolecular injection could induce high titers of serum specific IgG antibody, and the antibody titer in rIB group, rCTB+rIB and rBIB group was 2000, 5000 and 7500, respectively (P < 0.05). Specific IgA antibody was only detected in rBIB oral administration group. The immune protection rate in rBIB oral administration group was significantly higher than that in rBIB intramolecular injection group (33.3% vs. 83%), indicating significant difference., Conclusion: rCTB has good intramolecular/extramolecular immune adjuvant effects, and its intramolecular immune adjuvant effect is better. Both intramolecular injection and oral administration of rBIB have immune protective effect against H. pylori challenge, and oral administration of rBIB exerts better immune protective effect.

Influenza (flu) pandemics have posed a great threat to human health in the last century. However, current vaccination strategies and antiviral drugs provide limited protection. RNA interference (RNAi) is an effective means of suppressing influenza virus replication. PB1 is the critical protein subunit of the influenza virus RNA polymerase. The gene encoding this protein, PB1, is highly conserved among different subtypes of IAV and was therefore chosen as the target in this study. The oligonucleotide, PB1-shRNA, contains a 21-bp siRNA corresponding to nucleotides 1,632 to 1,652 of PB1 linear vRNA with BamHI or EcoRI restriction enzyme sites incorporated at the ends. The PB1-shRNA oligonucleotide was directionally cloned into the RNAi-ready pSIREN-shuttle vector. The correct structure of the resulting pSIREN/PB1 plasmid was confirmed by restriction endonuclease digestion. Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells were transfected with pSIREN/PB1 and subsequently infected with IAV at an MOI of 0.1 (A/PR/8/34, H1N1). The virus titer in cell culture supernatants was determined 48 hours later, and it was found that virus growth was inhibited by more than 50-fold relative to controls. Furthermore, embryonated eggs and mice were inoculated with liposome-encapsulated pSIREN/PB1 and then challenged with the A/PR/8/34 virus. The results showed at least a 100-fold inhibition in virus replication in egg allantoic fluid and a survival rate of between 50% and 100% in experimental mice. This study demonstrates that PB1-shRNA expressed by the recombinant plasmid pSIREN/PB1 inhibits influenza A virus replication both in vitro and in vivo. These observations provide a foundation for the development of a new and efficient treatment of influenza infections.

The correlations between soil nutrition and yield as well as active compound contents of Coptis teeta were analyzed. The contents of 13 soil factors, rhizome biomass and the content of berberine, jatrorrhizine, and palmatine in rhizome of C. teeta were determined, and analyzed by factor analysis (FA) and correlation analysis (CA). FA showed that the first three factors accounted for 86.9% of the total variance. The contents of Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, and Zn correlated with the first factor. The content of organic matter, N, available N, available P, and available K correlated with the second factor. CA showed that yield of C. teeta had a significant positive correlation with available P (r = 0.931) at 0.01 level, and available N (r = 0.703) at 0.05 level. The content of berberine of C. teeta had a significant positive correlation with available P (r = 0.680) at 0.05 level. The yield and berberine content of C. teeta were high in the soil with high contents of available N and available P.

Human influenza A virus (IAV) is a major cause of life-threatening respiratory tract disease worldwide. Defensins are small cationic peptides of about 2-6 kDa that are known for their broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. Here, we focused on the anti-influenza A activity of mouse beta-defensin 2 (mBD2). The prokaryotic expression plasmid pET32a-mBD2 was constructed and introduced into Escherichia coli Rosseta gami (2) to produce recombinant mBD2 (rmBD2). Purified rmBD2 showed strong antiviral activity against IAV in vitro. The protective rate for Madin-Darby canine kidney cells was 93.86% at an rmBD2 concentration of 100 microg/ml. Further studies demonstrated that rmBD2 prevents IAV infection by inhibiting viral entry. In addition, both pretreatment and postinfection treatment with rmBD2 provided protection against lethal virus challenge with IAV in experimental mice, with protection rates of 70 and 30%, respectively. These results suggest that the mBD2 might have important effects on influenza A virus invasion.

Mouse beta defensin-1 (mBD-1) is a cationic 37-amino acid antimicrobial peptide with three conserved cysterine disulfied bonds. It exhibits a broad antimicrobial spectrum, but mBD-1 against Candida albicans (C. albicans) and Cryptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans) is poorly understood. This study describes the mBD-1 gene, the heterologous fusion expression of the peptide in Escherichia coli, and the bioactive assay of released mature mBD-1. By constructing the expression plasmid (pET32a-mBD1), high yields of soluble mBD-1 fusion protein (0.67 g/L) could be obtained in E. coli and cleaved by enterokinase. The digested product was further purified and desalted with the final amount of pure mature mBD-1 being 0.14 g/L. Classical fungi growth inhibition assay showed clear antifungal activity against C. albicans and C. neoformans with IC(50) of 5 and 2 microM, respectively. The results show that the mBD-1 control fungal colonization through hyphal induction, direct fungicidal activity, and the activity is suppressed by increasing NaCl concentration. Successful expression of the mBD-1 peptide in E. coli offers a basis for further studying its antifungal mechanisms and may provide significance in developing this peptide to an antifungal drug.

This study was aimed to construct a prokaryotic expressing vector of Hap gene from Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae, and express and identify the fusion proteins of Hap-His in E. coli. The gene encoding protein Hap was amplified from Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae ATCC49247 chromosomal DNA by PCR, then it was cloned into prokaryotic expression plasmid pET-32a (+). The recombinant plasmid pET-32a(+)-Hap was transformed into E. coli BL21 and expression was induced by Isopropy-beta-D-thiogalatoside(IPTG). The Hap-His fusion protein expressed so was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western-blot. The results showed that the recombinant expressive plasmid pET-32a (+)-Hap was constructed successfully, and the recombinant plasmid expressed Hap-His fusion protein with relative molecule mass 176 000 and mainly existed in inclusion body. This fusion protein could combine with anti-His monoclonal antibody specifically through Western blot analysis. Successful expression of Hap-His fusion protein in prokaryotic cell could lay a basis for further study of immunocompetence of Hap protein and development of NTHi vaccine.

Influenza (flu) pandemics have presented a threat to human health in the past century. Because of outbreaks of avian flu in humans in some developing countries in recent years, humans are more eager to find a way to control flu. Mammalian beta-defensins (beta-defensins) are associated primarily with mucosal and skin innate immunity. Previous studies have demonstrated antimicrobial properties of a variety of defensin peptides. We have identified the presence of mouse beta-defensin 1, 2, and 3 genes (Mbd-1, 2, and 3) in trachea and lung tissues by RT-PCR before and after infection with influenza virus. We constructed a eukaryotic expression plasmid containing Mbd-3, pcDNA 3.1(+)/MBD-3, and the plasmid was introduced into Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells by transfection. The expression of Mbd-3 in MDCK cells was verified by immunofluorescence test, RT-PCR, and Western blot. The pcDNA 3.1(+)/MBD-3 plasmid was injected into mice to observe its effect against influenza A virus (IAV) in vivo. Mouse beta-defensin genes could be expressed in trachea and lung tissues before IAV infection, but expression of Mbd-2 and Mbd-3 was increased significantly after IAV infection. The survival rate of mice with MBD-3 against IAV challenge was 71.43%, and MDCK cells with MBD-3 could clearly inhibit IAV replication. The results demonstrated that mouse beta-defensins possess anti-influenza virus activity, suggesting that mouse beta-defensins might be used as agents to prevent and treat influenza.

Background Aims: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been thought to be attractive candidates for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), but the rate of MSC myogenesis is very low. Thus MSC treatment for DMD is restricted. Myostatin (Mstn), a negative regulator of myogenesis, is known to be responsible for limiting skeletal muscle regeneration. We hypothesized that inhibition of Mstn by using anti-Mstn antibody (Ab) would ameliorate the myogenic differentiation of MSC in vitro and in vivo., Methods: MSC were isolated from rat bone marrow. Induced rat MSC (rMSC) were treated with various concentrations of anti-Mstn Ab. The expression of myogenic differentiation antigen (MyoD), myogenin and myosin heavy chain-type alpha (MHC-alpha) were estimated by immunofluorescence analysis and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Adipogenic differentiation of rMSC inhibited by anti-Mstn Ab was evaluated by Oil Red O staining. The expression of dystrophin was detected 16 weeks after anti-Mstn Ab injection and rMSC transplantation by immunofluorescence staining, RT-PCR and Western blot. Motor function, serum creatine kinase (CK) and histologic changes were also evaluated., Results: Five-azacytidine-mediated myogenic differentiation induced significant endogenous Mstn expression. Anti-Mstn Ab improved the expression of MyoD, myogenin and MHC-alpha and inhibited adipocyte formation. Sixteen weeks after transplantation, the inhibition of Mstn had improved motor function and muscle mass. In accordance with the increased motor function and muscle mass, dystrophin expression had increased. Furthermore, serum CK and centrally nucleated fiber (CNF) levels decreased slightly, suggesting specific pathologic features of the dystrophic muscle were partially restored., Conclusions: Using anti-Mstn Ab, we found that inhibition of Mstn improved myogenic differentiation of rMSC in vitro and in vivo. A combination of Mstn blockade and MSC transplantation may provide a pharmacologic and cell-based strategy for the treatment of DMD.

This study was aimed to construct a plasmid expressing siRNA specific for the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene and to evaluate the ability of small interference RNA(siRNA) for inhibiting telomerase activity in HeLa cells. 64 nucleotides, in which 19 nt were homologous with hTERT gene, were chemically synthesized, annealed and linked into pSUPER to get pSUP-hTE. Then pSUP-hTE was digested with enzyme. We obtained its fragmant concluding promoter and 64nt. So we cloned it into pEGFP-C1 for constructing pEGFP-hTE which contains neo gene and the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Recombinant pEGFP-hTE was transfected to HeLa cells. These cells were screened with medium containing G418. When stable colonies appeared, G418-resistant cells were harvested and propagated. At the different cell generations, hTERT mRNA and protein expression, telomerase activity and cell growth activity were analyzed. Compared with control cells, HeLa cells transfected with pEGFP-hTE showed that hTERT mRNA level and hTERT protein expression decreased and telomerase activity reduced by 38%, but the cells growth activity displayed no changes. So pEGFP-hTE could specifically inhibit expression of hTERT and telomerase activity. These results suggested that siRNA targeting hTERT gene might provide a new strategy for cancer biotherapy.