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Cornhusk is a renewable and abundant crop by-product whose diverse applications must be studied more extensively. However, thus far, cornhusk, as a raw material, has not been employed for production of cornhusk fiber (CF) nanocellulose (CNC). This study aims to extract and characterize nanocellulose using CF as a raw material by high-shear-assisted enzyme hydrolysis. The extraction process was optimized by investigating the particle size distribution. The optimal extraction conditions of CNC were as follows: cellulase concentration of 1 mg/g, pH of 4.8, temperature of 50 ℃, and 24 h treatment under high-shear conditions for 20 min. The morphological characteristics of the CNC and CF were investigated, and FTIR，XRD, and TGA analyses were performed. Compared with CF, CNC exhibited slenderer nanofibrils with a smoother surface. FTIR analysis showed that the peaks that represented hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin disappeared or diminished in the CNC spectrum. The crystal type of CNC did not change and was identical to that of CF (cellulose type I). The TGA results showed that CNC possessed a lower thermal stability and higher char residuals than those of CF.

Enteroviruses have been in massive, cyclical epidemics worldwide. An in-depth understanding of the international epidemiological characteristics of Enterovirus A (EVA) is critical to determining its clinical significance and total disease burden. Although much research has been conducted on EVA epidemiology, there is still a lack of a comprehensive overview of EVA epidemiological characteristics and trends.EVA nucleic acid sequences from the NCBI virus database were used to summarize the epidemic time (based on the time of specimen collection), spatial and serotype distribution of EVA, and to analyze EVA isolated from cerebrospinal fluid specimens.EVA sequences were searched in NCBI Virus by keyword ("Enterovirus A″ or "EVA") to screen sequences released before December 2021 and sort them to analyze EVA by year, geographic region and serotype prevalence.The results found 23,041 retrieved nucleic acid sequences with precise collection dates and geographical regions as of December 2021, with Asia accounting for 87%, Europe for 11% and Africa and the Americas for only 2%. Overall, EV-A71, CVA6 and CVA16 are a few of the main prevalent serotypes; and the prevalence characteristics of the different serotypes change over time from place to place.The prevalence of different serotypes of EVA varies considerably over time and space, and we focused on analysing the epidemiological characteristics of EVAs in Asia and Europe and EVAs that invade the nervous system. This study will likely provide important clues for prevention, control and future research in virological surveillance, disease management and vaccine development.

Enteroviruses have been in massive, cyclical epidemics worldwide. Enterovirus A(EVA) is the most common enterovirus causing global infections. An in-depth understanding of the international epidemiological characteristics of EVA is critical to determining its clinical significance and total disease burden. Although much research has been conducted on EVA epidemiology, there is still a lack of a comprehensive overview of EVA epidemiological characteristics and trends worldwide. We analyzed the worldwide prevalence of EVA by year, geographic region, and serotype using EVA nucleic acid sequences provided by NCBI virus databases. The results found that 23041 retrieved nucleic acid sequences with precise collection dates and the geographical region as of December 2021, with Asia accounting for 87%, Europe for 11%, and Africa and the Americas for just 2%. EVA showed different epidemic patterns as time went by, with EV-A71 dominating the overall global epidemic from 2008 to 2012; after 2013, CVA6 replaced EV-A71 as the leading prevalent serotype, but EV-A71 still defeated the EVA isolated in cerebrospinal fluid. In conclusion, it was found that the prevalence of different serotypes of EVA varied considerably in other times and spaces, with EV-A71, CVA6, and CVA16 predominating in Asia, Europe and America. In contrast, the prevalence of EV-A71, CVA4, and CVA16 were higher in Africa. This study will likely provide important clues for prevention, control, and future research in virologic surveillance, disease management, and vaccine development.

Baeyer–Villiger (BV) oxidation is a fundamental organic reaction, whereas the hetero-BV oxidation is uncharted. Herein, a tellura-BV oxidation is discovered. By oxidizing a tellurophene-embedded and electron-rich polycycle (1) with mCPBA or Oxone, an oxygen atom is inserted into the Te–C bond of the tellurophene to form tellurinate lactone mono-2. This reaction proceeds as follows: (i) 1 is oxidized to the tellurophene Te-oxide form (IM-1); (ii) IM-1 undergoes tellura-BV oxidation to give mono-2. Moreover, the hybrid trichalcogenasumanenes 7 and 8 are, respectively, converted to tellurinate lactones mono-9 and mono-10 under the same conditions, indicating that tellura-BV oxidation shows high chemoselectivity. Due to the strong secondary bonding interactions between the Te Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 O groups on tellurinate lactones, mono-2, mono-9, and mono-10 are dimerized to form U-shaped polycycles 2, 9, and 10, respectively. Notably, mono-2, mono-9, mono-10, and their dimers show chirality. This work enables one-step transformation of tellurophene into tellurinate lactone and construction of intricate polycycles., A tellura-Baeyer–Villiger oxidation is discovered, which enables one-step transformation of tellurophene into chiral tellurinate lactones. The resulting tellurinate lactones are dimerized in the solid state to form U-shaped polycycles.

A novel fibrinolytic enzyme, ACase was isolated from fruiting bodies of a mushroom, Agrocybe aegerita. ACase was purified by using ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration, ion exchange and hydrophobic chromatographies to 237.12 fold with a specific activity of 1716.77 U/mg. ACase was found to be a heterodimer with molecular mass of 31.4 and 21.2 kDa by SDS-PAGE and appeared as a single band on Native-PAGE and fibrin-zymogram. The N-terminal sequence of the two subunits of ACase was AIVTQTNAPWGL (subunit 1) and SNADGNGHGTHV (subunit 2). ACase had maximal activity at 47 °C and pH 7.6. It's activity was improved by Cu2+, Na+, Fe3+, Zn2+, Ba2+, K+ and Mn2+, but inhibited by Fe2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+. PMSF, SBTI, aprotinine and Lys inhibited the enzyme activity, which suggested that ACase was a serine protease. ACase could degrade all three chains (α, β and γ) of fibrinogen. Moreover, the enzyme acted as both, a plasmin-like fibrinolytic enzyme and a plasminogen activator. It could hydrolyze human thrombin slightly, which indicated that the ACase could inhibit the activity of thrombin and acted as an anticoagulant to prevent thrombosis. Based on these results, ACase might act as a therapeutic agent for treating thrombosis, or as a functional food. Further investigation of the enzyme is underway.

In this study, magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2@β-cyclodextrin copolymerized microparticles were synthesized and applied for the extraction of methyl parathion and fenthion in lettuce samples followed by HPLC-UV detection. The magnetic β-cyclodextrin copolymerized microparticles were prepared by dispersion polymerization with acryloyl β-cyclodextrin as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethyacrylate as the crosslinker. The composite magnetic microparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, magnetic measurement, and thermogravimetric analysis, and used as the adsorbent of magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) for methyl parathion and fenthion. The extraction conditions including sample pH and ionic strength, desorption solvent type and volume, and adsorption and desorption times were optimized. Under the optimal extraction conditions, an MSPE-HPLC-UV method was developed for the detection of methyl parathion and fenthion in lettuce. Wide linear ranges of 1.0-200 μg kg-1 (R2 = 0.9998) for methyl parathion and 1.5-200 μg kg-1 (R2 = 0.9978) for fenthion were obtained and the limits of detection were 0.3 μg kg-1 for methyl parathion and 0.5 μg kg-1 for fenthion in lettuce, respectively. The proposed method was applied for the determination of methyl parathion and fenthion in lettuce with satisfactory recoveries between 89.2-101.2%, and relative standard deviations were less than 9.1%. Thus, the MSPE-HPLC-UV method has high accuracy and sensitivity for the analysis of methyl parathion and fenthion in lettuce samples.

Objective Arteriosclerosis is an age-related disease and a leading cause of cardiovascular disease. In animal experiments, mesenchymal stem cells and its culture-conditioned medium have been shown to be promising tools for prevention or treatment of arteriosclerosis. On the basis of these evidences, we aimed to assess whether administration of autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Ad-MSC) is safe and effective for treatment of arteriosclerosis. Methods We retrospectively reviewed clinical records of patients with arteriosclerosis who had received autologous Ad-MSC administration at our clinic. Patients’ characteristics were recorded and data on lipid profile, intimal-media thickness (IMT), cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), and ankle-brachial index (ABI) before and after Ad-MSC administration were collected and compared. Results Treatment with Ad-MSC significantly improved HDL, LDL, and remnant-like particle (RLP) cholesterol levels. No adverse effect or toxicity was observed in relation to the treatment. Of the patients with abnormal HDL values before treatment, the vast majority showed improvement in the values. Overall, the measurements after treatment were significantly increased compared with those before treatment (p p Conclusions These findings suggest that Ad-MSC administration is safe and effective in patients developing arteriosclerosis, thereby providing an attractive tool for anti-aging application.

Approximately 50-80% of the world population are infected with H. pylori, which is categorized as a class I carcinogen. Antiadhesive therapy is emerging as a promising alternative to antibiotics against bacterial infection. This study demonstrated that defatted wheat germ protein hydrolysates (DWGPH) effectively inhibited H. pylori adhesion to gastric epithelial cells. DWGPH prepared by pronase possessed the best activity where its inhibitory percentage at 10 mg/mL was 51.7 ± 6.8% and the minimum antiadhesive concentration was 0.31 mg/mL. The antiadhesive activity is attributable to peptides acting as receptor analogs in binding to H. pylori. Peptides with potential H. pylori-binding ability (n = 267) were identified, and their structural characteristics were comprehensively analyzed, including net charge, Boman index, instability index, aliphatic index, molecular weight, isoelectric point, hydrophobicity, and Hmoment (α-helix and β-sheet). This work provided an array of peptide sequences for further exploration as putative ligands of H. pylori adhesins and for elucidating molecular mechanisms.

NOX5 (NADPH oxidase 5) is a homolog of the gp91 phox subunit of the phagocyte NOX, which generates reactive oxygen species. NOX5 is involved in sperm motility and vascular contraction and has been implicated in diabetic nephropathy, atherosclerosis, and stroke. The function of NOX5 in the cardiac hypertrophy is unknown. Because NOX5 is a Ca 2+ -sensitive, procontractile NOX isoform, we questioned whether it plays a role in cardiac hypertrophy. Studies were performed in (1) cardiac tissue from patients undergoing heart transplant for cardiomyopathy and heart failure, (2) NOX5-expressing rat cardiomyocytes, and (3) mice expressing human NOX5 in a cardiomyocyte-specific manner. Cardiac hypertrophy was induced in mice by transverse aorta coarctation and Ang II (angiotensin II) infusion. NOX5 expression was increased in human failing hearts. Rat cardiomyocytes infected with adenoviral vector encoding human NOX5 cDNA exhibited elevated reactive oxygen species levels with significant enlargement and associated increased expression of ANP (atrial natriuretic peptides) and β-MHC (β-myosin heavy chain) and prohypertrophic genes ( Nppa , Nppb , and Myh7 ) under Ang II stimulation. These effects were reduced by N-acetylcysteine and diltiazem. Pressure overload and Ang II infusion induced left ventricular hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, and contractile dysfunction, responses that were exaggerated in cardiac-specific NOX5 trangenic mice. These phenomena were associated with increased reactive oxygen species levels and activation of redox-sensitive MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase). N-acetylcysteine treatment reduced cardiac oxidative stress and attenuated cardiac hypertrophy in NOX5 trangenic. Our study defines Ca 2+ -regulated NOX5 as an important NOX isoform involved in oxidative stress- and MAPK-mediated cardiac hypertrophy and contractile dysfunction.

To support popular Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as virtual reality and mobile games, edge computing provides a front-end distributed computing archetype of centralized cloud computing with low latency and distributed data processing. However, it is challenging for multiple users to offload their computation tasks because they are competing for spectrum and computation as well as Radio Access Technologies (RAT) resources. In this paper, we investigate computation offloading mechanism of multiple selfish users with resource allocation in IoT edge computing networks by formulating it as a stochastic game. Each user is a learning agent observing its local network environment to learn optimal decisions on either local computing or edge computing with a goal of minimizing long term system cost by choosing its transmit power level, RAT and sub-channel without knowing any information of the other users. Since users' decisions are coupling at the gateway, we define the reward function of each user by considering the aggregated effect of other users. Therefore, a multi-agent reinforcement learning framework is developed to solve the game with the proposed Independent Learners based Multi-Agent Q-learning (IL-based MA-Q) algorithm. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed IL-based MA-Q algorithm is feasible to solve the formulated problem and is more energy efficient without extra cost on channel estimation at the centralized gateway. Finally, compared with the other three benchmark algorithms, it has better system cost performance and achieves distributed computation offloading.

Increased use of nitrogen fertilizers has deleterious impact on the environment. Increase in yield potential at low nitrogen supply is regarded as a cereal breeding goal for future agricultural sustainability. Although natural variations of nitrogen transporters have been investigated, key genes associated with assimilation remain largely unexplored for nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) enhancement. Here, we identified a NIN‐like protein NLP4 associated with NUE through a GWAS in rice. We found that OsNLP4 transactivated OsNiR encoding nitrite reductase that was critical in nitrogen assimilation in rice. We further constructed quadrupling NREs (Nitrate‐responsive cis‐elements) in the promoter of OsNiR (p4xNRE:OsNiR) and enhanced nitrogen assimilation significantly. We demonstrated that OsNLP4‐OsNiR increased tiller number and yield through enhancing nitrogen assimilation and NUE. Our discovery highlights the genetic modulation of OsNLP4‐OsNiR signalling cascade as a strategy for high NUE and yield breeding in rice.

In mass casualty events involving radiation exposure, there is a substantial unmet need for identifying and developing an orally bioavailable agent that can be used to protect the hematopoietic stem cell pool and regenerate hematopoiesis after radiation injury. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a free-radical scavenger, has shown therapeutic benefits in many preclinical and clinical studies. This study investigates the radioprotective effects of DMSO on oral administration. Single dose of oral DMSO administrated before irradiation conferred 100% survival of C57BL6/J mice receiving otherwise lethal as well as super-lethal radiation dose, with wide radioprotective time frame (from 15min to 4h). Oral DMSO not only protected radiation-induced acute hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) injury, but also ameliorated long-term BM suppression following irradiation in mice. Mechanistically, DMSO directly protected HSPC survival after irradiation in vitro and in vivo, whereas no radioprotective effect was seen in MLL-AF9-induced leukemia cells. Unexpectedly, DMSO treatment did not inhibit radiation-induced HSPC apoptosis, and the HSPC survival from Trp53-and PUMA-deficient mice after irradiation was also protected by DMSO. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate the radioprotective efficacy of oral DMSO. Given its oral efficacy and little toxicity, DMSO is an attractive candidate for human use in a wide variety of settings, including nuclear accidents and medical radiation.

In this study, porous sandwich structure Fe3 O4 nanoparticles coated by polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes and β-cyclodextrin were prepared by surface polymerization and were used as the magnetic solid phase extraction adsorbent for the extraction and determination of carbaryl and carbofuran. The Fe3 O4 nanoparticles coated with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes and β-cyclodextrin were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, vibrating sample magnetometry, and scanning electron microscopy. After optimizing the extraction conditions, a method that combined magnetic solid phase extraction with high-performance liquid chromatography was developed for the determination of carbaryl and carbofuran in apple. The method exhibited a good linearity in the range of 2-400 μg/kg for carbaryl and carbofuran (R2 = 0.9995), respectively. The limits of detection were 0.5 μg/kg of carbaryl and 0.7 μg/kg for carbofuran in apple, respectively. Extraction recoveries ranged from 94.2 to 103.1% with the preconcentration factor of 300 and the relative standard deviations were less than 5.9%. These results indicated that the method combined magnetic solid phase extraction with high-performance liquid chromatography and was promising for the determination of carbaryl and carbofuran at trace amounts.

Multichannel image completion with mixture noise is a common but complex problem in the fields of machine learning, image processing, and computer vision. Most existing algorithms devote to explore global low-rank information and fail to optimize local and joint-mode structures, which may lead to oversmooth restoration results or lower quality restoration details. In this study, we propose a novel model to deal with multichannel image completion with mixture noise based on adaptive sparse low-rank tensor subspace and nonlocal self-similarity (ASLTS-NS). In the proposed model, a nonlocal similar patch matching framework cooperating with Tucker decomposition is used to explore information of global and joint modes and optimize the local structure for improving restoration quality. In order to enhance the robustness of low-rank decomposition to data missing and mixture noise, we present an adaptive sparse low-rank regularization to construct robust tensor subspace for self-weighing importance of different modes and capturing a stable inherent structure. In addition, joint tensor Frobenius and l₁ regularizations are exploited to control two different types of noise. Based on alternating directions method of multipliers (ADMM), a convergent learning algorithm is designed to solve this model. Experimental results on three different types of multichannel image sets demonstrate the advantages of ASLTS-NS under five complex scenarios.

Aim: The study aims to investigate the immunomodulatory effect of Amniotic fluid stem (AFS) cells to Th2-skewed allergic rhinitis (AR) on T-lymphocyte proliferation, viability, activation and cytokine production. Background: AFS cells can suppress peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) proliferation and display immunomodulatory properties, but AFS cells' immunoregulation on AR has not been defined. Methods: Human AFS cells were derived from magnetic cell sorting and co-cultured with PBMCs from AR patients stimulated by phytohemagglutinin (PHA). The AFS cells-associated suppressive proliferation was analyzed using CellTrace™ Violet assay; the T lymphocytes proliferation, viability, activation and the Foxp3+ Treg cells were determined by flow cytometry; cytokine levels were measured using an enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay. Results: We determined that AFS cells significantly inhibited PHA-induced CD3+ T lymphocyte proliferation at the ratio higher than 1:50 (AFS cells: PBMCs) (P Conclusion: AFS cells modulate the T-cells' immune imbalance towards Th2 suppression in AR, which can be used as a new cell banking for allergic airway diseases.

The VQ motif-containing proteins play a vital role in various processes such as growth, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and development. However, there is currently no report on the

The Gasserian ganglion (GG) is the primary neuronal aggregation area of the trigeminal nervous system and the epidural structure outside the central nervous system, thus, it has become the most commonly used target for minimally invasive treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Whether it is the classic trigeminal radiofrequency treatment or GG balloon compression therapy, the intervention target is the GG. The anatomy and imaging anatomy of the GG of the trigeminal nerve is of great importance in the minimally invasive treatment of TN.To study the anatomy of the trigeminal nerve and multimodal image fusion, and to provide a basis for a clinical minimally invasive interventional treatment forTN.Review, clinical research study.Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medical Center, Jiaxing, China.Dissect the general structure of the trigeminal nerve and its positional relationship with adjacent structures, and use computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to observe the trigeminal nerve, and then, perform a fusion of the CT/MR images.The GG of the trigeminal nerve is located in Meckel's cave of the middle cranial fossa, and the 3 branches of the nerve fibers are intertwined. CT could only clearly show the bony structures adjacent to the GG, rather than the GG in the body, which was inconsistent with MR images. The bony structure was blurred, while the Meckel's cave and nerve roots, where the trigeminal nerve is located, could be clearly distinguished. Fusing the CT/MR images could provide 2 complementary advantages.It does not prove the the balloon position thought to be a "dumbbell" shape is adequate for the successful treatment.Based on the anatomical structure and position of the trigeminal nerve, it is difficult to achieve highly selective branch treatment of TN with radiofrequency in the GG. For the treatment of TN with percutaneous microballoon compression on the GG, the balloon catheter should be placed in Meckel's cave. While it is not easy to insert into Meckel's cave, the depth of the balloon catheter should be that the distal end is flush with the top of the temporal bone petrous cone.

Hydrate decomposition caused by long-time drilling operations will reduce the strength of the reservoir and increase the risk of borehole wall damage. At the same time, the creep characteristics of the hydrate reservoir may also lead to engineering problems such as borehole shrinkage and sticking in the later stage of drilling, which seriously affects the drilling safety. The creep parameters are introduced to explore the influence mechanism of hydrate decomposition, and hydrate-bearing sediment creeps characteristics on wellbore mechanical behavior. The influence law of sediment shale content and hydrate saturation on wellbore stability during hydrate reservoir drilling is analyzed. The result shows the hydrate-bearing sediments creep characteristics will lead to the homogenization of stress distribution in different directions of the hydrate reservoir around the well, make theplastic yield zone shape around the well to circular, and may lead to the overall collapse of the well wall. Drilling for a long time will lead to a greater hydrate decomposition range and plastic yield zone around the well. Lower initial hydrate saturation, smaller sediment strength, and larger initial plastic strain and yield range of the formation. Increase of shale content will enhance the creep characteristics of sediments and aggravate yield degree of formation.

Alcoholic liver disease is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases that causes high morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study demonstrated the protective potential of Alcalase-black soybean-derived peptides (BSPs) against alcohol-induced liver injury in mice. BSPs were rich in oligopeptides (80%, w/w, 0.05). All treatments significantly (P

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In this paper, a frequency-shifted-assisted continuous variable quantum key distribution with local local oscillator (LLOCVQKD) scheme is proposed based on Gaussian modulated coherent state. In the proposed scheme, the quantum signal and pilot tone can be completely isolated in frequency domain by frequency-shifting quantum optical carrier, so that the crosstalk from strong pilot tone to weak quantum signal can be effectively eliminated compared with our former pilottone scheme based on CS-DSB modulation. Moreover, an improved phase noise compensation scheme based on pilottone- assisted phase calibration and adaptive phase rotation is proposed for eliminating the dominate phase noise without the help of any training sequences, which promotes the blocks of the quantum key. Besides, a low level of excess noise is experimentally obtained for supporting the secure key rate of 7.15 Mbps over secure transmission distance of 25 km, verifying the simple and high-rate LLO-CVQKD.

Fibrinolytic enzymes are important thrombolytic agents for blood-clotting disorders like cardiovascular diseases. Availability of novel recombinant fibrinolytic enzymes can overcome the shortcomings of current thrombolytic drugs. With the objective of facilitating their cost-effective production for therapeutic applications and for gaining deeper insight into their structure-function, we have cloned and expressed the first fibrinolytic protease gene from Cordyceps militaris. Cordyceps militaris fibrinolytic enzyme (CmFE) has one open reading frame of 759 bp encoding “pre-pro-protein” of 252 amino acids. Recombinant CmFE was expressed as 28 kDa extracellular enzyme in Pichia pastoris which was capable of degrading fibrin clot. A structure homology model of CmFE was developed using urokinase-type plasminogen activator. The active site contains catalytic triad His41, Asp83, Ser177 and consensus sequence of GDSGG. The substrate binding residues are Asp (171), Gly (194) and Ser (192). Its trypsin-like specificity is determined by the critical Asp171 in S1 subsite. The “oxyanion hole” is formed by backbone amide hydrogen atoms of Gly-175 and Ser-177. CmFE contains six conserved cysteines forming three disulfide linkages. This is the first study describing cloning, expression and prediction of structure-function relationship of a mushroom fibrinolytic protease. Hence it has great relevance in application of fibrinolytic enzymes as thrombolytic agents.

Novel mesoporous yolk–shell structure magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MYS-MMIPs) were synthesized via surface polymerization using E2 as a template followed by chemical selective etching to remove the inorganic silica interlayer for the rapid, selective extraction and sensitive detection of 17β-estradiol (E2) in milk powder. For MYS-MMIPs, transmission electron microscopy coupled with N2 adsorption experiments confirmed the successful formation of a mesoporous yolk–shell structure. Furthermore, the thermogravimetric and recycling experiments showed the good thermal and adsorption stability of MYS-MMIPs, the magnetic properties experiment confirmed their good magnetic response, and the binding experiment indicated their selective recognition and high binding capacity (39.24 mg g−1) for E2. The obtained polymers were applied as adsorbents for the magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of E2. After optimizing the MSPE conditions, an MSPE-HPLC method was developed for the determination of E2 in milk powder. The linear range was 1–300 μg kg−1 with a limit of detection of 0.33 μg kg−1. The satisfactory recoveries ranged from 88.3–102.4% and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were lower than 5.5%. Thus, the MSPE-HPLC method has high accuracy and sensitivity for the analysis of E2 in milk samples.

The research attempted to analyse the pavement response under different vehicular speeds and pavement roughness classes. The viscoelastic analysis was conducted using the three-dimensional asphalt ...

Over-application of nitrogen fertilizer in fields has had a negative impact on both environment and human health. Domesticated rice varieties with high nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) reduce fertilizer for sustainable agriculture. Here, we perform genome-wide association analysis of a diverse rice population displaying extreme nitrogen-related phenotypes over three successive years in the field, and identify an elite haplotype of nitrate transporter OsNPF6.1HapB that enhances nitrate uptake and confers high NUE by increasing yield under low nitrogen supply. OsNPF6.1HapB differs in both the protein and promoter element with natural variations, which are differentially trans-activated by OsNAC42, a NUE-related transcription factor. The rare natural allele OsNPF6.1HapB, derived from variation in wild rice and selected for enhancing both NUE and yield, has been lost in 90.3% of rice varieties due to the increased application of fertilizer. Our discovery highlights this NAC42-NPF6.1 signaling cascade as a strategy for high NUE and yield breeding in rice., Improving crop nitrogen use efficiency can facilitate sustainable production, however, the genetic mechanisms have not been fully revealed. Here, the authors discover the NAC42-NPF6.1 signaling cascade mainly derives from indica and wild rice and demonstrate the potential of using the allele for cultivar improvement.

Aluminum antimonide (AlSb) is a promising semiconductor candidate for photovoltaic and opto-electronic applications. In this study, ∼200 μm thick AlSb films were prepared by screen printing and sintering method. To clarify the phase formation process during sintering, TG/DSC analysis, XRD analysis, SEM observations (combined with EDS line scans) and DC conductivity measurements were carried out. DSC curves and XRD patterns confirmed that the solid–solid reaction, Sb melting, solid–liquid reaction, Al melting, liquid–liquid reaction occurred in sequence with increasing temperature within the Al-Sb system, and AlSb phase was mainly generated at the liquid–liquid reaction stage. Moreover, SEM characterizations illustrated that the films sintered at liquid-liquid stage showed extremely different morphologies with the films sintered at solid–solid and solid–liquid reaction stages, the films were highly developed and large AlSb particles distributed in them. Finally, the semiconducting nature of the films was affirmed by DC conductivity measurements, both resistivity and activation energy increased with increasing sintering temperature owing to the formation of more AlSb phase under higher sintering temperatures.

Aluminum antimonide (AlSb) is a potential absorber for high efficiency solar cells. In this work, using the commercially available micro powders of elemental Al and Sb, polycrystalline AlSb films were successfully synthesized by utilizing a simple screen printing and sintering method for the first time. The sintering parameters were optimized to be 680 ~ 760 °C for 3 h to fabricate high quality films. Structural, optical, morphological, elemental and electrical properties of the as-prepared films were systematically investigated. The as-prepared films possessed zinc blende structure of F-43 m (216) space group and their lattice parameters increased with increasing sintering temperature. Interestingly, both Brillouin scattering peaks and Raman scattering peaks were observed in the Raman spectra. Two different kinds of electron–hole recombination were detected in the Photoluminescence (PL) spectra and they were further analyzed by a multi-peaks Gaussian fitting. These results showed that the film sintered at 720 °C possessed the optimal crystallinity. This film was highly developed with nearly stoichiometric atomic ratio of 42.19: 40.42 (Al: Sb). Moreover, its conduction activation energy was estimated to be 0.06 eV. Finally, a simple reaction model of Al-Sb system was proposed to explain the reaction mechanism. AlSb phase started to form at the solid–solid reaction stage, while most of it was generated at the liquid–liquid reaction stage. The reaction rate was also greatly quickened in this stage.

A study was conducted to determine the effects of a diet containing solid-state fermented corn gluten meal (FCGM) with Bacillus natto and Lactobacillus on the growth performance, serum parameters, immune indices, and intestinal morphology of three-yellow broilers. A total of 450 one-d-old three-yellow male broilers were randomly allocated into three dietary treatment groups: control (without FCGM), T1, and T2 [5% and 10% replacement with corn gluten meal (CGM) and FCGM, respectively]. Ten replications per treatment and 15 birds per repeat were utilized. The results showed that the FCGM had a lower neutral detergent fiber content and higher small peptide content than the CGM. The average daily gain values, globulin content, the thymus and spleen indices of three-yellow broilers fed 5% and 10% FCGM were significantly higher (P

Increasing use of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) leads to an accumulation in environment and a risk to human. In this work, an on-line monolithic capillary microextraction (CME)-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method was developed for sensitive determination of TiO2 NPs in environmental water samples. With the presence of citric acid, TiO2 NPs can be selectively adsorbed on the poly(acrylamide)-vinylpyridine-methylene bis-(acrylamide) (poly(AA-VP-Bis)) monolithic column at pH 1, whereas Ti ions cannot be adsorbed. Factors affecting the extraction efficiency such as sample pH, concentration of citric acid and elution conditions were carefully investigated. Under the optimum conditions, a detection limit of 0.63 μg L−1 for TiO2 NPs and a sample throughput of 6 h−1 were achieved. The method can be applied to the determination of TiO2 NPs in the size range of 5–100 nm. The developed method was then applied to the analysis of TiO2 NPs in the East Lake water and Yangtze River water, and recoveries of 84–109% were obtained for spiked samples. Compared with other reported methods for the determination of metal oxide NPs, the developed on-line monolithic CME-ICP-MS has the merits of simple operation, high throughput and no need for digestion before ICP-MS detection.

Berberine (BBR), an isoquinoline alkaloid, possesses multiply pharmacological effects as a potential therapeutic drug for antipsychotic-induced metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, the underlying therapeutic mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we aim to investigate the possible mechanisms by identifying the key targets and biological pathways through network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis. A total of 23 overlapping targets in the intersection set among BBR, atypical antipsychotic drugs (AADs), and MetS were determined. PPI network analysis showed that 22 out of the 23 overlapping targets closely interacted with the others. The following pathway enrichment analysis and molecular docking indicated a central role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARG) as the key target of BBR against AAD-induced MetS by acting on the PPAR signaling pathway, lipid and atherosclerosis, and AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway. In addition, cytochrome P-450 2D6 (CYP2D6) could be considered as another target of BBR in ameliorating antipsychotic-induced metabolic side effects. Collectively, this study investigated the central targets and biological pathways of BBR against AAD-induced MetS from a systematic perspective, and thus brings novel insights into further understanding of the protective effects of BBR.

Objective: To observe the effect of high-quality nursing on puerperants with gestational hypertension. Methods: In this study, 144 puerperants with gestational hypertension admitted to our hospital were included and divided into a research group and a control group according to the nursing method. The control group (n = 72) adopted the routine nursing and the observation group (n = 72) adopted the high-quality nursing. The rate of postpartum hemorrhage, the incidence of eclampsia, the amount of 1 d-postpartum hemorrhage, the quality of life (QOL), the psychological states, and the nursing satisfaction were compared between the two groups. Results: The rate of postpartum hemorrhage, the incidence of eclampsia, and the amount of 1 d-postpartum hemorrhage of the patients in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P < 0.05). After intervention, the scores of psychological states in both groups decreased, which dropped more in the observation group (all P < 0.05). The scores of physical function, overall health, social function, and emotional role in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P < 0.05). The patients’ satisfaction on nursing in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: High-quality nursing has certain advantages in improving postpartum hemorrhage and QOL in puerperants with gestational hypertension. It can also improve patients’ negative emotions, life quality, and nursing satisfaction.

The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), is a cosmopolitan agricultural pest and causes great damages each year. Afidopyropen is a novel insecticide with high efficacy against even the insecticides resistant M. persicae. However, the sublethal and transgenerational effects of afidopyropen on M. persicae is not clear. In the present paper, sublethal and transgenerational effects of afidopyropen on biological traits of M. persicae were determined based on the age-stage, two-sex life table theory. The afidopyropen was more toxic against M. persicae than other widely used insecticides, with LC50 of 0.086 mg/L. The treatment with LC5, LC15 and LC25 concentrations of afidopyropen remarkably reduced the longevity and fecundity of F0 M. persicae by 15.9–64.4% and 24.3–76.7%, respectively, compared with those of the control. The life history traits of F1 generation including the pre-adult development time, mean total longevity, pre-adult survival rate, total pre-oviposition period and fecundity were significantly affected after treatment of the F0 with afidopyropen, and the population parameters, including the net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of increase (r) and finite rate of increase (λ) were also remarkably decreased, while the mean generation time (T) was extended by 6.94%. Among four development and reproduction related genes investigated, JHEH was downregulated by 31.8–38.0% in the afidopyropen treated F0 generation, while the EcR and JHAMT were overexpressed and the Vg was significantly downregulated in F1 generation compared to the control group. All these data indicated that the afidopyropen had significant sublethal and transgenerational effects on M. persicae. These results provide insights into comprehensively understanding of the insecticidal effects of afidopyropen on M. persicae as well as the management of resistant M. persicae.

In this study, magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2@β-cyclodextrin copolymerized microparticles were synthesized and applied for the extraction of methyl parathion and fenthion in lettuce samples followed by HPLC-UV detection. The magnetic β-cyclodextrin copolymerized microparticles were prepared by dispersion polymerization with acryloyl β-cyclodextrin as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethyacrylate as the crosslinker. The composite magnetic microparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, magnetic measurement, and thermogravimetric analysis, and used as the adsorbent of magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) for methyl parathion and fenthion. The extraction conditions including sample pH and ionic strength, desorption solvent type and volume, and adsorption and desorption times were optimized. Under the optimal extraction conditions, an MSPE-HPLC-UV method was developed for the detection of methyl parathion and fenthion in lettuce. Wide linear ranges of 1.0-200 μg kg-1 (R2 = 0.9998) for methyl parathion and 1.5-200 μg kg-1 (R2 = 0.9978) for fenthion were obtained and the limits of detection were 0.3 μg kg-1 for methyl parathion and 0.5 μg kg-1 for fenthion in lettuce, respectively. The proposed method was applied for the determination of methyl parathion and fenthion in lettuce with satisfactory recoveries between 89.2-101.2%, and relative standard deviations were less than 9.1%. Thus, the MSPE-HPLC-UV method has high accuracy and sensitivity for the analysis of methyl parathion and fenthion in lettuce samples.