Search

The hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte and platelet (HALP) score and the Gustave Roussy immune score (GRIm⁃Score) are prognostic markers in several types of malignant tumors. The prognostic values of HALP score and GRIm⁃Score in concurrent chemoradiotherapy for unresectable esophageal cancer remain unknown. We enrolled 150 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients who underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy in our institution between 2013 and 2018. The cutoff values for HALP, and GRIm⁃Score were defined by using receiver's operating characteristic curves. Survival was analyzed with the Kaplan– Meier method, with differences analyzed with the log-rank test. Multivariate Cox proportional-hazards models were used to evaluate the prognostic significance of HALP and GRIm for ESCC. HALP was significantly associated with the Zubrod ECOG WHO performance status, tumor location, and the clinical tumor, node, metastasis stage. Modified GRIm (mGRIm) was only significantly associated with metastasis / recurrence before radiotherapy (χ2 = 6.25). Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that higher mGRIm (HR 1.9 95%CI 1.3–2.9) and lower HALP (HR 2.4 95%CI 1.6–3.7) were all associated with worse OS. Multivariate COX analysis found that higher mGRIm score (HR 1.7 95%CI 1.1–2.6), and lower HALP score (HR 2 95%CI 1.3–3.2) were both independent risk factors of overall survival. The nomogram c-index in inside validation was 0.66. Both HALP and mGRIm are independent prognostic factors for patients with unresectable ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous development of human–computer interaction, some industrial monitoring systems have gradually evolved from a single monitoring device to a comprehensive monitoring system platform, and multi-objective visual search is particularly important in the field of industrial monitoring. This study investigates the effect of conceptual and perceptual biases on similarity bias in multiple target visual searches and proposes relevant design strategies that can be applied to warning interfaces. The results of two experiments show that the effect of the similarity bias is due to the combined effects of conceptual and perceptual similarities, and on this basis, we propose a design strategy for the interface of a gas extraction monitoring system used in mines in a third experiment. An existing interface to monitor gas extraction and a proposed interface with modifications made to the existing interface are evaluated. The results confirm that the modified interface effectively improves visual search performance during multiple target visual searches. The research findings are important for reducing cognitive decision errors during related monitoring work and ensuring the performance of the mine gas safety monitoring system interfaces. The findings can also guide the designing of visual warning elements of different targets for other monitoring interfaces. • Verifying the existence of similarity bias in multiple target visual search. • Conceptual and perceptual similarity biases combine to influence similarity bias. • A design strategy based on multi-objective visual search is proposed. • The mine gas monitoring interface is optimized and its superiority is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial triclosan (TCS), one of the popular ingredients added to sanitizing products, has widespread use in personal care. However, it poses potential risks to reproduction and development. Unfortunately, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. This study aimed to investigate effects of TCS on the development of preimplantation mouse embryo and explore related mechanisms Mouse zygotes were collected and cultured to blastocysts in KSOM medium supplemented with four different concentrations of TCS. The development rates, pluripotency or stem cells markers, and microRNA (miR)− 134 were compared between control and experimental groups across each specific developmental stage. Prolonged exposure to TCS remarkably impaired early embryo development in vitro by hampering morula and blastocyst formations (P < 0.05, P < 0.001). The arrest of embryo development was linked with decreased expressions of pluripotency or stem cells markers, especially Nanog and Notch1. Moreover, based on miRWalk database and in vitro luciferase assays, we confirmed that miR-134 induced by TCS was a negative regulator of Nanog. Crucially, impaired TCS-treated embryos could be rescued by inhibiting miR-134 or forced overexpressing Nanog mRNA. Altogether, our results highlight that pathologically relevant level of TCS compromises preimplantation mouse embryo development by inducing miR-134 and triggering miR-134/Nanog axis. Considering high conservative of miR-134 between human and mouse, it should be the most promising potential target to regulate development of preimplantation embryo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Visual analysis of 1998 articles on Integrated Energy System through CiteSpace. • Comprehensive classification of model methods with sub-classifications. • Various operation optimization methodologies are summarized thoroughly. • Twenty-two model tools are classified and analyzed comprehensively. • Several insightful challenges and perspectives are discussed. With a rapid growth of Integrated Energy System (IES) in various scenarios, researches on IES have attracted extensive attention in the last few decades. Inspired by the ever-increasing studies about the IES, which focus on various energy scenarios but lack a systematic summarization, this paper aims to undertake a comprehensive review of the IES models, operation optimization methods, and model tools. Firstly, CiteSpace is used to visually analyze the cooperation and co-occurrence network of related articles in recent two decades, among which 1998 papers from WOS are selected for analyzing. Note that 243 papers highly related to IES are further investigated to systematically analyze and integrate the relevant work. On this basis, different definitions of IES around the world and 12 related research hotspots are summarized. Then, the IES modeling methods are creatively classified from eight aspects. Furthermore, from the perspective of operation optimization methods, three mainly optimal problems, including Economic Dispatch, Unit Commitment and Optimal Power Flow, are comprehensively analyzed. Besides, 22 energy model tools are discussed from the levels of National, Regional, and Users. Finally, seven advantages and three challenges are summarized, four key points are concluded, and six perspectives/recommendations are proposed for future research. In general, this paper is intended to offer an insightful guidance to prompt related researchers/engineers to broaden the horizons of their researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superplastic flow behavior and microstructural evolution of a fine-grained Al–Cu–Li alloy deformed at a temperature of 490 °C and an initial strain rate of 2 × 10−4 s−1 were studied by electron backscatter diffraction, scanning electron microscope and focused ion beam techniques. Based on the obtained data, the contributions of grain boundary sliding and intragranular dislocation slip to superplastic deformation of the Al–Cu–Li are carefully calculated. The results show that the whole superplastic deformation process can be divided into three stages. Strain from 0 to 0.1 can be identified as the strain hardening stage, in which dislocation movement is the main deformation mechanism and grain boundary sliding is the accommodation mechanism, multiplication of dislocation leads to strain hardening. Strain from 0.1 to 1.2 can be identified as the nearly steady flow stage, in which the grains are nearly equiaxed, the average grain size increases slowly and the proportion of high angle grain boundaries increases. Moreover, with the increase of the strain, the contribution of grain boundary sliding on deformation decreases gradually. The strain softening caused by dynamic recrystallization was observed at the end of this stage. The third stage is another strain hardening stage, in which rapidly dynamic grain growth and dislocation slip result in the strain hardening. The current research results emphasize that the diffusion creep is mainly responsible for the superplastic deformation, and the grain boundary sliding and intragranular dislocation slip play an accommodating role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the architecture and the implementation of the upgraded Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Poloidal Field Power Supply (PFPS) monitoring system. To meet the requirements of EAST long pulse discharge, the monitoring system has been upgraded based on experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS) and MDSplus. It provides an integrated management of supervision, data acquisition and real-time control. The program is flexible and portable, which improves the system performance. The I/O interrupt mechanism of the device support module is used to read the updated data, which reduces the network communication load. Asynchronous Driver Support (AsynDriver) is used to develop the device's specific interfacing code for the DAQ card driver, simplify writing of drivers and make the program more reliable. The HMI is developed using Control System Studio (CSS). During the experiment, the collect data is stored in the archiving system from PFPS system and sent to the MDSplus data server at the same time, so that the operator can view and analyze the online data and offline data. The upgraded monitoring system provides a general design scheme, which can be well integrated into the control system. The experimental results show the system realizes the remote operation and monitoring of equipment of PFPS and provides a friendly human-machine interface, supports multiuser operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The power level of full-controllable devices has been improved as the fast-growing technology of high-power semiconductor device, which promotes the upgrade of the poloidal field power supply (PFPS). In this paper, a new PFPS is proposed by using full-controllable devices. It is composed of voltage source converter (VSC) and H-bridge converter. Then combining with the dual closed-loop control strategy, the unified power control strategy is presented. To verify the correctness and reliability of the proposed analysis and strategy, a series of simulations about the dynamic response speed and the stability of the intermediate capacitor voltage are carried out. And the results prove that the unified power control strategy effectively improves the performance of the new PFPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Three layers of subsystems are constructed for the control system of EAST poloidal field power supply. • Architecture based on real-time system and high speed communication network is proposed to make control loops on power supply controllers running at strict cycle-time. • Handy human-machine interface and sensitive alarming mechanism based on EPICS are achieved to monitor the power system. • Unified external clock and external trigger scheme are developed to enhance the data acquisition management system. This paper introduces the architecture and characteristics of the poloidal field power supply, and describes the architecture of its control system, which is composed of data acquisition management system, operation monitoring system and real-time control system. According to the characteristics of the control system, a data acquisition management system based on Qt, an operation monitoring system based on EPICS and the real-time control system is based on Linux real-time kernel are designed. The control system realizes real-time control of EAST poloidal field power supply system in 1 ms cycle time, and the equipment status detection and monitoring, data acquisition, storage and inspection. Several experiments have proved that the control system definitely meets the requirements of the poloidal field power supply control system in the complex situations under magnetic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The voltage response test scheme of ITER PF converter bridge is presented. • The feasibility of test scheme has been confirmed by the simulation and test. • The voltage response performance of PF converter bridge range meets ITER requirements. As the key component of international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) poloidal field (PF) converter units, converter bridges are supplied by converter transformer with two primary and two secondary three-phase windings, and output the on-load voltage (±1.05 kV) and the rated DC current (±27.5 kA). Moreover, the converter bridge should provide the symmetrical voltage response not more than 2 electrical cycles (40 ms) for full scale change (-1.05 kV to 1.05 kV) when the AC power is in the rage of 62 kV–72 kV. The voltage response test is essential to verify the voltage response performance of PF converter bridge meet ITER requirements or not. The double closed-loop control mode of inner current loop and outer voltage loop is usually adopted in the dynamic response test of low-power converter in other fields. ITER PF converter is a special high-power converter used in nuclear fusion field. According to its operation characteristics, the voltage step response of the converter only needs to be detected in the case of open-loop voltage, and the output current of the converter must reach the rated value in the process of voltage response. Therefore, the double closed-loop control method is not suitable for the voltage response test of ITER PF converter, and a new and reasonable test scheme need to be designed. This paper mainly presents the analysis and design of the voltage response test scheme, and the feasibility of test scheme is confirmed by the simulation results and test results, which will provide the method and reference for the voltage response test of high-power converter in nuclear fusion field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tomato-spotted wilt virus (TSWV) from the Tospovirus genus affects over 1000 plant species, including key crops, and traditional control methods often prove inadequate. This study investigates the effectiveness of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Bacillus subtilis in reducing TSWV infection, enhancing plant growth, and strengthening defense in Nicotiana benthamiana. The aim is to assess Bacillus as a sustainable biocontrol alternative, offering an eco-friendly solution for managing TSWV disease in agriculture., Results: Here, we report the efficacy of five Bacillus isolates (out of 15 tested) - B. amyloliquefaciens (DJB5, YN48, YN28, Mg6) and B. subtilis L1-21 - significantly reducing TSWV copies per gram in N. benthamiana leaves, using a half-leaf assay. In glasshouse trials, isolates DJB5, YN48, and Mg6 decreased TSWV copies per gram by 75.7%, 83.6%, and 88.2%, with biocontrol efficacy rates of 91.2%, 94.1%, and 95.7% respectively. All the isolates consistently mitigated the symptoms of TSWV, reduced the disease severity, and area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) at 21 days post-inoculation. Additionally, these isolates enhanced plant growth parameters, including shoot and root length, leaf number, area, and biomass. The application of endophytes in the infected plants activated antioxidant defense enzymes by elevating the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and chitinase. However, defense-related enzymes, such as malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), total phenol, and β-1,3-glucanase decreased as TSWV infection reduced in the leaves., Conclusion: Our findings indicate that B. amyloliquefaciens isolates, DJB5, YN48, and Mg6, effectively manage TSWV by activating plant defense, reducing virus load, reducing TSWV symptoms, and promoting plant growth. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.)

It is challenging for teachers to monitor each student's emotional state in real-time, making personalized learning difficult to achieve. Previous emotion recognition methods, such as support vector machines, are limited by technology and fail to meet practical application requirements. However, the development of deep learning technology offers new solutions for facial expression recognition, which makes emotional interaction and personalized support in education possible. Until now, there has been a lack of facial expression datasets in real classroom settings. To fill this gap, this study collected facial expression data in a real classroom, preprocessed it using OpenCV, and established the first real-world facial expression dataset. The emotion categories include surprise, happiness, neutrality, confusion, and boredom. The dataset was rigorously screened and contains a total of 5,527 images, divided into training, validation, and test sets. This dataset provides a reliable foundation for future research and applications in educational technology, particularly in the development of real-time emotion recognition models to enhance personalized learning and teaching effectiveness. The rigorous data collection and preprocessing approach ensures the dataset's quality and authenticity, addressing the limitations of existing datasets collected in laboratory settings., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN), a complication of diabetes, is the most leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Bariatric surgery functions on the remission of diabetes and diabetes-related complications. One anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB), one of popular bariatric surgery, can improve diabetes and its complications by regulating the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) level. Meanwhile, GLP-1 can alleviate renal damage in high-fat-diet-induced obese rats. However, the effect of OAGB on renal injury remains uncertain in DN., Methods: A diabetes model was elicited in rats via HFD feeding and STZ injection. The role and mechanism of OAGB were addressed in DN rats by the body and kidney weight and blood glucose supervision, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), biochemistry detection, histopathological analysis, and western blot assays., Results: OAGB surgery reversed the increase in body weight and glucose tolerance indicators in diabetes rats. Also, OAGB operation neutralized the DN-induced average kidney weight, kidney weight/body weight, and renal injury indexes accompanied with reduced glomerular hypertrophy, alleviated mesangial dilation and decreased tubular and periglomerular collagen deposition. In addition, OAGB introduction reduced the DN-induced renal triglyceride and renal cholesterol with the regulation of fatty acids-related proteins expression. Mechanically, OAGB administration rescued the DN-induced expression of Sirt1/AMPK/PGC1α pathway mediated by GLP-1. Pharmacological block of GLP-1 receptor inverted the effect of OAGB operation on body weight, glucose tolerance, renal tissue damage, and fibrosis and lipids accumulation in DN rats., Conclusion: OAGB improved renal damage and fibrosis and lipids accumulation in DN rats by GLP-1-mediated Sirt1/AMPK/PGC1α pathway., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Japanese Society of Nephrology.)

High-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) is a common analysis technique due to its high versatility and simple operation. In the present study, HPLC-UV detection was integrated with immunoaffinity cleanup (IAC) of the sample extracts. The matrix effect was greatly reduced, and the limit of detection was as low as 1 ng/g of free abscisic acid (ABA) in fresh plant tissues. A monoclonal antibody 3F1 (mAb 3F1) was developed to specifically recognize free ABA but not ABA analogues. The mAb 3F1-immobilized immunoaffinity column exhibited a capacity of 850 ng/mL and an elution efficiency of 88.8-105% for standards. The extraction recoveries of the column for ABA ranged from 80.4 to 108.9%. ABA content was detected in various plant samples with IAC-HPLC-UV. The results were verified with ultraperformance liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. IAC-HPLC-UV can be a sensitive and cost-efficient method for plant hormone analysis.

Gut barrier disruption is a key event in bridging gut microbiota dysbiosis and high-fat diet (HFD)-associated metabolic disorders. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In the present study, by comparing HFD- and normal diet (ND)-treated mice, we found that the HFD instantly altered the composition of the gut microbiota and subsequently damaged the integrity of the gut barrier. Metagenomic sequencing revealed that the HFD upregulates gut microbial functions related to redox reactions, as confirmed by the increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in fecal microbiota incubation in vitro and in the lumen, which were detected using in vivo fluorescence imaging. This microbial ROS-producing capability induced by HFD can be transferred through fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) into germ-free (GF) mice, downregulating the gut barrier tight junctions. Similarly, mono-colonizing GF mice with an Enterococcus strain excelled in ROS production, damaged the gut barrier, induced mitochondrial malfunction and apoptosis of the intestinal epithelial cells, and exacerbated fatty liver, compared with other low-ROS-producing Enterococcus strains. Oral administration of recombinant high-stability-superoxide dismutase (SOD) significantly reduced intestinal ROS, protected the gut barrier, and improved fatty liver against the HFD. In conclusion, our study suggests that extracellular ROS derived from gut microbiota play a pivotal role in HFD-induced gut barrier disruption and is a potential therapeutic target for HFD-associated metabolic diseases., (© 2023. Science China Press.)

Heavy metal copper (Cu) will inevitably impact the marine macroalgae Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis ( G. lemaneiformis ), which is a culture of economic importance along China's coastline. In this study, the detoxification mechanism of Cu stress on G. lemaneiformis was revealed by assessing physiological indicators in conjunction with transcriptome and metabolome analyses at 1 d after Cu stress. Our findings revealed that 25 μM Cu stimulated ROS synthesis and led to the enzymatic oxidation of arachidonic acid residues. This process subsequently impeded G. lemaneiformis growth by suppressing photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, protein synthesis, etc. The entry of Cu ions into the algae was facilitated by ZIPs and IRT transporters, presenting as Cu 2+ . Furthermore, there was an up-regulation of Cu efflux transporters HMA5 and ABC family transporters to achieve compartmentation to mitigate the toxicity. The results revealed that G. lemaneiformis elevated the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase and ascorbate-glutathione cycle to maintain ROS homeostasis. Additionally, metabolites such as flavonoids, 3-O-methylgallic acid, 3-hydroxy-4-keto-gama-carotene, and eicosapentaenoic acid were up-regulated compared with the control, indicating that they might play roles in response to Cu stress. In summary, this study offers a comprehensive insight into the detoxification mechanisms driving the responses of G. lemaneiformis to Cu exposure.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common and complex endocrine disorder in reproductive-aged women that frequently leads to infertility due to poor oocyte quality. In this study, we identified a new active peptide (advanced glycation end products receptors RAGE 344-355 ) from PCOS follicular fluid using mass spectrometry. We found that supplementing PCOS-like mouse oocytes with RAGE 344-355 attenuated both meiotic defects and oxidative stress levels, ultimately preventing developmental defects. Additionally, our results suggest that RAGE 344-355 may interact with eEF1a1 to mitigate oxidative meiotic defects in PCOS-like mouse oocytes. These findings highlight the potential for further clinical development of RAGE 344-355 as a potent supplement and therapeutic option for women with PCOS. This research addresses an important clinical problem and offers promising opportunities for improving oocyte quality in PCOS patients., (© 2024 The Authors. The FASEB Journal published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.)

Introduction: Obesity is a chronic disease in which the body stores excess energy in the form of fat, and intestinal bacterial metabolism and inflammatory host phenotypes influence the development of obesity. Walnut peptide (WP) is a small molecule biopeptide, and the mechanism of action of WP against metabolic disorders has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we explored the potential intervention mechanism of WP on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity through bioinformatics combined with animal experiments., Methods: PPI networks of Amino acids and their metabolites in WP (AMWP) and "obesity" and "inflammation" diseases were searched and constructed by using the database, and their core targets were enriched and analyzed. Subsequently, Cytoscape software was used to construct the network diagram of the AMWP-core target-KEGG pathway and analyze the topological parameters. MOE2019.0102 was used to verify the molecular docking of core AMWP and core target. Subsequently, an obese Mice model induced by an HFD was established, and the effects of WP on obesity were verified by observing weight changes, glucose, and lipid metabolism levels, liver pathological changes, the size of adipocytes in groin adipose tissue, inflammatory infiltration of colon tissue, and intestinal microorganisms and their metabolites., Results: The network pharmacology and molecular docking showed that glutathione oxide may be the main active component of AMWP, and its main targets may be EGFR, NOS3, MMP2, PLG, PTGS2, AR. Animal experiments showed that WP could reduce weight gain and improve glucose-lipid metabolism in HFD-induced obesity model mice, attenuate hepatic lesions reduce the size of adipocytes in inguinal adipose tissue, and reduce the inflammatory infiltration in colonic tissue. In addition, the abundance and diversity of intestinal flora were remodeled, reducing the phylum Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio, while the intestinal mucosal barrier was repaired, altering the content of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and alleviating intestinal inflammation in HFD-fed mice. These results suggest that WP intervenes in HFD-induced obesity and dyslipidemia by repairing the intestinal microenvironment, regulating flora metabolism and anti-inflammation., Discussion: Our findings suggest that WP intervenes in HFD-induced obesity and dyslipidemia by repairing the intestinal microenvironment, regulating flora metabolism, and exerting anti-inflammatory effects. Thus, WP may be a potential therapeutic strategy for preventing and treating metabolic diseases, and for alleviating the intestinal flora disorders induced by these diseases. This provides valuable insights for the development of WP therapies., 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 © 2023 Li, Wang, Zhang, Lv, Jin, Wang, Chen, Li, Han, Wu and Yuan.)

Compared with rigid robots, soft robots are inherently compliant and have advantages in the tasks requiring flexibility and safety. But sensing the high dimensional body deformation of soft robots is a challenge. Encasing soft strain sensors into the internal body of soft robots is the most popular solution to address this challenge. But most of them usually suffer from problems like nonlinearity, hysteresis, and fabrication complexity. To endow the soft robots with body movement awareness, this work presents a bioinspired architecture by taking cues from human proprioception system. Differing from the popular usage of smart material-based sensors embedded in soft actuators, we created a synthetic analog to the human muscle system, using paralleled soft pneumatic chambers to serve as receptors for sensing body deformation. We proposed to build the system with redundant receptors and explored deep learning tools for generating the kinematic model. Based on the proposed methodology, we demonstrated the design of three degrees of freedom continuum joint and how its kinematic model was learned from the unified pressure information of the actuators and receptors. In addition, we investigated the response of the soft system to receptor failures and presented both hardware and software level solutions for achieving graceful degradation. This approach offers an alternative to enable soft robots with proprioception capability, which will be useful for closed-loop control and interaction with environment.

Accurate blood glucose determination is essential to the clinical diagnosis and management of diabetes. This work establishes an inner filter effect (IFE) strategy between upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and quinone-imine complex for glucose monitoring in human serum simply and efficiently. In this system, the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx) catalyzes the reaction of glucose into hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and gluconic acid when compulsion by oxygen. In the presence of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), the produced H 2 O 2 can catalytically oxidize phenol and 4-amino antipyrine (4-AAP) to generate quinone-imine products. The purple-colored quinone-imine complex effectively absorbed the fluorescence of NaYF 4 :Yb 3+ , Er 3+ UCNPs, leading to the strong fluorescence quenching of UCNPs through IFE. Thus, a new approach was established for glucose monitoring by determining the fluorescence intensity. Under the optimal condition, this approach shows better linearity to glucose from 2-240 μmol/L with a low detection limit at 1.0 μmol/L. Owing to the excellent fluorescence property and background-free interference of the UCNPs, the biosensor was applied for glucose measurements in human serum and got a satisfactory result. Furthermore, this sensitive and selective biosensor revealed great potential for the quantitative analysis of blood glucose or different kinds of H 2 O 2 -involved biomolecules for the application of clinical diagnosis., 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 © 2023 Chen, Yang, Chen and Zhang.)

Background: Hypoxia is an essential cause of fatigue and aging, and is associated with the occurrence and development of many diseases. Polygonatum kingianum (PK) is a deficiency-nourishing Chinese herbal medicine utilized as both medicine and food, and it has long been used to ameliorate human conditions associated with fatigue and aging over 2000 years in China. PK is an important genuine-medicinal-materials cultivated in Yunnan, China, and is used by the Bai, Wa, and Zhuang nationalities as a traditional medicine for enhancing immunity, anti-fatigue, and anti-aging, while the preventive effect of PK on hypoxia-induced injury and the underlying mechanism are indefinite., Aim of the Study: The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-hypoxia efficacy and understand the corresponding mechanism of PK water extract., Materials and Methods: The main active ingredients and targets of PK were predicted using network pharmacology, and the anti-hypoxia activities of Gracillin and Liquiritigenin were verified by in vitro experiments. The pharmacodynamic experiments were conducted to evaluate the major signal pathways of PK for detecting anti-hypoxia activity., Results: Fifty active ingredients and 371 potential targets were screened by network pharmacology, then, we confirmed that Gracillin and Liquiritigenin were the main active components of PK to exert anti-hypoxia effect in vitro. The pharmacodynamic experiments revealed that PK enhanced the extension rate of the survival time (ERST) and regulated the targets-related biochemical parameters of rats under hypoxia, showing significant anti-hypoxia effects on rats., Conclusion: The network pharmacology results suggested that PK exerts its anti-hypoxia effect through a multi-component and multi-target manner. Simultaneously, we also observed that Gracillin (saponins) and Liquiritigenin (flavonoids) are the main active components of PK to play a role in anti-hypoxia. The anti-hypoxia effect of PK could be associated with scavenging excess free radicals, maintaining the activities of antioxidant enzymes, and inhibiting oxidative stress due to lipid peroxidation. These findings provide insight into the Polygonatum kingianum as promising medicines or healthcare products for preventing and treating hypoxia., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Posttranscriptional processing of precursor mRNAs contributes to transcriptome and protein diversity and gene regulatory mechanisms in eukaryotes. However, this posttranscriptional mechanism has not been studied in the marine macroalgae Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis, which is the most cultivated red seaweed species in China., Results: In the present study, third-generation sequencing (Pacific Biosciences single-molecule real-time long-read sequencing, SMRT-Seq) was used to sequence the full-length transcriptome of G. lemaneiformis to identify alternatively spliced transcripts and alternative polyadenylation (APA) sites in this species. RNAs were isolated from G. lemaneiformis under various treatments including abiotic stresses and exogenous phytohormones, and then equally pooled for SMRT-Seq. In summary, 346,544 full-length nonchimeric reads were generated, from which 13,630 unique full-length transcripts were obtained in G. lemaneiformis. Compared with the known splicing events in the gene models, more than 3000 new alternative splicing (AS) events were identified in the SMRT-Seq reads. Additionally, 810 genes were found to have poly (A) sites and 91 microRNAs (miRNAs), 961 long noncoding RNAs and 1721 novel genes were identified in G. lemaneiformis. Moreover, validation experiments showed that abiotic stresses and phytohormones could induce some specific AS events, especially intron retain isoforms, cause some alterations to the relative ratios of transcripts annotated to the same gene, and generate novel 3' ends because of differential APA. The growth of G. lemaneiformis was inhibited by Cu stress, while this inhibition was alleviated by ACC treatment. RNA-Seq analysis further revealed that 211 differential alternative splicing (DAS) events and 142 DAS events was obtained in CK vs Cu and Cu vs Cu + ACC, respectively, suggesting that AS of functional genes could be regulated by Cu stress and ACC. Compared with Cu stress, the expression of transcripts with DAS events mainly involved in the carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms and oxidative phosphorylation pathway was upregulated in Cu + ACC treatment, revealing that ACC alleviated the growth inhibition by Cu stress by increasing carbon fixation and oxidative phosphorylation., Conclusions: Our results provide the first comprehensive picture of the full-length transcriptome and posttranscriptional mechanism in red macroalgae, including transcripts that appeared in the presence of common abiotic stresses and phytohormones, which will improve the gene annotations of Gracilariopsis and contribute to the study of gene regulation in this important cultivated seaweed., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

In developing countries, child safety seat use remains low, which contributes to the consistently high rate of child injuries and deaths in traffic accidents. In order to protect the safety of child passengers, it is necessary to improve the public acceptance of child restraints. We improved the shortcomings of the traditional child restraints by adding some new features: 1, tightening Isofix automatically; 2, using temperature sensing, a high-temperature alarm, automatic ventilation, and cooling; 3, using pressure sensing, if the child is left alone it will set off the car alarm; 4, voice control to adjust the angle of the backrest; 5, the seat can be folded into the trunk. These functions make human-computer interaction more humane. The authors collected changes in parental acceptance of child restraints using the interview method and questionnaires. We found that acceptance increased significantly after making intelligent improvements to the child restraints. The authors used the Technology Acceptance Model to identify the key caveats influencing users' use of intelligent child restraints. Performance expectations, effort expectations, social influence, convenience, and hedonic motivation positively and significantly impacted the willingness to use intelligent child restraints, so the authors suggest that these points should be emphasized when promoting the product. The current study findings have theoretical and practical implications for smart child restraint designers, manufacturers, sellers, and government agencies. To better understand and promote child restraint, researchers and marketers can analyze how people accept child restraint based on our research model.

The use of antibiotics to facilitate resistance to pathogens in aquatic animals is a traditional method of pathogen control that is harmful to the environment and human health. RNAi is an emerging technology in which homologous small RNA molecules target specific genes for degradation, and it has already shown success in laboratory experiments. However, further research is needed before it can be applied in aquafarms. Many laboratories inject the dsRNA into aquatic animals for RNAi, which is obviously impractical and very time consuming in aquafarms. Therefore, to enable the use of RNAi on a large scale, the methods used to prepare dsRNA need to be continuously in order to be fast and efficient. At the same time, it is necessary to consider the issue of biological safety. This review summarizes the key harmful genes associated with aquatic pathogens (viruses, bacteria, and parasites) and provides potential targets for the preparation of dsRNA; it also lists some current examples where RNAi technology is used to control aquatic species, as well as how to deliver dsRNA to the target hydrobiont., 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 © 2022 Nie, Chen, Tang, Xu and Zhang.)

Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (HIRI) is a serious complication that occurs following shock and/or liver surgery. Gut microbiota and their metabolites are key upstream modulators of development of liver injury. Herein, we investigated the potential contribution of gut microbes to HIRI. Ischemia/reperfusion surgery was performed to establish a murine model of HIRI. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolomics were used for microbial analysis. Transcriptomics and proteomics analysis were employed to study the host cell responses. Our results establish HIRI was significantly increased when surgery occurred in the evening (ZT12, 20:00) when compared with the morning (ZT0, 08:00); however, antibiotic pretreatment reduced this diurnal variation. The abundance of a microbial metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylpropionic acid was significantly higher in ZT0 when compared with ZT12 in the gut and this compound significantly protected mice against HIRI. Furthermore, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylpropionic acid suppressed the macrophage pro-inflammatory response in vivo and in vitro . This metabolite inhibits histone deacetylase activity by reducing its phosphorylation. Histone deacetylase inhibition suppressed macrophage pro-inflammatory activation and diminished the diurnal variation of HIRI. Our findings revealed a novel protective microbial metabolite against HIRI in mice. The potential underlying mechanism was at least in part, via 3,4-dihydroxyphenylpropionic acid-dependent immune regulation and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition in macrophages., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2022 Chinese Pharmaceutical Association and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: Mucin 1 (MUC1/EMA) and sialyl Lewis X (sLe x ) indicate polarity reversal in invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of MUC1/EMA and sLe x and to assess their diagnostic and prognostic value in patients with IMPC., Methods: The expression of sLe x and MUC1/EMA in 100 patients with IMPC and a control group of 89 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified (IDC-NOS) were analyzed with IHC. Fresh tumor tissues were collected from patients with IMPC or IDC-NOS for primary culture and immunofluorescence analysis., Results: The rate of nodal metastasis was higher in patients with IMPC than those with IDC-NOS, and IMPC cells tended to express more sLe x and MUC1/EMA in the cytomembranes (the stroma-facing surfaces of the micropapillary clusters) than IDC-NOS cells. In IMPC, high cytomembrane expression of sLe x , but not MUC1/EMA, indicated poor prognosis. In addition, among the 100 patients with IMPC, 10 patients had sLe x +/EMA- expression patterns, and 8 patients had sLe x -/EMA+ expression patterns. The primary IMPC cells were suspended, non-adherent tumor cell clusters, whereas the primary IDC cells were adherent tumor cells. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that MUC1/EMA and sLex were co-expressed on the cytomembranes in IMPC cell clusters and in the cytoplasm in IDC-NOS cells., Conclusions: sLe x can be used as a prognostic indicator and can be combined with MUC1/EMA as a complementary diagnostic indicator to avoid missed IMPC diagnosis., Competing Interests: No potential conflicts of interest are disclosed., (Copyright © 2021 Cancer Biology & Medicine.)

Objective: To perform cytogenetic analysis for children, especially newborns suspected for chromosome abnormalities., Methods: Peripheral blood or born marrow specimens were respectively cultured in proper media. Karyograms were analyzed following G-banding., Results: Of 154 blood specimens, numerical chromosomal abnormalities were identified in 20 patients, which included 19 with trisomy 21. Structural aberrations were identified in 13 patients, among which chromosome 9 aberrations were seen in 6 cases. These included 3 inversions, 1 deletion, 1 insertion and 1 duplication. All aberrations were located in pericentromere region of chromosome 9 with clinical manifestations including congenital heart disease, peculiar facial appearance, paralysis, dysplasia and/or movement disorder. Chromosome polymorphisms were found in 20 patients, most of which had absence of satellites or variation of heterochromatin on chromosome 9. Of 10 bone marrow specimens from children suspected for acute leukemia, chromosome abnormalities were identified in 5 patients., Conclusion: Cytogenetic analysis is useful for children featuring multiple congenital abnormalities. Chromosome 9 abnormalities and their clinical relevance should attract more attention.

In recent years, food safety incidents become a serious social problem. Foods are usually complex mixtures consisting of a large diversity of molecules. Analysis of foods is a topic that demands the development of rapid, robust, efficient, sensitive and cost-effective analytical methodologies. Therefore, new techniques for food safety purpose are required by analytical chemists. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a popular separation technique that possesses fast and efficient performances in an automated way with minimum consumption of sample and reagents. Nowadays, CE represents a desired strategy for the determination of many compounds or molecules in various kinds of food. In this paper, the review intends to provide the recent innovative developments reported in food safety analysis using CE methods for a full overview. As a fundamental review, it focuses on the introduction and detection of several common hazardous materials existing in food such as non-food additives, pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, heavy metal ion contaminants, toxins, biphenol A and phthalates in packaging materials and so on. Furthermore, this review prospects the main development direction of CE in this field for the future. A total of 63 papers published during the period of Jan 2009 - Jun 2012 are included in the present review.