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In the field of medical research, the development of safe and effective wound dressings is a continuous goal. Chitosan (CS) is highly sought after because of its unique biocompatibility, biodegradability, antibacterial, and healing-promoting properties. The CS molecule has a significant number of active amino and hydroxyl groups; thus, making substitutions and creating derivatives with varied biochemical properties are relatively straightforward processes. This review addresses the range of functions performed by CS and its derivatives in wound care, such as haemostasis, antibacterial, antioxidant, and wound healing. Furthermore, it summarises the various types of CS-based dressings, their performance features and applications. Finally, the future directions of CS-based dressings are proposed. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Electric field changes water structure in C S H nanopore. • Electric field weakens the hydrophilicity and chloride ions adsorption on C S H surfaces. • Electric field changes the type of H-bonds. • The permeability coefficient of Chloride ions increased by orders of magnitude due to damaged water "cages" and ion clusters. The transport characteristics of corrosive liquids in concrete pores play a key role in the study of the durability of cement-based materials. However, the durability performance and mechanism of chloride transport in C S H nanopores under electric field is still poorly understood. Here, we systematically investigated this problem by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results revealed that the electric field changed the layered structure, density stratification, orientation preference and the type of H-bonds of water molecules, resulting in the increase of water diffusion coefficient. Our research showed that the electric field would increase the numbers of H-bonds among water molecules, thus weakened the influence of C S H substrate surfaces. Without electric field-induced transport, the movement of chloride ions presented an adsorption state and exhibited a very low permeation rate due to the increase of nominal radius and the strong chemical interaction of ion clusters. However, with the increased of electric field intensity, the hydrated "cage" and ion clusters were destroyed, chloride ions moved towards the centre of the pore, and the diffusion coefficient increased by two orders of magnitude. The transport behavior of chloride liquids can be regarded as a rational microscopic explanation for the electric field-induced chloride attack on concrete. Further, it can provide a reference for the development of concrete with special effect to resist electric field-induced erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This research was to explore the mechanism of ultrasonic impact on free cellulase activity and immobilize cellulase activities. The highest free cellulase activity was achieved when the sample was treated with low intensity ultrasound at 15W, 24kHz for 10min, under which the enzyme activity was increased by 18.17% over the control. Fluorescence and CD spectra revealed that the ultrasonic treatment had increased the number of tryptophan on cellulase surface slightly, with the deformation of certain number of α-helix structure and increase of random coil content in cellulase protein. The highest immobilized cellulase activity was achieved when the sample was treated with low intensity ultrasound at 60W, 24kHz for 10min, under which the enzyme activity was increased by 24.67% over the control. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the ultrasonic treatment had increased the surface area of immobilized cellulase. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Examines the effect of carbon-manganese segregation on the phase transformation in Fe-Mn-C alloys. Detection of microregion composition of the elements; Calculation of valence electron structure and observation on thin film tensile deformation; Analysis of microintrinsic characteristics of phase transformation at electron and atom level.

The low bioavailability of polyphenol limits their use in functional foods. This study focused on the effects of luteolin, quercetin, proanthocyanidins, and apigenin loading on the attributes of lipid bilayers. Liposomes loaded with quercetin and proanthocyanidins were smaller in size and disperse more uniformly than those loaded with luteolin and apigenin. The spherical structures of these four liposomes were investigated via transmission electron microscope (TEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). Raman spectra showed that the choline groups in all the liposome bilayers were mainly gauche conformations. Furthermore, polyphenolics had different effects on the liposomes' mobility and structure, which were dependent on the localization and orientation of polyphenolics in the lipid bilayer. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicates that four kinds of polyphenolics exist in an amorphous form in these liposomes. Fluorescence analysis indicates that the four polyphenolic compounds could load into the liposomes with different orientations. The ability of the four polyphenols to chelate Al3+ was significantly reduced in the lipid environment. The results reveal that polyphenolics' localization in lipid bilayers and their effects on lecithin membranes can be attributed to the polyphenols' structural characteristics. These were vital factors that should be taken into account when designing a liposome delivery system. • Effects of polyphenol loading on attributes of lipid bilayers were investigated. • Four polyphenols were incorporated into lipid bilayer with different degrees. • Liposomes exhibited the strongest protective effect on proanthocyanidins. • The number of hydroxyl groups affects the interaction between phenols and liposomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influencing factors of abnormal pulmonary ventilation function in occupational exposed populations and to establish a risk prediction model. The findings will provide a basis for formulating corresponding strategies for the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases. The study focused on workers who underwent occupational health examinations in the year 2020. Statistical analysis was conducted using methods such as t-tests, chi-square tests, and multiple logistic regression analysis. Additionally, machine learning methods were employed to establish multiple models to address classification problems. Among the 7472 workers who participated in the occupational health examination, 1681 cases of abnormal pulmonary ventilation function were detected, resulting in a detection rate of 22.6%. Based on the analysis of occupational hazard data, a risk prediction model was established. Age, work tenure, type of the employing enterprise, and type of dust exposure are all identified as driving factors for abnormal pulmonary function. These factors were used as predictive variables for establishing the risk prediction model. Among the various models evaluated, the logistic regression model was found to be the optimal model for predicting abnormal pulmonary ventilation function., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Progestins are crucial steroid hormones that have attracted wide attention due to their endocrine disrupting effects in fish. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of long-term exposure to low concentrations of norgestrel (NGT) on the reproductive and thyroid endocrine systems of adult zebrafish. Adult zebrafish were exposed to 7 and 39 ng/L NGT for a duration of 90 days. The results revealed that exposure to 39 ng/L NGT led to a significant up-regulation of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (hsd3b) and 20β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (hsd20b) genes in the ovary of female zebrafish. Additionally, there was a significant up-regulation of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 (hsd11b2) gene in the testis of male zebrafish. Furthermore, egg production decreased significantly, accompanied by notable alterations in the proportion of ovarian development stages, as well as reductions of sex hormone levels (E2, 11-KT, and T) in both females and males. However, long-term exposure to low concentrations of NGT did not lead to changes in thyroid hormone levels and thyroid histopathology in adult zebrafish. The overall results imply that environmental concentrations of NGT have a strong endocrine disrupting effect on the reproductive system of zebrafish, while the thyroid system is not sensitive to NGT exposure. The present study underscores the reproductive endocrine impacts of NGT and emphasizes the necessity for prolonged exposure at environmental concentrations., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Resistive memory devices feature drastic conductance change and fast switching dynamics. Particularly, nonvolatile bipolar switching events (set and reset) can be regarded as a unique nonlinear activation function characteristic of a hysteretic loop. Upon simultaneous activation of multiple rows in a crosspoint array, state change of one device may contribute to the conditional switching of others, suggesting an interactive network existing in the circuit. Here, we prove that a passive resistive switching circuit is essentially an attractor network, where the binary memory devices are artificial neurons while the pairwise voltage differences define an anti-symmetric weight matrix. An energy function is successfully constructed for this network, showing that every switching in the circuit would decrease the energy. Due to the nonvolatile hysteretic function, the energy change for bit flip in this network is thresholded, which is different from the classic Hopfield network. It allows more stable states stored in the circuit, thus representing a highly compact and efficient solution for associative memory. Network dynamics (towards stable states) and their modulations by external voltages have been demonstrated in experiment by 3-neuron and 4-neuron circuits., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The extinction risk of the giant panda has been demoted from "endangered" to "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, but its habitat is more fragmented than ever before, resulting in 33 isolated giant panda populations according to the fourth national survey released by the Chinese government. Further comprehensive investigations of the genetic background and in-depth assessments of the conservation status of wild populations are still necessary and urgently needed. Here, we sequenced the genomes of 612 giant pandas with an average depth of ~26× and generated a high-resolution map of genomic variation with more than 20 million variants covering wild individuals from six mountain ranges and captive representatives in China. We identified distinct genetic clusters within the Minshan population by performing a fine-grained genetic structure. The estimation of inbreeding and genetic load associated with historical population dynamics suggested that future conservation efforts should pay special attention to the Qinling and Liangshan populations. Releasing captive individuals with a genetic background similar to the recipient population appears to be an advantageous genetic rescue strategy for recovering the wild giant panda populations, as this approach introduces fewer deleterious mutations into the wild population than mating with differentiated lineages. These findings emphasize the superiority of large-scale population genomics to provide precise guidelines for future conservation of the giant panda., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

Dysregulation of alternative pre-mRNA splicing plays a critical role in the progression of cancers, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. It is reported that metastasis-associated in colon cancer 1 (MACC1) is a novel prognostic and predictive marker in many types of cancers, including lung adenocarcinoma. Here, we reveal that the oncogene MACC1 specifically drives the progression of lung adenocarcinoma through its control over cancer-related splicing events. MACC1 depletion inhibits lung adenocarcinoma progression through triggering IRAK1 from its long isoform, IRAK1-L, to the shorter isoform, IRAK1-S. Mechanistically, MACC1 interacts with splicing factor HNRNPH1 to prevent the production of the short isoform of IRAK1 mRNA. Specifically, the interaction between MACC1 and HNRNPH1 relies on the involvement of MACC1's SH3 domain and HNRNPH1's GYR domain. Further, HNRNPH1 can interact with the pre-mRNA segment (comprising exon 11) of IRAK1, thereby bridging MACC1's regulation of IRAK1 splicing. Our research not only sheds light on the abnormal splicing regulation in cancer but also uncovers a hitherto unknown function of MACC1 in tumor progression, thereby presenting a novel potential therapeutic target for clinical treatment., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: The oriental stork, Ciconia boyciana, is an endangered migratory bird listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. The bird population has experienced a rapid decline in the past decades, with nest locations and stop-over sites largely degraded due to human-bird conflicts. Multipronged conservation efforts are required to secure the future of oriental storks. We propose that a thorough understanding of the genome-wide genetic background of this threatened bird species is critical to make future conservation strategies., Findings: In this study, the first chromosome-scale reference genome was presented for the oriental stork with high quality, contiguity, and accuracy. The assembled genome size was 1.24 Gb with a scaffold N50 of 103 Mb, and 1.23 Gb contigs (99.32%) were anchored to 35 chromosomes. Population genomic analysis did not show a genetic structure in the wild population. Genome-wide genetic diversity (π = 0.0012) of the oriental stork was at a moderate to high level among threatened bird species, and the inbreeding risk was also not significant (FROH = 5.56% ± 5.30%). Reconstruction of demographic history indicated a rapid recent population decline likely driven by human activities. Genes that were under positive selection associated with the migratory trait were identified in relation to the long-term potentiation, photoreceptor cell organization, circadian rhythm, muscle development, and energy metabolism, indicating the essential interplay between genetic and ecological adaptation., Conclusions: Our study presents the first chromosome-scale genome assembly of the oriental stork and provides a genomic basis for understanding a genetic background of the oriental stork, the population's extinction risks, and the migratory characteristics, which will facilitate the decision of future conservation plans for this species., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press GigaScience.)

Modern analog computing, by gaining momentum from nonvolatile resistive memory devices, deals with matrix computations. In-memory analog computing has been demonstrated for solving some basic but ordinary matrix problems in one step. Among the more complicated matrix problems, compressed sensing (CS) is a prominent example, whose recovery algorithms feature high-order matrix operations and hardware-unfriendly nonlinear functions. In light of the local competitive algorithm (LCA), here, we present a closed-loop, continuous-time resistive memory circuit for solving CS recovery in one step. Recovery of one-dimensional (1D) sparse signal and 2D compressive images has been experimentally demonstrated, showing elapsed times around few microseconds and normalized mean squared errors of 10 -2 . The LCA circuit is one or two orders of magnitude faster than conventional digital approaches. It also substantially outperforms other (electronic or exotically photonic) analog CS recovery methods in terms of speed, energy, and fidelity, thus representing a highly promising technology for real-time CS applications.

Hyperspectral images provide a wealth of spectral and spatial information, offering significant advantages for the purpose of tracking objects. However, Siamese trackers are unable to fully exploit spectral features due to the limited number of hyperspectral videos. The high-dimensional nature of hyperspectral images complicates the model training process. In order to address the aforementioned issues, this article proposes a hyperspectral object tracking (HOT) algorithm callled SiamPKHT, which leverages the SiamCAR model by incorporating pyramid shuffle attention (PSA) and knowledge distillation (KD). First, the PSA module employs pyramid convolutions to extract multiscale features. In addition, shuffle attention is adopted to capture relationships between different channels and spatial positions, thereby obtaining good features with a stronger classification performance. Second, KD is introduced under the guidance of a pre-trained RGB tracking model, which deals with the problem of overfitting in HOT. Experiments using HOT2022 data indicate that the designed SiamPKHT achieves better performance compared to the baseline method (SiamCAR) and other state-of-the-art HOT algorithms. It also achieves real-time requirements at 43 frames per second.

In China, 65 types of venomous snakes exist, with the Chinese Cobra Naja atra being prominent and a major cause of snakebites in humans. Furthermore, N. atra is a protected animal in some areas, as it has been listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Recently, due to the medical value of snake venoms, venomics has experienced growing research interest. In particular, genomic resources are crucial for understanding the molecular mechanisms of venom production. Here, we report a highly continuous genome assembly of N. atra , based on a snake sample from Huangshan, Anhui, China. The size of this genome is 1.67 Gb, while its repeat content constitutes 37.8% of the genome. A total of 26,432 functional genes were annotated. This data provides an essential resource for studying venom production in N. atra . It may also provide guidance for the protection of this species., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of financial interests., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

The Brown-Spotted Pit viper ( Protobothrops mucrosquamatus ), also known as the Chinese habu, is a widespread and highly venomous snake distributed from Northeastern India to Eastern China. Genomics research can contribute to our understanding of venom components and natural selection in vipers. Here, we collected, sequenced and assembled the genome of a male P. mucrosquamatus individual from China. We generated a highly continuous reference genome, with a length of 1.53 Gb and 41.18% of repeat elements content. Using this genome, we identified 24,799 genes, 97.97% of which could be annotated. We verified the validity of our genome assembly and annotation process by generating a phylogenetic tree based on the nuclear genome single-copy genes of six other reptile species. The results of our research will contribute to future studies on Protobothrops biology and the genetic basis of snake venom., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of financial interests., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

The Oriental rat snake Ptyas mucosa is a common non-venomous snake of the colubrid family, spanning most of South and Southeast Asia. P. mucosa is widely bred for its uses in traditional medicine, scientific research, and handicrafts. Therefore, genome resources of P. mucosa could play an important role in the efficacy of traditional medicine and the analysis of the living environment of this species. Here, we present a highly continuous P. mucosa genome with a size of 1.74 Gb. Its scaffold N50 length is 9.57 Mb, and the maximal scaffold length is 78.3 Mb. Its CG content is 37.9%, and its gene integrity reaches 86.6%. Assembled using long-reads, the total length of the repeat sequences in the genome reaches 735 Mb, and its repeat content is 42.19%. Finally, 24,869 functional genes were annotated in this genome. This study may assist in understanding P. mucosa and supporting medicinal research., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of financial interests., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Background: The thymus is required for T cell development and the formation of the adaptive immunity. Stromal cells, which include thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), are essential for thymic function. However, the immunomodulatory function of thymus-derived MSCs (T-MSCs) has not been fully explored., Methods: MSCs were isolated from mouse thymus and their general characteristics including surface markers and multi-differentiation potential were characterized. The immunomodulatory function of T-MSCs stimulated by IFN-γ and TNF-α was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of MSCs in the thymus was interrogated by using tdTomato-flox mice corssed to various MSC lineage Cre recombinase lines., Results: A subset of T-MSCs express Nestin, and are mainly distributed in the thymic medulla region and cortical-medulla junction, but not in the capsule. The Nestin-positive T-MSCs exhibit typical immunophenotypic characteristics and differentiation potential. Additionally, when stimulated with IFN-γ and TNF-α, they can inhibit activated T lymphocytes as efficiently as BM-MSCs, and this function is dependent on the production of nitric oxide (NO). Additionally, the T-MSCs exhibit a remarkable therapeutic efficacy in acute liver injury and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)., Conclusions: Nestin-positive MSCs are mainly distributed in medulla and cortical-medulla junction in thymus and possess immunosuppressive ability upon stimulation by inflammatory cytokines. The findings have implications in understanding the physiological function of MSCs in thymus., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

The study of the currently known >3,000 species of snakes can provide valuable insights into the evolution of their genomes. Deinagkistrodon acutus , also known as Sharp-nosed Pit Viper, one hundred-pacer viper or five-pacer viper, is a venomous snake with significant economic, medicinal and scientific importance. Widely distributed in southeastern China and South-East Asia, D. acutus has been primarily studied for its venom. Here, we employed next-generation sequencing to assemble and annotate a highly continuous genome of D. acutus . The genome size is 1.46 Gb; its scaffold N50 length is 6.21 Mb, the repeat content is 42.81%, and 24,402 functional genes were annotated. This study helps to further understand and utilize D. acutus and its venom at the genetic level., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicting financial interests., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

The microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) has acquired significant attention due to its immense potential in sustainable engineering applications, particularly in soil improvement. However, the precise control of microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation remains a formidable challenge in engineering practices, owing to the uncertain movement paths of bacteria and the nonuniform distribution of soil pores. Taking inspiration from targeted therapy in medicine, this paper presents novel research on the development and validation of magnetically responsive bacteria. These bacteria demonstrate the ability to target calcium carbonate precipitation in a microfluidic chip, thereby promoting an environmentally friendly and ecologically sustainable biomineralization paradigm. The study focuses on investigating the migration of magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) in aqueous solutions and enhancing the stability of MNP culture liquids. A specially designed microfluidic chip is utilized to simulate natural sand particles and their pores, while an external magnetic field is applied to precisely control the movement path of the artificial magnetic bacteria, enabling targeted precipitation of calcium carbonate at the micron-scale. Verification of the engineered artificial magnetic bacteria and their ability to induce calcium carbonate precipitation is conducted through SEM-EDS analysis, microfluidic chip observations, and the application of the K-means algorithm and ImageJ software to analyze calcium carbonate formation. The influence of the concentration of magnetic nanoparticles on the calcium carbonate production rate was also studied. The results confirm the potential of the artificial magnetic bacteria for future engineering applications. KEY POINTS: • Sporosarcina pasteurii is first time successfully engineered into artificial magnetic bacteria. • The artificial magnetic bacteria show excellent performance of targeted transportation and directional deposition of CaCO 3 in microfluidic chip. • The emergence of artificial magnetic bacteria promotes paradigm shift of next generation environmentally friendly biomineralization., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Muscle stem cells (MuSCs) have been demonstrated to exert impressive therapeutic efficacy in disease settings through orchestrating inflammatory microenvironments. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying the immunoregulatory property of MuSCs remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we showed that interleukin-4-induced-1 (IL4I1), an essential enzyme that catalyzes indole metabolism in humans, was highly expressed in human MuSCs exposed to IFN-γ and TNF-α. Functionally, the MuSCs were found to inhibit the infiltration of neutrophils into sites of inflammation in a IL4I1-dependent manner and thus ameliorate acute lung injury in mice. Mechanistically, the indole metabolites, including indole-3-pyruvic acid (I3P) and indole-3-aldehyde (I3A), produced by IL4I1, acted as ligands to activate aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), leading to augmented expression of TNF-stimulated gene 6 (TSG-6) in inflammatory cytokine-primed MuSCs. Furthermore, I3P administration alone suppressed neutrophil infiltration into damaged lungs. I3P could also reduce the level of reactive oxygen species in neutrophils. Therefore, our study has uncovered a novel mechanism by which MuSCs acquire their immunoregulatory property and may help to develop or optimize MuSC-based therapies for inflammatory diseases., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Diminished ovarian reserve is one of the most important causes of female infertility. In the etiology study of DOR, besides age, it is known that chromosomal abnormality, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and ovarian surgery can result in DOR. For young women without obvious risk factors, gene mutation should be considered as a possible cause. However, the specific molecular mechanism of DOR has not been fully elucidated. Methods: In order to explore the pathogenic variants related to DOR, twenty young women under 35 years old affected by DOR without definite factors damaging ovarian reserve were recruited as the research subjects, and five women with normal ovarian reserve were recruited as the control group. Whole exome sequencing was applied as the genomics research tool. Results: As a result, we obtained a set of mutated genes that may be related to DOR, where the missense variant on GPR84 was selected for further study. It is found that GPR84 Y370H variant promotes the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL12B, IL-1β) and chemokines (CCL2, CCL5), as well as the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway. Conclusion: In conclusion, GPR84 Y370H variant was identified though analysis for WES results of 20 DOR patients. The deleterious variant of GPR84 could be the potential molecular mechanism of non-age-related pathological DOR through its role in promoting inflammation. The findings of this study can be used as a preliminary research basis for the development of early molecular diagnosis and treatment target selection of DOR., 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, Xu, Liu, Zhou, Zou, Wang, Li, Yang, Piao and Zhang.)

The dysregulated endocytic traffic of oncogenic receptors, such as the EGFR family especially HER2, contributes to the uncontrolled activation of the downstream oncogenic signaling and progression of various carcinomas, including 90% of ovarian carcinoma. However, the key regulators in the intracellular trafficking of HER2 and their impacts for cancer progression remain largely unknown. In this study, through a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screening for key genes affecting the peritoneal disseminated metastasis of ovarian carcinoma, we identified a member of COMMD family, that is, COMMD3, as a key regulator in the endosomal trafficking of HER2. In the patients with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC), the expression of COMMD3 is dramatically decreased in the peritoneal disseminated ovarian carcinoma cells comparing with that in the primary ovarian carcinoma cells. COMMD3 greatly inhibits the proliferation, migration, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HGSOC cells, and dramatically suppresses the tumor growth, the formation of malignant ascites, and the peritoneal dissemination of cancer cells in the orthotopic murine model of HGSOC. Further transcriptome analysis reveals that silencing COMMD3 boosts the activation of HER2 downstream signaling. As a component in the Retriever-associated COMMD/CCDC22/CCDC93 complex responsible for the recognition and recycling of membrane receptors, COMMD3 physically interacts with HER2 for directing it to the slow recycling pathway, leading to the attenuated downstream tumor-promoting signaling., Implications: Collectively, this study reveals a novel HER2 inactivation mechanism with a high value for the clinic diagnosis of new ovarian carcinoma types and the design of new therapeutic strategy., (©2022 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Up-frameshift 1 (UPF1), as the most critical factor in nonsense-mediated messenger RNA (mRNA) decay (NMD), regulates tumor-associated molecular pathways in many cancers. However, the role of UPF1 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) amino acid metabolism remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that UPF1 was significantly correlated with a portion of amino acid metabolic pathways in LUAD by integrating bioinformatics and metabolomics. We further confirmed that UPF1 knockdown inhibited activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) and Ser51 phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α), the core proteins in amino acid metabolism reprogramming. In addition, UPF1 promotes cell proliferation by increasing the amino-acid levels of LUAD cells, which depends on the function of ATF4. Clinically, UPF1 mRNA expression is abnormal in LUAD tissues, and higher expression of UPF1 and ATF4 was significantly correlated with poor overall survival (OS) in LUAD patients. Our findings reveal that UPF1 is a potential regulator of tumor-associated amino acid metabolism and may be a therapeutic target for LUAD.

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is a significant area of economic development and ecological protection in China. Scientifically clarifying the spatiotemporal patterns of carbon emissions and their driving factors is of great significance. Using the methods of spatial autocorrelation analysis, hot-spot analysis, and a geodetector, the analysis framework of spatiotemporal differentiation and the driving factors of carbon emissions in the YRB was constructed in this paper from three aspects: natural environment, social economy, and regional policy. Three main results were found: (1) The carbon emissions in the YRB increased gradually from 2000 to 2020, and the growth rates of carbon emissions in the different river reaches were upper reaches > middle reaches > lower reaches. (2) Carbon emissions have an obvious spatial clustering character from 2000-2020, when hot spots were concentrated in the transition area from the Inner Mongolia Plateau to the Loess Plateau. The cold spots of carbon emissions tended to be concentrated in the junction area of Qinghai, Gansu, and Shaanxi. (3) From 2000 to 2020, the driving factors of spatial differentiation of carbon emissions in the YRB and its different reaches tended to be diversified, so the impacts of socioeconomic factors increased, while the impacts of natural environmental factors decreased. The influence of the interactions of each driving factor showed double factor enhancement and nonlinear enhancement. This study will provide a scientific reference for green and low-carbon development, emphasizing the need to pay more attention to environmental protection, develop the green economy vigorously, and promote the economic cycle, so as to achieve green development and reduce carbon emissions.

The large-scale burning of coal has led to increasingly serious SO 2 environmental pollution problems. The SO 2 adsorption and removal technology based on porous carbons has the advantages of less water consumption, no secondary pollution, recycling of pollutants, and renewable utilization of adsorbents, in contrast to the wet desulfurization process. In this work, we developed a series of N-doped coal-based porous carbons (NCPCs) by calcining a mixture of anthracite, MgO, KOH and carbamide at 800 °C. Among them, the NCPC-2 sample achieves a high N-doped amount of 1.29 at%, and suitable pores with a specific surface area of 1370 m 2 g -1 and pore volume of 0.62 cm 3 g -1 . This N-doped porous carbon exhibits excellent SO 2 adsorption capacity as high as 115 mg g -1 , which is 3.47 times that of commercial coal-based activated carbon, and 2 times that of NCPC-0 without N-doping. Theoretical calculations show that the active adsorption sites of SO 2 are located at the edges and gaps of carbon materials, and surface N doping enhances the adsorption affinity of carbon materials for SO 2 . In addition, the NCPCs prepared in this work are rich in raw materials and cheap, which meets the needs of industrial production, having excellent SO 2 adsorption capacity., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no financial or other personal interests that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Clinically, pentothal sodium has been widely used for primary and general anesthesia induction. Also, it has been used to effectively inhibit convulsion. Pentothal sodium has a strong inhibitory effect on the respiratory center, excessive drug administration, and rapid dose rate that cause death of experimental animals on the respiratory depression. This study used a modified pentothal sodium solution to investigate its anesthetic effect. The pentothal sodium solution was modified based on pentothal sodium upon additions of magnesium sulfate, propylene glycol, and pure ethanol. The anesthetic effect of the modified pentothal sodium on Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats was investigated by comparing traditional pentothal sodium and ketamine; 60 SD rats were randomly divided into three groups. Each group was treated with traditional pentothal sodium, modified pentothal sodium, or ketamine, respectively, via intraperitoneal injection. The symptoms of experimental rats were observed, and onset time and anesthetic time were both recorded. The data were analyzed using statistical software. There were no significant differences in onset time and anesthetic time between the three groups. The variation of onset time and anesthetic time of the group treated with modified pentothal sodium was shorter than that of the other two groups. Furthermore, the number of anesthetic rats after the first injection was significantly higher than that of the other two groups. The modified pentothal sodium is capable of providing a stable anesthetic effect. The function and effect are much better than traditional pentothal sodium and ketamine., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest., (© 2022 Xianzhen Chen et al., published by De Gruyter.)

Diabetes is a widespread metabolic syndrome, an important complication during pregnancy. Most cases are type 2 diabetes, which has attracted the attention of the World Health Organization. The typical feature of T2DM is insulin resistance (IR). Its mechanism remains unclear, but it mainly manifests through parameters like insulin sensitivity, blood glucose level, and liver stability. Oxidative stress and insulin transduction play an important role in IR. This study simulates the disease situation, establishes a high-fat and high-fructose-induced model induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBHP), and adopts nano-sized oleanolic acid combined with lipid-lowering ketones to explore improvement in the IR mechanism. We found combining nano-sized oleanolic acid and lipid-lowering ketones can slow down the weight gain process in rats, reduce fasting blood glucose levels, increase the insulin sensitivity index, reduce the serum MDA, NO, and triglyceride content, and increase SOD, CAT activity. In summary, our results show that the combined use of nano-sized oleanolic acid and lipid-lowering ketone in pregnant rats with double height can reduce glucose metabolism, delay lipid production, and reduce oxidative stress, which is useful for further treatment and interpretation of T2DM The mechanism provides a theoretical basis.

The advantages of deep tissue penetration and the high spatial accuracy of photothermal therapy have been widely studied. Gold, as a photothermal material, has received particular attention. Different sizes and shapes of gold have been studied and characterized for their varying photothermal properties. The core-shell structure of gold nanoparticles and silica enhances the photothermal conversion through the coupling effect between gold clusters on the material's surface. With excellent photothermal conversion performance, the core-shell nanoparticles can quickly reach 40 °C in 200 s under the irradiation of 808 nm, 1.5 W·cm -2 . The highest conversion temperature of these nanoparticles is 56 °C, and the photothermal conversion rate is 45%. In vitro cell experiments displayed that NPs with targeted function can efficiently aggregate in prostate cancer cells and effectively kill cells. In vitro experiments showed that the tumor cells of mice after photothermal treatment completely disappeared after 15 days, which fully demonstrated the potential of the nanoparticles for targeted photothermal therapy.

An exceptional phenomenon has been observed that SO 2 and NO x in flue gas can be effectively adsorbed over activated carbon with a surprising capacity at cold temperatures with the presence of oxygen. In this study, the adsorption characteristics of NO and SO 2 over activated carbon at 80, 20, 0, and - 20 is experimentally investigated. Without the presence of oxygen, adsorption of NO is negligible. In the presence of oxygen, NO can be oxidized to NO 2 over activated carbon which leads to the co-adsorption of NO/NO 2 within the adsorption bed. Catalytic oxidation of NO over activated carbon can be significantly enhanced at cold temperatures, leading to an extraordinary increase of adsorption capacity of NO. With an initial concentration of NO = 200 ppmv and a space velocity of 5000 h -1 , the average specific capacity increases from 3.8 to 169.1 mg/g when the temperature decreases from 80 to - 20 ℃. For NO-O 2 co-adsorption, the specific capacity increases along the adsorption bed due to the increasing NO 2 concentrations. The adsorption capacity of SO 2 is also significantly enhanced at cold temperatures. With an initial concentration of SO 2  = 1000 ppmv, the specific capacity increases from 12.9 to 123.1 mg/g when the temperature decreases from 80 to - 20 ℃. A novel low-temperature adsorption (LAS) process is developed to simultaneously remove SO 2 and NO x from flue gas with a target of near-zero emission. A pilot-scale testing platform with a flue gas flowrate of 3600 Nm 3 /h is developed and tested. Emission of both SO 2 and NO x is less than 1 ppmv, and the predicted energy penalty is about 3% of the net generation.

Rationale: Psychological stress has been linked to cancer development and resistance to therapy by many epidemiological and clinical studies. Stress-induced immunosuppressive microenvironment by stress hormones, in particular glucocorticoids, has been extensively studied. However, the impacts of other stress-related neurotransmitters, such as serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), on cancer development just start to be revealed. Here, we aimed to identify novel neurotransmitters involved in stress-induced growth and dissemination of ovarian cancer (OC) and reveal the major underlying signaling pathway and the therapeutic significance. Methods: Through a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screen in the murine orthotopic model of ovarian carcinoma (OC), we identified candidate genes regulating the peritoneal dissemination of OC. Among them, we picked out HTR1E, one member of 5-HT receptor family specifically expressed in the ovary and endometrium in addition to brain. The correlation of HTR1E expression with OC progression was analyzed in OC patient specimen by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), western blot, and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Gain-of-function and loss-of-function analyses were performed to explore the functions of 5-HT/HTR1E signaling in OC growth and dissemination in vitro and in vivo . In addition, we investigated the therapeutic values of HTR1E specific agonist and small molecular inhibitors against HTR1E downstream factor SRC in a stressed murine OC xenograft model. Results: In OC patients, the HTR1E expression is dramatically decreased in peritoneal disseminated OC cells, which correlates with poor clinical outcome. Silence of HTR1E in OC cells greatly promotes cell proliferation and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) by the activation of SRC-mediated downstream signaling pathways. Furthermore, chronic stress results in significantly decreased serotonin in the ovary and the enhanced OC growth and peritoneal dissemination in mice, which can be strongly inhibited by specific HTR1E agonist or the SRC inhibitor. Conclusions: We discovered the essential role of serotonin/HTR1E signaling in preventing the chronic psychological stress-promoted progression of OC, suggesting the potential therapeutic value of the HTR1E specific agonist and the SRC inhibitor for OC patients who are suffering from psychological stress., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Objective: Microbial exposure is critical to neonatal and infant development, growth and immunity. However, whether a microbiome is present in the fetal gut prior to birth remains debated. In this study, lambs delivered by aseptic hysterectomy at full term were used as an animal model to investigate the presence of a microbiome in the prenatal gut using a multiomics approach., Design: Lambs were euthanised immediately after aseptic caesarean section and their cecal content and umbilical cord blood samples were aseptically acquired. Cecal content samples were assessed using metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing to characterise any existing microbiome. Both sample types were analysed using metabolomics in order to detect microbial metabolites., Results: We detected a low-diversity and low-biomass microbiome in the prenatal fetal gut, which was mainly composed of bacteria belonging to the phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. Escherichia coli was the most abundant species in the prenatal fetal gut. We also detected multiple microbial metabolites including short chain fatty acids, deoxynojirimycin, mitomycin and tobramycin, further indicating the presence of metabolically active microbiota. Additionally, bacteriophage phiX174 and Orf virus, as well as antibiotic resistance genes, were detected in the fetal gut, suggesting that bacteriophage, viruses and bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance genes can be transmitted from the mother to the fetus during the gestation period., Conclusions: This study provides strong evidence that the prenatal gut harbours a microbiome and that microbial colonisation of the fetal gut commences in utero., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The significance of the polypeptide N-acetyl-galactosaminyl transferase-3 (GalNAc-T3) and mucin 1 (MUC1) in solitary pulmonary adenocarcinoma (SPA) initially diagnosed as malignant solitary pulmonary nodule (≤ 3 cm), especially as a combined predictor of prognosis and recurrence, was explored in this study. A retrospective analysis of 83 patients with SPA (≤ 3 cm), which revealed postoperative pathological diagnosis was lung adenocarcinoma after complete resection. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of GalNAc-T3 and MUC1 in primary tumor specimens. The relationship between expression and various clinicopathological factors was analyzed, as well as the effects of patients' overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). In all patients, GalNAc-T3 was highly expressed in 53 (63.9%) cases; MUC1 was highly expressed in 31 (37.3%) cases. The GalNAc-T3 expression was correlated with differentiation, pathological risk group, N stage, and TNM stage. The group with high GalNAc-T3 expression and low MUC1 expression (GalNAc-T3 Hig /MUC1 Low ) is correlated to pathological differentiation and has a trend related to the TNM stage. The patients with better differentiation, lower pathological risk group, lower N stage, and GalNAc-T3 high expression had better overall survival, especially the GalNAc-T3 Hig /MUC1 Low group. Moreover, the moderate differentiation, N3 stage, and GalNAc-T3 Hig /MUC1 Low group were independent predictive factors for OS. Besides, patients with lower N stage, lower TNM stage, higher GalNAc-T3 expression got better disease-free survival (DFS), especially the GalNAc-T3 Hig /MUC1 Low group. The GalNAc-T3 Hig /MUC1 Low group was an independent predictive factor for DFS. In conclusion, GalNAc-T3 and MUC1 were combined predictors of prognosis and recurrence in SPA (≤ 3 cm).

DNA nanostructures are a new type of technology for constructing nanomaterials that has been developed in recent years. By relying on the complementary pairing of DNA molecules to form a double-stranded property, DNA molecules can construct a variety of nanoscale structures of 2D and 3D shapes. However, most of the previously reported DNA nanostructures rely solely on hydrogen bonds to maintain structural stability, resulting in DNA structures that can be maintained only at low temperature and in the presence of Mg 2+ , which greatly limits the application of DNA nanostructures. This study designed a DNA nanonetwork structure (nanonet) and changed its topological structure to DNA nanomesh by using DNA topoisomerase to make it thermally stable, while escaping the dependence on Mg 2+ , and the stability of the structure can be maintained in a nonsolution state. Moreover, the nanomesh also has a large amount of ssDNA (about 50%), providing active sites capable of exerting biological functions. Using the above characteristics, we prepared the nanomesh into a device capable of adsorbing specific DNA molecules, and used the device to enrich DNA. We also tried to mount antibodies using DNA probes. Preliminary results show that the DNA nanomesh also has the ability to enrich specific proteins.

In this work, a dynamic self-optimizing material consisting of nickel-sulfide nanosheets anchored onto Ni foam (DSO-Ni 3 S 2 -NF) as the model material was constructed using a hydrothermal method, and its electrocatalytic performance for oxygen evolution was evaluated. It was found that the electrocatalytic activity of the dynamic self-optimizing (DSO) 25 h-Ni 3 S 2 -NF for oxygen evolution is significantly enhanced compared with that of pristine 0 h-Ni 3 S 2 -NF since the formed oxide layer evolves into new active sites and the specific process of activity optimization was explored dynamically. The best oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance was achieved by 25 h-Ni 3 S 2 -NF catalyst, which required merely 241 mV overpotential to deliver a current density of 20 mA cm -2 , and its Tafel slope was as low as ∼40 mV dec -1 , which was superior to most nickel-based catalysts, in 1 M KOH electrolyte. The current density was found to be increased gradually at the same potential and the stability test curves were steady with ignorable decline, showing that the promising strategy of the preparation of a dynamic self-optimizing pre-catalyst may open a new pathway to prepare low-cost, high-performance and stable water splitting catalysts.

Three polynuclear Zn-Ln nanoscale complexes [Ln2Zn2(L1)2(OAc)6] (Ln = Eu (1) and Nd (2)) and [Eu6Zn6(L2)2(L3)2O2(OAc)18] (3) were constructed using two Schiff base ligands featuring Ph(CH2)Ph (H2L1) and naphthyl (H2L2) backbones. The use of the Schiff base ligand H2L1 leads to the formation of linear complexes 1 and 2 with molecular sizes of approximately 7 × 10 × 24 Å, while planar complex 3 (approximately 10 × 15 × 22 Å) is constructed from H2L2. In 1-3, the chromogenic Zn/ligand moieties can absorb energy from and transfer energy to lanthanide centers, and all of these complexes display the typical emissions of Ln3+ ions. Interestingly, 3 displays luminescence response to the addition of metal ions and has high sensitivity to Ag+ and Cd2+ ions at the ppm level.

There is a definite relationship between alcohol consumption and colorectal cancer (CRC) development. We investigated effect of alcohol consumption on CRC patients' progression and prognosis by utilizing epidemiological data and found patients with alcohol consumption increased risks of tumor-node-metastasis (TNM), organ metastasis and poorer prognosis. Because their tumor tissues displayed increased expression of C-C chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5), we hypothesized CCL5 might participate in cancer progression in such patients. Ethanol increased the secretion of CCL5 in two CRC cell lines, HT29 and DLD-1. Treatment with CCL5 directly increased migratory ability of these cells, whereas neutralization or knockdown of CCL5 can partially block alcohol-stimulated migration. We further investigated underlying mechanism of CCL5-induced migration. Our results indicated that effects of CCL5 on migration are mediated by the ability of CCL5 to induce autophagy, a cellular process known to be critical for migration. Using high-throughput sequencing and western blotting, we found induction of autophagy by CCL5 takes place via AMPK pathway. Aforementioned ethanol increases CCL5 secretion, CCL5 activates autophagy through AMPK pathway, and autophagy increases migration was confirmed by experiments with autophagy or AMPK inhibitors. To sum up, our study demonstrates that chronic alcohol consumption may promote metastasis of CRC through CCL5-induced autophagy.

Three Zn-Ln clusters [Ln 8 Zn 6 (L 1 ) 2 (OAc) 20 (O) 2 (NO 3 ) 4 (OH) 4 ] (Ln = Sm (1) and Nd (2)) and [Nd 4 Zn 4 (L 2 ) 2 (OAc) 10 (NO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 ] (3) were prepared using two long-chain Schiff base ligands. The Zn-Ln clusters exhibit interesting nano-square-like structures. Their visible and NIR luminescence properties were investigated.

The etiology of autism is so complicated because it involves the effects of variants of several hundred risk genes along with the contribution of environmental factors. Therefore, it has been challenging to identify the causal paths that lead to the core autistic symptoms such as social deficit, repetitive behaviors, and behavioral inflexibility. As an alternative approach, extensive efforts have been devoted to identifying the convergence of the targets and functions of the autism-risk genes to facilitate mapping out causal paths. In this study, we used a reversal-learning task to measure behavioral flexibility in Drosophila and determined the effects of loss-of-function mutations in multiple autism-risk gene homologs in flies. Mutations of five autism-risk genes with diversified molecular functions all led to a similar phenotype of behavioral inflexibility indicated by impaired reversal-learning. These reversal-learning defects resulted from the inability to forget or rather, specifically, to activate Rac1 (Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1)-dependent forgetting. Thus, behavior-evoked activation of Rac1-dependent forgetting has a converging function for autism-risk genes.

Objective: To establish the methods to get high activity, high purity, and adequate Schwann cells (SCs), and to provide sufficient seed cells for the peripheral nerve repair., Methods: Six 5-day-old, male or female, Sprague Dawley rats were selected and the sciatic nerve (control group) and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) (experimental group) were harvested. Then the sciatic nerves and DRG were digested by co-enzyme and dispersed by medium containing serum to isolate SCs. Freshly isolated SCs from rats were cultured, purified and subcultured. The 1st generation of SCs were chosen to draw the growth curve of SCs by the counting method and to detect the proliferation of SCs by MTT assay at 8 days of culture, the purity of SCs by immunocytochemistry of anti-S-100 and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentration by ELISA., Results: A total of 36-43 DRGs could be obtained in each rat. The number of obtained single SC in experimental group [(7.5 +/- 0.6) x 10(6)] was significantly higher than that in control group [(3.5 +/- 0.4) x 10(6)] (t = 13.175, P=0.000). SCs reached logarithm proliferation phase at 3 days. With time, the cell number and the proliferation absorbance (A) value of 2 groups all showed upward trend. The number and A value of experimental group were significantly higher than those of control group (P < 0.05). The SCs purity of experimental group (92.08% +/- 3.45%) was significantly higher than that of control group (77.50% +/- 3.57%) (t = 6.689, P = 0.001). The concentrations of BDNF at 3 days and 5 days in experimental group were significantly higher than those of control group (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: The sufficient amount, high purity, and viability of SCs from DRGs can meet the needs of studies on peripheral nerve repairment.