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For the practical teaching of smart grid information engineering undergraduate specialty, carrying out the construction of microcomputer principle digital virtual laboratory is of great significance to cultivate compound engineering application talents for the smart grid industry. The constructed microcomputer principle virtual laboratory uses three kinds of 8086 visual assembler and debugging software (CLAB, STAR and EMU8086), as well as EDA software which supports 8086 simulation operation to carry out hardware and software system design. Based on the virtual laboratory, the topics of smart grid specialty’s course design or graduation design can adopt the principle of combining with actual smart grid technologies. The practical application of the virtual laboratory is introduced by taking a design case of definite-time over-current relay protection. This teaching method of combining theory with practice can enhance students’ cognitions of building strong smart grid and new-type power system in China. The teaching practice in recent years shows that the teaching effect of the microcomputer principle virtual laboratory is remarkable, and it has practical value in cultivating and improving students’ practical innovation ability, which is worth further research and practice.

Simple Summary: The fall armyworm (FAW) is a pest that can cause severe damage to crops, particularly maize and cotton, resulting in agricultural losses. It has developed resistance to various types of insecticides due to certain gene mutations in its body. Our study aims to investigate how these genes affect the pest's sensitivity to insecticides. We utilized amplicon sequencing to analyze 21 sites within six related genes and identified both known and unknown mutations. Subsequently, molecular docking simulations were employed to assess the impact of these mutations on the binding ability between insecticides and proteins. Our findings indicate that these mutations reduce the binding ability, potentially contributing to increased insecticide resistance. Thus, our study could unveil the variation and evolution of resistance genes in FAW. The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, is a worldwide agricultural pest that invaded China in 2018, and has developed resistance to multiple insecticides. The evolution of insecticide resistance is facilitated by mutations of target genes responsible for conferring resistance. In this study, amplicon sequencing analyzed 21 sites in six resistance genes. In addition to known mutations, unknown variants were also found, including novel variants: F290C (ace-1 gene, 0.1% frequency), I1040T/V (CHSA gene, 0.1% frequency), A309T (GluCl gene, 0.1% frequency), and I4790T/V (RyR gene, 0.1% frequency). Additionally, molecular docking was employed to investigate the impact of the aforementioned new mutations on insecticide binding to proteins. The analyses indicated that the binding abilities were reduced, similar to the resistance mutations that were reported, implying these novel mutations may confer transitional resistance. This study may provide a foundation for understanding the functions of these novel mutations in the evolutionary processes that drive the emergence of insecticide resistance in this invasive species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bartonella effector proteins (named Beps) are substrates of VirB type IV secretion system for translocation into host cells evolved in Bartonella spp. Among these, BepE has been shown to protect cells from fragmentation effects triggered by other Beps and to promote in vivo dissemination of bacteria from the dermal site of inoculation to the bloodstream. Bacterial pathogens secreted effectors to modulate the interplay with host autophagy, either to combat autophagy to escape its bactericidal effect or to exploit autophagy to benefit intracellular replication. Here, we reported a distinct phenotype that selective autophagy in host cells is activated as a countermeasure, to attack BepE via conjugation with K63 polyubiquitin chain on BepE. We found that ectopic expression of Bartonella quintana BepE specifically induced punctate structures that colocalised with an autophagy marker (LC3‐II) in host cells, in addition to filopodia and membrane ruffle formation. Two tandemly arranged Bartonella Intracellular Delivery (BID) domains in the BepE C‐terminus, where ubiquitination of sister pairs of lysine residues was confirmed, were essential to activate host cell autophagy. Multiple polyubiquitin chain linkages of K27, K29, K33, and K63 were found to be conjugated at sites of K222 and K365 on BepE, of which K63 polyubiquitination on BepE K365 determined the selective autophagy (p62/SQSTM1 positive autophagy) independent of the PI3K pathway. Colocalisation of BepE with LAMP1 confirmed the maturation of BepE‐induced autophagosomes in which BepE were targeted for degradation. Moreover, host cells employed selective autophagy to counter‐attack BepE to rescue cells from BepE‐induced endocytosis deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim was to explore the effect of macrophage polarization and macrophage-to-myofibroblast transition (MMT) in silicosis., Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into a control group and a silicosis group developed using a HOPE MED 8050 dynamic automatic dusting system. Murine macrophage MH-S cells were randomly divided into a control group and an SiO 2 group. The pathological changes in lung tissue were observed using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Van Gieson (VG) staining. The distribution and location of macrophage marker (F4/80), M1 macrophage marker (iNOS), M2 macrophage marker (CD206), and myofibroblast marker (α-smooth muscle actin [α-SMA]) were detected using immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent staining. The expression changes in iNOS, Arg, α-SMA, vimentin, and type I collagen (Col I) were measured using Western blot., Results: The results of HE and VG staining showed obvious silicon nodule formation and the distribution of thick collagen fibers in the lung tissue of the silicosis group. Macrophage marker F4/80 increased gradually from 8 to 32 weeks after exposure to silica. Immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent staining results revealed that there were more iNOS-positive cells and some CD206-positive cells in the lung tissue of the silicosis group at 8 weeks. More CD206-positive cells were found in the silicon nodules of the lung tissues in the silicosis group at 32 weeks. Western blot analysis showed that the expressions of Inducible nitric oxide synthase and Arg protein in the lung tissues of the silicosis group were upregulated compared with those of the control group. The results of immunofluorescence staining showed the co-expression of F4/80, α-SMA, and Col I, and CD206 and α-SMA were co-expressed in the lung tissue of the silicosis group. The extracted rat alveolar lavage fluid revealed F4/80 + α-SMA + , CD206 + α-SMA + , and F4/80 + α-SMA + Col I + cells using immunofluorescence staining. Similar results were also found in MH-S cells induced by SiO 2 ., Conclusions: The development of silicosis is accompanied by macrophage polarization and MMT., (© 2024 The Author(s). Animal Models and Experimental Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences.)

α-Fe 2 O 3 modified biochar (Fe 2 O 3 /BC) was prepared to remove Cu(II), Pb(II) and As(V). By adjusting the calcination temperature, the morphology and exposed crystal facets of α-Fe 2 O 3 on the biochar were changed which further affected the adsorption performance. The kinetics and isotherms were investigated systematically to reveal adsorption effect of the adsorbent on Cu(II), Pb(II) and As(V). The results indicated that chemisorption process was the dominant adsorption mechanism. Fe 2 O 3 /BC-350 exhibited superior adsorption capacity for Cu(II) (258.22 mg/g) and Pb(II) (390.60 mg/g), and Fe 2 O 3 /BC-250 showed relatively good adsorption capacity for As(V) (5.78 mg/g). By adsorption mechanism analysis, electrostatic adsorption, ion exchange, precipitation and complexation were coexisted in the process of removing metal ions by Fe 2 O 3 /BC. The repeatability test and the effect of ion strength exhibited the strong stability of Fe 2 O 3 /BC. Meanwhile, density functional theory (DFT) calculations manifested that the (202) facet of α-Fe 2 O 3 on Fe 2 O 3 /BC-350 possessed the lowest adsorption energies of Cu(II) and Pb(II). While for As(V), it was the (104) facet of α-Fe 2 O 3 on Fe 2 O 3 /BC-250 that exhibited the lowest adsorption energy. DFT results revealed that different Fe 2 O 3 /BC had different adsorption affinities to various heavy metals. In general, this work not only prepared a promising adsorbent via a simple procedure, but also served as a reference for researchers in designing absorbents with specific active facet for efficient heavy metals remediation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)