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Abstract Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are crucial modulators of post-transcriptional gene expression regulation, cell fate determination, and disease development. However, lncRNA functions during short-term heat stress in adult worker bees are poorly understood. Here, we performed deep sequencing and bioinformatic analyses of honeybee lncRNAs. RNA interference was performed by using siRNA targeting the most highly expressed lncRNA. The silencing effect on lncRNA and the relative expression levels of seven heat shock protein (HSP) genes, were subsequently examined. Overall, 7,842 lncRNAs and 115 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) were identified in adult worker bees following heat stress exposure. Structural analysis revealed that the overall expression abundance, length of transcripts, exon number, and open reading frames of lncRNAs were lower than those of mRNAs. GO analysis revealed that the target genes were mainly involved in “metabolism,” “protein folding,” “response to stress,” and “signal transduction” pathways. KEGG analysis indicated that the “protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum” and “longevity regulating pathway-multiple species” pathways were most enriched. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) detection of the selected DELs confirmed the reliability of the sequencing data. Moreover, the siRNA experiment indicated that feeding siRNA yielded a silencing efficiency of 77.51% for lncRNA MSTRG.9645.5. Upon silencing this lncRNA, the expression levels of three HSP genes were significantly downregulated (p

Introduction Understanding the current burden of stomach cancer linked to smoking and the variations in trends across different locations, is crucial for developing effective prevention strategies. In this study, we present findings on the age-standardized death rate (ASDR) and age-standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rate attributed to smoking in 204 countries and territories spanning 21 regions from 1990 to 2019. Methods The data for this study were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019, which assessed 369 diseases and injuries, as well as 87 risk factors in 204 countries and 21 regions. To assess the trend in ASDR and agestandardized DALYs rate, the estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was utilized. Results Between 1990 and 2019, smoking was found to be associated with a decrease in ASDR (EAPC = -2.20) and age-standardized DALYs (EAPC = -2.42) rates for gastric cancer. As the sociodemographic index (SDI) increased, the decline in rates also increased gradually. However, the decline was smallest in regions with low SDI (EAPC ASDR = -1.34; EAPC age-standardized DALYs rate = -1.38). In 21 regions, both ASDR and DALYs rates experienced a decline. The smallest decline in ASDR was observed in Western Sub-Saharan Africa, with an EAPC of -0.80, while the smallest decline in DALYs rate was found in Oceania, with an EAPC of -0.81. Among the 204 countries analyzed, the Dominican Republic showed the highest increase in ASDR and age-standardized DALYs rate (EAPC ASDR = 1.19; EAPC age-standardized DALYs rate = 1.21), followed by Afghanistan (EAPC ASDR = 1.09; EAPC age-standardized DALYs rate = 1.09) and Sao Tome and Principe (EAPC ASDR = 1.05; EAPC age-standardized DALYs rate = 1.03). In the year 2019, the highest ASDR and age-standardized DALYs rate was observed in East Asia, with the highest rates occurring in Mongolia. Conclusions The burden of stomach cancer worldwide, adjusted for age, and related to smoking, has shown a decline from 1990 to 2019. However, regional disparities have been identified, with some areas experiencing an increase in this burden. These regions with a higher burden emphasize the necessity for the implementation of strong tobacco control measures.

Single image super-resolution (SISR) with deep convolutional neural networks has recently attracted increasing attention due to its potentials to generate rich details. To obtain better fidelity and visual quality, most of existing methods are of heavy design with the depth of network. However, the lack of high-frequency information in the deep network and the limit of non-local context relations of pixels remain the core issue. In addition, there are many arbitrary-scale image super-resolution tasks, so it is a focus that provides an effective and efficient model for super resolution with arbitrary-scale. To this end, we propose a Feature Preserving and Enhancing Network (FPEN) based on implicit representation, which is aims to preserving high-frequency information in deep network and enhancing non-local contextual features of pixels to output more realistic images at arbitrary scales. In particular, our proposed High Frequency Preserving Block (HFPB) can divide the features into high-frequency components and low-frequency components, and allocate more operations to high-frequency components to ensure that high-frequency components can be preserved in the network. Since high-frequency information contains the details and texture of the image, it can restore the finer details of the image. Moreover, Pixel Continuity Attention (PiCA) module our proposed utilizes visual cues observed from pixels to adaptively recalibrate the pixel range that needs attention in the image to better achieve feature enhancement and generate smoother images. Extensive experiments conducted on benchmark SISR models and datasets show that Feature Preserving and Enhancing Network can be employed for various SISR tasks with arbitrary-scale to obtain the better visual quality than other state-of-the-art SR algorithms.

Plant proteins are a good source of active peptides, which can exert physiological effects on the body. Predicting the possible activity of plant proteins and obtaining active peptides with oral potential are challenging. In this study, the potential activity of peptides from Zizyphus jujuba proteins after in silico simulated gastrointestinal digestion was predicted using the BIOPEP-UWM™ database. The ACE-inhibitory activity needs to be further investigated. The actual peptides in mouse intestines after the oral administration of Zizyphus jujuba protein were collected and analyzed, 113 Zizyphus jujuba peptides were identified, and 3D-QSAR models of the ACE-inhibitory activity were created and validated using a training set (34 peptides) and a test set (12 peptides). Three peptides, RLPHV, TVKPGL and KALVAP, were screened using the 3D-QSAR model and were found to bind to the active sites of the ACE enzyme, and their IC50 values were determined. Their values were 6.01, 3.81, and 17.06 μM, respectively. The in vitro digestion stabilities of the RLPHV, TVKPGL, and KALVAP peptides were 82%, 90%, and 78%. This article provides an integrated method for studying bioactive peptides derived from plant proteins.

A novel angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptide ser-ala-ser-val-ile-pro-val-ser-ala-val-arg-ala (SASVIPVSAVRA) was purified and identified from yak bone by Electrospray Ionization-Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometry (ESI-TOF-MS). Results in vitro showed that the peptide exhibited strong ACE inhibition activities with an IC50 of 54.22 μM. Molecular docking results showed the binding between the peptide SASVIPVSAVRA and ACE mainly driven by van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonds and metal receptor. Interestingly, the ACE inhibition activities of the peptide increased about 19% after digestion, but none of its metabolites showed stronger activity than it. The in vivo experiment showed that the antihypertensive effect of peptide SASVIPVSAVRA at dose of 30 mg/kg is nearly equal to Captopril at dose of 10 mg/kg to spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). The antihypertensive effect mechanism of SASVIPVSAVRA should be further studied through plasma metabolomics and bioanalysis. Structure analysis of amino acids and peptides produced during digestion may help better understand the antihypertensive effect of peptides.

This paper presents a lattice Boltzmann model to simulate the aqueous humor (AH) dynamics in the human eye by involving incompressible Navier-Stokes flow, heat convection and diffusion, and Darcy seepage flow. Verifying simulations indicate that the model is stable, convergent and robust. Further investigations were carried out, including the effects of heat convection and buoyancy, AH production rate, permeability of trabecular meshwork, viscosity of AH and anterior chamber angle on intraocular pressure (IOP). The heat convection and diffusion can significantly affect the flow patterns in the healthy eye, and the IOP can be controlled by increasing the anterior chamber angle or decreasing the secretion rate, the drainage resistance and viscosity of AH. However, the IOP is insensitive to the viscosity of AH, which may be one of the causes that the viscosity would not have been considered as a factor for controlling the IOP. It's interesting that all these factors have more significant influences on the IOP in pathologic eye than healthy one. The temperature difference and the eye-orientation have obvious influence on the cornea and iris wall shear stresses. The present model and simulation results are expected to provide an alternative tool and theoretical reference for the study of AH dynamics.

Clubroot disease is a soil-borne disease caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae. It occurs in cruciferous crops exclusively, and causes serious damage to the economic value of cruciferous crops worldwide. Although different measures have been taken to prevent the spread of clubroot disease, the most fundamental and effective way is to explore and use disease-resistance genes to breed resistant varieties. However, the resistance level of plant hosts is influenced both by environment and pathogen race. In this work, we described clubroot disease in terms of discovery and current distribution, life cycle, and race identification systems; in particular, we summarized recent progress on clubroot control methods and breeding practices for resistant cultivars. With the knowledge of these identified resistance loci and R genes, we discussed feasible strategies for disease-resistance breeding in the future.

Abstract Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) are an important cause of post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) in piglets. The IL-17 cytokine family is well known to play important roles in the host defense against bacterial infections at the mucosa. Previously, we reported the potential role of IL-17A in clearing an ETEC infection in piglets. IL-17C, another member of the IL-17 family, is highly expressed in the intestinal epithelium, however, its role during an ETEC infection is still unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that F4+ ETEC induce IL-17C mRNA and protein expression in intestinal tissues as well as in porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2). This IL-17C production is largely dependent on TLR5 signaling in IPEC-J2 cells. Both F4+ ETEC infection and exogenous IL-17C increased the expression of antimicrobial peptides and tight junction proteins, such as porcine beta-defensin (pBD)-2, claudin-1, claudin-2 and occludin in IPEC-J2 cells. Taken together, our data demonstrate that TLR5-mediated IL-17C expression in intestinal epithelial cells enhances mucosal host defense responses in a unique autocrine/paracrine manner in the intestinal epithelium against ETEC infection.

Abstract Background Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs along with pathological phenomena such as cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis and cardiomyocyte activity. However, few of the specific molecular mechanisms underlying this pathological condition have been mentioned. Methods All target proteins and markers expression in the study was verified by PCR and western bloting. H9c2 cell morphology and behavior were analyzed using immunofluorescent and proliferation assays, respectively. And, the CTGF protein secreted in cell culture medium was detected by ELISA. Results We found that high expression of CTGF and low expression of EGFR were regulated by ERK1/2 signaling pathway during the cardiac hypertrophy induced by Ang-II stimulation. CTGF interacted with EGFR, and the interaction is reduced with the stimulation of Ang-II. ERK1/2 serves as the center of signal control during the cardiac hypertrophy. Conclusion The ERK1/2 cooperates with GPCR and EGFR signaling, and promotes the occurrence and development of cardiac hypertrophy by regulating the expression and binding states of CTGF and EGFR. The study revealed a regulation model based on ERK1/2, suggesting that ERK1/2 signaling pathway may be an important control link for mitigation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treatment.

Hypertrophic scar (HS) is a dermal fibro-proliferative disorder result from abnormal wound healing after skin injury. MicroRNA-9-5p (miR-9-5p) has been reported to be upregulated and closely related to collagen proteins in human dermal fibroblasts. However, the correlation and possible mechanism between miR-9-5p and HS require further investigation. The expressions of miR-9-5p in HS tissues and HS fibroblasts were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). The expression level of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β (PPARβ) was measured by RT-qPCR assay. The protein levels of PPARβ, α-SMA, Vimentin, COL1A, cyclin D1, bcl-2, and bax were detected by western blot assay. The effect of miR-9-5p and PPARβ on HS fibroblasts proliferation and apoptosis were detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry assays. The interaction between miR-9-5p and PPARβ was predicted by TargetScan, and then confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. MiR-9-5p expression was downregulated in HS tissues and HS fibroblasts. MiR-9-5p inhibited the levels of extracellular matrix-associated genes (α-SMA, Vimentin, COL1A) in HS fibroblasts. MiR-9-5p repressed proliferation and induced apoptosis of HS fibroblasts. PPARβ is a target gene of miR-9-5p. The silencing of PPARβ expression hindered proliferation and expedited apoptosis of HS fibroblasts. MiR-9-5p suppressed proliferation and promoted apoptosis of HS fibroblasts by targeting PPARβ. In this paper, we firstly disclosed that miR-9-5p hampered extracellular matrix deposition and proliferation, and induced apoptosis by targeting PPARβ in HS fibroblasts. Our findings provided a new role of miR-9-5p/PPARβ in the occurrence and development of HS fibroblasts, promising a new target for HS.

As a native scheme to evaluate hydrodynamic force in the lattice Boltzmann method, the momentum exchange method has some excellent features, such as simplicity, accuracy, high efficiency and easy parallelization. Especially, it is independent of boundary geometry, preventing from solving the Navier–Stokes equations on complex boundary geometries in the boundary-integral methods. We review the origination and main developments of the momentum exchange method in lattice Boltzmann simulations. Then several practical techniques to fill newborn fluid nodes are discussed for the simulations of fluid-structure interactions. Finally, some representative applications show the wide applicability of the momentum exchange method, such as movements of rigid particles, interactions of deformation particles, particle suspensions in turbulent flow and multiphase flow, etc.

Aims. The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of leisure-time physical activity on undetected prediabetes. Methods. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2012 were used in our analyses. Logistic regression was conducted to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of prediabetes associated with leisure-time physical activity. Results. A total of 8204 subjects were eligible for our analyses. For all subjects, high level of total leisure-time physical activity (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.66, 0.94) and low level of vigorous leisure-time physical activity (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.58, 0.90) were inversely associated with the risk of prediabetes in multivariate-adjusted model. For subjects under 45 years of age, high level of total leisure-time physical activity (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.61, 0.99) and low (OR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.45, 0.83) and high (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.53, 1.00) level of vigorous leisure-time physical activity were associated with a decreased risk of prediabetes. In the 45 to 65 age group, only high level of total leisure-time physical activity (OR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.57, 0.95) had protective effect on prediabetes. Conclusions. Leisure-time physical activity may be associated with a decreased risk of prediabetes.

A high hydroxyl content waterborne polyester-acrylate emulsion was successfully synthesized in two steps. Firstly, the carboxyl terminated unsaturated polyester was synthesized, then it was reacted as a monomer with acrylate monomer by emulsion polymerization using the semi-continuous seeded method. The effects of the amount of hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), the ratio of polyester/acrylic, the ratio of soft/hard monomer, and the content of chain transfer agent to the properties of the composite emulsion were investigated. Through a variety of tests, both the emulsion and film properties of the composite emulsion were better than polyacrylate emulsion. The introduction of polyester improved the flexibility and impact resistance of hydroxyl acrylate film, and made the modified resin have advantages of both.

High solid content waterborne polyurethane-acrylate (WPUA) emulsions have been successfully synthesized in two steps. Firstly, we prepared a waterborne polyurethane emulsion, then reacted it with acrylate monomer by emulsion polymerization using the semi-continuous seeded method. The effects of the type and amount of emulsifier, the amount of dimethylolpropionic acid (DMPA), the choice of capping group, the ratio of PU/PA, and the method of adding a water-soluble monomer to the properties of the composite emulsion were investigated. The reactive emulsifier replaced the traditional emulsifier and there were no metal ions introduced to the reaction, whether by the emulsifier or the initiator. Through a variety of tests, we proved that the prepared emulsion has the advantages of small particle size, narrow distribution, good stability, good performance of the film, and solid content of 46%.

Genome-wide yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screens were conducted to elucidate the molecular functions of open reading frames (ORFs) encoded by murine γ-herpesvirus 68 (MHV-68). A library of 84 MHV-68 genes and gene fragments was generated in a Gateway entry plasmid and transferred to Y2H vectors. All possible pair-wise interactions between viral proteins were tested in the Y2H assay, resulting in the identification of 23 intra-viral protein-protein interactions (PPIs). Seventy percent of the interactions between viral proteins were confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation experiments. To systematically investigate virus-cellular protein interactions, the MHV-68 Y2H constructs were screened against a cellular cDNA library, yielding 243 viral-cellular PPIs involving 197 distinct cellar proteins. Network analyses indicated that cellular proteins targeted by MHV-68 had more partners in the cellular PPI network and were located closer to each other than expected by chance. Taking advantage of this observation, we scored the cellular proteins based on their network distances from other MHV-68-interacting proteins and segregated them into high (Y2H-HP) and low priority/not-scored (Y2H-LP/NS) groups. Significantly more genes from Y2H-HP altered MHV-68 replication when their expression was inhibited with siRNAs (53% of genes from Y2H-HP, 21% of genes from Y2H-LP/NS, and 16% of genes randomly chosen from the human PPI network; p

In the face of competition from great powers, the strategic choices that middle powers should make are a theoretical and practical issue that demands careful deliberation and in-depth research. In the post-Cold War era of U.S.–China strategic competition, the middle powers have adopted diverse strategies such as picking sides, hedging, and staying neutral. The behavioral choices of middle powers in the U.S.–China strategic competition are constrained not only by the intensity of U.S.– China competition and the type of dependence on the United States at the systemic level, but also by the strategic preferences of domestic policymakers and strategic elites. The intensity of U.S.–China competition and the dependency structures on great powers, as systemic factors, shape the range of behavioral choices for middle powers in the U.S.–China strategic competition. Meanwhile, domestic factors, acting as mediating variables, convey the directives issued by external structural variables, ultimately influencing and determining middle powers’ specific policies and behavioral patterns in the U.S.–China strategic competition. Canada, South Korea, and Argentina have chosen to pick a side, stay neutral, or hedge at different stages due to a combination of systemic and domestic factors, validating the core argument of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal gangue and fly ash are major industrial solid wastes containing some nutrients associated with organic or mineral matter. Vegetation restoration depends on high-quality soil in mining sites. Exploring the effects of wood vinegar (WV) irrigation and fly ash addition on the variation in chemical properties of the coal gangue substrate can provide a theoretical basis and data support for the reconstruction of mine soils and resource utilization of mine solid wastes. The indoor soil incubation experiment was conducted by adding fly ash at rates of 0, 10%, 20% and 50% to a coal gangue substrate mixed with coal gangue and raw soil. We analyzed the nutrients and salinity of the mixture of coal gangue substrate and fly ash (CGSFA) after irrigating distilled water (DW) and WV. The results showed that the addition of fly ash decreased the pH of the CGSFA mixture under DW irrigation, and WV irrigation increased the pH of the CGSFA mixture compared with DW irrigation. The addition of fly ash could increase the contents of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK) and decrease the contents of total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) of the coal gangue substrate. Compared with DW irrigation, WV irrigation increased the contents of TOC, DOC, active organic carbon (AOC) and AP of the CGSFA mixture by 19.3%, 931.1%, 228.1% and 15.6% and decreased the contents of TN and AK by 10.6% and 35.1%, respectively. In addition, the addition of fly ash increased the contents of K+, Ca2+ and SO42– and decreased the Na+ content in the coal gangue substrate. The irrigation of WV increased the contents of Mg2+, HCO3–, Cl– and SO42– of the CGSFA mixture and reduced the contents of K+ and Na+. Overall, fly ash addition and WV irrigation can improve the nutrients and salinity of the mixture of the coal gangue substrate. Considering the accumulation of HCO3–, Cl– and SO42–, it is recommended to choose 10% to 20% fly ash addition to coal gangue substrate and irrigation with WV for the reconstruction of mine soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]