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Abstract On-surface synthesis provides tools to prepare low-dimensional supramolecular structures. Traditionally, reactive radicals are a class of single-electron species, serving as exceptional electron-withdrawing groups. On metal surfaces, however, such species are affected by conduction band screening effects that may even quench their unpaired electron characteristics. As a result, radicals are expected to be less active, and reactions catalyzed by surface-stabilized radicals are rarely reported. Herein, we describe a class of inter-molecular radical transfer reactions on metal surfaces. With the assistance of aryl halide precursors, the coupling of terminal alkynes is steered from non-dehydrogenated to dehydrogenated products, resulting in alkynyl-Ag-alkynyl bonds. Dehalogenated molecules are fully passivated by detached hydrogen atoms. The reaction mechanism is unraveled by various surface-sensitive technologies and density functional theory calculations. Moreover, we reveal the universality of this mechanism on metal surfaces. Our studies enrich the on-surface synthesis toolbox and develop a pathway for producing low-dimensional organic materials.

Background: China produces and consumes a large amount of neonicotinoids. A non-negligible exposure to neonicotinoids might occur for Chinese pregnant women, but relevant data remain limited. Objective: To investigate the exposure to neonicotinoids by urinary biomonitoring in pregnant women from Wenzhou City, East China. Methods: We selected 432 pregnant women in Wenzhou City in 2022. A total of eight parent neonicotinoids and four metabolites were determined in single spot urine by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Basic characteristics, physical activity, pre-pregnant body mass index, and intake of drinking water and food were investigated by the questionnaire. Health risk was assessed by hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) based on human safety thresholds derived from different health endpoints. Results: Neonicotinoids and their metabolites in urine had a detection frequency between 0 % and 80.1 %. At least one neonicotinoid or metabolite was detected in 93.5 % of urine samples. Except for clothianidin (51.2 %) and N-desmethyl-acetamiprid (80.1 %), the detection frequencies of other neonicotinoids and metabolites ranged from 0 % to 43.8 %. The summed concentrations of all neonicotinoids and their metabolites ranged from

Although anti-TNF antibodies are extensively used to treat Crohn's disease (CD), a significant proportion of patients, up to 40%, exhibit an inadequate response to this therapy. Our objective was to identify potential targets that could improve the effectiveness of anti-TNF therapy in CD. Through the integration and analysis of transcriptomic data from various CD databases, we found that the expression of AQP9 was significantly increased in anti-TNF therapy-resistant specimens. The response to anti-TNF therapy in the CD mouse model was significantly enhanced by specifically inhibiting AQP9. Further experiments found that the blockade of AQP9, which is dominantly expressed in macrophages, decreased inflamed macrophage functions and cytokine expression. Mechanistic studies revealed that AQP9 transported glycerol into macrophages, where it was metabolized to LPA, which was further metabolized to LPA, resulting in the activation of the LPAR2 receptor and downstream hippo pathway, finally promoting the expression of cytokines, especially IL23 and IL1β⊡ Taken together, the expansion of AQP9+ macrophages is associated with resistance to anti-TNF therapy in Crohn’s disease. These findings indicated that AQP9 could be a potential target for enhancing anti-TNF therapy in Crohn’s disease.

Background Programmed death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor demonstrated durable antitumor activity in advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but the clinical benefit of perioperative immunotherapy in ESCC remains unclear. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) combined with the PD-1 inhibitor toripalimab in patients with resectable ESCC.Methods From July 2020 to July 2022, 21 patients with histopathologically confirmed thoracic ESCC and clinical staged as cT1-4aN1-2M0/cT3-4aN0M0 were enrolled. Eligible patients received radiotherapy (23 fractions of 1.8 Gy, 5 fractions a week) with concurrent chemotherapy of paclitaxel/cisplatin (paclitaxel 45 mg/m2 and cisplatin 25 mg/m2) on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and two cycles of toripalimab 240 mg every 3 weeks after nCRT for neoadjuvant therapy before surgery, four cycles of toripalimab 240 mg every 3 weeks for adjuvant therapy after surgery. The primary endpoint was the major pathological response (MPR) rate. The secondary endpoints were safety and survival outcomes.Results A total of 21 patients were included, of whom 20 patients underwent surgery, 1 patient refused surgery and another patient was confirmed adenocarcinoma after surgery. The MPR and pathological complete response (pCR) rates were 78.9% (15/19) and 47.4% (9/19) for surgery ESCC patients. 21 patients (100.0%) had any-grade treatment-related adverse events, with the most common being lymphopenia (100.0%), leukopenia (85.7%), neutropenia (52.4%). 14 patients (66.7%) had adverse events of grade 3 with the most common being lymphopenia (66.7%). The maximum standardized uptake value and total lesion glycolysis of positron emission tomography/CT after neoadjuvant therapy well predicted the pathological response. The peripheral CD4+%, CD3+HLA-DR+/CD3+%, CD8+HLA-DR+/CD8+%, and IL-6 were significant differences between pCR and non-pCR groups at different times during neoadjuvant therapy. Three patients had tumor relapse and patients with MPR have longer disease-free survival than non-MPR patients.Conclusions nCRT combined with perioperative toripalimab is effective and safe for locally advanced resectable ESCC. Long-term survival outcomes remain to be determined.Trial registration number NCT04437212.

Abstract The determination of photovoltaic (PV) parameters is of great importance for the reliability of solar system operation, continuity of the load power consumption, and control management of the energy source. Therefore, this study proposes an advanced backtracking search optimization algorithm (BSA) equipped with teaching and learning‐based optimization (TLBO), named TLBOBSA, to accurately simulate the PV model. During the evaluation of the proposed algorithm, the concept of teaching from TLBO is introduced into the BSA to guide optimal individuals, thus improving the convergence rate of the algorithm. The learning behavior among individuals in the student phase of TLBO facilitates interindividual learning and provides beneficial information for its evolution, which is introduced into the BSA to ensure the diversity of the population. The comprehensive test results of different PV module models in different environmental conditions show that the proposed algorithm is more advantageous for parameter extraction than other existing algorithms. This can be seen in the simulation experiments of two commercial PV models, where the simulated current is consistent with the measured current at each measured voltage. This demonstrates that the proposed TLBOBSA is an accurate and reliable tool for evaluating unknown parameters of PV models.

In this research, the mean monthly groundwater level with a range of 3.78 m in Qoşaçay plain, Iran, is forecast. Regarding three different layers of gated recurrent unit (GRU) structures and a hybrid of variational mode decomposition with gated recurrent unit (VMD-GRU), deep learning-based neural network models are developed. As the base model for performance comparison, the general single-long short-term memory-layer network model is developed. In all models, the module of sequence-to-one is used because of the lack of meteorological variables recorded in the study area. For modeling, 216 monthly datasets of the mean monthly water table depth of 33 different monitoring piezometers in the period April 2002–March 2020 are utilized. To boost the performance of the models and reduce the overfitting problem, an algorithm tuning process using different types of hyperparameter accompanied by a trial-and-error procedure is applied. Based on performance evaluation metrics, the total learnable parameters value and especially the model grading process, the new double-GRU model coupled with multiplication layer (×) (GRU2× model) is chosen as the best model. Under the optimal hyperparameters, the GRU2× model results in an R2 of 0.86, a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.18 m, a corrected Akaike’s information criterion (AICc) of −280.75, a running time for model training of 87 s and a total grade (TG) of 6.21 in the validation stage; and the hybrid VMD-GRU model yields an RMSE of 0.16 m, an R2 of 0.92, an AICc of −310.52, a running time of 185 s and a TG of 3.34.

Abstract Background Anastomotic leakage (AL) is one of most severe postoperative complications following low anterior resection (LAR) for rectal cancer, and has an adverse impact on postoperative recovery. The occurence of AL is associated with several factors, while few studies explored the role of intracorporeal barbed suture reinforcement in it. Methods Consecutive cases underwent laparoscopic LAR for rectal cancer from Mar. 2018 to Feb. 2021 in our center were retrospectively collected. Cases were classified into the intracorporeal barbed suture reinforcement group and the control group according to whether performing intracorporeal reinforcement with barbed suture, and AL incidences were compared between two groups. Propensity score matching (PSM) was then performed based on identified risk factors to reduce biases from covariates between two groups. AL incidences in the matched cohort were compared. Results A total of 292 cases entered into the study, and AL incidences were significantly lower in the intracorporeal barbed suture reinforcement group compared with the control group (10.00% vs 2.82%, P = 0.024). Sex, BMI, preoperative adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and anastomotic level were chose for PSM analyses based on previous studies. In the matched cohort, the AL incidences were still significantly lower in the intracorporeal barbed suture reinforcement group (10.57% vs 2.44%, SD = 0.334). Conclusions Intracorporeal barbed suture reinforcement is associated with low AL incidences after laparoscopic LAR for rectal cancer, which is a potential procedure for reducing AL and worthy of application clinically.

Abstract Solar energy is becoming more popular as it is a clean source of electricity. The design of photovoltaic (PV) cells has therefore captivated experts worldwide. The two key issues are the lack of an excellent model to define solar cells and the lack of data regarding PV cells. This scenario even impacts solar module performance (panels). The behavior of solar cells is described by the current versus voltage. Considering these values, the design challenge entails solving complicated nonlinear multimodal objectives. Different methods to figure out the parameters of the PV cells and panels have been suggested. They do not come up with the best solutions most of the time. Hence, a powerful and reliable optimizer is needed to derive the optimal parameters of these models. To this end, this study has developed an adaptive slime mould algorithm (ASMA) as a robust and precise optimization method. To implement the ASMA, four improvements are proposed: (1) a trigonometric‐based mutation and a double‐based best mutation are introduced to promote the global and local search; (2) a suitable mechanism to adaptively select the control parameters of the SMA; (3) a local escaping strategy; (4) an opposition‐based learning operator to improve the best solution. The ASMA is employed to derive optimal parameters of PV models and assessed utilizing a total number of eight well‐known optimization algorithms. The findings show that the ASMA is very competitive in terms of accuracy and convergence speed and that this is supported by a wealth of evidence. As a result, when assessing the parameters of the PV model, ASMA is a very efficient and robust optimizer. The source codes of the proposed ASMA will be uploaded for the public at http://imanahmadianfar.com and http://aliasgharheidari.com.

The fungal microbiota is an important component of the complex multikingdom microbial community colonizing the mammalian gastrointestinal tract and has an important role in immune regulation. However, how fungi regulate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is poorly understood. This study found that intestinal fungi regulate immune responses in IBD. Antibiotic-mediated depletion of fungi facilitated the development of IBD. Fungi greatly enhanced oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) by enhancing glutaminolysis. Mechanistically, we found that fungi could activate the dectin-1-Syk- NF-κB signaling pathway to promote the expression of key enzymes and transporters involved in glutaminolysis. In summary, our findings reveal that fungal interactions in the human gut could be a promising therapeutic target for IBD.

Tuning the coordination environment centering metal atoms has been regarded as a promising strategy to promote the activities of noble metal single-atom catalysts (SACs). In the present work, first-principle calculations are employed to explore the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance of Ir and Ru SACs with chemical coordination being nitrogen (M-N4-C), oxygen (M-O4-C), and carbon (M-C4-C) in graphene, respectively. A “three-step” strategy was implemented by progressively investigating these metrics (stability, catalytic activity, structure–activity relationship). A volcano plot of reactivity is established by using the adsorption-free energy of O* (∆GO*) as a theoretical descriptor. The intrinsic OER activity is IrN4-C > IrO4-C > RuO4-C > RuN4-C > IrC4-C > RuC4-C. The in-depth tuning mechanism of ∆GO* can be indicated and interpreted by the d-band centers of the active sites and the crystal orbital Hamilton population analysis of metal-oxygen bonds, respectively.

Objective The aim of the current study was to explore the association between age and outcomes in breast cancer. Methods Patients during 2010–2015 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific death (BCSD) were taken as endpoints. The restrict cubic spline graph (RCS) was used to explore the relationship between age and outcomes in patients, and the cumulative incidence of BCSD and non-BCSD was calculated using the Gray method. Age-specific gene expression profiles were studied using RNA sequence data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to explore whether there were young age-related gene or gene sets. Results A total of 142,755 patients with breast cancer were included. The hazard ratio (HR) of OS for Patients with stage I-III breast cancer was roughly stable before 53 years old and increased significantly after that, and the HR of BCSD for these patients showed a U-shaped distribution when plotted against age, with patients younger than 50 years and patients older than 70 years experiencing the worst survival. Further stratified analysis according to molecular subtype revealed that the U-shaped distribution of the HR of BCSD with was only found in the Hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative (HoR+/HER2-) subgroup. The cumulative incidence plots showed that young age was associated with worse BCSD in the breast cancer patients with stage I-III and HoR+/HER2- subgroup. In stage IV breast cancer, there was a linearity of the relationship between poor OS and increasing age. We failed to find any differentially expressed age-specific genes between 20–40 years and 41–60 years groups in 258 patients with stage I-III and HoR+/HER2- subtype. Conclusion Young age could predict worse BCSD of patient with stage I-III and HoR+/HER2- breast cancer. The escalating therapy was recommended to young age breast cancer with stage I-III and HoR+/HER2- subtype.

Streptomyces are filamentous bacteria that are extensively present in soil, play an important role in carbon cycling, and produce a large number of highly valuable secondary metabolites. In this study, total number of 411 isolates of Streptomyces were collected from ecologically similar habitats from 13 provinces in Southern China. They were clustered into 96 operational taxonomic units including eight potentially new species based on their 16S rDNA sequences. Phylogenetic analysis disclosed that the isolates with similar geographical distributions clustered together. Beta diversity of Streptomyces showed it manifests in a latitudinal diversity gradient (R2 = 0.3828, p = 0.0113). The beta diversity did not change significantly with geographic distance, and this could be due to the large longitudinal and relatively smaller latitudinal sampling range, as the phylogenetic clustering of regions with higher annual average temperature was analyzed with the nearest taxon index (R = −0.23, p = 0.045). Result of the Streptomyces biogeography evaluation shows the diversity of the genus is controlled by many of the same processes. Bioassay results disclosed that there were 27 isolates strongly antagonistic to plant pathogenic fungi and 71 isolates with strong nematocidal activity against pine wood nematode. Our results provide significant insights into the diversity and biocontrol potential of cultivatable Streptomyces in Southern China.

Identifying new, active material phases provides a promising avenue in the development of efficient catalysts. Here, authors demonstrate a metastable 1T-phase IrO2 metallene oxide as an oxygen evolution electrocatalyst in acidic electrolytes.

ABSTRACT Beneficial gut bacteria can enhance herbivorous arthropod adaptation to plant secondary compounds (PSMs), and specialist herbivores provide excellent examples of this. Tea saponin (TS) of Camellia oleifera is triterpenoids toxic to seed-feeding weevil pest, Curculio chinensis (CW). Previous studies disclosed that Acinetobacter, which was specific enriched in the CW’s gut, was involved in helping CW evade TS toxicity of C. oleifera. However, it is still not clear whether Acinetobacter is associated with other anti-insect compounds, and the molecular mechanism of Acinetobacter degradation of TS has not been clarified. To address these questions, we explored the relationship between host plant toxin content and Acinetobacter of CW gut bacteria. Results demonstrated that TS content significantly affected the CW gut microbiome structure and enriched bacteria functional for TS degradation. We further isolated Acinetobacter strain and conducted its genome and transcriptome analyses for bacterial characterization and investigation on its role in TS degradation. Biological tests were carried out to verify the ability of the functional bacterium within CW larvae to detoxify TS. Our results showed that TS-degrading bacteria strain (Acinetobacter sp. AS23) genome contains 47 genes relating to triterpenoids degradation. The AS23 strain improved the survival rate of CW larvae, and the steroid degradation pathway could be the key one for AS23 to degrade TS. This study provides the direct evidence that gut bacteria mediate adaptation of herbivorous insects to phytochemical resistance. IMPORTANCE Microorganism is directly exposed to the plant toxin environment and play a crucial third party in herbivores gut. Although previous studies have proved the existence of gut bacteria that help CWs degrade TS, the specific core flora and its function have not been explored. In this study, we investigated the correlation between the larva gut microbiome and plant secondary metabolites. Acinetobacter genus was the target flora related to TS degradation. There were many terpenoids genes in Acinetobacter sp. AS23 genome. Results of transcriptome analysis and biological tests suggested that steroid degradation pathway be the key pathway of AS23 to degrade TS. This study not only provides direct evidence that gut microbes mediate the rapid adaptation of herbivorous insects to phytochemical resistance, but also provides a theoretical basis for further research on the molecular mechanism of intestinal bacteria cooperating with pests to adapt to plant toxins.

Actinomycetes are an important microbial resource closely related to human production and life. Approximately 70% of the antibiotics currently used are produced by various actinomycetes. Pine wilt disease (PWD) is caused by the pine wood nematode (PWN) (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), which is a devastating forest pest that can cause the wilting and death of pine trees. The purpose of this work was to screen out, identify, and ferment active actinomycetes with high lethality to pine wood nematodes and study the active compounds in their secondary metabolites. A group of 227 original strains/isolates of actinomycetes was screened, and Streptomyces sp. TCS19-048 was selected for further analyses. The taxonomic characteristics and molecular analysis results indicated that the strain was a member of the genus Streptomyces and exhibited the highest similarity (99.77%) with the 16S rRNA gene sequences of Streptomyces lactacystinicus OM-6519. Furthermore, the active extract was isolated and had an inhibitory effect on the movement behaviour of B. xylophilus and was able to significantly increase the body fluid leakage of B. xylophilus. This study focused on isolating secondary metabolites from various soil actinomycetes to control PWD and identified an extract with nematicidal activity from a selected strain. The nematicidal effect of extract S-3-1 was confirmed, and the strain Streptomyces sp. TCS19-048 showed good inhibitory activity against B. xylophilus, which was reported for the first time at home and abroad.

Due to climate change, it is significant to explore the impact of rising temperatures on the distribution of Dendrolimus houi Lajonquiere (Lepidoptera) and its host plants, Pinus yunnanensis and Cryptomeria fortunei, and to simulate their suitable future distribution areas in order to provide a theoretical basis for the monitoring of, and early warning about, D. houi and the formulation of effective prevention and control policies. Based on the known distribution areas of, and relevant climate data for, D. houi, P. yunnanensis, and C. fortunei, their suitable habitat in China was predicted using the ENMeval data package in order to adjust the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model parameters. The results showed that the regularization multiplier was 0.5 when the feature combination was LQHPT, with a MaxEnt model of lowest complexity and excellent prediction accuracy. The main climate variable affecting the geographical distribution of D. houi, P. yunnanensis, and C. fortunei is temperature, specifically including isothermality, temperature seasonality, maximum temperature of warmest month, minimum temperature of warmest month, average temperature of coldest quarter. The potential suitable distribution areas for P. yunnanensis and D. houi were similar under climate change, mainly distributed in southwest China, while C. fortunei was mainly distributed in southeast China. Under different future-climate scenarios, the areas suitable for the three species will increase, except for P. yunnanensis in the 2070s under Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 5–8.5. With climate change, all three species were found to have a tendency to migrate to higher latitudes and higher altitudes. The centroids of the areas suitable for P. yunnanensis and D. houi will migrate to the northwest and the centroids of the areas suitable for C. fortunei will migrate to the northeast.

Abstract YOLO (You Only Look Once), as a target detection algorithm with good speed and precision, is widely used in the industry. In the process of driving, the vehicle image captured by the driving camera is detected and it extracts the license plate and the front part of the vehicle. Compared with the network structure of YOLOv3‐tiny algorithm, the acquisition method of anchor box is improved by combining the Birch algorithm. In order to improve the real‐time performance, the original two‐scale detection is added to the multi‐scale prediction of three‐scale detection to ensure its accuracy. Finally, the experimental results show that the improved YOLOv3‐tiny network structure proposed in this study can improve the performance of mean‐average‐precision, intersection over union and speed by 5.99%, 17.52% and 48.4%, respectively, and the algorithm has certain robustness.

Predicting the spatial distribution of species in relation to suitable areas under global climate change could provide some references for conservation and long-term management strategies for the species. In this study, the MaxEnt was optimized by adjusting the feature combination and regulation magnification parameters with the ENMeval data package. Based on 127 Cremastra appendiculata spatial distribution locations and 14 environmental factors, the potential distribution areas of C. appendiculata under the present and future climate conditions (2050s, 2070s) were simulated, and the dominant environmental factors influencing the spatial distribution of C. appendiculata were analyzed. The feature combination (FC) and the regularization multiplier (RM) were selected as per the Akaike information criterion (AIC). The model showed complexity and degree of over-fitting (delta AICc = 0, omission rate = 0.106, the difference in the curve values between the training and testing areas was 0.021) after establishing the optimal model (FC = LQH and RM = 2.5), and the results indicated that the optimal model performed well in simulating the potential spatial distribution of C. appendiculata (the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.933). The results showed that the suitable habitat of C. appendiculata currently in China is 187.60 × 104 km2, while the highly suitable habitat is 118.47 × 104 km2, the moderately suitable habitat is 53.25 × 10 4 km2, and the poorly suitable habitat is 15.88 × 104 km2. There is an increasing trend in the suitable habitat of C. appendiculata under six climate scenarios, including SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5 in the 2050s and the 2070s, and that habitat will extend to the northwest as a whole. The highly suitable habitat of C. appendiculata in nature reserves is 0.47 × 104 km2; consequently, there is a large gap in the protection of C. appendiculata. The distribution of C. appendiculata was influenced by the temperature, precipitation, and normalized vegetation index.

Hickory (Carya cathayensis) is a critical tree species of the genus Carya from the Juglandaceae family that contains nutrient-rich nuts. Due to large-scale soil degradation, the pests and diseases of hickory are becoming more and more serious. Thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) are vital proteins involved in the complex defense process of plant pathogens. In this study, 40 CcTLP genes were identified genome-widely and phylogenetically grouped into three subfamilies. The sequence of CcTLPs had a conservative pattern, such as eight stable disulfide bonds, REDDD, and G-X-[GF]-X-C-X-T-[GA]-D-C-X(1,2)-G-X-(2,3)-C structure. In total, 57 cis-elements related to stress-responsive, light-responsive, phytohormone-responsive, and plant-responsive were discovered. Under salicylate (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and ethephon (ETH) treatments, the expressions of CcTLP28, CcTLP29, CcTLP30, CcTLP31, CcTLP32, CcTLP33, CcTLP37, CcTLP38, and CcTLP39 had different patterns. This is an indication that most of the TLP genes were upregulated by SA and downregulated by MeJA. Notably, seven TLP genes were significantly upregulated under the Botryosphaeria dothidea inoculation, especially CcTLP31, with an over 20-fold change. Nine genes were shown by subcellular localization analysis to be located at the plasma membrane and cytoplasm. The knowledge of the disease-resistant function of the CcTLP family in hickory is promoted by these results. A foundation reference for the molecular breeding of this plant in the future is provided by our findings.

Direct methane conversion to high value-added products is a promising way for highly-efficient utilization of methane. Here, the authors demonstrate that rhodium single-atom supported on cerium dioxide nanowires can selectively convert methane to oxygenates under mild conditions.

The primary culprits of pine wilt disease (PWD), an epidemic forest disease that significantly endangers the human environment and the world’s forest resources, are pinewood nematodes (PWN, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus). The MaxEnt model has been used to predict and analyze the potential geographic spread of PWD in China under the effects of climate change and can serve as a foundation for high-efficiency monitoring, supervision, and prompt prevention and management. In this work, the MaxEnt model’s criteria settings were optimized using data from 646 PWD infestation sites and seven climate variables from the ENMeval data package. It simulated and forecasted how PWD may be distributed under present and future (the 2050s and 2070s) climatic circumstances, and the key climate factors influencing the disease were examined. The area under AUC (area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve) is 0.940 under the parameters, demonstrating the accuracy of the simulation. Under the current climate conditions, the moderately and highly suitable habitats of PWD are distributed in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, and other provinces. The outcomes demonstrated that the fundamental climate variables influencing the PWD distribution were rainfall and temperature, specifically including maximum temperature of warmest month, mean temperature of driest quarter, coefficient of variation of precipitation seasonality, and precipitation of wettest quarter. The evaluation outcomes of the MaxEnt model revealed that the total and highly suitable areas of PWD will expand substantially by both 2050 and 2070, and the potential distribution of PWD will have a tendency to spread towards high altitudes and latitudes.

Abstract Acupuncture has a good effect on improving neurological function after cerebral ischemia‐reperfusion, but there are few studies on the neuroprotective effect of acupuncture from the perspective of ion channel cellular electrophysiology. Studies have shown that the over activation of large‐conductance Ca2+‐activated potassium channel （BKCa） after cerebral ischemia‐reperfusion can reduce the excitability of neurons and induce apoptosis. This study intends to establish middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) model, with acupuncture at GV26 as the intervention measure, using patch‐clamp technique to record the electrophysiological changes of BKCa channel. The results showed that the neurological function score of MCAO/R rats was significantly decreased, and the conductance, open dwell time and open probability of BKCa channel in hippocampal CA1 neurons of MCAO/R rats were significantly increased. Acupuncture at GV26 could significantly improve the neurological function scores of MCAO/R rats, and reduce the conductance, open dwell time, and open probability of BKCa channel. The effect of acupuncture at GV26 was significantly better than acupuncture at non‐acupuncture point. The neuroprotective effect of acupuncture at GV26 after cerebral ischemia‐reperfusion may be related to regulating the electrophysiological characteristics of BKCa channel opening.

A large volume of high-dimensional genetic data has been produced in modern medicine and biology fields. Data-driven decision-making is particularly crucial to clinical practice and relevant procedures. However, high-dimensional data in these fields increase the processing complexity and scale. Identifying representative genes and reducing the data’s dimensions is often challenging. The purpose of gene selection is to eliminate irrelevant or redundant features to reduce the computational cost and improve classification accuracy. The wrapper gene selection model is based on a feature set, which can reduce the number of features and improve classification accuracy. This paper proposes a wrapper gene selection method based on the slime mould algorithm (SMA) to solve this problem. SMA is a new algorithm with a lot of application space in the feature selection field. This paper improves the original SMA by combining the Cauchy mutation mechanism with the crossover mutation strategy based on differential evolution (DE). Then, the transfer function converts the continuous optimizer into a binary version to solve the gene selection problem. Firstly, the continuous version of the method, ISMA, is tested on 33 classical continuous optimization problems. Then, the effect of the discrete version, or BISMA, was thoroughly studied by comparing it with other gene selection methods on 14 gene expression datasets. Experimental results show that the continuous version of the algorithm achieves an optimal balance between local exploitation and global search capabilities, and the discrete version of the algorithm has the highest accuracy when selecting the least number of genes.

Metabolic reprogramming is a vital factor in the development of many types of cancer, including colon cancer. Serine metabolic reprogramming is a major feature of tumor metabolism. Yes-associated protein (YAP) participates in organ size control and tumorigenesis. However, the relationship between YAP and serine metabolism in colon cancer is unclear. In this study, RNA sequencing and metabolomics analyses indicated significant enrichment of the glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism pathways in serine starvation–resistant cells. Short-term serine deficiency inhibited YAP activation, whereas a prolonged response dephosphorylated YAP and promoted its activity. Mechanistically, USP7 increases YAP stability under increased serine conditions by regulating deubiquitination. Verteporfin (VP) effectively inhibited the proliferation of colon cancer cells and organoids and could even modulate serine metabolism by inhibiting USP7 expression. Clinically, YAP was significantly activated in colon tumor tissues and positively correlated with the expression of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH) and USP7. Generally, our study uncovered the mechanism by which serine metabolism regulates YAP via USP7 and identified the crucial role of YAP in the regulation of cell proliferation and tumor growth; thus, VP may be a new treatment for colon cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to construct a novel risk scoring model with prognostic value that could elucidate tumor immune microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Samples and methods: Data were obtained through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Univariate Cox analysis, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis, and multivariate Cox analysis were carried out to screen for glycolysis-related long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that could provide prognostic value. Finally, we established a risk score model to describe the characteristics of the model and verify its prediction accuracy. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of 1, 3, and 5 years of overall survival (OS) were depicted with risk score and some clinical features. ESTIMATE algorithm, single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), and CIBERSORT analysis were employed to reveal the characteristics of tumor immune microenvironment in HCC. The nomogram was drawn by screening indicators with high prognostic accuracy. The correlation of risk signature with immune infiltration and immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy was analyzed. After enrichment of related genes, active behaviors and pathways in high-risk groups were identified and lncRNAs related to poor prognosis were validated in vitro. Finally, the impact of MIR4435-2HG upon ICB treatment was uncovered.Results: After screening through multiple steps, four glycolysis-related lncRNAs were obtained. The risk score constructed with the four lncRNAs was found to significantly correlate with prognosis of samples. From the ROC curve of samples with 1, 3, and 5 years of OS, two indicators were identified with high prognostic accuracy and were used to draw a nomogram. Besides, the risk score significantly correlated with immune score, immune-related signature, infiltrating immune cells (i.e. B cells, etc.), and ICB key molecules (i.e. CTLA4,etc.). Gene enrichment analysis indicated that multiple biological behaviors and pathways were active in the high-risk group. In vitro validation results showed that MIR4435-2HG was highly expressed in the two cell lines, which had a significant impact on the OS of samples. Finally, we corroborated that MIR4435-2HG had intimate relationship with ICB therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.Conclusion: We elucidated the crucial role of risk signature in immune cell infiltration and immunotherapy, which might contribute to clinical strategies and clinical outcome prediction of HCC.

Gibberellin is an important plant growth regulator that has been widely used in agricultural production with great market prospects. However, the low yield from Gibberella fujikuroi restricts its application. To improve the production of gibberellin A4 (GA4), the response surface methodology was used in this study to explore the effect of different types and concentrations of vegetable oil and precursors on the production of GA4. Based on a single factor experiment, the Behnken box and central composite designs were used to establish the fermentation condition model, and the response surface method was used for analysis. The results indicated that the optimum formula was 0.55% palm oil, 0.60% cottonseed oil, 0.64% sesame oil, 0.19 g/L pyruvic acid, 0.21 g/L oxaloacetic acid, and 0.21 g/L citric acid for 48 h, which produced a yield 4.32 times higher than that without optimization. This suggests that the mathematical model is valid for predicting GA4 production in Gibberella fujikuroi QJGA4-1.

Methionine is one of the essential amino acids. How tumor cells adapt and adjust their signal transduction networks to avoid apoptosis in a methionine-restricted environment is worthy of further exploration. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism of glioma response to methionine restriction, providing a theoretical basis for new treatment strategies for glioma.MethodsWe constructed methionine-restriction-tolerant cells in order to study the response of glioma to a methionine-restricted environment. The transcriptome analysis of the tolerant cells showed significant changes in MAT2A. Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time PCR, colony formation assays, and other experiments were used to verify the role of MAT2A in glioma genesis. In addition, the regulatory mechanism of MAT2A mRNA nuclear export was investigated by transfection, plasma nucleation separation, and co-immunoprecipitation.ResultsUnder methionine restriction, glioma cells showed high expression of MAT2A, and an inhibitor of MAT2A reduced the proliferation of tumor cells. The expression of MAT2A was positively correlated with World Health Organization-grade glioma. High expression of MAT2A was related to increased transfer of its mRNA out of the nucleus. The expression of nuclear export regulatory molecule MTR4 could affect the export of MAT2A mRNA. In a methionine-restricted environment, ubiquitination of MTR4 was enhanced, and thus its protein level was reduced. The E3 ubiquitin ligase was verified to be SYVN1.ConclusionIn summary, methionine restriction leads to increased ubiquitination of MTR4, which promotes the transfer of MAT2A mRNA out of the nucleus and MAT2A protein expression. MAT2A promotes histone methylation, prompting cells to proliferate in a methionine-restricted environment.

Radialenes have distinct structural, electronic and chemical properties from other hydrocarbons, but their synthesis remains a challenge. Here, the authors report a copper catalyzed one-step synthetic protocol of [4]radialene via the cyclotetramerization of phenylacetylene molecules upon thermal activation.

Design of hydrogen evolution catalysts needs to balance the hydrogen adsorption energy to facilitate easy adsorption and desorption. Here, the authors report a composite catalyst where hydrogen adsorption occurs on rhodium and desorbs from silicon which has a lower adsorption energy.

Rahnella aquatilis is ubiquitous and its certain strains have the applicative potent as a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria. R. aquatilis HX2 is a biocontrol agent to produce antibacterial substance (ABS) and showed efficient biocontrol against crown gall caused by Agrobacterium vitis on sunflower and grapevine plants. The regulatory network of the ABS production and biocontrol activity is still limited known.In this study, a transposon-mediated mutagenesis strategy was used to investigate the regulators that involved in the biocontrol activity of R. aquatilis HX2. A 366-nt noncoding RNA CsrB was identified in vitro and in vivo, which regulated ABS production and biocontrol activity against crown gall on sunflower plants, respectively. The predicted product of noncoding RNA CsrB contains 14 stem-loop structures and an additional ρ-independent terminator harpin, with 23 characteristic GGA motifs in the loops and other unpaired regions. CsrB is required for ABS production and biocontrol activity in the biocontrol regulation by a two-component regulatory system BarA/UvrY in R. aquatilis HX2.The noncoding RNA CsrB regulates BarA-dependent ABS production and biocontrol activity in R. aquatilis HX2. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of noncoding RNA as a regulator for biocontrol function in R. aquatilis.

Exponential fertilization has been regarded as an important technique for improving seedling quality at the initial plant-growth stage. In our study, containerized one-year-old Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook) rooted cuttings were reared at four nitrogen (N) fertilizer levels (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 g cutting−1 season−1) under two topdressing methods (conventional and exponential) for a 210-day greenhouse rotation to evaluate growth and nutrient loading capacity of seedlings. N fertilizer was applied 20 times at an interval of 10 days during the study period. The results indicated that the schedule and rate of fertilization significantly affected the height, ground diameter, and biomass of Chinese fir rooted cuttings. The nitrogen concentration of different plant organs followed the order of leaves > root > stem. Compared to the CK, the N concentrations in root, stem, and leaves increased by 39.6%, 16.6%, and 41.1% in the conventional fertilizer treatment, and by 22.6% to 81.4%, 27.3% to 152.6%, and 73.6% to 135.5% in exponential fertilization treatments, respectively. The N concentrations of root, stem, and leaves of Chinese fir rooted cuttings under EF2 (1.0 N g cutting−1) were significantly higher than that of conventional fertilization (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference of phosphorus and potassium concentrations among different plant organs. Steady-state nutrition and superior growth performance were achieved by rooted cuttings fertilized exponentially at the rate of 1.0 g cutting−1 yielding (EF2).

To assess the effects of long-term intensive management on soil carbon cycle and microbial functional diversity, we sampled soil in Chinese hickory (Carya cathayensis Sarg.) stands managed intensively for 5, 10, 15, and 20 years, and in reference Chinese hickory–broad-leaved mixed forest (NMF) stands. We analyzed soil total organic carbon (TOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) contents, applied 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance analysis for structural analysis, and determined microbial carbon source usage. TOC, MBC, and WSOC contents and the MBC to TOC ratios were lower in the intensively managed stands than in the NMF stands. The organic carbon pool in the stands managed intensively for twenty years was more stable, indicating that the easily degraded compounds had been decomposed. Diversity and evenness in carbon source usage by the microbial communities were lower in the stands managed intensively for 15 and 20 years. Based on carbon source usage, the longer the management time, the less similar the samples from the monospecific Chinese hickory stands were with the NMF samples, indicating that the microbial community compositions became more different with increased management time. The results call for changes in the management of the hickory stands to increase the soil carbon content and restore microbial diversity.

The type III secretion system (T3SS) is considered one of the major virulence factors in many bacterial pathogens. This report demonstrates that RssB, ClpXP, and RpoS play a role in T3SS regulation of Dickeya dadantii 3937. ClpP is a serine-type protease which associates with the ClpX chaperone to form a functional Clp proteolytic complex for degradation of proteins. With the assistance of recognition factor RssB, ClpXP degrades the RpoS sigma factor. RpoS positively regulates the expression of the rsmA gene encoding an RNA-binding regulatory protein. By interacting with the hrpL mRNA, RsmA reduces HrpL production and downregulates the T3SS genes in the HrpL regulon. In addition, ClpXP, RssB, and RpoS affect pectinolytic enzyme production in D. dadantii 3937, probably through RsmA. The ClpXP and RssB proteins are essential for bacterial virulence.