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Gene expression is regulated by transcription factors binding to cis-elements in promoters. However, efficient cis-elements for genetic engineering are rarely reported. In this study, we identified an 11 bp cis-element in the PtoCP1 promoter that drives strong constitutive gene expression in Populus tomentosa. A 2,270 bp promoter region upstream of the PtoCP1 gene’s translation start site was cloned and named ProPtoCP1. This promoter controls GUS reporter gene expression in the roots, leaves, and stems of Arabidopsis seedlings. Based on the location and density of cis-elements, the PtoCP1 promoter was divided into four fragments by 5′-end deletions. GUS staining and RT-qPCR revealed a key cis-element at −466 to −441 bp essential for gene expression. Further analysis showed that the MYB-TGACG cis-element is a positive regulator, whereas neither MYB nor TGACG alone drove gene expression. This study enhances our understanding of gene expression regulation by cis-elements and provides a valuable tool for genetic engineering.

BackgroundWhile vitamin deficiencies can pose serious health consequences for the body, excessive intake of vitamins can also lead to health risks. However, there is limited data about the impact of multivitamins on neurological and growth disorders. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between multivitamins and neurological and growth disorders.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted with 16,921 subjects who visited the Children’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from 2019 to 2021. The subjects were categorized into two groups based on their health status including 9,368 cases (4,484 with neurological disorders and 4,884 with growth disorders) and 7,553 healthy controls. Statistical tests including the T-test, Wilcoxon Rank Sum test, and Chi-Square test were employed to compare the groups, and logistic regression and Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) regression were used to identify associations.ResultsIn the adjusted logistic regression, serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], vitamin B2, and vitamin B9 were associated with decreasing risks of neurological disorders, whereas vitamin A, vitamin B1, and vitamin B12 were associated with increasing risks of neurological disorders. Nevertheless, vitamin A and vitamin B2 were associated with increasing risks of growth disorders. In the WQS model, nine multivitamins were positively associated with risks of neurological disorders, and Vitamins D and C were weighted the most. In addition, the inverse association but not statistically significant was observed between multivitamins and growth disorders, particularly growth retardation revealed a negative association, and some individual growth disorders revealed positive associations including obesity and malnutrition.ConclusionIn general, the study observed that multivitamins may be associated with neurological and growth disorders either positive or negative depending on the type of disorder.

Hyperlipidemia refers to the abnormal levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) in peripheral blood circulation. It is a predominant risk factor underlying cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis. Furthermore, it is also one of the most prevalent chronic diseases globally. Liujunzi Decoction is the basic prescription for the treatment of spleen and stomach diseases. It can tonify the spleen and qi, remove dampness, and reduce turbidity. Moreover, it is also clinically used for the treatment of spleen deficiency hyperlipidemia. However, its metabolites and therapeutic effect on spleen deficiency hyperlipidemia have not been comprehensively determined in vitro and in vivo. This study established a rat model of spleen deficiency hyperlipidemia by inducing starvation and satiety disorders, exhaustion swimming, and intragastric administration of the fat emulsion. To identify related metabolite changes and serum lipid composition, UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, PCA, and OPLS-DA lipidological methods were performed. The results demonstrated significant changes in rat's signs during the modeling process, which were consistent with the criteria for the syndrome differentiation of spleen deficiency in traditional Chinese medicine. Furthermore, this study identified 100 potential biomarkers in rat serum, of which 52 were associated with lipid synthesis, such as LPC, PC, PI, PE, PA, Cer, SM, etc. The pathways involved were glycerol phospholipid, sphingomyelin, and glycerol ester metabolisms. After the Liujunzi decoction intervention, 56 potential biomarkers were observed in the high-dose group, alleviating the metabolic spectrum imbalance by reducing metabolite levels. In addition, metabolic pathway disturbances were markedly improved. This study provides references for future studies on Liujunzi decoction and furnishes essential data for assessing the relationships between chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Liujunzi decoction.

Its outstanding mechanical and thermodynamic characteristics make SrAl2O4 a highly desirable ceramic material for high-temperature applications. However, the effects of elevated pressure on the structural and other properties of SrAl2O4 are still poorly understood. This study encompassed structural, elastic, electronic, dynamic, and thermal characteristics. Band structure calculations indicate that the direct band gap of SrAl2O4 is 4.54 eV. In addition, the Cauchy pressures provide evidence of the brittle characteristics of SrAl2O4. The mechanical and dynamic stability of SrAl2O4 is evident from the accurate determination of its elastic constants and phonon dispersion relations. In addition, a comprehensive analysis was conducted of the relationship between specific heat and entropy concerning temperature variations.

South Africa possesses extremely rich renewable energy resources, including solar energy and wind energy, in spite of this, South Africa traditionally relies on coal as its primary energy source. Recently, South Africa confronted with severe electricity shortage. With pressure of power shortage and the transition to low-carbon energy, South Africa has been actively promoting the development of renewable energy, aiming to diversify its energy structure. China, as the world’s leading country in the development and utilization of renewable energy, has long been committed to helping South Africa achieve renewable energy development. This article reviews the cooperation progress between China and South Africa in renewable energy, and provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges currently faced by both sides. To address such challenges, it is suggested to strengthen the design of top-level cooperation mechanisms, create diverse collaboration platforms, prioritize the exchange and collaboration of scientific talents. This paper aims to provide a typical reference for deepening renewable energy cooperation between China and South Africa.

In this study, a glaze slurry was prepared with different contents of tricalcium phosphate. It was then applied to a fly ash microcrystalline ceramic billet and sintered at 1180 °C for 30 min to prepare the complex. The aim was to obtain a high value-added application of fly ash in order to reduce environmental pollution. The study systematically investigated the influence of the Ca3(PO4)2 content on the crystal phase evolution, physical-mechanical properties, and micro-morphology of the complex. The results showed that products sintered at 1180 °C with 8 wt% Ca3(PO4)2 demonstrated better performance, with a water absorption of 0.03% and a Vickers microhardness of 6.5 GPa. Additionally, the study observed a strong correlation between the Ca3(PO4)2 content and the opacity effect. A feasible opacity mechanism was also proposed to explain the variation of glaze colors and patterns with different contents of Ca3(PO4)2.

Media coverage can greatly impact the spread of infectious diseases. Taking into consideration the impacts of media coverage, we propose an SEIR model with a media coverage mediated nonlinear infection force. For this novel disease model, we identify the basic reproduction number using the next generation matrix method and establish the global threshold results: If the basic reproduction number $ \mathcal{R}_{0} < 1 $, then the disease-free equilibrium $ P_{0} $ is stable, and the disease dies out. If $ \mathcal{R}_{0} > 1 $, then the endemic equilibrium $ P^{*} $ is stable, and the disease persists. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the basic reproduction number $ \mathcal{R}_{0} $ is most sensitive to the population recruitment rate $ \Lambda $ and the disease transmission rate $ \beta _{1} $.

Detection of biomarkers was extremely important for the early diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy optimization of diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in serum metabolites between patients with heart failure (HF) and healthy control (HC) and to diagnose HF qualitatively. In this study, serum samples from 83 patients with HF and 35 HCs were used as the research subjects for untargeted metabolomic analysis using ultraperformance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS) technology. Potential biomarkers were screened and validated using the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), random forest (RF), binary logistic regression (BLR), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The results indicated that a total of 43 metabolites were considered as differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs). Among these DEMs, glycodeoxycholate was identified as a specific biomarker of HF. A ROC curve analysis for HC versus HF discrimination showed an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.9853 (95% CI: 0.9859–1.0000), a sensitivity of 95%, and a specificity of 100%. Hence, glycodeoxycholate might serve as a potential biomarker for HF. Furthermore, the amino acid metabolism was screened as the most significantly altered pathway in patients with HF. By identifying serum biomarkers and analyzing metabolic pathways, our study provided opportunities to enhance the understanding of the pathogenesis and early diagnosis of HF.

Hierarchical regression is used to empirically investigate the impact of digital capabilities on green innovation performance, as well as the mediating role of organizational agility and the moderating effect of knowledge inertia. Based on the data from a large sample of 383 middle and senior managers from manufacturing companies, the dynamic capability theory is applied to SPSS 27.0. The results show that digital capability contributes to green innovation performance; knowledge inertia moderates the inverted U-shape between digital capability and green innovation performance; and two dimensions of organizational agility, market agility and operational adjustment agility, partially mediate the relationship between digital capability and green innovation performance. This paper contributes new ideas for companies to develop organizational agility, control knowledge inertia, enhance green innovation performance, and finally, sustainably gain a competitive advantage position.

Abstract Birefringence, which modulates the polarization of electromagnetic wave, has been commercially developed and widely used in modern photonics. Fostered by high‐frequency signal processing and communications, feasible birefringence technologies operating in gigahertz (GHz) range are highly desired. Here, a coherent phonon‐induced GHz optical birefringence and its manipulation in SrTiO3 (STO) crystals are demonsrated. With ultrafast laser pumping, the coherent acoustic phonons with low damping are created in the transducer/STO structures. A series of transducer layers are examined and the optimized one with relatively high photon–phonon conversion efficiency, i.e., semiconducting LaRhO3 film, is obtained. The most intriguing finding here is that, by virtue of high sensitivity to strain perturbation of STO, GHz optical birefringence can be induced by the coherent acoustic phonons and the birefringent amplitudes possess crystal orientation dependence. Optical manipulation of both coherent phonons and its induced GHz birefringence by double pump technique are also realized. These findings reveal an alternative mechanism of ultrafast optical birefringence control, and offer prospects for applications in high‐frequency acoustic‐optics devices.

Abstract Ultrashort laser pulses have been utilized to dynamically drive phase transitions in correlated quantum materials. Of particular interest is whether phases not achievable in thermal equilibrium can be induced in complex oxides with intricately coupled lattice, electron and spin degrees of freedom. Here, we tracked atomic motions in LaMnO3 following photoexcitation with MeV ultrafast electron diffraction (MeV-UED) technique. We found that the light excited state exhibits numerous signatures different from thermal equilibrium ones, including nearly conserved Bragg intensities, strongly suppressed La cation and oxygen anion displacements, and the long-range lattice orthorhombicity evolution. Furthermore, using first-principles calculations, we predict that the ferromagnetic ordering and conductivity are both enhanced upon laser excitation due to the reduction of the lattice orthorhombicity. This work benefits from recent advance in fabrication of membrane films with high epitaxial quality and in MeV-UED with large momentum space access and high temporal resolution.

The fly ash was used as raw material to prepare glass ceramic base body, on which a layer of glaze slurry was applied, then, the complex was successfully prepared by sintering at 1180 °C through single-sinter process. Influences of quartz sand content on crystal phase evolution, physical–mechanical properties, and surface morphology of products were studied systematically. Finally, an opaque glaze with 15 wt% quartz sand fitting on glass ceramic base body had been produced, exhibiting a unique main phase, mullite, which ensured a significant Vickers microhardness of 8.1 GPa, improving the mechanical properties of solid waste glass ceramic base body. It was also found that the water absorption of the product was .66%, which greatly enhanced the waterproof function of the base surface. The complex products developed in this study were expected to be used as building decoration materials and provided new ideas for effective reuse of other similar solid wastes.

In this paper, the effect of a sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) addition on the dispersion and hydration of pure calcium aluminate cement (PCAC) was investigated, and the corresponding mechanism of effect was studied. The effects of STPP on the dispersion, rheology, and hydration processes of PCAC and its adsorption capacity on the surface of cement particles were analysed by measuring the 𝜁-potential on the surface of cement particles, the changes in the concentrations of elemental P and Ca2+ ions in a solution at different STPP additions. The experimental results show that STPP easily complexes with Ca2+ ions to produce the complex [CaP3O10]3− adsorbed on the surface of cement particles, which changes the potential on the surface of cement particles and increases the electrostatic repulsive force between cement particles, thus improving the dispersion and rheology of cement. At the same time, the contact area between cement particles and water is reduced, which hinders the hydration process and makes the time of hydration process longer. A comprehensive analysis shows that the best effect of STPP on pure calcium aluminate cements is achieved when the addition of STPP is 0.2%. This study can provide a reference for the addition of water-reducing agents in refractory castables as well as improving the quality of refractory materials.

Abstract Background Based on therapy with syndrome differentiation and clinical studies on Xiaochaihu decoction (XCHD), we hypothesize that Modified Xiaochaihu Decoction (MXD) has an ability to ameliorate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aims to elucidate the pharmacological efficacy of MXD and its mechanism in the treatment of NAFLD by network pharmacology and experimental validation. Methods The active ingredients in MXD and their potential targets were identified using network analysis followed by experimental validation. First, we used data on the ingredients and targets obtained from professional database and related literature to do PPI network analysis, GO functional analysis, and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Core targets identified by network pharmacology were then tested in natural ageing female rats model. Indexes of lipid and glucose homeostasis were determined enzymatically and/or histologically. Gene expression was analyzed by real-time PCR and/or Western blot (WB). Results In total, 4009 NAFLD-related targets and 1953 chemical ingredients of MXD were obtained. In-depth network analysis of 140 common targets indicated that MXD played a critical role in anti-NAFLD via multiple targets and pathways. Based on the data of PPI analysis, GO functional enrichment analysis, KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, and literatures on the mechanism of NAFLD, we chose the core targets related to lipid metabolism (SREBP-1c, ChREBP, FASN, PPARα, and ACACA) and inflammation (IL-6 and NF-κB) to do further study. Significantly, in further animal verification experiment we using naturally ageing rats with NAFLD as a model, we found that MXD administration ameliorated age-related NAFLD and mechanistically down-regulated the mRNA/protein expression of core targets in lipid metabolism and inflammation related pathways such as FASN, ACACA, IL-6, and NF-κB. In addition, 12 of 24 potential ingredients acting on verified targets came from BC, and 11 of 24 potential ingredients acting on verified targets were derived from SM, implying that both BC and SM served as the key role in MXD against NAFLD. Conclusion The bioinformatics data and in vivo experimental results suggest that the MXD-induced amelioration of NAFLD may be predominantly related to modulation of lipid metabolism and inflammation. Both BC and SM serve as the key role in MXD against NAFLD. These results may provide novel evidence for clinical implication of MXD.

Extreme learning machine based on local receptive fields (ELM-LRFs) is a very fast method that can be used for feature extraction and classification. Bidirectional long-short time memory network (BLSTM), a widely used type of recurrent neural network (RNN) architecture, has showed excellent performance in time series processing fields. In this paper, we combine the superiority of above algorithms and propose a fast and accurate hybrid deep learning model which is named DELM-LRF-BLSTM for ECG signal recognition. This model uses the segmented heartbeats as input and employs a deep ELM-LRF to gain significant local spatial features. Then we fed the features to a three-layer BLSTM and it can extract temporal features for ECG signal recognition. The combination of ELM-LRF and BLSTM can not only consider the local information in a heartbeat, but also consider the long-distance dependence between heartbeats. Experimental results on MIT-BIH Arrhythmia dataset show that the proposed DELM-LRF-BLSTM algorithm has high accuracy and sensitivity, up to 99.32% and 97.15% respectively, which verifies the effectiveness and feasibility of the model. Moreover, only 6.1 millisecond is needed for once heartbeat recognition operation. Due to it's high performance and low computational complexity, the proposed algorithm is feasible for practical use.

Fullerenes are promising organic semiconducting materials for electronic applications, but of low conductivity due to limited intermolecular hybridization. Cui et al. show a black phosphorous substrate organizes C60 monolayers to form delocalized semiconducting band with tens times enhanced conductivity.

In the original publication [...]

Condensed Matter Physics: quantised Hall transport in two dimensional magnetic insulators Simulations predict a Chern insulating state with quantized anomalous Hall transport in insulators without an applied magnetic field. These strongly correlated systems are designed based on transition metal oxides, unlike existing weakly correlated electron-based examples whose bulk conduction masks surface currents. An international team led by Warren Pickett at the University of California Davis designed the materials based on a buckled honeycomb lattice. By tuning spin, orbital, charge, and lattice degrees of freedom as well as strain, they predict robust ruthenium and osmium bilayers with conducting boundary states, while retaining a bulk bandgap of up to 130 meV. These properties, topologically protected by electronic entanglement, provide promise of applications in next generation electronics and possibly quantum computing. These systems offer more robust platforms than previously suggested and guide experimental synthesis to exploit these emergent phenomena.

Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose causes acute liver injury and leads to fatal liver damage. However, the therapies are quite limited. Shikonin is a natural product with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In the present study, the hepatoprotective effects and the underlying mechanisms of shikonin in APAP-induced hepatotoxicity in vivo and in vitro were investigated. APAP-induced acute liver injury and shikonin pretreatment models were established in vivo and in vitro, as evidenced by serum hepatic enzymes, histological changes, oxidative stress indicators and proinflammatory cytokines. The results revealed that shikonin pretreatment prevented the elevation of serum alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels and markedly reduced APAP-induced histological alterations in liver tissues. Additionally, shikonin restored superoxide dismutase (SOD) expression and glutathione (GSH) content in line with the blockade of oxidative stress. The changes in gene expression involved in oxidative stress including methionine sulfoxide reductase (such as MsrA and MsrB1), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), SOD2 and cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1), were markedly reversed after shikonin therapy. Furthermore, shikonin markedly attenuated the APAP-induced production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and suppressed the expression of genes related to inflammation. In AML-12 cells, shikonin pretreatment decreased APAP-induced cytotoxicity as measured by CCK-8 assay and LDH release. The changes in gene expression involved in oxidative stress and the inflammatory response were consistent with those in mouse livers. This study indicated that shikonin attenuated APAP-induced acute liver injury via inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in vivo and in vitro. These findings offer new insights into the potential therapy for APAP hepatotoxicity.

Experiments were carried out to measure the tensile properties of maize stalk rind. Two varieties of maize stalk (SD 12 and SD 9) and two moisture contents (fresh and air-dried) were tested. From each maize stalk sample, nine specimens (test coupons) of stalk rind were prepared to represent nine internodes from the bottom to the top of the maize stalk. The rind specimens were subjected to uniaxial tensile loading at a slow rate of 3 mm/min. From the recorded load-elongation curves, tensile stresses, modulus of elasticity, and tensile energy were determined. It was found that maize stalk rind exhibited elastic-plastic behavior, i.e., stress initially increased with strain in a linear fashion, and then nonlinearly until rupture. The measured ultimate tensile stress ranged from 178.15 to 80.53 MPa (average 122.26 MPa), elastic modulus from 35.01 to 11.38 GPa (average 19.32 GPa), and tensile energy from 0.004 to 0.099 J (average 0.032 J). Tensile strength, elastic modulus, and tensile energy decreased from the bottom to the top of stalk. There was a significant difference in tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and tensile energy among two varieties and two moisture contents.

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the oldest infectious diseases that affected humankind and remains one of the world’s deadliest communicable diseases that could be considered as global emergency, but the discovery and development of isoniazid (INH) in the 1950s paved the way to an effective single and/or combined first-line anti-TB therapy. However, administration of INH induces severe hepatic toxicity in some patients. Previously, we establish a rat model of INH hepatotoxicity utilizing the inflammatory stress theory, in which bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) potentially enhanced INH toxicity. These enhancing activities ranged between augmenting the inflammatory stress, oxidative stress, alteration of bile acid homeostasis, and CYP2E1 over-expression. Although pre-treatment with dexamethasone (DEX) helped overcome both inflammatory and oxidative stress which ended-up in alleviation of LPS augmenting effects, but still minor toxicities were being detected, alongside with CYP2E1 over expression. This finding positively indicated the corner-stone role played by CYP2E1 in the pathogenesis of INH/LPS-induced liver damage. Therefore, we examined whether INH/LPS co-treatment with CYP2E1 inhibitor diallyl sulfide (DAS) and DEX can protect against the INH/LPS-induced hepatotoxicity. Our results showed that pre-administration of both DAS and DEX caused significant reduction in serum TBA, TBil, and gamma-glutamyl transferase levels. Furthermore, the histopathological analysis showed that DAS and DEX could effectively reverse the liver lesions seen following INH/LPS treatment and protect against hepatic steatosis as indicated by absence of lipid accumulation. Pre-treatment with DAS alone could not completely block the CYP2E1 protein expression following INH/LPS treatment, as appeared in the immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry results. This is probably due to the fact that the combined enhancement activities of both INH and LPS on CYP2E1 protein expression levels might resist the blocking probabilities of DAS. In the meantime, addition of DEX to the DAS/INH/LPS combination caused a significant reduction in CYP2E1 protein expression as revealed by the immunoblotting and fading coloration in immunohistochemistry results. Thus, addition of DEX and DAS together caused strong protection against INH/LPS-induced hepatic damage. These findings reveal the potential therapeutic value of combining DAS and DEX with INH in TB management for reducing the potential risk and incidences of hepatotoxicity.

We developed a new method of intelligent optimum strategy for a local coupled extreme learning machine (LC-ELM). In this method, both the weights and biases between the input layer and the hidden layer, as well as the addresses and radiuses in the local coupled parameters, are determined and optimized based on the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Compared with extreme learning machine (ELM), LC-ELM and extreme learning machine based on particle optimization (PSO-ELM) that have the same network size or compact network configuration, simulation results in terms of regression and classification benchmark problems show that the proposed algorithm, which is called LC-PSO-ELM, has improved generalization performance and robustness.