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PurposeHashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is one of the most commonly encountered types of autoimmune thyroid disorders (AITDs), influenced by environmental factors, genetics, and the immune system. Previous research has shown a correlation between gut microbiota and HT, as well as the involvement of immune cells in its onset and progression. We aimed to investigate whether immune cells act as intermediaries in the causal relationship between gut microbiota and HT.MethodsIn this study, we conducted bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to explore the relationship between gut microbiota and HT using data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and the MiBioGen study. Subsequently, MR analyses were performed to investigate the interactions between 731 immune cells and gut microbiota. Additionally, an MR analysis was performed to examine the association between HT and these 731 immune cells, using a GWAS dataset that included 3,757 European subjects. This approach provided insights into the impact of 22 million genetic variants on 731 immune cell signatures.ResultsThere was a causal relationship between the increase in the number of 15 gut microbiota and HT. We observed that the genus Akkermansia, family Alcaligenaceae, family Desulfovibrionaceae, family Verrucomicrobiaceae, class Verrucomicrobiae, order Verrucomicrobiales, phylum Verrucomicrobia, class Alphaproteobacteria, order Desulfovibrionales, genus Ruminococcus torques group, genus Butyrivibrio, and genus Coprococcus3 were negatively correlated with HT. In addition, the genus Intestinimonas, genus Turicibacter, and genus Anaerostipes were positively correlated with HT. We identified EM CD4 + T cells as a mediator between the gut microbiota and HT.ConclusionIn conclusion, we presented causal associations between the EM CD4 + T cell-mediated gut microbiota and HT, as inferred from the MR findings derived from extensive aggregated GWAS data. Our research offers guidance and direction for treating and preventing HT.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the value of a CT-enhanced scanning radiomics nomogram in distinguishing between early hepatic abscess (EHA) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and to validate its diagnostic efficacy.Materials and MethodsClinical and imaging data on 112 patients diagnosed with EHA and ICC who underwent double-phase CT-enhanced scanning at our hospital were collected. The contours of the lesions were delineated layer by layer across the three phases of CT scanning and enhancement using 3D Slicer software to define the region of interest (ROI). Subsequently, the contours were merged into 3D models, and radiomics features were extracted using the Radiomics plug-in. The data were randomly divided into training (n = 78) and validation (n = 34) cohorts at a 7:3 ratio, using the R programming language. Standardization was performed using the Z-score method, and LASSO regression was used to select the best λ-value for screening variables, which were then used to establish prediction models. The rad-score was calculated using the best radiomics model, and a joint model was constructed based on the rad-score and clinical scores. A nomogram was developed based on the joint model. The diagnostic efficacy of the models for distinguishing ICC and EHA was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) analyses. Calibration curves were used to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of the nomograms, while decision curves and clinical impact curves were utilized to assess their clinical value.ResultsCompared with the ICC group, significant differences were observed in clinical data and imaging characteristics in the EHA group, including age, centripetal enhancement, hepatic pericardial depression sign, arterial perfusion abnormality, arterial CT value, and arteriovenous enhancement (p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis identified centripetal enhancement, hepatic pericardial depression sign, arterial perfusion abnormality, arterial CT value, and arteriovenous enhancement as independent influencing factors. Three, five, and four radiomics features were retained in the scanning, arterial, and venous phases, respectively. Single-phase models were constructed, with the radiomics model from the arterial phase demonstrating the best diagnostic efficacy. The rad-score was calculated using the arterial-phase radiomics model, and nomograms were drawn in conjunction with the clinical model. The nomogram based on the combined model exhibited the highest differential diagnostic efficacy between EHA and ICC (training cohort: AUC of 0.972; validation cohort: AUC of 0.868). The calibration curves indicated good agreement between the predicted and pathological results, while decision curves and clinical impact curves demonstrated higher clinical utility of the nomograms.ConclusionThe CT-enhanced scanning radiomics nomogram demonstrates high clinical value in distinguishing between EHA and ICC, thereby enhancing the accuracy of preoperative diagnosis.

Glioblastoma represents the predominant and a highly aggressive primary neoplasm of the central nervous system that has an abnormal metabolism. Our previous study showed that chrysomycin A (Chr-A) curbed glioblastoma progression in vitro and in vivo. However, whether Chr-A could inhibit orthotopic glioblastoma and how it reshapes metabolism are still unclear. In this study, Chr-A markedly suppressed the development of intracranial U87 gliomas. The results from airflow-assisted desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (AFADESI-MSI) indicated that Chr-A improved the abnormal metabolism of mice with glioblastoma. Key enzymes including glutaminase (GLS), glutamate dehydrogenases 1 (GDH1), hexokinase 2 (HK2) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) were regulated by Chr-A. Chr-A further altered the level of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), thus causing oxidative stress with the downregulation of Nrf-2 to inhibit glioblastoma. Our study offers a novel perspective for comprehending the anti-glioma mechanism of Chr-A, highlighting its potential as a promising chemotherapeutic agent for glioblastoma.

Abstract Background Marine prokaryotes are a rich source of novel bioactive secondary metabolites for drug discovery. Recent genome mining studies have revealed their great potential to bio-synthesize novel secondary metabolites. However, the exact biosynthetic chemical space encoded by the marine prokaryotes has yet to be systematically evaluated. Results We first investigated the secondary metabolic potential of marine prokaryotes by analyzing the diversity and novelty of the biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in 7541 prokaryotic genomes from cultivated and single cells, along with 26,363 newly assembled medium-to-high-quality genomes from marine environmental samples. To quantitatively evaluate the unexplored biosynthetic chemical space of marine prokaryotes, the clustering thresholds for constructing the biosynthetic gene cluster and molecular networks were optimized to reach a similar level of the chemical similarity between the gene cluster family (GCF)-encoded metabolites and molecular family (MF) scaffolds using the MIBiG database. The global genome mining analysis demonstrated that the predicted 70,011 BGCs were organized into 24,536 mostly new (99.5%) GCFs, while the reported marine prokaryotic natural products were only classified into 778 MFs at the optimized clustering thresholds. The number of MF scaffolds is only 3.2% of the number of GCF-encoded scaffolds, suggesting that at least 96.8% of the secondary metabolic potential in marine prokaryotes is untapped. The unexplored biosynthetic chemical space of marine prokaryotes was illustrated by the 88 potential novel antimicrobial peptides encoded by ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide BGCs. Furthermore, a sea-water-derived Aquimarina strain was selected to illustrate the diverse biosynthetic chemical space through untargeted metabolomics and genomics approaches, which identified the potential biosynthetic pathways of a group of novel polyketides and two known compounds (didemnilactone B and macrolactin A 15-ketone). Conclusions The present bioinformatics and cheminformatics analyses highlight the promising potential to explore the biosynthetic chemical diversity of marine prokaryotes and provide valuable knowledge for the targeted discovery and biosynthesis of novel marine prokaryotic natural products. Video Abstract

In this study, lambda-cyhalothrin (LC) loaded polyurea microcapsules (MCs) with different particle sizes were fabricated. All of the MCs showed varying degrees of physical collapse, which was more obvious among those with smaller particle sizes. MCs with particle sizes of 1.38 μm (MC-S), 5.13 μm (MC-M) and 10.05 μm (MC-L) had shell thicknesses of 39.6, 50.3 and 150.1 nm, respectively. MCs with smaller particles tended to have significantly faster release profiles, and the MC-S group had much higher bioactivity against Agrotis ipsilon and better foliar affinity on the peanut leaves (indicated by rainfastness) than MC-M and MC-L. All of the MCs exhibited light-enhanced release profiles and had much slower degradation compared with the emulsifiable concentrate (EC) group, among which MC-L had the slowest degradation. To generate MCs with both favorable quick efficacy and long-lasting efficacy, binary mixtures of MC-S, MC-M and MC-L were produced by mixing them in pairs at ratios of 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2. The mixture of MC-S:MC-L at 1:2 showed the best comprehensive efficacy in the peanut foliar spray scenario among the nine tested combinations, and its effective duration was three times longer than that of EC. Overall, the precise combination of MCs with different particle sizes can regulate the efficacy of pesticide control and serve as a strategy for the better utilization of pesticides.

Abstract Drug discovery is a crucial part of human healthcare and has dramatically benefited human lifespan and life quality in recent centuries, however, it is usually time- and effort-consuming. Structural biology has been demonstrated as a powerful tool to accelerate drug development. Among different techniques, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is emerging as the mainstream of structure determination of biomacromolecules in the past decade and has received increasing attention from the pharmaceutical industry. Although cryo-EM still has limitations in resolution, speed and throughput, a growing number of innovative drugs are being developed with the help of cryo-EM. Here, we aim to provide an overview of how cryo-EM techniques are applied to facilitate drug discovery. The development and typical workflow of cryo-EM technique will be briefly introduced, followed by its specific applications in structure-based drug design, fragment-based drug discovery, proteolysis targeting chimeras, antibody drug development and drug repurposing. Besides cryo-EM, drug discovery innovation usually involves other state-of-the-art techniques such as artificial intelligence (AI), which is increasingly active in diverse areas. The combination of cryo-EM and AI provides an opportunity to minimize limitations of cryo-EM such as automation, throughput and interpretation of medium-resolution maps, and tends to be the new direction of future development of cryo-EM. The rapid development of cryo-EM will make it as an indispensable part of modern drug discovery.

Background: Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common thyroid carcinoma worldwide. Papillary thyroid carcinoma metastasis to the cervical region increases the probability of local or regional recurrence and the requirement for further surgery. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound has been suggested as a possible adjunct diagnostic technique for evaluating papillary thyroid carcinoma metastatic lymph nodes in several studies. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for cervical lymph nodes metastatic in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients. Methods: A search for studies evaluating the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for assessing cervical lymph nodes metastatic in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients from January 2000 to May 2022 was performed in PubMed, Embase, OVID, and Web of Science databases. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 evaluated the quality of the studies. All analyses were performed using Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 17.0. Results: A total of seven articles were finally included in this study. Perfusion type, enhancement homogeneous, hilum absent, and perfusion defect were involved in the meta-analysis as the standard of contrast-enhanced ultrasound, among which, perfusion type showed the best diagnostic performance. The pooled estimated sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio of perfusion type in contrast-enhanced ultrasound for detecting lymph node metastasis were 0.95 (0.91, 0.97), 0.87 (0.69, 0.96), 7.51 (2.80, 20.14), 0.06 (0.03, 0.10), and 124.17 (42.78, 360.46), respectively. Heterogeneity was moderate. Conclusion: The perfusion type in contrast-enhanced ultrasound has good diagnostic performance for cervical lymph nodes metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients.

Background: Circadian dysregulation is linked to the onset and progression of cancer, but current knowledge of the role of circadian rhythm-related genes (CRRGs) in breast cancer (BC) is limited and incomplete. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential role and immune-related prognostic significance of CRRGs in BC.Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas breast cancer (TCGA-BRCA) genetic data were combined with 1369 CRRGs to create a model of BC prognosis-related CRRGs. To validate the model’s predictive power in TCGA and other external datasets, the Kaplan-Meier survival curve and receptor operation characteristic curve were plotted. The relationship between CRRGs model and gene enrichment pathways, immune cell infiltration, and differences in patient response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapy was then discussed.Results: A CRRG-based eighteen-gene model was developed that accurately predicted the survival time of BC patients. Based on this model, BC patients can be classified as high or low risk. The high-risk group has negative immune cell infiltration (such as macrophages M0 and M2) and a poor therapeutic response to ICIs due to lower immune checkpoint gene expression. Furthermore, TCF7 and IFNG were found to be strongly associated with immune checkpoints in CRRGs model.Conclusion: The 18 CRRGs may be useful in assessing the prognosis of BC patients, studying immune infiltration, and developing more effective immunotherapy strategies.

This paper is intended to review advances in the botanical, traditional uses, phytochemical, pharmacological and development and utilization studies of the genus Chloranthus. Chloranthus, a genus of the family Chloranthaceae, which is mainly distributed in the temperate and tropical regions of Asia, has been used as a folk remedy for swollen boils, snake bites and bruises. Up to now, 418 compounds have been reported from the genus Chloranthus, including 383 terpenoids, 4 coumarins, 6 lignans, 2 simple phenylpropanoids, 4 flavonoids, 6 amides, 5 organic acids and some other types of compounds. Among them, the main chemical constituents are sesquiterpenes and their diterpenoids. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that most of the Chloranthus plants possessed anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and antimalarial activities. As one of the most important genera in China, Chloranthus should be paid further attention to gathering information about the pharmacological mechanism and value active compounds. This paper summarized the phytochemistry, pharmacology, and uses of genus Chloranthus in order to lay a foundation and provide reference for the follow-up research and wide application of the genus.

BackgroundPapillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common thyroid tumor, and early diagnosis and treatment can effectively improve prognosis. Many controversies surround the treatment method of T1N0M0 PTC. Recently, thermal ablation (TA) has shown some benefits in the treatment of PTC patients, but the safety and efficacy of its treatment remain controversial. This article performs a meta-analysis of TA in patients with T1aN0M0 and T1bN0M0 PTC.MethodsThe PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched for retrospective or prospective studies of TA for treating patients with T1N0M0 PTC from the database establishment to May 1, 2022. Data on volume reduction rate (VRR), disease progress, and complication rate were collected. In addition, a meta-analysis was performed using the Stata 12.0 and Review Manager 5.3.ResultsA total of 9 eligible studies were included. Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of VRR and disease progress. The VRR was reduced after 3 months (−75.90%; 95% CI [−118.46–33.34%]), 6 months (34.33%; 95% CI [15.01–53.65%]), 12 months (78.69%; 95% CI [71.69–85.68%]), and 24 months (89.97%; 95% CI [84.00–95.94%]). The disease progress was 1.9% (95% CI [1.1–3.0]). Safety is justified by the complication rate, which was 6.5% (95% CI [3.5–10.2]). Pain and hoarseness were the most common complications, and no life-threatening complications were reported. Egger’s test demonstrated that publication bias was acceptable.ConclusionsTA is an effective and safe method for managing T1aN0M0 and T1bN0M0 papillary thyroid nodules.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a major type of primary brain tumor without ideal prognosis and it is therefore necessary to develop a novel compound possessing therapeutic effects. Chrysomycin A (Chr-A) has been reported to inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of U251 and U87-MG cells through the Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway, but the mechanism of Chr-A against glioblastoma in vivo and whether Chr-A modulates the apoptosis of neuroglioma cells is unclear. The present study aims to elucidate the potential of Chr-A against glioblastoma in vivo and how Chr-A modulates the apoptosis of neuroglioma cells. Briefly, the anti-glioblastoma activity was assessed in human glioma U87 xenografted hairless mice. Chr-A-related targets were identified via RNA-sequencing. Apoptotic ratio and caspase 3/7 activity of U251 and U87-MG cells were assayed via flow cytometry. Apoptosis-related proteins and possible molecular mechanisms were validated via Western blotting. The results showed that Chr-A treatment significantly inhibits glioblastoma progression in xenografted hairless mice, and enrichment analysis suggested that apoptosis, PI3K-Akt and Wnt signaling pathways were involved in the possible mechanisms. Chr-A increased the apoptotic ratio and the activity of caspase 3/7 in U251 and U87-MG cells. Western blotting revealed that Chr-A disturbed the balance between Bax and Bcl-2, activating a caspase cascade reaction and downregulating the expression of p-Akt and p-GSK-3β, suggesting that Chr-A may contribute to glioblastoma regression modulating in the Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway to promote apoptosis of neuroglioma cells in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, Chr-A may hold therapeutic promise for glioblastoma.

Directionally solidified porous copper is considered as a potential candidate in the field of microchannel heat sinks. By the Bridgman-type directional solidification method, a porous copper ingot was fabricated. Evolution of the porosity, pore number density, average pore diameter and average interpore spacing at different ingot heights was investigated. The results show that with the increase of ingot height, the porosity firstly increases and then basically remains unchanged from the ignot height of 65 mm; the pore number density rapidly decreases at first, and the decreasing speed becomes slower when the ignot height higher than 85 mm; the average pore diameter increases and then remains unchanged from the ingot height of 85 mm; the average interpore spacing increases, and the increasing speed of average interpore spacing becomes slower with the increase of height to higher than 85 mm. In order to study the evolution of diameter and spatial distribution of pores, the distribution ranges of pore diameter, nearest-neighbor distance and radial cumulative pore number were analyzed. As the ingot height increases, the distribution ranges of pore diameter and nearest-neighbor distance firstly increase and then tend to be stable. There are no pore clusters and for long distance, the spatial distribution of pores is uniform at different ingot heights. Pore structure and 3D pore morphology of porous copper were observed with the help of light illumination and X-ray tomography. Pore nucleation, pore interruption, pore coalescence, diameter change of pores and lateral displacement of pores were found to exist in the pore structure.

Gut microbial β-glucuronidases have the ability to deconjugate glucuronides of some drugs, thus have been considered as an important drug target to alleviate the drug metabolites-induced gastrointestinal toxicity. In this study, thiazolidin-2-cyanamide derivatives containing 5-phenyl-2-furan moiety (1–13) were evaluated for inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli β-glucuronidase (EcGUS). All of them showed more potent inhibition than a commonly used positive control, d-saccharic acid 1,4-lactone, with the IC50 values ranging from 1.2 µM to 23.1 µM. Inhibition kinetics studies indicated that compound 1–3 were competitive type inhibitors for EcGUS. Molecular docking studies were performed and predicted the potential molecular determinants for their potent inhibitory effects towards EcGUS. Structure–inhibitory activity relationship study revealed that chloro substitution on the phenyl moiety was essential for EcGUS inhibition, which would help researchers to design and develop more effective thiazolidin-2-cyanamide type inhibitors against EcGUS.

We assemble a large sample of 12,784 high-velocity stars with total velocity V _GSR ≥ 300 km s ^−1 , selected from RAVE DR5, SDSS DR12, LAMOST DR8, APOGEE DR16, GALAH DR2, and Gaia EDR3. In this sample, 52 are marginally hypervelocity star (HVS) candidates that have V _GSR exceeding their local escape velocities within 2 σ confidence levels, 40 of which are discovered for the first time. All of the candidates are metal-poor, late-type halo stars, which are significantly different from the previously identified HVSs, which are largely massive early-type stars, discovered by extreme radial velocity. This finding suggests that our newly identified HVS candidates are ejected by different mechanisms from the previous population. To investigate their origins, for 547 extreme velocity stars with V _GSR ≥ 0.8 V _esc , we reconstruct their backward-integrated trajectories in the Galactic potential. According to the orbital analysis, no candidates are found to be definitely ejected from the Galactic-center (GC), while eight metal-poor extreme velocity stars are found to have a closest distance to the GC within 1 kpc. Intriguingly, 15 extreme velocity stars (including 2 HVS candidates) are found to have experienced close encounters with the Sagittarius dSph, suggesting that they originated from this dSph. This hypothesis is supported by an analysis of the [ α /Fe]–[Fe/H] diagram. From a preliminary analysis of all of the 547 extreme velocity stars, we propose a general picture–star ejection from Galactic subsystems such as dwarf galaxies and globular clusters can be an important channel to produce extreme velocity stars or even HVSs, particularly the metal-poor late-type halo population.

To understand the parameter degeneracy of M subdwarf spectra at low resolution, we assemble a large number of spectral features in the wavelength range 0.6–2.5 μ m with band strength quantified by narrowband indices. Based on the index trends of BT-Settl model sequences, we illustrate how the main atmospheric parameters ( T _eff , log g , [M/H], and [ α /Fe]) affect each spectral feature differently. Furthermore, we propose a four-step process to determine the four parameters sequentially, which extends the basic idea proposed by Jao et al. Each step contains several spectral features that break the degeneracy effect when determining a specific stellar parameter. Finally, the feasibility of each spectroscopic diagnostic with different spectral quality is investigated. The result is resolution-independent down to R ∼ 200.

We present a sample of 135,873 RR Lyrae stars (RRLs) with precise photometric metallicity and distance estimates from our newly calibrated P – ϕ _31 – R _21 –[Fe/H]/ P – R _21 –[Fe/H] and G -band absolute magnitude–metallicity relations. The P – ϕ _31 – R _21 –[Fe/H] and P – R _21 –[Fe/H] relations for type RRab and type RRc stars are obtained from nearly 2700 Gaia-identified RRLs, with precise ϕ _31 and R _21 measurements from light curves and metallicity estimates from spectroscopy. Using a few hundreds of nearby RRLs, with accurate distances estimated from the parallax measurements in Gaia Early Data Release 3, new G -band absolute magnitude–metallicity relations and near-IR period–absolute magnitude–metallicity relations are constructed. External checks, using other high-resolution spectroscopic samples of field RRLs and RRL members of globular clusters, show that the typical uncertainties in our photometric metallicity estimates are about 0.24 and 0.16 dex for type RRab and type RRc stars, respectively, without significant systematic bias with respect to the high-resolution spectroscopic metallicity measurements. The accuracies of these metallicity estimates are much improved, especially for type RRab stars, when compared to those provided by Gaia Data Release 3. Validations of our distance estimates, again using members of globular clusters, show that the typical distance errors are only 3%–4%. The distance moduli μ _0 = 18.503 ± 0.001 (stat) ± 0.040 (syst) mag for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and μ _0 = 19.030 ± 0.003 (stat) ± 0.043 (syst) mag for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) are estimated from our type RRab star sample and are in excellent agreement with previous measurements. The mean metallicities of the LMC and SMC derived in this work are also consistent with previous determinations. Using our sample, a steep metallicity gradient of −0.024 ± 0.001 dex kpc ^−1 is found for the LMC, while a negligible metallicity gradient is obtained for the SMC.

Ba-enhanced stars are interesting probes of stellar astrophysics and Galactic formation history. In this work, we investigate the chemistry and kinematics of a large sample of Ba-enhanced ([Ba/Fe]>1.0) dwarf and subgiant stars with 5000 < T _eff < 6700 K from LAMOST. We find that both stellar internal evolution processes and external mass exchange due to binary evolution are responsible for the origins of the Ba enhancement of our sample stars. About one third of them exhibit C and N enhancement and an ultraviolet brightness excess, indicating they are products of binary evolution. The remaining Ba-enhanced stars with normal C and N abundances are mostly warm stars with T _eff > 6000 K. They are likely the consequences of stellar internal element transport processes, but they show very different element patterns to hotter Am/Fm stars. Our results reveal a substantially lack of high-[ α /Fe], Ba-enhanced stars in the [Fe/H]–[ α /Fe] plane, which we dub as a “high-[α/Fe] desert”. We suggest it is due to a lower efficiency for producing Ba-enhanced stars by low-mass asymptotic giant branch progenitors in binary systems. Our results call for detailed modeling of these Ba-enhanced stellar peculiarities, in the context of both stellar internal element transport and external mass accretion.

Chrysomycin A (Chr-A), an antibiotic from Streptomyces, is reported to have anti-tumor and anti-tuberculous activities, but its anti-glioblastoma activity and possible mechanism are not clear. Therefore, the current study was to investigate the mechanism of Chr-A against glioblastoma using U251 and U87-MG human cells. CCK8 assays, EdU-DNA synthesis assays and LDH assays were carried out to detect cell viability, proliferation and cytotoxicity of U251 and U87-MG cells, respectively. Transwell assays were performed to detect the invasion and migration abilities of glioblastoma cells. Western blot was used to validate the potential proteins. Chr-A treatment significantly inhibited the growth of glioblastoma cells and weakened the ability of cell migration and invasion by down regulating the expression of slug, MMP2 and MMP9. Furthermore, Chr-A also down regulated Akt, p-Akt, GSK-3β, p-GSK-3β and their downstream proteins, such as β-catenin and c-Myc in human glioblastoma cells. In conclusion, Chr-A may inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of glioblastoma cells through the Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway.

As an excellent giant-magnetostrictive material, Tb-Dy-Fe alloys (based on Tb0.27-0.30Dy0.73-0.70Fe1.9-2 Laves compound) can be applied in many engineering fields, such as sonar transducer systems, sensors, and micro-actuators. However, the cost of the rare earth elements Tb and Dy is too high to be widely applied for the materials. Nowadays, there are two different ways to substitute for these alloying elements. One is to partially replace Tb or Dy by cheaper rare earth elements, such as Pr, Nd, Sm and Ho; and the other is to use non-rare earth elements, such as Co, Al, Mn, Si, Ce, B, Be and C, to substitute Fe to form single MgCu2-type Laves phase and a certain amount of Re-rich phase, which can reduce the brittleness and improve the corrosion resistance of the alloy. This paper systemically introduces the development, the fabrication methods and the corresponding preferred growth directions of Tb-Dy-Fe alloys. In addition, the effects of alloying elements and heat treatment on magnetostrictive and mechanical properties of Tb-Dy-Fe alloys are also reviewed, respectively. Finally, some possible applications of Tb-Dy-Fe alloys are presented.

A low fasting blood glucose level is a common symptom in diabetes patients and can be induced by high-fat diet (HFD) feeding at an early stage, which may play important roles in the development of diabetes, but has received little attention. In this study, five polysaccharides were prepared from Sargassumfusiforme and their effects on HFD-induced fasting hypoglycemia and gut microbiota dysbiosis were investigated. The results indicated that C57BL/6J male mice fed an HFD for 4 weeks developed severe hypoglycemia and four Sargassumfusiforme polysaccharides (SFPs), consisting of Sf-2, Sf-3, Sf-3-1, and Sf-A, significantly prevented early fasting hypoglycemia without inducing hyperglycemia. Sf-1 and Sf-A could also significantly prevent HFD-induced weight gain. Sf-2, Sf-3, Sf-3-1, and Sf-A mainly attenuated the HFD-induced decrease in Bacteroidetes, and all five SFPs had a considerable influence on the relative abundance of Oscillospira, Mucispirillum, and Clostridiales. Correlation analysis revealed that the fasting blood glucose level was associated with the relative abundance of Mucispinllum and Oscillospira. Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that Mucispinllum and Oscillospira exhibited good discriminatory power (AUC = 0.745–0.833) in the prediction of fasting hypoglycemia. Our findings highlight the novel application of SFPs (especially Sf-A) in glucose homeostasis and the potential roles of Mucispinllum and Oscillospira in the biological activity of SFPs.

In the title complex, [Co(C22H15O5)2(C2H5OH)2], the CoII atom (site symmetry overline{1}) is coordinated by two O,O′-bidentate 4-(2-benzoyl-1-oxidoethenyl)-3-hydroxyphenyl benzoate anions and two ethanol O atoms, resulting in a slightly distorted CoO6 octahedral coordination. An intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bond in the ligand generates an S(6) ring. The dihedral angle between the aromatic rings joined to the acetylacetonate unit is 6.4 (2)°. The ethanol molecule is disordered over two orientations in a 0.65 (3):0.35 (3) ratio. In the crystal, molecules are linked by O—H...O bonds.