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Abstract Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) carries the highest population attributable risk for mortality among all comorbidities in chronic heart failure (CHF). No studies about the association between inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter and all-cause mortality in patients with the comorbidity of CKD and CHF has been published. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, a total of 1327 patients with CHF and CKD were included. All patients underwent standardized echocardiography examination and data on demographic characteristics, medical history, and laboratory tests were recorded. Information on all-cause mortality was collected by telephone interview and medical records review. We used Cox regression to evaluate the risk of all-cause mortality among groups, and used mediation analysis to examine the mediation role of N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and serum albumin in the association between IVC and all-cause mortality. Results During a median follow-up of 3.46 years (IQR: 1.55–5.15 years), 757 (57.05%) cases of all-cause mortality were observed. Compared with patients with IVC diameter 21 mm were associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR (95%CI):1.31(1.07–1.61), log rank: P = 0.01) and cardiovascular mortality (HR (95%CI): 1.55(1.19–2.04), log rank: P = 0.001). When assessing IVC as a continuous variable, each 1% increase in IVC was associated with 4% increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.04, 95%CI 1.02–1.06, P

Abstract Background Hypoxia is a characteristic of solid tumors, but whether significant hypoxia exists in the hepatocellular carcinoma remains unclear. This animal study aims to explore the value of dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) quantitative parameters to evaluate the oxygen status in two rat hepatoma models. Materials and methods N1S1 and McA-RH7777 S-D rat orthotopic hepatoma models were established. Once the tumors reached a diameter of 10–15 mm, CEUS and oxygen partial pressure (pO2) polarography were performed. Immunohistochemical staining for HIF-1α and pimonidazole was conducted after euthanizing the rats. Correlation between quantitative CEUS parameters, pO2, and the immunohistochemical integrated optical density (IOD) was analyzed to assess the predictive ability of CEUS quantitative parameters for the tissue oxygen environment. Result Eleven N1S1 models and ten McA-RH7777 models were established successfully. There was no significant difference in pO2 (35.5 mmHg vs 32.2 mmHg, P = 0.917), IOD of HIF-1α (13.4 vs 20.0, P = 0.159) and pimonidazole (0.70 vs 1.30, P = 0.926) between the tumor and the peritumoral liver tissue. The pO2 values were correlated with CEUS quantitative parameters including mean time-intensity curves (mTIC) (P = 0.003), peak intensity (PKI) (P = 0.010), area under the curve (AUC) (P = 0.009), area under the wash-in curve (WiAUC) (P = 0.006), and arrival time (AT) (P = 0.033). The IOD of HIF-1α correlated with AUC (P = 0.022), WiAUC (P = 0.009), ascending slope (AS) (P = 0.044), and falling time (FT) (P = 0.009). Multiple linear regression indicated that the “short AT” was an independent protective factor for hypoxia (β = -2.347, 95% CI: -4.948, -0.394, P = 0.022), and CEUS had the ability to predict the tumor pO2 (P = 0.003). Conclusion No evidence of significant hypoxia was identified in two rat orthotopic hepatoma models. Quantitative CEUS parameters correlated with the oxygen status of the tumor, which could be utilized to predict the tumor tissue pO2.

Abstract Floquet engineering is a promising tool to manipulate quantum systems coherently. A well-known example is the optical Stark effect, which has been used for optical trapping of atoms and breaking time-reversal symmetry in solids. However, as a coherent nonlinear optical effect, Floquet engineering typically requires high field intensities obtained in ultrafast pulses, severely limiting its use. Here, we demonstrate using cavity engineering of the vacuum modes to achieve orders-of-magnitude enhancement of the effective Floquet field, enabling Floquet effects at an extremely low fluence of 450 photons/μm2. At higher fluences, the cavity-enhanced Floquet effects lead to 50 meV spin and valley splitting of WSe2 excitons, corresponding to an enormous time-reversal breaking, non-Maxwellian magnetic field of over 200 T. Utilizing such an optically controlled effective magnetic field, we demonstrate an ultrafast, picojoule chirality XOR gate. These results suggest that cavity-enhanced Floquet engineering may enable the creation of steady-state or quasi-equilibrium Floquet bands, strongly non-perturbative modifications of materials beyond the reach of other means, and application of Floquet engineering to a wide range of materials and applications.

ABSTRACT: Mule ducks accumulate a large amount of fat in their livers when fed high-energy feed, which is predominantly used for producing fatty livers. Nevertheless, there is limited research on the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of fatty liver in mule ducks. Fatty acid translocase (CD36) is a sensor for fatty acids and lipid metabolism regulator, which may play a crucial role in the accumulation of fat in the liver of mule ducks. In this study, Overexpression and CD36 gene interference for 24 h was followed by induction of liver cells with 400 µmol/L palmitic acid (PA) for 24 h. The results demonstrated that CD36 overexpression increased hepatic triglyceride content, lipid droplet deposition, oxidative stress, and cell apoptosis. However, interference with CD36 had the opposite effect. CD36 overexpression suppressed the expression of AMPK and CPT-1A genes but enhanced the expression of ACC1 and LKB1 genes, with interference yielding contrasting results. Additionally, the expression of CD36 inhibited the AMPK pathway, reduced AMPK phosphorylation, downregulated AMPK protein expression, and upregulated SREBP1 protein expression. This promoted palmitic acid-induced hepatocyte fat accumulation. In summary, CD36 promotes palmitic acid-induced fat accumulation in primary mule duck liver cells through the AMPK signaling pathway.

Abstract Radiated tumor cell‐derived extracellular vesicles (RT‐EVs) encapsulate abundant DNA fragments from irradiated tumor cells, in addition to acting as integrators of multiple tumor antigens. Accumulating evidence indicates these DNA fragments from damaged cells are involved in downstream immune responses, but most of them are degraded in cells before incorporation into derived RT‐EVs, thus the low abundance of DNA fragments limits immune responses of RT‐EVs. Here, this study found that different radiations affected fates of DNA fragments in RT‐EVs. Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) induced DNA accumulation in RT‐EVs (BEVs) by causing more DNA breaks and DNA oxidation resisting nuclease degradation. This is attributed to the high‐linear energy transfer (LET) properties of alpha particles from the neutron capture reaction of 10B. When being internalized by dendritic cells (DCs), BEVs activated the DNA sensing pathway, resulting in functional enhancements including antigen presentation, migration capacity, and cytokine secretion. After vaccination of the BEVs‐educated DCs (BEV@BMDCs), the effector T cells significantly expanded and infiltrated into tumors, suggesting robust anti‐tumor immune activation. BEV@BMDCs not only effectively inhibited the primary tumor growth and metastasis formation but also elicited long‐term immune memory. In conclusion, a successful DC vaccine is provided as a promising candidate for tumor vaccine.

Abstract Freeze-thaw cycles and compactness are two critical factors that significantly affect the engineering properties and safety of building foundations, especially in seasonally frozen regions. This paper investigated the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on the shear strength of naturally strongly chlorine saline soil with the compactness of 85%, 90% and 95%. Three soil samples with different compactness were made. Size and mass changes were measured and recorded during freeze-thaw cycles. Shear strength under different vertical pressures was determined by direct shear tests, and the cohesion and friction angle were measured and discussed. Microstructure characteristic changes of saline soil samples were observed using scanning electron microscopy under different freeze-thaw cycles. Furthermore, numerical software was used to calculate the subsoil-bearing capacity and settlement of the electric tower foundation in the Qarhan Salt Lake region under different freeze-thaw cycles. Results show that the low-density soil shows thaw settlement deformation, but the high-density soil shows frost-heaving deformation with the increase in freeze-thaw cycles. The shear strength of the soil samples first increases and then decreases with the increase in freeze-thaw cycles. After 30 freeze-thaw cycles, the friction angle of soil samples is 28.3%, 29.2% and 29.6% lower than the soil samples without freeze-thaw cycle, the cohesion of soil samples is 71.4%, 60.1% and 54.4% lower than the samples without freeze-thaw cycle, and the cohesion and friction angle of soil samples with different compactness are close to each other. Microstructural changes indicate that the freeze-thaw cycle leads to the breakage of coarse particles and the aggregation of fine particles. Correspondingly, the structure type of soil changes from a granular stacked structure to a cemented-aggregated system. Besides, the quality loss of soil samples is at about 2% during the freeze-thaw cycles. Results suggest that there may be an optimal compactness between 90 and 95%, on the premise of meeting the design requirements and economic benefits. This study can provide theoretical guidance for foundation engineering constructions in seasonally frozen regions.

The carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) is one of the most promising solutions for realizing carbon neutralization via converting the emitted CO2 into value‐added chemicals. The CC coupling step for CO dimerization is the rate‐determining step for C2 pathways, which have not been thoroughly investigated. Herein, the direct cation stabilization effects on CO dimerization for *OCCO formation on the representative Cu(100) and Pt(100) surfaces are investigated. Density functional theory calculations show that the presence of alkali metal ions plays a vital role in promoting the coupling of *CO monomers on both metal surfaces, where Cu shows a stronger stabilization effect. More importantly, a strong linear correlation (R2 ≈ 0.9) between the dimer stabilization energy and the reaction energy is revealed for the first time, which is a promising indicator for the selectivity of C2 pathways. Further investigations on electronic structures reveal that the promoting effect on *OCCO formation is strongly related to the negative charges of the molecules, in which the negative charge accumulation is favored by the directional electron transfer due to the chemisorption of *OCCO on Cu(100) surface. This work offers insights into the understanding of CC coupling reactions for CO2RR mechanisms.

Advancements in integrated circuit (IC) technology have accelerated the miniaturization of body-worn sensors and systems, enabling long-term health monitoring. Wearable electrocardiogram (ECG), finger photoplethysmogram (PPG), and wrist-worn PPG have shown great success and significantly improved life quality. Chest-based PPG has the potential to extract multiple vital signs but requires ultra-high dynamic range (DR) IC to read out the small PPG signal among large respiration and artifacts inherent in daily life. This paper presents a dedicated high DR system for wearable chest PPG applications with a small form factor. The whole measurement system is integrated on a 20 cm2 PCB board. We have formulated a comprehensive evaluation protocol to validate the system with on-body chest PPG measurement in the workspace environment. First, chest PPG data was obtained from 6 adults and compared to data from a standard ECG patch. This system showed an average absolute deviation (AD) of 0.41 beats per minute, achieving > 99.53% heart rate (HR) accuracy. Second, chest PPG was recorded and compared to conventional PPG finger clip and PPG wristband, also showing > 98.6% HR matching and an absolute deviation in the standard deviation of NN intervals (SDNN) of < 12.8 ms for HRV monitoring within the protocol. Moreover, it successfully derives other vital parameters such as respiration rate and blood oxygen level (SpO2), showing the advancement among all these three reference modalities. This system can pave the way for new application areas, such as chest patches, to monitor chronic heart and respiratory diseases.

Abstract The present study investigated ultrasound (US) phenotypes reflecting prostate cancer (PCa)‐related genetic mutations. Herein, integration of radiotranscriptomic data, US and contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) radiomic images, and RNA sequencing was performed with the aim of significantly improving the accuracy of PCa prognosis. We performed radiotranscriptomic analysis of clinical, imaging, and two genomic (mRNA and microRNA expression) datasets from 48 and 22 men with PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), respectively. Twenty‐three US texture features and four microvascular perfusion features were associated with various patterns of 52 differentially expressed genes related to PCa (p

Abstract Vertical heterostructures of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) host interlayer excitons with electrons and holes residing in different layers. With respect to their intralayer counterparts, interlayer excitons feature longer lifetimes and diffusion lengths, paving the way for room temperature excitonic optoelectronic devices. The interlayer exciton formation process and its underlying physical mechanisms are largely unexplored. Here we use ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy with a broadband white-light probe to simultaneously resolve interlayer charge transfer and interlayer exciton formation dynamics in a MoSe2/WSe2 heterostructure. We observe an interlayer exciton formation timescale nearly an order of magnitude (~1 ps) longer than the interlayer charge transfer time (~100 fs). Microscopic calculations attribute this relative delay to an interplay of a phonon-assisted interlayer exciton cascade and thermalization, and excitonic wave-function overlap. Our results may explain the efficient photocurrent generation observed in optoelectronic devices based on TMD heterostructures, as the interlayer excitons are able to dissociate during thermalization.

Background: Changes to work-life balance has increased the incidence of cervical cancer among younger people. A minor ginseng saponin known as ginsenoside Rk1 can inhibit the growth and survival of human cancer cells; however, whether ginsenoside Rk1 inhibits HeLa cell proliferation is unknown. Methods and results: Ginsenoside Rk1 blocked HeLa cells in the G0/G1 phase in a dose-dependent manner and inhibited cell division and proliferation. Ginsenoside Rk1 markedly also activated the apoptotic signaling pathway via caspase 3, PARP, and caspase 6. In addition, ginsenoside Rk1 increased LC3B protein expression, indicating the promotion of the autophagy signaling pathway. Protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum signaling pathway was downregulated in Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses, consistent with teal-time quantitative PCR and western blotting that showed YOD1, HSPA4L, DNAJC3, and HSP90AA1 expression levels were dramatically decreased in HeLa cells treated with ginsenoside Rk1, with YOD1 was the most significantly inhibited by ginsenoside Rk1 treatment. Conclusion: These findings indicate that the toxicity of ginsenoside Rk1 in HeLa cells can be explained by the inhibition of protein synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum and enhanced apoptosis, with YOD1 acting as a potential target for cervical cancer treatment.

Abstract The stability of rock pillar is crucial for ensuring the construction safety of twin tunnels with small clearance, especially when transitioning from the traditional left–right tunnel layouts to the up-down configurations due to complex and variable site constraints. However, there are limited researches on the evaluation and comparative study of the stability of these two types of rock pillars in twin tunnels. This paper introduces the yield approach index (YAI) as a measure to assess the stability of rock pillar in twin tunnels with small clearance, and various influencing factors including side pressure coefficient (SPC), stress release rate (SRR), and the thickness of rock pillar (characterised by the ratio of rock pillar thickness to tunnel diameter, RPT/TD) are considered in the analysis. The study compares and analyzes the stability differences of the rock pillar in different situations. It is observed that the two sides of up-down tunnels pose a higher risk while the rock pillar in the left–right configuration being the most vulnerable. The stability of the rock pillar between the up-down tunnels is significantly higher than that of the left–right tunnels under similar conditions. Moreover, the up-down tunnels exhibit greater sensitivity to SPC, whereas the left–right tunnels are more sensitive to SRR. Additionally, the study reveals that increasing the RPT/TD can effectively improve the stability of the rock pillar within a specific range (1/4 to 2/3). The research method and obtained results of this paper can provide some important references for the stability evaluation and design of twin tunnels with small clearance.

In this article, the whole fruit of acerola cherry (Malpighia glabra L.) was used as the raw material, which was crushed using a wet ultrafine grinding method. The influence of different crushing time on the physicochemical properties and active ingredient content of the whole pulp of acerola cherry were studied and compared, and the best crushing time was determined. The results showed that when the crushing time was more than 40 s, the particle size distribution of the whole pulp of coniferous cherry was mainly 0~300 μm. With the extension of crushing time, the turbidity of fruit pulp increased, the centrifugal sedimentation rate decreased, the fiber structure in the whole pulp of coniferous cherry was short and fine, and the solution was evenly distributed, the pH value had a slight downward trend, the content of soluble solids had no significant change trend. The chromaticity L*, a*, b*, color saturation C*, and total color difference ΔE and non-browning index BI values increased first and then decreased. When the crushing time increased from 0 s to 60 s, the vitamin C, total phenolic and total flavonoid content increased from 3742.66 mg/100 g, 24.18 and 4.79 mg/g to 5073.38 mg/100 g, 28.44 and 5.42 mg/g, respectively. In conclusion, the whole fruit processing of coniferous cherry can improve the utilization rate of resources. This experiment provides a theoretical basis for the utilization of the whole fruit, and also provides a reference for its practical application.

Although single-atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted enormous attention for their applications in the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2RR) due to their extraordinary catalytic activity and well-defined active centers, neighboring effects and their influence on the electrochemical performance of SACs have not been well investigated. In this review, we present a summary of the neighboring effects on SACs for the CO2RR process, where the surrounding atoms not only induce electronic modulation of the metal atom but also participate in the CO2RR. Both theoretical and experimental studies have pointed out that the neighboring sites of the anchored metal center can provide second active/adsorption locations during the catalytic process, enhancing CO2RR performance tremendously. This review supplies advanced insights into the significant roles and impacts of neighboring effects on the catalytic process, which also benefit the development of advanced SACs to achieve efficient electrocatalysis.

Abstract Photo‐assisted uranium reduction from uranium mine wastewater is expected to overcome the competition between impurity ions and U(VI) in the traditional process. Here, B‐TiO2@Co2P‐X S‐scheme heterojunction with metal‐oxygen‐hydrogen (M‐O‐H) is developed insitu modification for photo‐assisted U(VI) (hexavalent uranium) reduction. Relying on the DFT calculation and Hard‐Soft‐Acid‐Base (HSAB) theory, the introduction of metal‐oxygen‐hydrogen (M‐O‐H, hard base) metallic bonds in the B‐TiO2@Co2P‐X is found to enhance the hydrophilicity and the capture capability for uranyl ion (hard acid). Accordingly, B‐TiO2@Co2P‐500 hybrid nanosheets exhibit excellent U(VI) reduction ability (>98%) in the presence of competing ions. By self‐consistent energy band calculations and in‐situ KPFM spectral analysis, the formation of the internal electric field between B‐TiO2 and Co2P at the heterojunction is proven, offering a strong driving force and atomic transportation highway for accelerating the S‐scheme charge carriers directed migration and promoting the photocatalytic reduction of uranium. This work provides a valuable route to explore the functionally modified photocatalyst with high‐efficiency photoelectron separation for U(VI) reduction.

Abstract The unique optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers have attracted significant attention for both photonics applications and fundamental studies of low-dimensional systems. TMD monolayers of high optical quality, however, have been limited to micron-sized flakes produced by low-throughput and labour-intensive processes, whereas large-area films are often affected by surface defects and large inhomogeneity. Here we report a rapid and reliable method to synthesize macroscopic-scale TMD monolayers of uniform, high optical quality. Using 1-dodecanol encapsulation combined with gold-tape-assisted exfoliation, we obtain monolayers with lateral size > 1 mm, exhibiting exciton energy, linewidth, and quantum yield uniform over the whole area and close to those of high-quality micron-sized flakes. We tentatively associate the role of the two molecular encapsulating layers as isolating the TMD from the substrate and passivating the chalcogen vacancies, respectively. We demonstrate the utility of our encapsulated monolayers by scalable integration with an array of photonic crystal cavities, creating polariton arrays with enhanced light-matter coupling strength. This work provides a pathway to achieving high-quality two-dimensional materials over large areas, enabling research and technology development beyond individual micron-sized devices.

Abstract Background Contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is now a guideline‐recommended strategy for diagnosing renal lesions. Tumor size is related to the risk of the treatment and prognosis in renal tumors. Thus, we aim to analyze the CEUS features of solid renal tumors in relation to tumor size. Methods The CEUS appearance of 156 pathologically diagnosed solid renal tumors were retrospectively analyzed. Three groups were stratified according to the tumor size (≤2 cm [group I], 2.1–4 cm [group II] and 4.1–7 cm [group III]). For each group, the features of wash‐in type, enhancement degree, enhancement homogeneity, and the presence of a pseudocapsule sign were compared between benign and malignant tumors. Results All 156 included lesions were detected by CEUS. The proportion of benign tumors in three size groups was 37.1%, 19.4%, and 20.4%, respectively. The proportion of malignant tumors was highest (80.6%) in group II, followed by group III (79.6%) and group I (62.9%). In group I, malignant and benign tumors differed significantly in the presence of a pseudocapsule sign (p = 0.015) and homogeneity (p = 0.007). In group II, the degree of enhancement differed (p = 0.02) between tumor types. In group III, the two tumor types differed in both the wash‐in pattern (p = 0.015) and enhancement degree (p = 0.024). The weighted and Cohen's kappa values for the concordance between inter‐observer agreement ranged from 0.31 (95% CI: 0.36–0.57) to 0.90 (95% CI: 0.77–1.00). Conclusions CEUS features of malignant and benign renal tumors change along with the tumor size. The use of CEUS features in the diagnosis of benign and malignant tumors requires consideration of tumor size.

Objectives To investigate the relationship between serum cystatin C (CysC) levels and renal microvascular perfusion in patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD).Methods A total of 57 patients with high CysC levels and 45 patients with normal CysC levels were enrolled. Data on clinical characteristics and laboratory examination results were also collected. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of the kidneys was successively performed. The time-intensity curve (TIC) and related quantitative parameters of the kidneys were obtained by CEUS and the correlations between CysC and CEUS parameters were analyzed.Results Compared to the normal CysC group, the high CysC group had significantly lower wash-in area under the curve (WiAUC), wash-out area under the curve (WoAUC), and wash-in and wash-out area under the curve (WiWoAUC). In the normal CysC group, patients with Stage III chronic kidney disease (CKD) had higher AUCs than those with Stage I–II CKD (p

Transition metal (TM) single atom catalysts (SACs) are of great potential for photocatalytic H2 production because of their abundant catalytic active sites and cost-effectiveness. As a promising support material, red phosphorus (RP) based SACs are still rarely investigated. In this work, we have carried out systematic theoretical investigations by anchoring TM atoms (Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) on RP for efficient photocatalytic H2 generation. Our density functional theory (DFT) calculations have revealed that 3d orbitals of TM locate close to the Fermi level to guarantee efficient electron transfer for photocatalytic performances. Compared with pristine RP, the introduction of single atom TM on the surface exhibit narrowed bandgaps, resulting in easier spatial separation for photon-generated charge carriers and an extended photocatalytic absorption window to the NIR range. Meanwhile, the H2O adsorptions are also highly preferred on the TM single atoms with strong electron exchange, which benefits the subsequent water-dissociation process. Due to the optimized electronic structure, the activation energy barrier of water-splitting has been remarkably reduced in RP-based SACs, revealing their promising potential for high-efficiency H2 production. Our comprehensive explorations and screening of novel RP-based SACs will offer a good reference for further designing novel photocatalysts for high-efficiency H2 generation.

In this study, virgin coconut oil gels with different hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and xanthan gum (XG) concentrations were prepared by the emulsion template method. The particle size distribution, microstructure observation, rheological behavior, oil retention and crystallinity were used to investigate the influence of HPMC and XG concentration on the formation and physical properties of virgin coconut oil emulsion and oleogel. The particle size analysis and microstructure results showed that high-concentration HPMC had better emulsification performance, and a stable emulsion with smaller oil droplet size was obtained. The change of XG concentration had no significant effect on the oil droplet size. The rheological results showed that the mechanical strength of emulsions and oleogels increased with the increase of HPMC or XG concentration, and all oleogels showed a time-dependent and structural recovery. The oil loss results showed that the increase in HPMC concentration had a particularly significant impact on the oleogel oil loss, the change range was reduced from 19.6% to 3.6%. The increase in XG concentration also reduced the oil loss from 9.62% to 4.4%. However, the change of HPMC and XG concentration had no significant effect on the XRD pattern of oleogels. This study provides a theoretical basis for the construction of virgin coconut oil gel, and also provides a reference for its practical application.

Summary: Currently, scientists have devoted great efforts to finding effective treatments to combat COVID-19 infections. Although noble metal nanoparticles are able to realize protein modifications, their interactions with the protein are still unclear from the atomic perspective. To supply a general understanding, in this work, we have carried out theoretical calculations to investigate the interaction between protein segments (RBD1, RBD2, RBD3) of SARS-Cov-2 spike protein and a series of noble metal (Au, Ag, Cu, Pd, Pt) surfaces regarding the binding strength, protein orientations, and electronic modulations. In particular, the Au surface has shown the strongest binding preferences for the protein segments, which induces electron transfer between the Au and receptor-binding domain (RBD) segments. This further leads to the polarization of segments for virus denaturation. This work has offered a direct visualization of protein interactions with noble metal surfaces from the atomic level, which will benefit anti-virus material developments in the future.

In this paper, peanut protein was extracted from peanut meal by alkaline solution and acid precipitation. The content of peanut protein was 87.7% by Kjeldahl method. Peanut polypeptides were prepared by ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic method. The effects of enzyme type, ultrasonic power, ultrasonic time, substrate concentration, enzyme addition amount and enzymolysis time on α-amylase inhibitory peptide were investigated using the yield of polypeptide and α-amylase inhibition rate as indexes. The optimal protease was flavor protease. Response surface test was designed to optimize the enzymolysis conditions on the basis of single factor. The optimal conditions were determined as follows: Ultrasonic power 150 W, ultrasonic time 30 min, liquid-solid ratio 20:1 mL/g, enzyme dosage 5000 U/g, enzymolysis time 2 h. Under these conditions, the yield of polypeptide was 41.92%, and the inhibitory rate of α-amylase was 50.62%, which was significantly higher than that of peanut polypeptide α-amylase which was 35.45% without ultrasonic assistance. According to the optimal process of α-amylase inhibitory peptide, the hydrolysate was separated by ultrafiltration and obtained four different fractions >10 kDa, 5~10 kDa, 3~5 kDa and

The energy harvesters used in self-powered wireless sensing technology, which has the potential to completely solve the power supply problem of the sensing nodes from the source, usually require mechanical movement or operate in harsh environments, resulting in a significant reduction in device lifespan and reliability. Therefore, the influencing factors and failure mechanisms of the operating status of self-powered wireless sensors were analyzed, and an innovative evaluation index system was proposed, which includes 4 primary indexes and 13 secondary indexes, including energy harvesters, energy management circuits, wireless communication units, and sensors. Next, the weights obtained from the subjective analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and objective CRITIC weight method were fused to obtain the weights of each index. A self-powered sensor evaluation scheme (FE-SPS) based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation was implemented by constructing a fuzzy evaluation model. The advantage of this scheme is that it can determine the current health status of the system based on its output characteristics. Finally, taking vibration energy as an example, the operational status of the self-powered wireless sensors after 200 h of operation was comprehensively evaluated. The experimental results show that the test self-powered wireless sensor had the highest score of “normal”, which is 0.4847, so the evaluation result was “normal”. In this article, a reliability evaluation strategy for self-powered wireless sensor was constructed to ensure the reliable operation of self-powered wireless sensors.

Displacement prediction of transmission towers is essential for the early warning of transmission network deformation. However, there is still a lack of prediction on the ground subsidence of the tower foundation. In this study, we first used the multi-temporal interferometric synthetic aperture radar (MT-InSAR) approach to acquire time series deformation for the transmission lines in the Salt Lake area. Based on the K-shape clustering method and field investigation results, towers #95 and #151 with representative foundation deformation characteristics were selected for displacement prediction. Combined with field investigations and the characteristics of saline soil in the Salt Lake area, the trigger factors of transmission tower deformation were analyzed. Then, the displacement and trigger factors of the transmission tower were decomposed by variational mode decomposition (VMD), which could closely connect the characteristics of the foundation saline soil with the influence of the trigger factors. To analyze the contribution of each trigger factor, the maximum information coefficient (MIC) was quantified, and the best choice was made. Finally, the hyperparameters of the long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks were optimized using a convolutional neural network (CNN) and the grey wolf optimizer (GWO). The findings reveal that the refined deep learning models outperform the initial model in generalization potential and prediction precision, with the CNN–LSTM model demonstrating the highest accuracy in predicting the total displacement of tower #151 (RMSE and R2 for the validation set are 0.485 and 0.972, respectively). Given the scant research on the multifactorial influence on the ground subsidence displacement of transmission towers, this study’s methodology offers a novel perspective for monitoring and early warning of ground subsidence disasters in transmission networks.

Pyroptosis and necroptosis are two recently identified forms of immunogenic cell death in the tumor microenvironment (TME), indicating a crucial involvement in tumor metastasis. However, the characteristics of necroptosis and pyroptosis that define tumor microenvironment and prognosis in ccRCC patients remain unknown. We systematically investigated the transcriptional variation and expression patterns of Necroptosis and Pyroptosis related genes (NPRGs). After screening the necroptosis-pyroptosis clusters, the potential functional annotation for clusters was explored by GSVA enrichment analysis. The Necroptosis-Pyroptosis Genes (NPG) scores were used for the prognosis model construction and validation. Then, the correlations of NPG score with clinical features, cancer stem cell (CSC) index, tumor mutation burden (TMB), TME, and Immune Checkpoint Genes (ICGs) were also individually explored to evaluate the prognosis predictive values in ccRCC. Microarray screenings identified 27 upregulated and 1 downregulated NPRGs. Ten overall survival associated NPRGs were filtered to construct the NPG prognostic model indicating a better prognostic signature for ccRCC patients with lower NPG scores (P< 0.001), which was verified using the external cohort. Univariate and multivariate analyses along with Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that NPG score prognostic model could be applied as an independent prognostic factor, and AUC values of nomogram from 1- to 5- year overall survival with good agreement in calibration plots suggested that the proposed prognostic signature possessed good predictive capabilities in ccRCC. A high-/sNPG score is proven to be connected with tumor growth and immune-related biological processes, according to enriched GO, KEGG, and GSEA analyses. Comparing patients with a high-NPG score to those with a low-NPG score revealed significant differences in clinical characteristics, growth and recurrence of malignancies (CSC index), TME cell infiltration, and immunotherapeutic response (P< 0.005), potentially making the NPG score multifunctional in the clinical therapeutic setting. Furthermore, AIM2, CASP4, GSDMB, NOD2, and RBCK1 were also found to be highly expressed in ccRCC cell lines and tumor tissues, and GASP4 and GSDMB promote ccRCC cells’ proliferation, migration, and invasion. This study firstly suggests that targeting the NPG score feature for TME characterization may lend novel insights into its clinical applications in the prognostic prediction of ccRCC.

Understanding contact electrification within the liquid–solid interface is critical for further applications in energy conversion and storage devices. Here, the authors reveal liquid–solid interactions regarding the charge transfer mechanism and pinning factor from the electronic perspective.

Objectives: To investigate the clinical value of ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of reninoma.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the ultrasound findings of 9 patients with reninoma confirmed by pathology after surgical resection in our hospital between September 2012 and August 2019. All patients underwent conventional preoperative ultrasonography. Three underwent contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and 3 with complete endogenetic tumor underwent intraoperative ultrasonography.Results: Of the 9 patients with conventional ultrasound, 7 had renal space-occupying lesions and 2 had missed diagnosis. A hypoechoic or hyperechoic solid mass with regular morphology, clear boundary, capsule, weak echo halo around the mass, incomplete thin strip color blood flow signal around the mass were shown in 7 cases. Color Doppler displayed color flow signal of the incomplete thin strip around the mass and arterial blood supply with an internal thin branch. In 3 patients (including 2 with missing diagnosis by conventional ultrasound) who underwent preoperative contrast-enhanced ultrasound, the reninoma manifested as low enhancement, and the perfusion pattern showed as slow wash-in and slow wash-out compared with normal renal cortex. In 3 patients (including 2 cases of missed diagnosis by conventional ultrasound) with completely endogenic reninoma, intraoperative ultrasound clearly showed the tumor characteristics, and all successfully underwent laparoscopic ultrasound-guided partial nephrectomy.Conclusions: Preoperative conventional ultrasound combined with CEUS, and clinical features, are helpful for the qualitative diagnosis of reninoma. Laparoscopic partial resection is the first-choice treatment for reninoma. Intraoperative ultrasound can provide real-time imaging, accurately evaluate the tumor status, and provide important information for surgeons.

Here we present an interferometric wide field hyperspectral microscope based on a common-path birefringent interferometer with translating wedges, to measure photoluminescence emission from two-dimensional semiconductors. We show diffraction-limited hyperspectral photoluminescence microscopy from two-dimensional materials across millimeter areas, proving that our hyperspectral microscope is a compact, stable and fast tool to characterize the optical properties and the morphology of 2D materials across ultralarge areas.

ObjectivesLymph node metastases (LNMs) could be stratified into clinical N1 (cN1) and microscopic pN1 (pathological N1), which bear different biological behavior and prognosis. Our study aimed to investigate the associations between LNMs and primary tumor’s US (ultrasound) and CEUS (contrast-enhanced ultrasound) characteristics based on the stratification of LNMs into cN1 and microscopic pN1 in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).MethodsFrom August 2019 to May 2020, 444 consecutive PTC patients who underwent preoperative neck US and CEUS evaluation were included. According to regional lymph node status, the patients were classified into cN1 group versus cN0 (clinical N0) group and microscopic pN1 group versus pN0 (pathological N0) group. For multiple PTCs, the largest one was selected for the evaluation of US, CEUS and clinical features. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine independent predictors of cN1 and microscopic pN1.Results85 cN1 versus 359 cN0 patients and 117 microscopic pN1 versus 242 pN0 patients were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that

Non-invasive early prediction of septic acute kidney injury (S-AKI) is still urgent and challenging. Increased Doppler-based renal resistive index (RRI) has been shown to be associated with S-AKI, but its clinical use is limited, which may be explained by the complex effects of systemic circulation. Echocardiogram allows non-invasive assessment of systemic circulation, which may provide an effective supplement to RRI. To find the value of RRI combined with echocardiographic parameters in the non-invasive early prediction of S-AKI, we designed this experiment with repeated measurements of ultrasonographic parameters in the early stage of sepsis (3, 6, 12, and 24 h) in cecum ligation and puncture (CLP) rats (divided into AKI and non-AKI groups at 24 h based on serum creatinine), with sham-operated group serving as controls. Our results found that RRI alone could not effectively predict S-AKI, but when combined with echocardiographic parameters (heart rate, left ventricular end-diastolic internal diameter, and left ventricular end-systolic internal diameter), the predictive value was significantly improved, especially in the early stage of sepsis (3 h, AUC: 0.948, 95% CI 0.839–0.992, P < 0.001), and far earlier than the conventional renal function indicators (serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen), which only significantly elevated at 24 h. Our method showed novel advances and potential in the early detection of S-AKI.

The methods of hot water extraction and ultrasound-assisted enzymatic treatment were applied for extracting the soluble dietary fiber from the glutinous rice bran in the study. Based on the single factor experiment for the hot water method, the optimum parameters of the extraction time of 120 min, solid-liquid ratio 1:20 (w/v), and pH 8.0, as well as the extraction temperature 80 °C, were obtained, while the yield and purity of SDF reached 31.83 ± 0.06% and 93.28 ± 0.27%, respectively. Furthermore, the SDF yield was improved to 34.87 ± 0.55% by using the ultrasound-assisted enzymatic treatment under the optimum conditions of cellulase dosage 9 × 103 U/g and ultrasonic temperature of 50 °C. Similar polysaccharide compositions were detected based on the infrared spectroscopic analysis. Compared with the SDF obtained from hot water extraction, the whiteness, solubility, water holding capacity, and swelling properties of SDF extracted by ultrasound-assisted enzymatic method improved significantly. These results demonstrated that both two strategies could be applied to SDF extraction in practical production, and the ultrasound-assisted enzymatic method might be an effective tool to improve the functional properties of SDF.

Abstract Background The umbilical cord blood (UCB) has been widely accepted as an alternative source of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) for transplantation, and its use in adults is still restricted because of low absolute numbers. To overcome this obstacle, expansion of UCB-HSPCs under feeder cell-based coculture is a promising possibility. In this study, we explored UCB-CD34+ cells ex vivo expansion using Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) or umbilical vein endothelial cells (UVECs) as feeder layer-based serum-free coculture system with a cocktail of cytokines. Methods UCB-CD34+ cells were cultured in five different coculture conditions composed of umbilical cord stromal cells (WJ-MSCs or UVECs) with or without a cocktail of cytokines (SCF, FLT3L, and TPO). The cultured cells were harvested at day 10 and analyzed for phenotypes and functionalities, including total nuclear cells (TNCs), CD34+ cells, CD34+CD38− cells, colony-forming unit (CFU) for committed progenitors, and long-term culture initiating cells (LTC-ICs) for HSPCs. Results Our work showed the numbers of TNC cells, CD34+ cells, and CD34+CD38− cells were expanded under five coculture conditions, and the feeder layer-based cocultures further promoted the expansion. The numbers of colonies of CFU-GM, CFU-E/BFU-E, and CFU-GEMM in the cocultures with cytokines were significantly higher than their counterparts at day 0 (p 0.05) in those without the addition of cytokines. The numbers of LTC-ICs were increased both under the WJ-MSCs and UVECs with cytokine cocultures, but only in the UVECs group showed a significant difference (p

Harvesting energy from rain, waves, and river flows has been an old problem for over 100 years. Hydropower is capable of the features of huge quantity, low cost, and renewability. To date, the investigations on triboelectrification have shed a light on flexible and sufficient energy harvesting methods from hydropower or ambient motions. A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has become the most promising energy harvesting system in recent years. Herein, the background of hydropower is first introduced to highlight the urgent need of novel energy conversion devices. Meanwhile, the detailed working principle of contact electrification (CE) is summarized by focusing on the origins of charge and how such a charge is induced. With systematic studies, the common modes of charge generation systems are well investigated. Then, the fabrications of various types of CE‐based devices are introduced with the potential modifications to achieve high applicability in specific circumstances. In addition, the multifunctional devices for distinctive energy harvesting processes constructed by TENG are also reviewed. Due to real‐time response to environmental variation, TENG‐based self‐powered sensors and wearable healthcare devices have also become promising candidates in the scientific field as well as different aspects of daily life.

As the influence of extreme climate and human engineering activities intensifies, land subsidence frequently occurs in the Salt Lake area of Qinghai Province, China, which seriously threatens the stability of the UHV transmission line crossing the area. Current susceptibility analyses of land subsidence disasters have mostly focused on the classification of land subsidence susceptibility and have ignored the differentiation of susceptibility among different land subsidence intensities. Therefore, the land subsidence susceptibility map does not meet the operation and maintenance management needs of the UHV transmission line, let alone planning and designing of new lines in the Salt Lake area. Therefore, in this study, we proposed a susceptibility analysis of different land subsidence intensities along the transmission line in the Salt Lake area. The small baseline integrated aperture radar interferometry (SBAS-InSAR) method was used to obtain the land subsidence along the transmission line based on 67 Sentinel-1 remote sensing interpretation datasets from 2017 to 2021. Based on a combination of K-means clustering and the transmission line specifications, four annual land subsidence intensity grades were identified as 0~−2 mm/year, −2~−10 mm/year, −10~−20 mm/year, and

ABSTRACT Purpose: To evaluate the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in differentiating bland thrombus from tumor thrombus of the inferior vena cava (IVC) in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively investigated 30 consecutive patients who underwent robot-assisted radical nephrectomy with IVC thrombectomy and had pathologically confirmed RCC. All patients underwent US and CEUS examination. Two off-line readers observed and recorded thrombus imaging information and enhancement patterns. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for bland thrombus were assessed. Results: Of the 30 patients, no adverse events occurred during administration of the contrast agent. Early enhancement of the mass within the IVC lumen on CEUS was an indicator of tumor thrombus. Bland thrombus showed no intraluminal flow on CEUS. There were eight (26.7%) patients with bland thrombus, including three level II, two level III, and three level IV. There were three cases with cephalic bland thrombus and five cases with caudal bland thrombus. Three caudal bland thrombi extended to the iliac vein and underwent surgical IVC interruption. Based on no intraluminal flow, for bland thrombus, CEUS had 87.5% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 96.7% accuracy, 100% positive predictive value and 95.6% negative predictive value. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the potential of CEUS in the differentiation of bland and tumor thrombus of the IVC in patients with RCC. Since CEUS is an effective, inexpensive, and non-invasive method, it could be a reliable tool in the evaluation of IVC thrombus in patients with RCC.

With the advantage of working in all weathers and all days, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging systems have a great application value. As an efficient image generation and recognition model, generative adversarial networks (GANs) have been applied to SAR image analysis and achieved promising performance. However, the cost of labeling a large number of SAR images limits the performance of the developed approaches and aggravates the mode collapsing problem. This paper presents a novel approach namely Integrated GANs (I-GAN), which consists of a conditional GANs, an unconditional GANs and a classifier, to achieve semi-supervised generation and recognition simultaneously. The unconditional GANs assist the conditional GANs to increase the diversity of the generated images. A co-training method for the conditional GANs and the classifier is proposed to enrich the training samples. Since our model is capable of representing training images with rich characteristics, the classifier can achieve better recognition accuracy. Experiments on the Moving and Stationary Target Acquisition and Recognition (MSTAR) dataset proves that our method achieves better results in accuracy when labeled samples are insufficient, compared against other state-of-the-art techniques.

Abstract Background The physiological approach suggests that an environment associating mesenchymal stromal cells with low O2 concentration would be most favorable for the maintenance of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs). To test this hypothesis, we performed a coculture of cord blood CD34+ cells with Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) under different O2 concentration to simulate the growth of HSPCs in vivo, and assessed the impacts on stemness maintenance and proliferation of cord blood HSPCs in vitro. Methods CD34+ cells derived from cord blood were isolated and cocultured under 1%, 3%, or 20% O2 concentrations with irradiated WJ-MSCs without adding exogenous cytokines for 7 days. The cultured cells were harvested and analyzed for phenotype and functionality, including total nuclear cells (TNC), CD34+Lin− cells, colony forming unit (CFU) for committed progenitors, and long-term culture initiating cells (LTC-ICs) for HSPCs. The cytokine levels in the medium were detected with Luminex liquid chips, and the mRNA expression of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) genes and stem cell signal pathway (Notch, Hedgehog, and Wnt/β-catenin) downstream genes in cord blood HSPCs were confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results Our results showed that the number of TNC cells, CD34+Lin− cells, and CFU were higher or similar with 20% O2 (normoxia) in coculture and compared with 1% O2 (hypoxia). Interestingly, a 1% O2 concentration ensured better percentages of CD34+Lin− cells and LTC-IC cells. The hypoxia tension (1% O2) significantly increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion and decreased interleukin (IL)-6, IL-7, stem cell factor (SCF), and thrombopoietin (TPO) secretion of WJ-MSCs, and selectively activated the Notch, Wnt/β-catenin, and Hedgehog signaling pathway of cord blood HSPCs by HIF-related factors, which may play an important role in stemness preservation and for sustaining HSPC quiescence. Conclusions Our data demonstrate that cord blood HSPCs maintain stemness better under hypoxia than normoxia with WJ-MSC coculture, partially due to the increased secretion of VEGF, decreased secretion of IL-6 by WJ-MSCs, and selective activation of stem cell signal pathways in HSPCs. This suggests that the oxygenation may not only be a physiological regulatory factor but also a cell engineering tool in HSPC research, and this may have important translational and clinical implications.

This article investigates the corpus-based discourse study of the representations of smog documentary Under the Dome in five Chinese media (Xinhua News, People’s Daily, China News, Guangming Daily and Caijing Net) and four American media (The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and USA Today). It is found that dialectical relationship between discourse and culture, discourse and politics as exemplified by the historical issues, various linguistic forms and discursive strategies. The findings suggest that Chinese media discourse about Chai’s smog documentary tends to be unitary, while American media discourse focuses on the whole story of the event and constructs an integrated discourse event with diverse perspectives. American news reports inclined to take a determinative attitude to accuse Chinese government’ censorship while Chinese news report focuses on expressing people’s emotion and opinion toward the smog documentary and Chai Jing.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: As one of the important by-products of Taxus chinensis (Pilg.) Rehder, its fruit (TCF) has a sweet taste, which is commonly used in folklore to make health care wine reputed for enhancing immune function and promoting anti-aging effects, especially popular in the longevity villages of China for a long history. Evidences had showed that Taxus chinensis fruit contained polysaccharides, flavonoids, amino acids and terpenoids, which all were free of toxic compounds, but its medicinal value has not been fully recognized. Our previous studies have found that TCF extract may reverse many biological events, including oxidative stress, inflammatory response, neuronal apoptosis, etc. by in silico methods, suggesting potential avenues for future pharmaceutical exploration in aging and age-related diseases., Aim of the Study: Yet, the anti-aging properties of TCF have not been specifically studied, this study aims to fill this gap by investigating the effects of TCF extract (TCFE) in an aging mouse model, particularly focusing on its role in inhibiting microglial activation and elucidating its underlying anti-aging mechanisms., Materials and Methods: An aging mouse model was induced using D-galactose, with interventions involving high, medium, and low doses of TCFE compared to a positive control (2 mg/kg rapamycin combined with 100 mg/kg metformin). The methodology involved evaluating behavioral changes, serum oxidative and antioxidative markers, hypothalamic β-galactosidase activity, expression of the aging-related protein P63, serum inflammatory factors, and the TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammatory pathway in hypothalamic tissues. Additionally, to strengthen our in vivo findings, we conducted in vitro experiments on LPS-stimulated BV2 microglial cells. Finally, UPLC-MS/MS for precise component analysis using compound standards, coupled with molecular docking analyses, were employed to discern and elucidate the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of TCF., Results: In vivo results revealed TCFE significantly ameliorated behavioral deficits, reduced oxidative stress markers (MDA) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL1-β, IL-6, IFNg, TNFα, IL-17), and increased in antioxidants (SOD, T-AOC) and anti-inflammatory factors (IL-10). TCFE also reduced hypothalamic senescence, improved cellular integrity, lowered p63, and inhibited microglia activation and inflammatory pathways (TLR4, NFKB, NLRP3). The overall effect of TCFE was better than that of the positive drug group (rapamycin combined with metformin). In vitro results further revealed that TCFE markedly decreased IL1-β, NFKB, and TLR4 levels in BV2 microglial cells, showing comparable efficacy to a TLR4 classic positive inhibitor C34, supporting its anti-inflammatory role. Through UPLC-MS/MS analysis coupled with compound standards, we identified ten bioactive compounds, including gallocatechin, epigallocatechin, catechin, procyanidin B2, kaempferol, quercetin, rutin, naringin, apigenin, ginkgetin. All these compounds showed strong binding affinity to TLR4, notably procyanidin B2 and rutin, potentially through hydrogen bonds, aromatic cation-π interactions, and hydrophobic interactions, suggesting a molecular basis for their anti-inflammatory action., Conclusion: TCFE showed strong anti-aging effects by inhibiting microglia activation and lessening oxidative stress and modulating inflammatory pathways. This research supports TCF's use in anti-aging and sets a base for future drug development in the realms of neuroinflammation and aging., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: To establish human heart valve interstitial cells calcification culture model in vitro, and observe the effect of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) on calcification of human heart valve interstitial cells., Methods: Human heart valve interstitial cells were cultured in vitro, and divided into control group: cells were cultured in conventional media plus recombinant human BMP-2 treatment and experimental group: besides above treaments, calcification inducers ( recombinant human BMP-2, β-glycerophosphate, L-ascorbic acid, dexamethasone) were added to the culture media. The two group of cells were cultured for 14 days and were stained by Von Kossa, then the cell calcification was observed in this valvular interstitial cells calcification culture model in vitro. Protein expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), interleukin 8, BMP-2 and BMP-4 was determined by Western blot and BMP-2 secretion was measured by ELISA., Results: In the control group, the structure of human heart valve interstitial cells was clear, and the spindle and radial growth shaped cellular morphology was visible, and Von Kossa staining was negative. In the experimental group, the nuclei become darker in color, and granular sediment distribution was seen surrounding cells, and Von Kossa staining was positive, the cells were forming nodules of calcification. The protein expression of ICAM-1, interleukin 8, BMP-2 and BMP-4 in the experimental was significantly higher than that of the control group (all P < 0.05). The expression of BMP-2 in the experimental group was also significantly higher than that in control group ((92.5 ± 4.9) pg/ml vs. (22.2 ± 1.9) pg/ml, P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Human BMP-2, β-glycerophosphate, L-ascorbic acid, and dexamethasone can induce human heart valve interstitial cells calcification and enhance inflammation in vitro by stimulating the secretion of BMP-2.