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Abstract Background Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a prototypic endocrine autoimmune disease resulting from an immune-mediated destruction of pancreatic insulin-secreting $$\beta$$ β cells. A comprehensive immune cell phenotype evaluation in T1DM has not been performed thus far at the single-cell level. Methods In this cross-sectional analysis, we generated a single-cell transcriptomic dataset of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 46 manifest T1DM (stage 3) cases and 31 matched controls. Results We surprisingly detected profound alterations in circulatory immune cells (1784 dysregulated genes in 13 immune cell types), far exceeding the count in the comparator systemic autoimmune disease SLE. Genes upregulated in T1DM were involved in WNT signaling, interferon signaling and migration of T/NK cells, antigen presentation by B cells, and monocyte activation. A significant fraction of these differentially expressed genes were also altered in T1DM pancreatic islets. We used the single-cell data to construct a T1DM metagene z-score (TMZ score) that distinguished cases and controls and classified patients into molecular subtypes. This score correlated with known prognostic immune markers of T1DM, as well as with drug response in clinical trials. Conclusions Our study reveals a surprisingly strong systemic dimension at the level of immune cell network in T1DM, defines disease-relevant molecular subtypes, and has the potential to guide non-invasive test development and patient stratification.

How to assess the effect of ecosystem restoration is a trending topic with all the restoration projects and ecosystem function studies in recent years. Although many studies have used different indicators and methods to evaluate ecosystem restoration effects, it needs a lot of site works to acquire the data. Low-function Platycladus orientalis forest restoration program in Beijing mountainous area has been started since 2002, in this study, the understory species of 92 plots were investigated and recorded. We assumed that the effect of ecosystem restoration would improve site conditions, especially for the soil conditions which might lead to the appearance of new species. The relationship between understory species and eleven site condition factors was elucidated by means of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), further, specific species were chosen to represent the improvement and possible growth areas of specific species was predicted by Maximum Entropy model. Results shown that Spiraea pubescens, Deutzia parviflora, Chrysanthemum chanetii, Themeda triandra, Oplismenus undulatifolius were the main understory species which were sensitive to environmental factors, and their distribution were related to soil factors closely. The species of Spiraea pubescens, Chrysanthemum chanetii, Oplismenus undulatifolius had strong indication to soil nutrient, the appearances would happen when the comprehensive index of soil nutrient was above 81,64 and 61 respectively. The appearance of Chrysanthemum chanetii and Oplismenus undulatifolius would indicate that the soil nutrient level was in or above the range of medium, and the appearance of Spiraea pubescens would mean that the soil nutrient level was in or above the range of high in low-function Platycladus orientalis forest of Beijing mountainous area. Our study indicates that the specific species could as an indicator to reflect or evaluate the ecosystem restoration effect.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop high-quality non-fried whole shiitake (Lentinus edodes) crisps due to having high oil content of vacuum fried L. edodes crisps which inevitably pose health risks after long-term use. Methods: Based on uniform design, instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) was used to investigate the influences of moisture content after heat pump pre-drying, puffing temperature and vacuum drying temperature on the puffing degree, rehydration ratio, total color difference, hardness and crispness of L. edodes crisps. The polynomial regression model was established by using a weighted comprehensive score method, and it was optimized and verified accordingly. Results: The optimum parameter combinations of L. crisps during DIC processing were moisture content after heat pump pre-drying of 35.63%, puffing temperature of 100 ℃, vacuum drying temperature of 64.17 ℃. Under the control of these optimal parameter combinations, the puffing degree of L. crisps was 69.34%, total color difference was 20.68, hardness was 108.16 N, and crispness was 75.79. Conclusion: Uniform design combined with response surface methodology can be used to optimize processing parameters of DIC crisps and obtain high quality non-fried L. crisps.

Abstract Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA)-induced chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) has been considered a risk factor for severe asthma. Airway remodelling, which could be modulated by autophagy, plays a key role in severe asthma. However, the extent of autophagy’s involvement in CIH-potentiated airway remodelling remains largely unexplored. Furthermore, we had found that angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)] has therapeutic effects on airway remodelling in asthma, but the underlying mechanism is either unclear. This study aimed to explore how CIH aggravates asthma and mechanism of protective effects of Ang-(1-7) on airway remodelling, with a focus on autophagy. We observed that CIH promoted epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), indicated by elevated EMT and fibrotic markers such as Snail and Collagen IV, both in vitro and in vivo. CIH intensified cell autophagy, evident from increased LC3B expression and reduced p62 levels. Ang-(1-7) reversed the CIH-enhanced expression of Snail, Collagen IV, and LC3B. To explore how CIH enhanced autophagy in cellular and animal model of asthma, overexpression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) and Thrombospondin 1 (THBS1) were identified in CIH-exposure mice lung compared with normal mice lung tissues from the GEO database. Finally, through chromatin immunoprecipitation and immunoprecipitation assays, we verified that Ang-(1-7) inhibits CIH-induced binding of HIF-1α to the promoter of THBS1, and also disrupts the protein-protein interaction between THBS1 and the autophagy-associated protein Beclin 1 (BECN1), ultimately leading to autophagy inhibition. Our findings suggest that exogenous Ang-(1-7) can inhibit autophagy via HIF-1α/THBS1/BECN1 axis, thereby alleviating CIH-enhanced airway remodelling in asthma. These findings imply the potential therapeutic effect of Ang-(1-7) in asthma with OSA.

The distribution pattern and influencing factors of specific species diversity play a crucial role in decision-making for biodiversity conservation. Identifying suitable regional habitat indicators to assess specific species diversity patterns is a global focus topic. A total of 112 sample plots were surveyed to investigate the relationship between Asteraceae species diversity and topography, soil nutrients, and stand factors, using a Structural Equation Model (SEM). Additionally, the Maxent model was utilized to predict the distribution pattern of Asteraceae species diversity in response to specific habitat factors. The findings revealed that soil nutrients, topography, and canopy closure had different impacts on Asteraceae species diversity, with soil nutrients showing the highest relative coefficient, followed by topography and canopy closure. The elevation and slope gradient were identified as direct and indirect influences on Asteraceae species diversity. The contribution rate of potential environmental variables on the Asteraceae species diversity was ranked as follows: STN (29.7%) > SOM (28.5%) > slope (8.5%) > Ele (8.1%). Asteraceae species diversity was found to be abundant in the locations with SOM (>27 g/kg), STN (>1.8 g/kg), Ele (165–333 m), and slopes (5–12 degrees). Soil nutrient content serves as a key indicator for assessing the abundance of Asteraceae species diversity and should be considered in biodiversity conservation.

Rainfall erosivity (RE), a pivotal external force driving soil erosion, is impacted by El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Studying the spatiotemporal variations in RE and their response to ENSO is essential for regional ecological security. In this study, a daily RE model was identified as a calculation model through an evaluation of model suitability. Daily precipitation data from 1971 to 2020 from 38 meteorological stations on Hainan Island, China, were utilized to calculate the RE. The multivariate ENSO index (MEI), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), and Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) were used as the ENSO characterization indices, and the effects of ENSO on RE were investigated via cross-wavelet analysis and binary and multivariate wavelet coherence analysis. During the whole study period, the average RE of Hainan Island was 15,671.28 MJ·mm·ha−1·h−1, with a fluctuating overall upward trend. There were spatial and temporal distribution differences in RE, with temporal concentrations in summer (June–August) and a spatial pattern of decreasing from east to west. During ENSO events, the RE was greater during the El Niño period than during the La Niña period. For the ENSO characterization indices, the MEI, SOI, and ONI showed significant correlations and resonance effects with RE, but there were differences in the time of occurrence, direction of action, and intensity. In addition, the MEI and MEI–ONI affected RE individually or jointly at different time scales. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the influence of ENSO on RE and can provide important insights for the prediction of soil erosion and the development of related coping strategies.

Food security is a major challenge for China at present and will be in the future. Revealing the spatiotemporal changes in cropland and identifying their driving forces would be helpful for decision-making to maintain grain supply and sustainable development. Hainan Island is endowed with rich agricultural resources due to its unique climatic conditions and is facing tremendous pressure in cropland protection due to the huge variation in natural conditions and human activities over the past few decades. The purpose of this study is to assess the spatiotemporal changes in and driving forces of cropland on Hainan Island in the past and predict future cropland changes under different scenarios. Key findings are as follows: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the cropland area on Hainan Island decreased by 956.22 km2, causing the center of cropland to shift southwestward by 8.20 km. This reduction mainly transformed into construction land and woodland, particularly evident in coastal areas. (2) Among anthropogenic factors, the increase in the human footprint is the primary reason for the decrease in cropland. Land use changes driven by population growth, especially in economically active and densely populated coastal areas, are key factors in this decrease. Natural factors such as topography and climate change also significantly impact cropland changes. (3) Future scenarios show significant differences in cropland area changes. In the natural development scenario, the cropland area is expected to continue decreasing to 597 km2, while in the ecological protection scenario, cropland conversion is restricted to 269.11 km2; however, in the cropland protection scenario, the trend of cropland reduction is reversed, increasing by 448.75 km2. Our findings provide a deep understanding of the driving forces behind cropland changes and, through future scenario analysis, demonstrate the potential changes in cropland area under different policy choices. These insights are crucial for formulating sound land management and agricultural policies to protect cropland resources, maintain food security, and promote ecological balance.

The purpose of forest management is to establish a forest ecosystem with multifunction in Beijing’s mountainous areas, and the priority is to increase forest productivity aiming to achieve carbon neutrality. In this study, we investigated 62 sample plots of Platycladus orientalis plantations and compared the relative contributions of stand and environmental factors to forest productivity by using variance partitioning analysis, the direct and indirect effects of these factors were explored by using structural equation model. And the geographical distribution of areas with higher forest productivity of Platycladus orientalis plantations was simulated and the contributions of these factors to the greater productivity was analyzed by using maximum entropy model (MaxEnt). The results indicated that topography was the dominant factors affecting the forest productivity of Platycladus orientalis plantations, followed by stand and soil nutrient factors. The results of structural equation model indicated that both topography and stand factors not only directly affect forest productivity, but also indirectly affect it by influencing soil nutrients. Soil nutrients had only direct impact on forest productivity. Forest productivity of Platycladus orientalis plantations was higher in areas with low altitude (168–252 m), gentle slopes (5–13 degrees), sunny slopes or semi-sunny slopes, soil total nitrogen content (>1.5 g/kg), and soil organic matter content (>38 g/kg). By changing the slopes to 5–13 degrees, increasing soil total nitrogen content to 1.5 g/kg and soil organic matter content to 38 g/kg, the average existence probability of higher forest productivity areas increased from 0.32 to 0.46, and amount of areas with higher productivity will be increased by approximately 43.8 %.

Abstract Background Numerous chemical pesticides have been used in agricultural production to combat crop diseases and pests. Despite ensuring certain economic advantages, they have also resulted in issues like environmental contamination, declining soil quality, and pesticide residues. Because biological control is environmentally friendly and difficult to acquire resistance to, it has been used in practice recently. Methods In this study, we isolated the endophytic fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum from Portulaca oleracea L., which was previously found to have inhibitory effects on soil pathogens in tobacco fields. To find out how the biocontrol agent P. lilacinum affects soil microorganisms and plant metabolism in tobacco cultivation, we used amplicon sequencing technology and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to look at the structure of soil microbial communities and the networks of interactions between microorganisms and metabolites in the inter-rhizosphere soil of tobacco fields treated with different amounts of P. lilacinum. Results The findings showed that there was a trend toward less microbial diversity among inter-root microorganisms as solid-state fermentation (SSF) products of P. lilacinum increased; however, submerged fermentation (SmF) had no discernible impact on microbial diversity when compared to the direct use of SSF. Additionally, the relationship between inter-root fungi and volatile compounds in tobacco leaves was dominated by a negative correlation. Conclusions The result demonstrated that P. lilacinum’s antagonistic interaction in the inter-rhizosphere microbial community was dominant and valuable for biopesticide application. P. lilacinum can work more effectively on tobacco roots by using SSF products. P. lilacinum’s opposition to fungal colonies may enhance the volatile chemicals in tobacco leaves. These provide some implications for the biocontrol application of P. lilacinum.

Abstract Background Cantharidin (CTD) is a major ingredient of cantharis (Mylabris phalerata Pallas) and has been used extensively in traditional Chinese medicines. It has been shown to exhibit anticancer activity in multiple types of cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is no systematic study on the relationships among the regulatory networks of its targets in HCC therapy. We focused on histone epigenetic regulation and the influence of CTD on the immune response in HCC. Methods We performed a comprehensive analysis of novel CTD targets in HCC based on network pharmacology and RNA-seq approaches. The mRNA levels of target genes were analyzed by qRT-PCR, and the corresponding protein levels were confirmed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemical staining (IHC). ChIP-seq data were visualized by IGV software. The associations of gene transcript levels with the cancer immune score and infiltration level were investigated using TIMER. In vivo, the H22 mouse model of hepatocellular carcinoma was established by treatment with CTD and 5-Fu. The immune cell proportions in the blood were elevated in model mice, as shown by flow cytometry. Results We identified 58 targets of CTD, which were involved in various pathways in cancer, including apoptosis, the cell cycle, EMT and immune pathways. Moreover, we found that 100 EMT-related genes were differentially expressed after CTD treatment in HCC cells. Interestingly, our results confirmed that the EZH2/H3K27me3 -related cell cycle pathway is a therapeutic target of CTD in antitumour. In addition, we evaluated the influence of CTD on the immune response. Our data showed that the significantly enriched gene sets were positively correlated with the chemokine biosynthetic and chemokine metabolic modules. The proportions of CD4+/CD8 + T cells and B cells were increased, but the proportion of Tregs was decreased after treatment with CTD in vivo. Moreover, we found that the expression of the inflammatory factor and immune checkpoint genes PD­1/PD-L1 was significantly reduced in the mouse model. Conclusion We performed a novel integrated analysis of the potential role of CTD in HCC treatment. Our results provide innovative insight into the mechanism by which cantharidin exerts antitumour effects by regulating target genes expression to mediate apoptosis, EMT, cell cycle progression and the immune response in HCC. Based on the effect of CTD on the immune response, it can be used as a potential effective drug to activate antitumour immunity for the treatment of liver cancer.

Summary: Genomic researchers increasingly utilize commercial cloud service providers (CSPs) to manage data and analytics needs. CSPs allow researchers to grow Information Technology (IT) infrastructure on demand to overcome bottlenecks when combining large datasets. However, without adequate security controls, the risk of unauthorized access may be higher for data stored on the cloud. Additionally, regulators are mandating data access patterns and specific security protocols for the storage and use of genomic data. While CSP provides tools for security and regulatory compliance, building the necessary controls required for cloud solutions is not trivial. Research Assets Provisioning and Tracking Online Repository (RAPTOR) by the Genome Institute of Singapore is a cloud-native genomics data repository and analytics platform that implements a “five-safes” framework to provide security and governance controls to data contributors and users, leveraging CSP for sharing and analysis of genomic datasets without the risk of security breaches or running afoul of regulations.

Soil quality is a very important indicator used to assess ecosystem restoration states in terms of vegetation recovery and establishment. Evaluating the soil quality of different vegetation restoration types in mountainous areas of Beijing and identifying their influencing factors would provide a scientific basis and be helpful for vegetation restoration in the future. Six vegetation types (or communities), including Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco pure forest (POP), Pinus tabulaeformis Carr. pure forest (PTP), Platycladus orientalis–Pinus tabulaeformis mixed forest (PPM), Platycladus orientalis coniferous and broadleaved mixed forest (POCB), Pinus tabulaeformis coniferous and broadleaved mixed forest (PTCB), deciduous broadleaved mixed forest (DBMF), and one area of non-afforested land (NF), with similar stand conditions were selected and fourteen factors of soil physical and chemical characteristics were measured and used to establish a total data set (TDS), while a minimum data set (MDS) was obtained by using the principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson correlation analysis methods. Two scoring methods, linear (L) and non-linear (NL), were used to calculate the soil quality index (SQI), and the key factors influencing soil quality by vegetation were identified by a general linear model (GLM), PCA, and correlation analysis. The results showed that: (1) The screened MDS indicators which showed good relationships with the SQIs in the study areas were total nitrogen (TN), sand content, total potassium (TK), pH, and available water capacity (AWC). The SQI–NLM method has better applicability. (2) The contribution rates of vegetation to different soil factors accounted for 28.644% (TN), 21.398% (sand content), 24.551% (TK), 16.075% (pH), and 9.332% (AWC). (3) TN showed a positive relationship with all vegetation types; the content of TN in PTCB and DBMF was obviously larger than in the other types in the 0–10 cm layer; PPM, PTCB, and POCB affected the sand content, which showed negative correlativity; and DBMF showed positive correlativity with AWC. The mechanism of how different species affect TN, sand content, and AWC should be focused on and taken into consideration in further studies.

The Southwest Alpine Canyon Area (SACA), a well-known ecological vulnerability region, plays a very important role in China. Identifying the driving force of the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation and the response of interannual vegetation changes to climate change and human activities would be helpful for ecosystem management. Based on the NDVI dataset, the study analyzed the trend of NDVI change from 2000 to 2019 using the Theil–Sen trend analysis and the Mann–Kendal significance test, detected the driving forces of the spatial heterogeneity of NDVI by the means of the geographical detector, and analyzed the relative contribution of climate change and human activities to interannual NDVI changes using residual analysis model. The results showed that, in terms of the spatial distribution, the pattern of NDVI showed that it is higher in the southeast and lower in the northwest region of the SACA. Elevation was the dominant factor influencing the spatial heterogeneity of NDVI, with the explanatory power of 64%, much larger than other factors, and vegetation type, temperature, precipitation, land use type, and soil type were the main factors. In addition, the explanatory power of the dual factor interaction was higher than that of the single factor effect, which showed two kinds of interaction relationships: bivariate enhancement and nonlinear enhancement. In terms of the temporal variation, 85.59% of the study area showed an increasing trend, and only 14.41% of the area showed a decreasing trend. The main factor affecting NDVI changes was human activities, and climate change was the secondary factor, with relative contributions of 71.35% and 28.65%, respectively. The study will promote a better understanding of the complex mechanisms of vegetation changes and provide scientific recommendations for the prevention of vegetation degradation and vegetation restoration in the SACA.

Rainfall erosivity is one of the important factors leading to soil and water erosion, affecting the intensity of soil erosion and the variation of river sediment load. This work aimed to explore the distribution and variation characteristics of rainfall erosivity in the Nandu River Basin in tropical China and to clarify the effect of rainfall erosivity on sediment load variation. The daily rainfall data of 13 meteorological stations in the Nandu River Basin during 1971–2020 were used to calculate the rainfall erosivity of the river basin by using the rainfall erosivity model based on the daily rainfall. The analyses were conducted using the Mann-Kendall non-parametric trend/abrupt test, wavelet analysis, inverse distance weighted interpolation and other research methods to determine the temporal and spatial fluctuation patterns of rainfall erosivity and sediment load. The annual mean rainfall erosivity in the Nandu River Basin during 1971–2020 was 16,497.67 MJ mm·ha−1·h−1, which showed an upward trend. The distribution of rainfall erosivity was concentrated from July to September. Except spring, the variation of rainfall erosivity in summer, autumn and winter showed an upward trend. Spatially, rainfall erosivity showed a decreasing trend from south to north. The variation coefficient of each meteorological station ranged from 0.24 to 0.43, showing high regional variability. The correlation between rainfall erosivity and erosive rainfall in the basin was the highest, followed by altitude and latitude. From 1980 to 2020, the sediment load in the Nandu River Basin showed an overall upward trend, with obvious periodic changes. The main change period was 25 years, and the sediment load had a large inter-annual variation. Taking the period before the inflection point of the double accumulation curve of sediment load and rainfall erosivity as the base period, since 2009, the river sediment load increased by 46.36% compared with the base period. The influence of the variation of rainfall erosivity on sediment load is −22.23%, and that of human activities on sediment load is 122.23%. These findings can provide a scientific reference for soil erosion model prediction, soil and water conservation and environmental management in tropical basins of China.

With the concept of "healthy lifestyle" deeply rooted in people's minds, the sports service industry is thriving, which has resulted in intense competition. The sports service industry must improve its service quality to be competitive. Customer orientation is the key factor for enterprises to gain competitive advantage. With the in-depth understanding of internal marketing in the service industry. Managers have realized that treating employees as internal consumer is a good way to improve their satisfaction and gain customer orientation. However, what internal marketing strategies will have a positive effect on internal consumer satisfaction and customer orientation of private-owned sports center employees are still unclear. In this investigation, a total of 326 employees from the private-owned sports center were used to investigate the effects of internal marketing strategies on internal consumer satisfaction and customer orientation. All employees were asked to complete a questionnaire on 5-point scale. A path model was used to investigate the direct and indirect effects of hypothetical measurements on internal consumer satisfaction and customer orientation. The findings suggested that internal communication, administrative support, and educational training were important factors affecting internal consumer satisfaction and customer orientation. We concluded that the implementation of internal marketing strategies could improve internal consumer satisfaction and customer orientation, and higher levels of internal consumer satisfaction will encourage employees to have higher degrees of customer orientation. Therefore, the implementation of internal marketing strategy was beneficial to the development of private-owned sports centers.

【Objective】Fusarium wilt and tobacco black shank, caused by Fusarium oxysporum and Phytophthora parasitica var. Nicotianae, are common soil-borne diseases in tobacco planting soil, leading to severe damages. Therefore, a rapid detection method for the two pathogens was established to provide technical support for disease epidemic and treatment in the process of tobacco planting and ensure the stable production of tobacco industry.【Method】Taking the soil with soil-borne disease and healthy soil in Baise area of Guangxi were used as test materials, and the standard curve was established with the standard pathogen as reference template. The primers were designed by the conservative regions of the two pathogens, and the specific primers were screened according to the target bands and the dissolution curve and Ct value of fluorescence quantitative PCR. At the same time, the extraction method of DNA kit of microbial in soil was improved, and the detection systems of PCR and qPCR were established.【Result】A pair of specific primers PN3 and JBR for F. oxysporum and P. parasitica var. nicotianae were screened respectively, and the template concentration ranged from 1×102 to 1×10-4 ng, with good linear relationship. The number of two pathogens in diseased soil was higher than that in healthy soil. The method of combination of soil drying, grinding and eluting for twice was helpful to extract the DNA of pathogens in the soil. A qPCR detection method with the products obtained by ordinary PCR pre-amplification reaction as a template was established.【Conclusion】The combination of PCR and qPCR can quickly distinguish and detect F. oxysporum and P. parasitica var. nicotianae, which plays an important role in real-time monitoring and early warning of fusarium wilt and tobacco black shank.

Cell senescence is closely related to autophagy. In this article, we identified a natural nucleoside analogue, cordycepin, that has the ability to significantly improve lysosomal function, enhance the activity of the lysosomal representative protease cathepsin B (CTSB), and promote the expression of the functional protein lysosomal‐associated membrane protein 2 (LAMP2) on the lysosomal membrane. Cordycepin then restores the damaged autophagy level of aging cells by activating the classic AMPK and mTOR–p70S6K signaling pathways, thus inhibiting cell senescence in an H2O2‐induced stress‐induced premature senescence (SIPS) cell model. This study provides new theoretical support for the further development of cordycepin and clinical antiaging drugs to inhibit cell senescence and suggests that the regulatory mechanisms of lysosomes in senescent cells should be considered when treating age‐related diseases.

Ce-V catalysts were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. In order to change the chemical environment of solution during the preparation process, NaOH solution and ammonia were used to adjust the pH value, and surfactant P123 was added to limit the grain growth direction of Ce-V catalysts. And then different Ce-V catalysts with nano-cubic(CV-1), nano-particles (CV-2) and nano- robs (CV-3) were obtained, respectively.The chlorobenzene conversion of Ce-V catalysts with different nano-structure were investigated. The Ce-V catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET and TEM, and the controlling mechanism of nano-structure on the catalytic activity was analysed.The results show that the particles size order of Ce-V catalysts is CV-1 > CV-2 > CV-3, and the catalytic activity order of Ce-V catalysts is CV-3 > CV-2 > CV-1.New phase CeVO4 forms in CV-2 and CV-3 catalysts, which weakens the agglomeration of VOx on the catalyst surface and promotes catalytic activity. The kinetics calculation results of Ce-V catalysts show that the apparent activation energy of CV-3 is the highest, which is 9.26±3.76 kJ·mol-1. It is consistent with the catalytic activity test.

Objective To explore the characteristics of 18F⁃fluoro⁃2⁃deoxy⁃D⁃glucose (18F⁃FDG) PET in Creutzfeldt⁃Jakob disease (CJD). Methods and Results The manifestations of 18F⁃FDG PET of 8 cases confirmed as CJD were analyzed retrospectively from August 2018 to January 2020. Five patients were male and 3 were female, with a mean age of (49.63±13.19) years. There were 7 sporadic CJD (sCJD) patients and one genetic CJD (gCJD) patient. All 8 patients were characterized by rapid progressive dementia. DWI hyperintensity in brain MRI were observed in all 8 patients. 18F⁃FDG PET analysis revealed frontal, parietal and temporal regions hypometabolism in all 8 cases. Occipital region hypometabolism was observed in 7 cases (7/8). For subcortical regions, hypometabolism were identified in thalamus (5/8), basal ganglia (3/8), brainstem (3/8) and cerebellum (3/8). Compared with the DWI hyperintensities, there were 40 hyperintense on DWI in the 50 cortical regions that were hypometabolic on 18F⁃FDG PET, especially in the frontal lobe. For subcortical regions, there were only 9 hyperintense on DWI in the 25 regions that were hypometabolic on 18F⁃FDG PET, especially the basal ganglia region. The brain stem and cerebellum hypometabolic regions showed no hyperintense on DWI. Conclusions The higher sensitivity of 18F⁃FDG PET is conducive to the differential diagnosis of CJD, especially in patients with rapid progression. 18F⁃FDG PET hypometabolism may indicate severe focal neurological impairment. The diagnosis of CJD should be considered for patients with rapidly progressive dementia accompanied with obvious symptoms of extra pyramidal system or cerebellum, cortical hypometabolism in 18F⁃FDG PET, and without obvious DWI hyperintensity.

IntroductionWith the increasing complexity of healthcare problems worldwide, the demand for better-coordinated care delivery is on the rise. However, current hospital-based practices remain largely disease-centric and specialist-driven, resulting in fragmented care. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of an integrated general hospital (IGH) inpatient care model.MethodsRetrospective analysis of medical records between June 2018 and August 2019 compared patients admitted under the IGH model and patients receiving usual care in public hospitals. The IGH model managed patients from one location with a multidisciplinary team, performing needs-based care transition utilizing acuity tagging to match the intensity of care to illness acuity.Results5,000 episodes of IGH care entered analysis. In the absence of care transition in intervention and control, IGH average length of stay (ALOS) was 0.7 days shorter than control. In the group with care transition in intervention but not in control, IGH acute ALOS was 2 days shorter, whereas subacute ALOS was 4.8 days longer. In the presence of care transition in intervention and control, IGH acute ALOS was 6.4 and 10.2 days shorter and subacute ALOS was 15.8 and 26.9 days shorter compared with patients under usual care at acute hospitals with and without co-located community hospitals, respectively. The 30- and 60-days readmission rates of IGH patients were marginally higher than usual care, though not clinically significant.DiscussionsThe IGH care model maybe associated with shorter ALOS of inpatients and optimize resource allocation and service utilization. Patients with dynamic acuity transition benefited from a seamless care transition process.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to observe vascular and neuroretinal alterations in people with prediabetes [impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)] and normal glucose metabolism.MethodsA total of 21 patients with prediabetes (42 eyes) and 20 healthy controls (40 eyes) participated in our study. All patients underwent a complete eye examination [including fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT)] and a related general examination (complete biochemical analysis, routine blood tests, and glycosylated hemoglobin).ResultsOn FFA, no patients in either group showed any microvascular alterations. The total peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) in the prediabetic group was significantly thinner than that in the healthy control group (p < 0.0001). Only the temporal pRNFL thickness was significantly less in patients with prediabetes compared to the normal people. There was no significant difference in the thickness of retina in the range of 1 mm diameter of macular fovea (p = 0.286), but in the prediabetic group, the macular retinal thickness within the diameter of 6 mm in nasal side (p < 0.0001), superior side (p < 0.0001), temporal side (p = 0.008), and inferior side (p = 0.001) were lower than that in the control group.ConclusionIn the prediabetic group, there was no microvascular alterations, but the total pRNFL and the temporal pRNFL was significantly thinner, and the macular retinal thickness within the diameter of 6 mm in the nasal, temporal, and inferior side were lower than that in the healthy control group. These data confirm neuroretinal alterations in prediabetes prior to microvascular injury.

Background: Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the first-line therapy for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Specifying timing of CPAP benefits on OSA-related biomarkers will help to assess the effectiveness of CPAP and to optimize the treatment strategies. Purpose: To explore the time-dependent changes of circulating biomarkers to CPAP treatment in patients with OSA, including inflammatory biomarkers [C-reactive protein (CRP) and tumor necrosis factor–α (TNF-α)] and glycolipid metabolic biomarkers [fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG)]. Methods: Searches of PubMed and Embase database were completed. Two independent reviewers extracted data from 68 included studies. A meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effect (or fixed-effect) model and standardized mean difference (SMD) model. The timing profiles of circulating biomarkers changes of inflammation and glycolipid metabolism were analyzed based on different CPAP duration, that is, short-term (

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is regarded as an independent risk factor for hypertension. The possible mechanism includes oxidative stress, endothelial injury, sympathetic excitement, renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system activation, etc. Clinical studies have found that there is a high coexistence of OSA and primary aldosteronism in patients with hypertension and that elevated aldosterone levels are independently associated with OSA severity in resistant hypertension. The underlying mechanism is that aldosterone excess can exacerbate OSA through increasing overnight fluid shift and affecting the mass and function of upper airway muscles during the sleep period. Thus, a bidirectional influence between OSA and aldosterone exists and contributes to hypertension in OSA patients, especially resistant hypertension.

Abstract Background Low-molecular-weight chitosan oligosaccharide (LMCOS), a chitosan degradation product, is water-soluble and easily absorbable, rendering it a popular biomaterial to study. However, its effect on bone remodelling remains unknown. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of LMCOS on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced bone resorption in mice. Methods Six-week-old male C57BL/6 mice (n = five per group) were randomly divided into five groups: PBS, LPS, LPS + 0.005% LMCOS, LPS + 0.05% LMCOS, and LPS + 0.5% LMCOS. Then, the corresponding reagents (300 μL) were injected into the skull of the mice. To induce bone resorption, LPS was administered at 10 mg/kg per injection. The mice were injected three times a week with PBS alone or LPS without or with LMCOS and sacrificed 2 weeks later. The skull was removed for micro-computed tomography, haematoxylin-eosin staining, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining. The area of bone damage and osteoclast formation were evaluated and recorded. Results LMCOS treatment during LPS-induced skull resorption led to a notable reduction in the area of bone destruction; we observed a dose-dependent decrease in the area of bone destruction and number of osteoclasts with increasing LMCOS concentration. Conclusions Our findings showed that LMCOS could inhibit skull bone damage induced by LPS in mice, further research to investigate its therapeutic potential for treating osteolytic diseases is required.

Water monolayer can form in layered confined systems. Here, CaF2 (111) and graphene are chosen as modeling systems to explore the structure and stability of confined monolayer water. First, water molecules tend to intercalate into a confined space between graphene and CaF2, rather than on a bare surface of graphene. Water molecules can move fast in the confined space due to a low diffusion barrier. These water molecules are likely to aggregate together, forming monolayer ice. Four ice phases including ice II, ice III, ice IV, and ice Ih are compared in this confined system. Intriguingly, all the ice phases undergo very small deformation, indicating the 2D monolayer ice can be stable in the CaF2–graphene–confined system. Beyond, projected band structures are also plotted to understand the electronic behavior of these confined ice phases. Nearly all the bands originated from confined ices are flat and locate about 2–3 eV below the Fermi level. Binding energy calculations suggest that the stability sequence in this confined system as follows: Ih-up ≈ Ih-down ≈ II < IV < III. Our results bring new insights into the formation of water monolayer production in such a confined condition.

Habitat factors including topography and soil nutrients affect the formation of understory plant diversity patterns on a small spatial scale. Assessing the combination of suitable habitat factors in areas with abundant understory plant diversity is significant for the management and improvement of plant diversity in the plantations. This study used the maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) to simulate the geographical distribution of the area with abundant understory plant diversity and analyzed the contribution of ten habitat factors to the existence probability of the area with abundant understory plant diversity. The results showed that the regions with medium altitude (292–500 m), gentle slope (13–23 degrees), and high soil organic matter content (>2.3 g/kg) were more likely to breed abundant understory plant diversity. Topographic factors had a dominant effect on the spatial distribution of the understory plant diversity, with the importance of 64.9%. Although the effect of soil nutrient factors on understory plant diversity was less than that of topographic factors, it still made up a large proportion (35.1%). Promoting soil biochemical cycles could be an effective way to increase understory plant diversity. By changing soil organic matter content to 2.3 g/kg, soil available nitrogen to 300 mg/kg, and soil available potassium to 120 mg/kg, the average existence probability of the area with abundant understory plant diversity increased from 0.34 to 0.63. We conclude specific measures including introducing the native broad-leaved tree species such as Cotinus coggygria Scop. and Acer truncatum Bunge into the Platycladus orientalis plantation, logging residue management, and litter management are critical for promoting soil biochemical cycles and thereby increasing understory plant diversity.

Species diversity is a crucial index used to evaluate the stability and complexity of forest ecosystems. Studying the relationship between stand structure and understory herbaceous plants species diversity is useful for managers to formulate the best forest structure optimization method with the goal of improving herbaceous species diversity. In this research, Platycladus orientalis plantations in Beijing were taken as the research object. Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to explore the single-factor correlation between stand structure and understory herbaceous plants species diversity; furthermore, a typical correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were used to explore the multi-factor correlation and analyze the dominant stand structure parameters affecting understory herbaceous plants species diversity. In the range of stand structures studied, the results showed that canopy density was negatively correlated with the Shannon–Wiener index and Simpson index (p < 0.01), and tree density was negatively correlated with the Shannon–Wiener index (p < 0.05). In terms of stand spatial structure, the mingling degree was positively correlated with the Shannon–Wiener index, Simpson index, Margalef richness index and Pielou evenness index (p < 0.05), while the uniform angle was negatively correlated with the Pielou evenness index (p < 0.05). The correlation coefficient of the first group of typical variables in the typical correlation analysis was 0.90 (p < 0.05); from this group of typical variables, it can be concluded that canopy density is the most influential indicator affecting the comprehensive index of understory herbaceous plants species diversity, with a load of −0.690, and the Shannon–Wiener index and Simpson index are the most responsive indicators of changes in the comprehensive index of stand structure, with loads of 0.871 and 0.801, respectively. In the process of the management of Platycladus orientalis plantations under a low altitude, south slope, thin soil layer and hard soil parent material, in order to improve the herbaceous species diversity, the canopy density of the overstory and tree density should be appropriately reduced. Additionally, it is necessary to regulate the horizontal spatial structure of stands. When the trees are randomly distributed and the mingling degree is high, the species diversity of herbs can be increased.

Soil salinization is closely related to land degradation, and it is supposed to exert a significant negative effect on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock dynamics. This effect and its mechanism have been examined at site and transect scales in previous studies while over a large spatial extent, the salinity-induced changes in SOC stock over space and time have been less quantified, especially by machine learning and remote sensing techniques. The main focus of this study is to answer the following question: to what extent can soil salinity exert an additional effect on SOC stock over time at a larger spatial scale? Thus, we employed the extreme gradient boosting models (XGBoost) combined with field site-level measurements from 433 sites and 41 static and time-varying environmental covariates to construct methods capable of quantifying the salinity-induced SOC changes in a typical inland river basin of China between the 1990s and 2020s. Results showed that the XGBoost models performed well in predicting the soil electrical conductivity (EC) and SOC stock at 0–20 cm, with the R2 value reaching 0.85 and 0.81, respectively. SOC stock was found to vary significantly with increasing soil salinity following an exponential decay function (R2 = 0.27), and salinity sensitivity analysis showed that soils in oasis were expected to experience the largest carbon loss (−137.78 g m−2), which was about 4.84, 14.37, and 25.95 times higher than that in the saline, bare, and sandy land, respectively, if the soil salinity increased by 100%. In addition, the decrease in the soil salinity (−0.32 dS m−1) from the 1990s to the 2020s was estimated to enhance the SOC stock by 0.015 kg m−2, which contributed an additional 10% increase to the total SOC stock enhancement. Overall, the proposed methods can be applied for quantification of the direction and size of the salinity effect on SOC stock changes in other salt-affected regions. Our results also suggest that the role of soil salinization should not be neglected in SOC changes projection, and soil salinization control measures should be further taken into practice to enhance soil carbon sequestration in arid inland river basins.

Abstract Background Primary hepatic sarcomatous carcinoma (PHSC) is a rare malignancy composed of both carcinomatous (either hepatocellular or cholangiocellular) and sarcomatous components. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the imaging and clinical findings of PHSCs, improving the understanding and diagnosis of tumors. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the imaging and clinical findings of ten patients with pathologically proven PHSCs, including two cases of sarcomatous intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (S-ICC), seven cases of sarcomatous hepatocellular carcinoma (S-HCC) and one case of sarcomatous combined hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma (S-HCC–CC). Six patients underwent computed tomography (CT) scans and five underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans with one of them having both CT and MRI scans. Results Eight of ten patients had a background of chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis. The elevation of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was positive in half of the patients. All the tumors were located near the liver subcapsular area and six of ten cases were massive with round or oval shapes and ill-defined. The lesion textures were mainly heterogeneous in eight tumors for the necrosis or hemorrhage. Eight tumors showed hypo-enhancement and nine tumors exhibited initial peripheral rim (five cases) or heterogeneous (four cases) enhancement, followed by progressive (six cases) and peripheral or partial washout (three cases) on the later phases. Of the seven surgically resected tumors, five showed liver capsular invasion with one of them rupturing into the perihepatic space. Vascular thrombosis (five cases), intrahepatic metastasis (four cases), adjacent organ invasion or seeding (three cases), and lymph node metastasis (four cases) were found on imaging or in pathology. The follow-up period ranged from one to 36 months. Four patients with T3-T4 staging died from recurrence and metastasis between 2 and 5 months, and three patients with T1 staging did not have any recurrence between 16 and 24 months. Conclusion PHSC generally presents as a subcapsular mass with hypovascularity and may be characterized by rim-like or heterogeneous enhancement on the arterial phase and a progressive dynamic pattern. These tumors usually coincide with chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis and poor prognosis appears to be associated with TNM staging.

Malassezia is the most abundant eukaryotic microbial genus on human skin. Similar to many human-residing fungi, Malassezia has high metabolic potential and secretes a plethora of hydrolytic enzymes that can potentially modify and structure the external skin environment. Here we show that the dominant secreted Malassezia protease isolated from cultured Malassezia furfur is an aspartyl protease that is secreted and active at all phases of culture growth. We observed that this protease, herein named as MfSAP1 (M. furfur secreted aspartyl protease 1) has a broader substrate cleavage profile and higher catalytic efficiency than the previously reported protease homolog in Malassezia globosa. We demonstrate that MfSAP1 is capable of degrading a wide range of human skin associated extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and ECM isolated directly from keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Using a 3-D wound model with primary keratinocytes grown on human de-epidermized dermis, we show that MfSAP1 protease can potentially interfere with wound re-epithelization in an acute wound model. Taken together, our work demonstrates that Malassezia proteases have host-associated substrates and play important roles in cutaneous wound healing.

This paper presents the first antenna-integrated socket that can be used in place of the commercial socket. The socket panel is made of K9 glass for the aesthetic purpose. It serves as the dielectric resonator (DR) loading for the integrated slot antenna fabricated in the ground plane. The socket (DR)- loaded slot antenna is directly fed by a coaxial cable at the slot center. Considering the practical scenarios, the antenna is investigated in three different cases, namely the socket panel, socket panel with plug, and socket panel with the plug and cable. For demonstration, the socket-loaded antenna is designed in 2.4-GHz WLAN band (2.40–2.48 GHz). The reflection coefficient, radiation pattern, antenna gain, and efficiency in each case are measured. Measured results show that the impedance bandwidth can cover the entire frequency band. The antenna can be potentially used as a camouflaged antenna or an attractive home or office decoration.