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Abstract Highly porous metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheets have shown promising potential for efficient water sorption kinetics in atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) systems. However, the water uptake of single-component MOF absorbents remains limited due to their low water retention. To overcome this limitation, we present a strategy for fabricating vertically aligned MOF nanosheets on hydrogel membrane substrates (MOF-CT/PVA) to achieve ultrafast AWH with high water uptake. By employing directional growth of MOF nanosheets, we successfully create superhydrophilic MOF coating layer and pore channels for efficient water transportation to the crosslinked flexible hydrogel membrane. The designed composite water harvester exhibits ultrafast sorption kinetics, achieving 91.4% saturation within 15 min. Moreover, MOF-CT/PVA exhibits superior solar-driven water capture-release capacity even after 10 cycles of reuse. This construction approach significantly enhances the water vapor adsorption, offering a potential solution for the design of composite MOF-membrane harvesters to mitigate the freshwater crisis.

Abstract The impact of mobile phone addiction (MPA) on college students’ sleep quality (SQ) has received increasing attention in recent years. On this basis, the mediating roles of rumination and FOMO (fear of missing out) on MPA and SQ were examined in this study. In a cross-sectional study, preliminary data were gathered via questionnaires from 1401 college students (19.35 ± 0.81) from 5 universities in Jiangxi Province, China. Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale, Rumination Response Scale, Fear of Missing Out Scale and Sleep Quality Scale were employed in the research. The mediation model was tested using SPSS 26.0, with FOMO and rumination acting as the mediating variables. Between MPA and SQ, rumination and FOMO each had their own unique mediation effect. Furthermore, rumination and FOMO function as a chain of mediators between college students’ MPA and SQ. This study provided confirmation and clarification that in college students, the association between MPA and SQ was mediated by rumination and FOMO. This study improves our understanding of MPA, SQ and how MPA may affect SQ in college students. It also shows that the impact of MPA and SQ of college students should be given more consideration by educators, parents, and college students themselves.

Abstract The ability to manipulate the flux of ions across membranes is a key aspect of diverse sectors including water desalination, blood ion monitoring, purification, electrochemical energy conversion and storage. Here we illustrate the potential of using daily changes in environmental humidity as a continuous driving force for generating selective ion flux. Specifically, self-assembled membranes featuring channels composed of polycation clusters are sandwiched between two layers of ionic liquids. One ionic liquid layer is kept isolated from the ambient air, whereas the other is exposed directly to the environment. When in contact with ambient air, the device showcases its capacity to spontaneously produce ion current, with promising power density. This result stems from the moisture content difference of ionic liquid layers across the membrane caused by the ongoing process of moisture absorption/desorption, which instigates selective transmembrane ion flux. Cation flux across the polycation clusters is greatly inhibited because of intensified charge repulsion. However, anions transport across polycation clusters is amplified. Our research underscores the potential of daily cycling humidity as a reliable energy source to trigger ion current and convert it into electrical current.

To further develop a protein-polysaccharide composite fat replacer in low-fat meat products, this used pumpkin seed protein (PSP) and carrageenan to prepare a composite emulsion fat replacer, and added it to myofibrillar protein (MP) to form heat induced gel. The effects of the composite emulsion formed by PSP and carrageenan at various additive amounts on the properties of MP gels were investigated through the determination of gel moisture distribution, textural properties, microstructure, rheological properties, and other indexes. The results showed that when PSP and carrageenan composite emulsion was added at 50%, the water-holding properties and strength of the gel significantly improved (P

Targeting the issues of seed leakage and cutting segment adhesion due to poor seed feeding and cutting in real-time seed-cutting cassava planters, this study developed a seeding quality monitoring system. Based on the structure and working principle of the seed cutting and discharging device, the installation methods of the matrix fiber optic sensor and rotary encoder were determined. By combining the operational characteristics of the planter’s ground wheel drive with seed cutting and seed dropping, a monitoring model correlating the sowing parameters with seed dropping time was established; a monitoring window was created by extracting and processing the rotary encoder pulse signal, and the number of seeds sown after each opposing cutter’s operation was calculated based on the pulse width information within the monitoring window. The monitoring system’s statistics were compared and analyzed with the manual statistics, and the bench test showed that the monitoring system designed in this study offers high accuracy. When the simulated rotational speed of the opposing cutter ranges from 10 to 30 rpm, the average monitoring error between the monitored and actual seeding quantities for the left and right rows is less than 1.4%. The monitoring system can promptly and accurately activate sound and light alarms for faults, achieving a 100% success rate in alarms and an average fault response time of less than 0.4 seconds. Field tests demonstrate that the average error in seeding volume is 0.91%, and the monitoring system can timely alert to faults occurring in the planter. The system fulfills the requirements for real-time monitoring of cassava seeding volume at various operating speeds in field conditions, and can serve as a reference for monitoring operational parameters in subsequent cassava combine harvesters.

Objective We compared the application value of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) and intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) in the treatment of very premature infants and extremely low birth weight infants. Methods Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing the transition from noninvasive to invasive ventilation in this infant cohort. Results Among extremely preterm infants, 83.3% with gestational age

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of free gossypol in cottonseed meal (CM) on the growth and intestinal health of grass carp, as well as to determine whether free gossypol is the primary factor restricting high-level inclusion of cottonseed meal. This study was designed with five groups: the control group (32% soybean concentrate protein), the CM group (44% CM), the cottonseed protein concentrate (CPC) group (33% CPC), and the CPC and control groups with 400 and 600 ​mg/kg gossypol added, designated as CON, CM, CPC, CPC ​+ ​GP, and CON ​+ ​GP, respectively. The experiment lasted eight weeks, and each group had three replicates. This experiment employed one-way ANOVA and Duncan's multiple comparisons of the means. The findings revealed that in comparison to the CON group, the growth of fish in the CM, CPC ​+ ​GP, and CON ​+ ​GP groups significantly decreased. Intestinal inflammation damage was observed. This was indicated by a significant upregulation of pro-inflammatory factors, including tnf-α, nf-κb, il-6, il-8, il-12β, and il-1β, along with significant downregulation of anti-inflammatory factors, including tgf-β1, il-15, and il-10. Additionally, significant downregulation of antioxidant enzyme-related genes, including nrf2, cat, CuZnsod, gpx4, and gpx1, was observed and the intestinal physical barrier function was compromised. In addition, the intestinal microbiota composition was affected, with a significant reduction in Bacillus and Cetobacterium abundances and a remarkable increase in the abundance of Aeromonas, resulting in dysregulation of the intestinal microbiota function. However, in comparison to the CM group, the growth rate of fish in the CPC group exhibited a marked increase; nonetheless, it persisted at a level lower than that observed in the CON group and the degree of intestinal damage was significantly improved. Additionally, the intestinal microbiota structure was found to be similar to that of the CON group. In conclusion, excessive CM negatively affects grass carp growth and intestinal health, whereas replacing CM with CPC mitigates these effects. Adding gossypol equivalent to CM group in CON and CPC diets reduces growth performance and impairs intestinal function, indicating gossypol as a primary limiting factor for high CM inclusion in diets.

This paper presents a surrogate modeling approach for predicting ground surface settlement caused by synchronous grouting during shield tunneling process. The proposed method combines finite element simulations with machine learning algorithms and introduces an intelligent optimization algorithm to invert geological parameters and synchronous grouting variables, thereby predicting ground surface settlement without conducting numerous finite element analyses. Two surrogate models based on the random forest algorithm are established. The first is a parameter inversion surrogate model that combines an artificial fish swarm algorithm with random forest, taking into account the actual number and distribution of complex soil layers. The second model predicts surface settlement during synchronous grouting by employing actual cover-diameter ratio, inverted soil parameters, and grouting variables. To avoid changes to input parameters caused by the number of overlying soil layers, the dataset of this model is generated by the finite element model of the homogeneous soil layer. The surrogate modeling approach is validated by the case history of a large-diameter shield tunnel in Beijing, providing an alternative to numerical computation that can efficiently predict surface settlement with acceptable accuracy.

Abstract Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have been utilized as the ideal candidates to preciously construct electrocatalysts. However, the highly ordered degree of COFs renders the catalytic centers closely stacked, which limits the utilization efficiency of catalytic sites. Herein, we have first constructed dangling and staggered‐stacking aldehyde (–CHO) from [4 + 3] COFs as catalytic centers for 2e− oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The new catalytic COFs have unreacted dangling ‐CHO out of the COFs' planes, which are more easily exposed in electrolytes than the sites in the frameworks. More importantly, these –CHO adopt staggered stacking models, and thus provide larger space for mass transport than those with eclipsed stacking models. In addition, by tuning the triratopic linkers in the COFs, the catalytic properties are well modulated. The optimized COF shows high selectivity and activity for 2e− ORR, with H2O2 selectivity of 91%, and mass activity of 12.2 A g−1, respectively. The theoretical calculation further reveals the higher activity for the pyridine‐contained B18C6‐PTTA‐COF due to the promoted binding ability of the intermediate OOH* at the carbon in dangling –CHO. This work provides us with a new insight into designing electrocatalysts based on COFs.

Abstract Background SRSF1, a member of Serine/Arginine-Rich Splicing Factors (SRSFs), has been observed to significantly influence cancer progression. However, the precise role of SRSF1 in osteosarcoma (OS) remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the functions of SRSF1 and its underlying mechanism in OS. Methods SRSF1 expression level in OS was evaluated on the TCGA dataset, TAGET-OS database. qRT-PCR and Western blotting were employed to assess SRSF1 expression in human OS cell lines as well as the interfered ectopic expression states. The effect of SRSF1 on cell migration, invasion, proliferation, and apoptosis of OS cells were measured by transwell assay and flow cytometry. RNA sequence and bioinformatic analyses were conducted to elucidate the targeted genes, relevant biological pathways, and alternative splicing (AS) events regulated by SRSF1. Results SRSF1 expression was consistently upregulated in both OS samples and OS cell lines. Diminishing SRSF1 resulted in reduced proliferation, migration, and invasion and increased apoptosis in OS cells while overexpressing SRSF1 led to enhanced growth, migration, invasion, and decreased apoptosis. Mechanistically, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed that the biological functions of SRSF1 were closely associated with the dysregulation of the protein targeting processes, location of the cytosolic ribosome, extracellular matrix (ECM), and proteinaceous extracellular matrix, along with the PI3K-AKT pathway, Wnt pathway, and HIPPO pathway. Transcriptome analysis identified AS events modulated by SRSF1, especially (Skipped Exon) SE events and (Mutually exclusive Exons) MXE events, revealing potential roles of targeted molecules in mRNA surveillance, RNA degradation, and RNA transport during OS development. qRT-PCR confirmed that SRSF1 knockdown resulted in the occurrence of alternative splicing of SRRM2, DMKN, and SCAT1 in OS. Conclusions Our results highlight the oncogenic role of high SRSF1 expression in promoting OS progression, and further explore the potential mechanisms of action. The significant involvement of SRSF1 in OS development suggests its potential utility as a therapeutic target in OS.

Optical diffractive neural networks have sparked extensive research due to their low power consumption and high-speed capabilities in image processing. Here we propose and design a reconfigurable all-optical diffractive neural network structure with digital non-volatile optical neurons. The optical neurons are built with Sb2Se3 phase-change material and can switch between crystalline and amorphous states with no constant energy supply. Using three reconfigurable non-volatile digital diffractive layers and 10 photodetectors connected to a reconfigurable resistor network, our model achieves an accuracy of 94.46% in the handwritten digit recognition task. Moreover, the fabrication and assembly robustness of the proposed optical diffractive neural network is verified through full-vector diffractive simulation. Thanks to its reconfigurability and low energy supply, the digital optical diffractive neural network holds great potential to facilitate a programmable and low-power-consumption photonic processor for optical-artificial-intelligence.

Abstract Objective A questionnaire was administered to 936 college students to investigate the mediating effect of psychological resilience in the association between mindfulness and college student depression, as well as the moderating role of gender. Methods For this study, data was collected between 20 April and 1 May 2023 at three universities in Jiangxi Province using a random sampling method. 963 Chinese university students were surveyed using the Adolescent Mindfulness Scale, the Psychological Resilience Scale, and the Depression Self-Rating Scale.SPSS24.0 software was used for correlation analysis and linear regression analysis, and PROCESS v3.4 model 7 was used to analyze this mediated model with moderating effects. Results In the mediated effects model, the direct effect of mindfulness on college depression levels was significant (95% CI -0.43, -0.31); the indirect effect of mindfulness on college depression through psychological resilience was also significant (95% CI -0.34, -0.23); the interaction effect of mindfulness and gender was also found to be significant (95% CI 0.03, 0.16) in the mediated model with moderation. Conclusion Mindfulness not only affect depression directly, but also indirectly through the mediating effect of psychological resilience. At the same time, the prediction of psychological resilience by mindfulness was also moderated by gender, with girls' psychological resilience being more affected by the level of mindfulness compared to boys.

Abstract Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic and low-grade inflammatory disease associated with metabolism disorder and multiple cell death types in the synovial tissues. Sulfur metabolism has not been studied in OA. Methods First, we calculated the single sample gene set enrichment analysis score of sulfur metabolism-associated annotations (i.e., cysteine metabolism process, regulation of sulfur metabolism process, and disulfidptosis) between healthy and synovial samples from patients with OA. Sulfur metabolism-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed in OA. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator COX regression were used to identify the sulfur metabolism-associated gene signature for diagnosing OA. Correlation and immune cell deconvolution analyses were used to explore the correlated functions and cell specificity of the signature gene, TM9SF2. TM9SF2’s effect on the phagocytosis of macrophages M2 was analyzed by coculturing macrophages with IgG-coated beads or apoptotic Jurkat cells. Results A diagnostic six gene signature (i.e., MTHFD1, PDK4, TM9SF2, POU4F1, HOXA2, NCKAP1) was identified based on the ten DEGs, validated using GSE12021 and GSE1919 datasets. TM9SF2 was upregulated in the synovial tissues of OA at both mRNA and protein levels. The relationship between TM9SF2 and several functional annotations, such as antigen processing and presentation, lysosome, phagosome, Fcγ-mediated phagocytosis, and tyrosine metabolism, was identified. TM9SF2 and macrophages M2 were significantly correlated. After silencing TM9SF2 in THP-1-derived macrophages M2, a significantly reduced phagocytosis and attenuated activation of PLC-γ1 were observed. Conclusion A sulfur metabolism-associated six-gene signature for OA diagnosis was constructed and upregulation of the phagocytosis-associated gene, TM9SF2, was identified. The findings are expected to deepen our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying OA development and be used as potential therapeutic targets.

The game of pursuit–evasion has always been a popular research subject in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Current evasion decision making based on reinforcement learning is generally trained only for specific pursuers, and it has limited performance for evading unknown pursuers and exhibits poor generalizability. To enhance the ability of an evasion policy learned by reinforcement learning (RL) to evade unknown pursuers, this paper proposes a pursuit UAV attitude estimation and pursuit strategy identification method and a Model Reference Policy Adaptation (MRPA) algorithm. Firstly, this paper constructs a Markov decision model for the pursuit–evasion game of UAVs that includes the pursuer’s attitude and trains an evasion policy for a specific pursuit strategy using the Soft Actor–Critic (SAC) algorithm. Secondly, this paper establishes a novel relative motion model of UAVs in pursuit–evasion games under the assumption that proportional guidance is used as the pursuit strategy, based on which the pursuit UAV attitude estimation and pursuit strategy identification algorithm is proposed to provide adequate information for decision making and policy adaptation. Furthermore, a Model Reference Policy Adaptation (MRPA) algorithm is presented to improve the generalizability of the evasion policy trained by RL in certain environments. Finally, various numerical simulations imply the precision of pursuit UAV attitude estimation and the accuracy of pursuit strategy identification. Also, the ablation experiment verifies that the MRPA algorithm can effectively enhance the performance of the evasion policy to deal with unknown pursuers.

Cassava is one of the world’s staple crops and an important economic and food crop for one billion people. It holds significant value in food, feed, and industrial raw materials. However, cassava production is faced with the following problems: agricultural machinery and agronomy are not integrated, work efficiency is not high, it is not suitable for large-scale planting plots, and there is a lack of large-scale equipment, automation, and intelligent cassava production equipment. This study reviews research on cassava planting agronomy and mechanized production technologies and equipment, including planting, stem–tuber separation, and harvesting, both globally and in China. The shortcomings are analyzed, and recommendations are provided for current mechanized cassava production to accelerate the development of intelligent equipment and strengthen the shortcomings. Meanwhile, we used typical and extensive Chinese planting and harvesting machines as case studies. The future trends in cassava production are forecasted, underscoring the importance of advancing global mechanized technology and equipment for cassava production to enhance its efficiency, competitiveness, and modernization.

This study investigated the influence of dietary supplementation with Bacillus subtilis natto (BSN) on various physiological parameters in red sea bream (Pagrus major). Key areas of focus included growth performance, enzymatic activity related to digestion, blood biochemical markers, immune function, and intestinal microorganisms. Fish were fed diets containing the following five levels of BSN: 0 (BN0), 1 × 107 (BN1), 1 × 108 (BN2), 1 × 109 (BN3), and 1 × 1010 (BN4) CFU kg−1 for 56 days. Fish in the BN3 and BN4 groups exhibited significantly enhanced growth performance compared to the BN0 group (p < 0.05). Additionally, the activities of amylase and protease were markedly higher in the BN3 and BN4 groups (p < 0.05), while lipase activity was significantly elevated in fish fed the BN3 diet (p < 0.05). Plasma total protein levels also showed a significant increase in the BN3 group (p < 0.05). Hematocrit values were significantly improved in the BN2, BN3, and BN4 groups (p < 0.05). The intestinal microbiota of the BN4 group revealed a significant increase in the populations of B. subtilis and Lactobacillus, along with a notable decrease in Escherichia coli, compared to all other groups (p < 0.05). The observed improvements in specific growth rate and the upregulation of growth-related gene expression further highlight the potential of BSN to enhance the growth performance of red sea bream. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with BSN at 1 × 109 and 1 × 1010 CFU kg−1 shows promise in improving the growth, health, and immune response of red sea bream.

BackgroundThe university stage is critical for cultivating and enhancing students’ practical English proficiency, encompassing listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translation skills. Losing interest in English studies at this stage not only hampers the development of practical English competence but also has a negative impact on future employment and personal growth.AimsThis study aimed to explore to how English language learning anxiety (ELLA) affects academic burnout (AB) of freshman in China and explores the role of academic peer support (APS) and academic self-efficacy (ASE) in the relationship between the two.MethodsThe study involved 1,355 college students who completed English Language Learning Anxiety Scale, the English Academic burnout Scale, Academic Peer Relationship Scale, the Academic Self-efficacy Scale.ResultsAB was significantly impacted by ELLA. ELLA and AB were mediated by ASE. Another factor that acted as a mediator between ELLA and AB was APS. ELLA and AB were mediated by a chain reaction involving ASE and APS.ConclusionThe chain mediation model validated in this study, providing valuable insights into the effects of freshmen’s ELLA on AB in China, as well as practical insights into the prevention and intervention of ELLA and AB in other current college students.

ABSTRACTOur study investigated the role of WTAP in colon cancer. We employed experiments including m6A dot blot hybridization, methylated RNA immunoprecipitation, dual-luciferase, and RNA immunoprecipitation to investigate the regulatory mechanism of WTAP. Western blot was performed to analyze the expression of WTAP, FLNA and autophagy-related proteins in cells. Our results confirmed the up-regulation of WTAP in colon cancer and its promoting effect on proliferation and inhibiting effect on apoptosis. FLNA was the downstream gene of WTAP and WTAP-regulated m6A modification led to post-transcriptional repression of FLNA. The rescue experiments showed that WTAP/FLNA could inhibit autophagy. WTAP-mediated m6A modification was confirmed to be crucial in colon cancer development, providing new insights into colon cancer therapy.

Abstract The study aims to explore the relationship among mindfulness, depression, meaning in life (MIL) and psychological resilience (PR), and verify whether MIL and PR have a chain mediating effect between mindfulness and depression. 1034 college students in a province were investigated by using Adolescent Mindfulness Scale, Depression Scale, Meaning in Life Scale and Psychological Resilience Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression and bootstrap was used to analyze the data and test whether MIL and PR play a chain mediating role between mindfulness and depression among university students. In the present research, the direct effect value of mindfulness on college students’ depression was 0.14, and the effect amount was 61%. The effect values of MIL and PR between mindfulness and college students’ depression were 0.03 and 0.05, and the effect amount is 13% and 22%. In the meantime, the chain mediating effect of MIL and PR was significant, the effect value is 0.01 and the effect amount is 4%. The effects of mindfulness on depression of university students were mediated by MIL, PR and the chain of MIL and PR.

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to investigate the long-term effect of vitamin D supplementation compared to placebo over 5 years in participants with knee osteoarthritis (OA). We also aimed to describe the effect of maintaining sufficient serum vitamin D levels over five years in knee OA. Methods Participants (n = 173) from the Hobart centre of the Vitamin D Effects on Osteoarthritis (VIDEO) trial were extensively followed up 3 years after the cessation of 2-year investigational treatment. Participants were classified as maintaining sufficient vitamin D (n = 79) and not maintaining sufficient vitamin D (n = 61) groups. Results There was no significant difference in change in the knee symptoms, depression, and serum levels of IL6 and hs-CRP between both comparisons after 3 years of cessation of the clinical trial. However, among participants who reported no knee surgery (KS), there was a significant improvement in WOMAC function (β: − 83.7, 95% CI: − 167.3, 0) and depression scores (β: − 1.3, 95% CI: − 2.3, − 0.2) in vitamin D group compared to the placebo group. Similarly, those who maintained adequate vitamin D levels over 5 years had significantly less WOMAC knee pain (β: − 33.9, 95% CI: − 65.7, − 2) and physical dysfunction (β: − 105.5, 95% CI: − 198.2, − 12.8) than participants with vitamin D deficiency over 5 years. Conclusion Vitamin D supplementation over 2 years or maintaining vitamin D sufficiency for 5 years was not associated with statistically significant differences in change in knee symptom scores over 5 years. However, among participants who did not report KS, 2-year vitamin D supplementation and maintaining sufficient vitamin D was linked to modest improvements in knee symptoms and depression scores in knee OA.

The long-standing fermented meat products were deeply popular with consumers due to the distinctive flavor and long storage life. From the point of protein degradation in the process of fermentation of meat products and based on the recent researches of fermented meat products, this paper discusses the factors affecting the muscle protein degradation including the function of microbial proteases and endogenous enzymes, and the protein hydrolysis activity of core microorganism. The structure changes of muscle protein during fermentation are analyzed, including secondary and tertiary structure and functional properties of protein. This paper furthermore summarizes how the muscle protein degradation during fermentation improving the texture properties and flavor of the fermented meat products, and deterioration of products due to excessive protein degradation. Finally, the perspectives of the future researches are listed in order to provide some meaningful ideas for the intensive study of the fermentation control of meat products.

ObjectivesThe field of combat resource planning has gradually become the core point of intelligent decision guidance for future combat, and ensuring a better combat resource planning scheme is crucial to the guidance and implementation of actual combat. To this end, a resource planning method for the joint air defense of warship formations based on an improved genetic algorithm is proposed. MethodsFirst, the resources are serviced to improve their versatility; next, the articulation of multi-population genetic algorithms is used to represent multi-stage combat planning, and multi-dimensional quality of service (QoS) combat performance indicators are designed on the basis of multi-population genetic algorithms, thereby establishing a set of strengths and weaknesses for the evaluation of joint warfare planning programs. ResultsAfter the generalization of resources, the proposed method can be effectively combined with multi-population genetic algorithms to obtain a multi-stage optimal combat resource planning scheme. ConclusionThis study has certain reference value for the design and application of combat resource planning.

Abstract Vitamin D deficiency is a globally common situation and closely related with many chronic diseases. It is a hot topic to examine if vitamin D supplementation is effective for the treatment of diseases, and there have been dozens of clinical trials published in recent years. However, most studies have not proved the extra‐skeletal benefits of vitamin D supplementation on these diseases. Some inherent shortcomings of these trials, such as inclusion with vitamin D‐sufficient and obese participants, low response rate from participants and the insensitive changes in chosen outcomes over a shorter period, may be main reasons why most studies have yet to demonstrate effects of vitamin D supplementation. In this editorial, we aim to discuss the perspectives on how can we design a proper trial for vitamin D treatment of diseases based on the evidence‐based practice framework PICOS (participants, intervention, control, outcomes and study design) in the future. First, right participants should be chosen, which is crucial for the success of vitamin D clinical trials. Participants with vitamin D sufficiency (e.g., baseline 25(OH)D of >50 nmol/L), obesity (e.g., body mass index > 30 kg/m2) and/or high vitamin D response index could be excluded from the trials. Second, intervention with vitamin D in right forms or dosages should be used. Vitamin D3 supplementation with appropriate dosages that keep 25(OH)D levels between 75 and 100 nmol/L is recommended. Third, ‘contamination’ in the control groups needs to pay attention. To diminish this, it is ideal to include participants less interfered by sun exposure (such as living in places at a high latitude) or with greater compliance (less interference by supplemental vitamin D‐containing nutrients). Fourth, the outcome measures should be sensitive to change to avoid type II error. For outcomes such as bone density, radiographic osteoarthritis and cardiovascular diseases, follow‐up period of 3–5 years may be required to observe the changes. Last, precision clinical trials may be the only way to prove the benefits of vitamin D supplementation.

Previous studies have found that the self-assembled supramolecules of Azumapecten farreri meat peptides have antioxidant effects. Therefore, this study aims to isolate and identify novel antioxidant peptides with self-assembly characteristics and analyze their structure–activity relationship through molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation. The in vitro results show that as the purification steps increased, the antioxidant activity of peptides became stronger. Additionally, the purification step did not affect its pH-responsive self-assembly. Using LC-MS/MS, 298 peptide sequences were identified from the purified fraction PF1, and 12 safe and antioxidant-active peptides were acquired through in silico screening. The molecular docking results show that they had good binding interactions with key antioxidant-related protein ligands (KEAP1 (Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1) and MPO (myeloperoxidase)). The peptide QPPALNDSYLYGPQ, with the lowest docking energy, was selected for a 100 ns molecular dynamics simulation. The results show that the peptide QPPALNDSYLYGPQ exhibited excellent stability when docked with KEAP1 and MPO, thus exerting antioxidant effects by regulating the KEAP1-NRF2 pathway and inhibiting MPO activity. This study further validates the antioxidant and self-assembling properties of the self-assembled supramolecules of Azumapecten farreri meat peptide and shows its potential for developing new, effective, and stable antioxidants.

Sugarcane is an important economic crop in tropical and subtropical regions. Presawing planting is an important method for achieving automated and precise planting with sugarcane planting machines. The sawing process is a key stage in planting management, affecting not only the germination and survival rates of sugarcane, but also reflecting the mechanical performance of sawing. To reduce the peak sawing force and enhance the sawing surface quality of sugarcane seedlings, this study utilized a central composite experimental design method. Single-factor and multi-factor experiments were conducted with a specially designed sugarcane stalk sawing experimental rig to investigate the impact of factors such as the stalk diameter feeding speed, and sawing speed on the peak sawing force and sawing surface quality. Upon being developed and validated, multivariate mathematical regression models elucidated the relationships among these factors. The experimental results showed that the order of influence of each factor on the peak sawing force was the stalk diameter, feed speed, and sawing speed, while for the sawing surface quality, the sequence was the sawing speed, stalk diameter, and feed speed. Correspondingly, the determination coefficients for the peak sawing force and sawing surface quality prediction models were 0.9708 and 0.9675. With a maximum error of 7.6% for the peak sawing force and an average relative error of 7.1%, and a maximum error of 3.5% for the sawing surface quality and an average relative error of 2.83%, the calculated results from the regression models were in good agreement with the experimental findings. This indicates that the models are capable of quickly and accurately predicting the peak sawing force and sawing surface quality of sugarcane stalks under different conditions. The research findings provide valuable insights for the development and optimization of sugarcane stalk presawing equipment and related experimental studies.

The return of straw and manure to agricultural fields can impact soil organic carbon (SOC) and biological properties. However, there is a lack of research on how to use swine manure, maize straw, and various conditioners together affects soil bacterial and fungal populations. This study aimed to investigate six treatments, namely, only maize straw (S00), maize straw combined with swine manure (S0Z), maize straw combined with biochar and swine manure (SCZ), maize straw combined with boron slag and swine manure (SBZ), maize straw combined with biological agent and swine manure (SJZ), and maize straw combined with bio-organic fertilizer and swine manure (SFZ). The results showed that after the two-year return, all treatments increased the SOC content in 2023, which was 12.55–26.89% higher than S00. And the SCZ treatment significantly increased the soil organic carbon (SOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), easily oxidizable carbon (EOC), particulate organic carbon (POC), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) content by 26.89%, 25.44%, 56.88%, 16.08%, and 43.54%, compared to S00. A redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that the continuous application of manure, maize straw, and conditioners has a positive impact on the diversity and abundance of soil microbial communities, enhancing the accumulation of soil carbon. Furthermore, our research revealed that soil fungi exhibited higher sensitivity in soil carbon composition following the addition of manure, straw, and conditioners to agricultural fields than bacteria. In conclusion, the addition of different conditioners to the fields is beneficial to biodiversity conservation from the perspective of achieving soil carbon storage and soil protection. Our findings suggested that the combination of maize straw, biochar, and swine manure was been proven to be the most effective treatment for increasing labile organic carbon fractions and enhancing the microbial community.

To investigate the effect of calcium (Ca) application on post-harvest fruit quality in Nanfeng tangerines, this study sprayed three calcium fertilizers (Calbit, Larry 8 Calcium, and Suspended Calcium) before harvesting. The fruit quality was assessed over a storage period of 0–60 d at a controlled room temperature of 20 ± 5 °C. The evaluation methods included principal component analysis (PCA) and linearly weighted summation. Pre-harvest calcium treatments increased the fruit calcium content and maintained higher firmness and shear. Compared to the control group, fruits treated with Calbit exhibited decreased levels of decay, weight loss, and respiration rates. Additionally, they demonstrated higher values of L*, b*, C*, and H° and lower values of a* and CCI. Moreover, the Larry 8 Calcium and Calbit treatments increased the levels of soluble solids, total soluble sugars, titratable acids, and VC content in the fruit. They accelerated the decomposition of tartaric, oxalic, and citric acids in the pulp, promoting the accumulation of sucrose and glucose. PCA and comprehensive evaluation scores indicated that the comprehensive scores assessing the storage quality of Nanfeng tangerine fruits treated with pre-harvest Larry 8 Calcium and Calbit were higher than those of the control group. The highest composite quality scores for Calbit-treated fruits were observed at 40 and 60 d, and the highest scores for Larry 8 Calcium were recorded at other intervals. These findings suggest that pre-harvest calcium application improved the post-harvest fruit quality of Nanfeng tangerines, with Larry 8 Calcium and Calbit emerging as favorable options.

Background: While the protective effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on cardiac ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury have been previously reported, limited data are available regarding how these fatty acids affect membrane receptors and their downstream signaling following IR injury. We aimed to identify potential receptors activated by n-3 PUFAs in IR hearts to understand the regulatory mechanisms of these receptors.Methods: We used fat-1 mice, which naturally have elevated levels of n-3 PUFAs, and C57BL/6J mice as a control group to create a myocardial IR injury model through Langendorff perfusion. We assessed the impact of endogenous n-3 PUFAs on left ventricular function, myocardial infarct size, myocardial apoptosis, and ATP production. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and bioinformatics analysis were conducted to identify molecular targets affected by n-3 PUFAs. Based on these analyses we then treated IR hearts of WT and fat-1 mice with an antagonist (ML221) or an agonist (apelin-13) for the predicted receptor to assess cardiac contractile function and intracellular signaling pathways. An in vitro hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR) model was also used to confirm the effects of n-3 PUFAs on the examined intracellular signaling pathways.Results: Endogenous n-3 PUFAs protected cardiac structure and function in post-IR hearts, and modulated phosphorylation patterns in the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathways. RNA-seq analysis revealed that n-3 PUFAs affected multiple biological processes as well as levels of the apelin receptor (APLNR). Consistent with a role for the PLNNR, ML221 synchronized the activation of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling axis, suppressed the expression of PKCδ and phosphorylated p38α, upregulated PKCε expression, upregulated or restored the phosphorylation of myofilaments, and prevented myocardial injury and contractile dysfunction in WT IR hearts. By contrast, apelin-13 disrupted the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling axis in post-IR fat-1 hearts. The phosphorylation signaling targeted by APLNR inhibition in post-IR fat-1 hearts was also observed after treating HR cells with eicosatetraenoic acid (EPA).Conclusion: Endogenous n-3 PUFAs protect against post-IR injury and preserve cardiac contractile function possibly through APLNR inhibition. This inhibition synchronizes the PI3K-AKT-mTOR axis, suppresses detrimental phosphorylation signaling, and restores or increases myofilament phosphorylation in post-IR hearts. The beneficial effects observed in fat-1 transgenic mouse hearts can be attributed, at least in part, to elevated EPA levels. This study is the first to demonstrate that n-3 PUFAs protect hearts against IR injury through APLNR inhibition.

Most commercially available soy sauce is fermented by high-salt liquid-state (HS) fermentation, which has an excessive salt content and a long fermentation period. In this study, a new salt-reduced fermentation (SR) soy sauce technology involving multiple strains of bacteria was developed to reduce consumers’ salt intake. The SR soy sauce was found to have an amino acid nitrogen content of 8.40 g/L and over 80 kinds of flavor substances, which were significantly higher than those of low-salt solid-state fermented soy sauce and approximately equal to HS soy sauce. Compared with HS soy sauce, the salt content of the SR soy sauce was reduced by 59.2%, achieving the salt reduction goal. The proportion of umami amino acids in SR soy sauce reached 32.0% of the total level, enhancing SR soy sauce’s quality. Hence, the new fermentation process can decrease salt content and shorten fermentation time.

Over the past few decades, researchers have shown sustained and robust investment in exploring methods for hyperspectral image classification (HSIC). The utilization of hyperspectral imagery (HSI) for crop classification in agricultural areas has been widely demonstrated for its feasibility, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. However, numerous coexisting issues in agricultural scenarios, such as limited annotated samples, uneven distribution of crops, and mixed cropping, could not be explored insightfully in the mainstream datasets. The limitations within these impractical datasets have severely restricted the widespread application of HSIC methods in agricultural scenarios. A benchmark dataset named Heilongjiang (HLJ) for HSIC is introduced in this paper, which is designed for large-scale crop classification. For practical applications, the HLJ dataset covers a wide range of genuine agricultural regions in Heilongjiang Province; it provides rich spectral diversity enriched through two images from diverse time periods and vast geographical areas with intercropped multiple crops. Simultaneously, considering the urgent demand of deep learning models, the two images in the HLJ dataset have 319,685 and 318,942 annotated samples, along with 151 and 149 spectral bands, respectively. To validate the suitability of the HLJ dataset as a baseline dataset for HSIC, we employed eight classical classification models in fundamental experiments on the HLJ dataset. Most of the methods achieved an overall accuracy of more than 80% with 10% of the labeled samples used for training. Furthermore, the advantages of the HLJ dataset and the impact of real-world factors on experimental results are comprehensively elucidated. The comprehensive baseline experimental evaluation and analysis affirm the research potential of the HLJ dataset as a large-scale crop classification dataset.

Low earth orbit satellite communication network is an important part of the internet of everything era, but the characteristics of satellite constellation topology such as high dynamic, limited heterogeneous resources and unbalanced network service capacity make the traditional routing protocol applied to the ground network no longer suitable for low earth orbit satellite network.In this regard, scholars at home and abroad had carried out extensive research on low-orbit satellite routing technology.Firstly, the research status of low-orbit satellite routing was discussed from inter-satellite routing and satellite-to-ground routing, and the inter-satellite routing technologies with business as the core and topology as the core were compared in detail.On this basis, the key problems faced by low-orbit satellite routing strategies were analyzed, namely, high dynamic network topology, large inter-satellite link propagation delay, uneven network load and limited on-board resources.The future research of routing technology was prospected accordingly.

The landslide disaster caused huge losses to human lives and property, and the research on the selection of landslide treatment schemes has attracted global attention. Fuzzy multiattribute decision-making methods are widely used for selecting the slope treatment schemes in engineering practice. But they do not take into account human linguistic arguments in the linguistic decision-making environment, which usually contains incomplete and uncertain information, and still lack a qualitative evaluation method. To deal with multiple attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) problems of landslide treatment schemes in the linguistic neutrosophic environment, a linguistic neutrosophic number Dombi weighted arithmetic averaging (LNNDWAA) operator and a linguistic neutrosophic number Dombi weighted geometric averaging (LNNDWGA) operator are developed to aggregate linguistic neutrosophic information. Then, a new MAGDM method using these aggregation operators is proposed in view of the Dombi operational flexibility. Finally, the proposed method is applied to select the optimal landslide treatment scheme under the linguistic neutrosophic environment. The results show that this method can effectively solve the decision-making problem of landslide treatment schemes and make the decision result more reasonable and flexible than other existing methods.

BackgroundRadiotherapy (RT) is the primary treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, it can cause implicit RT-induced injury by irradiating normal brain tissue. To date, there have been no detailed reports on the radiated exact location in the brain, the corresponding radiation dose, and their relationship.MethodsWe analyzed 803 Chinese NPC patients treated with RT and used a CT brain template in a Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) space to compare the group differences in RT dose distribution for different RT technologies (IMRT or VMAT).ResultsBrain regions that received high doses (>50 Gy) of radiation were mainly located in parts of the temporal and limbic lobes, where radioactive damage often occurs. Brain regions that accepted higher doses with IMRT were mainly located near the anterior region of the nasopharyngeal tumor, while brain regions that accepted higher doses with VMAT were mainly located near the posterior region of the tumor. No significant difference was detected between IMRT and VMAT for T1 stage patients. For T2 stage patients, differences were widely distributed, with VMAT showing a significant dose advantage in protecting the normal brain tissue. For T3 stage patients, VMAT showed an advantage in the superior temporal gyrus and limbic lobe, while IMRT showed an advantage in the posterior cerebellum. For T4 stage patients, VMAT showed a disadvantage in protecting the normal brain tissue. These results indicate that IMRT and VMAT have their own advantages in sparing different organs at risk (OARs) in the brain for different T stages of NPC patients treated with RT.ConclusionOur approach for analyzing dosimetric characteristics in a standard MNI space for Chinese NPC patients provides greater convenience in toxicity and dosimetry analysis with superior localization accuracy. Using this method, we found interesting differences from previous reports: VMAT showed a disadvantage in protecting the normal brain tissue for T4 stage NPC patients.

Abstract Background Mechanical stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). The mechanosensitive Piezo1 ion channel can sense the changes in mechanical stress and convert the mechanical signals into chemical signals. This study aims to investigate the effect of Piezo1 on the mechanical stress-induced IVDD and explore the possible mechanism. Methods The expression of Piezo1 and collagen II in immunohistochemical staining, cervical curvature, and the stiffness of nucleus pulpous (NP) were performed in normal and degenerated human intervertebral discs. In the experiment, high-intensity compression was applied to mimic the mechanical environment of IVDD. The cell viability, matrix macromolecules, and pro-inflammatory cytokines were examined to investigate the effect of Piezo1 on mechanical stress-treated NP cells. Additionally, autophagy condition of NP cells was detected within high-intensity compression and/or the inhibitor of Piezo1, GsMTx4. Results The up-expression of Piezo1, down-expression of Col II, elevated stiffness of NP, and poor kyphosis were observed in degenerated human intervertebral discs. High-intensity stress significantly decreased cell viability and the synthesis of extracellular matrix but increased the expression of senescence-associated proteins (p53 and p16) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β) by mitochondrial dysfunction and suppression of autophagy. However, GsMTx4 can partly attenuate these effects. Conclusion Piezo1 upregulation under excessive mechanical stress promotes the apoptosis, senescence, and pro-inflammatory cytokines of NP and leads to the loss of extracellular matrix by mitochondrial dysfunction and the suppression of autophagy; on the other hand, the inhibition of Piezo1 can partly alleviate these effects.

Abstract Atherosclerosis is a maladaptive chronic inflammatory disease, which remains the leading cause of death worldwide. The NLRP3 inflammasome constitutes a major driver of atherosclerosis, yet the mechanism of action is poorly understood. Mitochondrial dysfunction is essential for NLRP3 inflammasome activation. However, whether activated NLRP3 inflammasome exacerbates mitochondrial dysfunction remains to be further elucidated. Herein, we sought to address these issues applying VX765, a well-established inhibitor of caspase 1. VX765 robustly restrains caspase 1-mediated interleukin-1β production and gasdermin D processing. Our study assigned VX765 a novel role in antagonizing NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and activation. VX765 mitigates mitochondrial damage induced by activated NLRP3 inflammasome, as evidenced by decreased mitochondrial ROS production and cytosolic release of mitochondrial DNA. VX765 blunts caspase 1-dependent cleavage and promotes mitochondrial recruitment and phosphorylation of Parkin, a key mitophagy regulator. Functionally, VX765 facilitates mitophagy, efferocytosis and M2 polarization of macrophages. It also impedes foam cell formation, migration and pyroptosis of macrophages. VX765 boosts autophagy, promotes efferocytosis, and alleviates vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis in both ApoE −/− and Ldlr −/− mice. However, these effects of VX765 were abrogated upon ablation of Nlrp3 in ApoE −/− mice. This work provides mechanistic insights into NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and this inflammasome in dictating atherosclerosis. This study highlights that manipulation of caspase 1 paves a new avenue to treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

An eight-week feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacing fish meal with stickwater hydrolysate (SWH) or stickwater hydrolysate meal (SWM) on the growth, serum biochemical parameters, intestinal digestive enzyme activity, and muscle quality of yellow catfish (Tachysurus fulvidraco). The control diet (CON) contained 30% fish meal and the remaining five diets were substituted for fish meal with 2.5% (SWM2.5), 5% (SWM5) SWM, and 5% (SWH5), 10% (SWH10), and 15% (SWH15) SWH, respectively. The results showed that there were no significant differences in weight gain rate, feed conversion rate, survival rate, hepatosomatic index, and viscerosomatic index among the groups. The substitution of fish meal with SWH significantly augmented the serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels, whereas urea nitrogen content exhibited a reduction proportional to the replacement ratio. The incorporation of SWH led to a notable rise in glutamate-pyruvate transaminase activity, albeit with a gradual decline as the substitution ratio escalated. Relative to the CON group, the SWH5 group displayed a significant reduction in serum superoxide dismutase activity and a significant elevation in serum catalase activity. The substitution of fish meal with SWM yielded noticeable increments in the activities of complement 3, immunoglobulin M, and alkaline phosphatase. Neither SWH nor SWM exerted a substantial influence on intestinal amylase activity. Regarding muscle characteristics, neither SWH nor SWM showed a marked effect on hardness and springiness; however, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness properties exhibited enhancement as the proportion of fish meal replacement increased. In conclusion, within this experimental context, substituting fish meal with SWH and SWM did not adversely impact the growth and meat quality of yellow catfish. Specifically, replacing 15% fish meal with stickwater hydrolysate and 5% fish meal with stickwater hydrolysate meal contributed to an enhanced immune capacity in yellow catfish to a certain extent.

Droplet generators convert mechanical movements of droplets into small-scale electricity. Here, Tang et al. report a humidity-driven power generator by utilizing daily humidity fluctuation in atmosphere enabling continuous generation of electricity upon moisture absorption and desorption cycles.

The realization of optical nonlinear activation functions (NAFs) is essential for integrated optical neural networks (ONNs). Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a photonic method to implement reconfigurable and low-threshold all-optical NAFs based on a compact and high-Q add-drop microring resonator (MRR) on silicon. In the experiment, four different NAFs including softplus, radial basis, clamped ReLU, and sigmoid functions are realized by exploiting the thermo-optical (TO) effect of the MRR. The threshold to implement NAFs is as low as 0.08 mW. As a demonstration, a handwritten digit classification benchmark task is simulated based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) using the obtained activation functions, where an accuracy of 98% is realized. Thanks to the unique advantages of ultra-compact footprint and ultralow threshold, the proposed nonlinear unit is promising to be widely used in large-scale integrated ONNs.

A fully reconfigurable Fano resonator on a silicon photonic chip is reported. The Fano resonator is realized with the use of an add-drop micro-disk resonator (MDR) and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). The waveguides at the through and drop ports of the MDR connect to two spiral waveguide arms of the MZI directly. Two independent metallic micro-heaters are incorporated on top of the MDR and the lower arm of the MZI. Thanks to the resonant mode interference between the MDR and the MZI, the Fano resonance occurs. By thermal tuning the resonance coupling between the MDR and the MZI, the generated Fano resonance is fully tunable. In addition to the independent tunable slope rate (SR) and the resonance wavelength, the Fano resonance wavelength can shift while its line shape remains by simultaneously controlling the two micro-heaters. A chip is designed, fabricated and evaluated. The measurement results show that the static Fano resonance has a line shape with an extinction ratio (ER) of 17.1 dB and SR of −13.6 dB/nm. By simultaneously controlling the two micro-heaters, full reconfigurability of the Fano resonance is demonstrated. Thanks to its straightforward configuration, the proposed Fano resonator holds the key advantage in terms of ultra-compactness and fully reconfigurability, which offers a great potential for applications such as on-chip optical switching, modulation and microwave photonics applications.

Comment on “Yang Naimei – Life Practice of a Chinese ‘Flapper’ of Women’s Development in China”

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is currently the third most important food crop in the world. However, the production of potato is seriously threatened by salt stress, which often occurs in the facility cultivation environment, and the mining of salt tolerance genes in potato remains to be further studied. In this study, test-tube plantlets of DM potato were treated with 200-mM NaCl to simulate salt stress, and 15 cDNA libraries were constructed for RNA-seq analysis. A total of 8383 DEGs were identified, of which 3961 DEGs were shared among all the salt treatments, and 264 (7.15%) TF-coding genes were identified from these shared DEGs. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that most DEGs identified from the “arginine and proline metabolism” (ko00330) were enriched in the proline metabolic pathway, and their functions almost covered the whole proline metabolic process. Further analysis showed that expression levels of all the 13 structural DEGs in the pathway were significantly up-regulated and proline accumulation was also significantly increased under salt stress, and 13 TF-hub genes were discovered by WGCNA in the lightcyan and tan modules which were highly positively correlated with the proline contents. Correlation analysis revealed that the four TF-hub genes of the lightcyan module and seven structural DEGs of the proline metabolic pathway might be the potential candidate genes, especially the potential and novel regulatory gene StGLK014720. Furthermore, the dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed that the key protein StGLK014720 could activate the promoters of both structural genes StAST021010 and StAST017480. In conclusion, these results lay the foundation for further study on the salt tolerance mechanism of potato, and provide a theoretical basis and new genetic resources for salt tolerance breeding of potato.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a malignant tumor of the respiratory system with poor prognosis. Recent studies have revealed that N7-methylguanosine (m7G) methylation is a widespread modification occurring in RNA. But the expression of m7G methylation–related genes in LUAD and their correlations with prognosis are still unclear. In this study, we found 12 m7G methylation–related regulators with differential expression between LUAD and normal lung tissues. According to differentially expressed genes (DEGs), all LUAD cases were separated into two subtypes. The prognostic value of each m7G methylation–related gene for survival was evaluated to construct a multigene signature using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. Finally, an m7G methylation–related prognostic signature based on three genes was built to classify LUAD patients into two risk groups. Patients in the high-risk group showed significantly reduced overall survival (OS) when compared with patients in the low-risk group (p < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis confirmed the predictive capacity of the signature. The Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation analysis disclosed that chromosome homeostasis plays an important role in this process. The gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) implied that the immune status was decreased in the high-risk group. To sum up, m7G methylation–related genes play a vital role in tumor immunity and the related signature is a reliable predictor for LUAD prognosis.

Abstract Background We aim to identify the expression and analyze the molecular action of dysregulated lncRNA-miRNA mediated by XBP-1 in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods Here, we identified XBP-1-mediated dysregulated lncRNAs and miRNAs in CRC by bioinformatics analysis. The expression level of lncRNAs and miRNA was measured using quantitative real time PCR, and the expression of XBP-1, as well as apoptosis-related proteins, were detected by western blot. CCK-8 and TUNEL assays were performed to determine cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. Luciferase reporter assay was conducted to verify the binding relationship among lncRNA-miRNA-XBP-1. BALB/c nude mice were inoculated subcutaneously with HCT116 cells to establish tumor-bearing mice model. Histological analysis was carried out by HE staining and immunohistochemical staining. Results Six downregulated lncRNAs (SLFNL1-AS1, KCNQ1OT1, NEAT1, XIST, AC016876.2, AC026362.1), four dysregulated miRNAs (miR-500a-3p, miR-370-3p, miR-2467-3p, miR-512-3p) and upregulated XBP-1 were identified in CRC cell lines. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments showed that overexpression of KCNQ1OT1/XIST promoted cell proliferation and suppressed cell apoptosis. In addition, overexpression of KCNQ1OT1/XIST partly abolished the inhibitory effects of XBP-1u knockdown or tunicamycin, an activator of endoplasmic reticulum stress, on CRC cell viability loss and apoptosis. Furthermore, KCNQ1OT1/XIST aggravated tumor growth in vivo by regulating endoplasmic reticulum stress and cell apoptosis. Conclusions This study has constructed lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks based on XBP-1 in CRC, and disclosed the regulatory mechanism of action, providing a set of pivotal biomarkers for future molecular investigation and targeted treatment of CRC.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic progressive autoimmune disease. Despite the wide use of conventional synthetic, targeted and biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to control its radiological progress, nearly all DMARDs are immunologically non-selective and do not address the underlying immunological mechanisms of RA. Patients with RA often need to take various DMARDs long-term or even lifelong and thus, face increased risks of infection, tumor and other adverse reactions. It is logical to modulate the immune disorders and restore immune balance in patients with RA by restoring immune tolerance. Indeed, approaches based on stem cell transplantation, tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDCs), and antigen-based tolerogenic vaccination are under active investigation, and some have already transformed from wet bench research to clinical investigation during the last decade. Among them, clinical trials on stem cell therapy, especially mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation are most investigated and followed by tolDCs in RA patients. On the other hand, despite active laboratory investigations on the use of RA-specific peptide-/protein-based tolerogenic vaccines for T cell, clinical studies on RA patients are much limited. Overall, the preliminary results of these clinical studies are promising and encouraging, demonstrating their safety and effectiveness in the rebalancing of T cell subsets; particular, the recovery of RA-specific Treg with increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines and reduced proinflammatory cytokines. Future studies should focus on the optimization of transplanted stem cells, the preparation of tolDCs, and tolerogenic vaccines with RA-specific protein or peptide, including their dosage, course, and route of administration with well-coordinated multi-center randomized clinical control researches. With the progress of experimental and clinical studies, generating and restoring RA-specific immune tolerance may bring revolutionary changes to the clinical management of RA in the near future.

Peptide self-assembling materials have received significant attention from researchers in recent years, emerging as a popular field in biological, environmental, medical, and other new materials studies. In this study, we utilized controllable enzymatic hydrolysis technology (animal proteases) to obtain supramolecular peptide self-assembling materials (CAPs) from the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas). We conducted physicochemical analyses to explore the pro-healing mechanisms of CAPs on skin wounds in both in vitro and in vivo experiments through a topical application. The results demonstrated that CAPs exhibit a pH-responsive behavior for self-assembly and consist of peptides ranging from 550 to 2300 Da in molecular weight, with peptide chain lengths of mainly 11–16 amino acids. In vitro experiments indicated that CAPs display a procoagulant effect, free radical scavenging activity, and promote the proliferation of HaCaTs (112.74% and 127.61%). Moreover, our in vivo experiments demonstrated that CAPs possess the ability to mitigate inflammation, boost fibroblast proliferation, and promote revascularization, which accelerates the epithelialization process. Consequently, a balanced collagen I/III ratio in the repaired tissue and the promotion of hair follicle regeneration were observed. With these remarkable findings, CAPs can be regarded as a natural and secure treatment option with high efficacy for skin wound healing. The potential of CAPs to be further developed for traceless skin wound healing is an exciting area for future research and development.

Abstract Background To describe demographic and clinical factors associated with the presence and incidence of depression and explore the temporal relationship between depression and joint symptoms in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods Three hundred ninety-seven participants were selected from a randomized controlled trial in people with symptomatic knee OA and vitamin D deficiency (age 63.3 ± 7.1 year, 48.6% female). Depression severity and knee joint symptoms were assessed using the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), respectively, at baseline and 24 months. Results The presence and incidence of depression was 25.4 and 11.2%, respectively. At baseline, having younger age, a higher body mass index (BMI), greater scores of WOMAC pain (PR: 1.05, 95%CI:1.03, 1.07), dysfunction (PR: 1.02, 95%CI:1.01, 1.02) and stiffness (PR: 1.05, 95%CI: 1.02, 1.09), lower education level, having more than one comorbidity and having two or more painful body sites were significantly associated with a higher presence of depression. Over 24 months, being female, having a higher WOMAC pain (RR: 1.05, 95%CI: 1.02, 1.09) and dysfunction score (RR: 1.02, 95%CI: 1.01, 1.03) at baseline and having two or more painful sites were significantly associated with a higher incidence of depression. In contrast, baseline depression was not associated with changes in knee joint symptoms over 24 months. Conclusion Knee OA risk factors and joint symptoms, along with co-existing multi-site pain are associated with the presence and development of depression. This suggests that managing common OA risk factors and joint symptoms may be important for prevention and treatment depression in patients with knee OA. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01176344 . Anzctr.org.au identifier: ACTRN12610000495022 .

This study is devoted to proposing a useful intelligent prediction model to distinguish the severity of COVID-19, to provide a more fair and reasonable reference for assisting clinical diagnostic decision-making. Based on patients' necessary information, pre-existing diseases, symptoms, immune indexes, and complications, this article proposes a prediction model using the Harris hawks optimization (HHO) to optimize the Fuzzy K-nearest neighbor (FKNN), which is called HHO-FKNN. This model is utilized to distinguish the severity of COVID-19. In HHO-FKNN, the purpose of introducing HHO is to optimize the FKNN's optimal parameters and feature subsets simultaneously. Also, based on actual COVID-19 data, we conducted a comparative experiment between HHO-FKNN and several well-known machine learning algorithms, which result shows that not only the proposed HHO-FKNN can obtain better classification performance and higher stability on the four indexes but also screen out the key features that distinguish severe COVID-19 from mild COVID-19. Therefore, we can conclude that the proposed HHO-FKNN model is expected to become a useful tool for COVID-19 prediction.

BackgroundDisorders of consciousness (DOC) are a spectrum of pathologies affecting one’s ability to interact with the external world. At present, High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) is used in many patients with DOC as a non-invasive treatment, but electrophysiological research on the effect of HD-tDCS on patients with DOC is limited.ObjectivesTo explore how HD-tDCS affects the cerebral cortex and examine the possible electrophysiological mechanisms underlying the effects of HD-tDCS on the cerebral cortex.MethodsA total of 19 DOC patients were assigned to HD-tDCS stimulation. Each of them underwent 10 anodal HD-tDCS sessions of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) over 5 consecutive days. Coma Recovery Scale-Revision (CRS-R) scores were recorded to evaluate the consciousness level before and after HD-tDCS, while resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) recordings were obtained immediately before and after single and multiple HD-tDCS stimuli. Depending on whether the CRS-R score increased after stimulation, we classified the subjects into responsive (RE) and non-responsive (N-RE) groups and compared the differences in power spectral density (PSD) between the groups in different frequency bands and brain regions, and also examined the relationship between PSD values and CRS-R scores.ResultsFor the RE group, the PSD value of the parieto-occipital region increased significantly in the 6–8 Hz frequency band after multiple stimulations by HD-tDCS. After a single stimulation, an increase in PSD was observed at 10–13 and 13–30 Hz. In addition, for all subjects, a positive correlation was observed between the change in PSD value in the parieto-occipital region at 10–13 and 6–8 Hz frequency band and the change in CRS-R score after a single stimulation.ConclusionRepeated anodal HD-tDCS of the left DLPFC can improve clinical outcomes in patients with DOC, and HD-tDCS-related increased levels of consciousness were associated with increased parieto-occipital PSD.

ObjectiveThis study introduced self-concept and social support as research variables to establish a research mechanism, in order to encourage college students to participate in sports better, relieve or overcome depression.MethodsThe survey was conducted among 1,200 college students in Jiangxi, China. Serial mediation models were used to examine whether self-concept and social support mediated in the effect of physical exercise on depression.ResultsPhysical exercise significantly negatively predicted college depression. Moreover, Self-concept and social support mediate the relationship between physical exercise and depression in college students.ConclusionThis study reveals how physical exercise affects college students’ depression and its mechanism, and the results have certain enlightenment significance for maintaining and promoting college students’ physical and mental health.