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Abstract Feeding faba beans to freshwater fish could crisp its muscle texture to avoid softening. However, the dynamic crisping mechanism was unclear. Herein, a 120‐day feeding trial was conducted to systemically investigate the textural crisping mechanism of crisp grass carp (CGC) via molecular‐level, gene/protein expression analysis. In the early crisping stage (0–30 days), the total antioxidant capacity significantly decreased (by 16.79%), TUNEL staining and qRT‐PCR results revealed that apoptosis occurred, which was induced by oxidative stress validating by proteomics. Meanwhile, the content of dityrosine and hydroxylysyl pyridinoline rose, thereby substantially increasing the hardness and chewiness of CGC by 37.51% and 40.84%, respectively. With further crisping (30–90 days), Masson staining exhibited collagen gradually filling the gap between myofibrils, the content and cross‐linking degree of collagen further increased, finally elevating the hardness and chewiness of CGC. This study laid a theoretical foundation for producing and supplying aquatic raw materials with different texture characteristics.

Reactive ion etching (RIE) with fluorocarbon plasma is a facile method to tracelessly remove the subsurface damage layer of fused silica but has the drawback of unsatisfactory improvement in laser damage resistance due to the induction of secondary defects. This work proposes to incorporate O2 into the CHF3/Ar feedstock of RIE to suppress the formation of secondary defects during the etching process. Experimental results confirm that both the chemical structural defects, such as oxygen-deficient center (ODC) and non-bridging oxygen hole center (NBOHC) defects, and the impurity element defects, such as fluorine, are significantly reduced with this method. Laser-induced damage resistance is consequently greatly improved, with the 0% probability damage threshold increasing by 121% compared to the originally polished sample and by 41% compared to the sample treated with conventional RIE.

Abstract Background The study aimed to investigate the relationship between changes in corneal epithelial thickness and the outcome of myopic regression after femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) and transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (TPRK). Methods This study included 45 eyes of 25 patients undergoing FS-LASIK and 44 eyes of 24 patients undergoing TPRK. Myopic regression occurred in these patients postoperatively from 8 to 21 months. The corneal epithelial thickness was measured using a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography at the onset of regression, 3 months after treatment, and 3 months after drug withdrawal. Results Compared with that of preoperation, corneal epithelial thickness increased when regression occurred in both groups (all P < 0.05). The thickness of central corneal epithelium in FS-LASIK and TPRK groups reached 65.02 ± 4.12 µm and 61.63 ± 2.91 µm, respectively. The corneal epithelial thickness decreased when myopic regression subsided after 3 months of steroid treatment compared to the onset (P < 0.05). With a decrease in corneal epithelial thickness, the curvature of the anterior corneal surface, central corneal thickness, and refractive power all decreased (all P < 0.05). The corneal epithelial thickness and refractive error remained relatively stable after 3 months of treatment withdrawal (P > 0.05). Conclusion The corneal epithelial thickness determined the outcome of myopic regression similarly in FS-LASIK and TPRK. When the corneal epithelium thickened, regression occurred. After steroid treatment, epithelial thickness decreased whereas regression subsided.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) refers to the aging and degenerative diseases of intervertebral disc components such as nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus, and cartilage endplate, and is the main cause of chronic low back pain. Over the past few years, many researchers around the world concerned that the degeneration of nucleus pulposus (NP) cells plays the main role in IVDD. The degeneration of NP cells is caused by a series of pathological processes, including oxidative stress, inflammatory response, apoptosis, abnormal proliferation, and autophagy. Interestingly, many studies have found a close relationship between the senescence of NP cells and the progression of NP degeneration. The classical aging pathways also have been confirmed to be involved in the pathological process of IVDD. Moreover, several anti-aging drugs have been used to treat IVDD by inhibiting NP cells senescence, such as proanthocyanidins, resveratrol and bone morphogenetic protein 2. Therefore, this article will systematically list and discuss aging, cell senescence, the pathogenesis and targeted therapies of IVDD, in order to provide new ideas for the treatment of IVDD in the future.

Abstract Autophagy has been demonstrated to play important roles in the infection and pathogenesis of many viruses. We previously found that porcine parvovirus (PPV) infection can induce autophagy in porcine placental trophoblast cells (PTCs), but its underlying mechanism has not yet been fully revealed. In this study, we showed that PPV infection inhibited the activation of mTORC1 and promoted the expression of Beclin 1 and LC3II in PTCs. Treatment with a mTOR activator inhibited the expression of Beclin 1 and LC3II, as well as autophagy formation, and reduced viral replication in PPV-infected PTCs. Furthermore, we found that inhibition of AMPK expression, but not the inhibition of PI3K/Akt, p53, or MAPK/ERK1/2 pathway activation, can significantly increase mTOR phosphorylation in PPV-infected PTCs. Then, we found that the regulation of mTOR phosphorylation by AMPK was mediated by Raptor. AMPK expression knockout inhibited the activation of Raptor, decreased the expression of Beclin 1 and LC3II, suppressed the formation of autophagosomes, and reduced viral replication during PPV infection. Together, our results showed that PPV infection induces autophagy to promote viral replication by inhibiting the activation of mTORC1 through activation of the AMPK/Raptor pathway. These findings provide information to understand the molecular mechanisms of PPV-induced autophagy.

Tourism destinations are the important research objects of tourism geography. And destination songs, as a media of tourism destination image, play a very important role in it. Based on the SOR model, this study constructs a theoretical relationship between destination song perception and tourism intention. A total of 317 valid questionnaires were collected from potential tourists through the Internet and SPSS v.26.0 and AMOS v.24.0 were used for data processing to verify these theories. The study found that destination song perception has a positive effect on travel intention, emotion induced, and destination image perception; Emotion induced has a positive effect on destination image perception and travel intention; Destination image perception has a positive effect on travel intention. Emotion induced and destination image play a mediating role individually and play a chain mediating role together in the effect of destination song perception on travel intention, and there is no significant difference between different mediating effects. This study attempts to explain the influence of destination songs on the travel intentions of potential tourists, and might be used for tourism destination marketing, especially in creation, promotion and management of destination songs.

AIM: To compare the efficacy between two different silicone hydrogel bandage contact lenses after transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (T-PRK). METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, a total of 89 patients (178 eyes) who underwent T-PRK at the Qingdao Eye Hospital from October to December 2019 were selected. One random eye wore a Senofilcon A bandage contact lens after surgery, and the other eye a Balafilcon A bandage contact lens. Pain scores, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), spherical equivalent (SE), corneal epithelial healing status, epithelial thickness, bandage lenses deposits, lenses movement, and ocular surface conditions were measured and compared. RESULTS: There were no differences between the two groups in UCVA, SE, corneal epithelial healing status, corneal epithelial thickness, tear river heights and tear film rupture time at each follow-up visit. However, postoperative pain scores in the Senofilcon A group were significantly lower than those of the Balafilcon A group (Fintergroups=67.833, P

Drought causes significant losses in vegetation net primary productivity (NPP). However, the lack of real-time, large-scale NPP data poses challenges in analyzing the relationship between drought and NPP. Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) offers a real-time approach to monitoring drought-induced NPP dynamics. Using two drought events in the Huang–Huai–Hai Plain from 2010 to 2020 as examples, we propose a new SIF/NPP ratio index to quantify and evaluate SIF’s capability in monitoring drought-induced NPP dynamics. The findings reveal distinct seasonal changes in the SIF/NPP ratio across different drought events, intensities, and time scales. SIF demonstrates high sensitivity to commonly used vegetation greenness parameters for NPP estimation (R2 > 0.8, p < 0.01 for SIF vs NDVI and SIF vs LAI), as well as moderate sensitivity to land surface temperature (LST) and a fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR) (R2 > 0.5, p < 0.01 for SIF vs FAPAR and R2 > 0.6, p < 0.01 for SIF vs LST). However, SIF shows limited sensitivity to precipitation (PRE). Our study suggests that SIF has potential for monitoring drought-induced NPP dynamics, offering a new approach for real-time monitoring and enhancing understanding of the drought–vegetation productivity relationship.

Abstract Porcine Parvovirus (PPV), a pathogen causing porcine reproductive disorders, encodes two capsid proteins (VP1 and VP2) and three nonstructural proteins (NS1, NS2 and SAT) in infected cells. The PPV NS2 mRNA is from NS1 mRNA after alternative splicing, yet the corresponding mechanism is unclear. In this study, we identified a PPV NS1 mRNA binding protein SYNCRIP, which belongs to the hnRNP family and has been identified to be involved in host pre-mRNA splicing by RNA-pulldown and mass spectrometry approaches. SYNCRIP was found to be significantly up-regulated by PPV infection in vivo and in vitro. We confirmed that it directly interacts with PPV NS1 mRNA and is co-localized at the cytoplasm in PPV-infected cells. Overexpression of SYNCRIP significantly reduced the NS1 mRNA and protein levels, whereas deletion of SYNCRIP significantly reduced NS2 mRNA and protein levels and the ratio of NS2 to NS1, and further impaired replication of the PPV. Furthermore, we found that SYNCRIP was able to bind the 3′-terminal site of NS1 mRNA to promote the cleavage of NS1 mRNA into NS2 mRNA. Taken together, the results presented here demonstrate that SYNCRIP is a critical molecule in the alternative splicing process of PPV mRNA, while revealing a novel function for this protein and providing a potential target of antiviral intervention for the control of porcine parvovirus disease.

Summary Ethyl‐N‐dodecanoyl‐l‐arginate hydrochloride (LAE, ethyl lauroyl arginate HCl) is a cationic surfactant used as a food preservative with broad‐spectrum antibacterial activities. However, its resistance development, influences on gut microbiome and molecular target are unclear. In this study, bacteria were stimulated by LAE for 30 days to test the bacterial resistance. Several infected animal models were used to evaluate the antibacterial effect of LAE in vivo. Mice were orally treated with LAE to test its effect on animal growth. The influence of LAE on mice gut microbiome was analysed by 16S rDNA sequencing. The results indicated that Escherichia coli did not develop resistance to LAE. LAE significantly combats bacterial infection in mice, ducklings and piglets. Moreover, LAE promotes mouse weight gain without changing body composition or reducing animal vitality, and induces lower hepatotoxicity than ampicillin. In the mouse gut microbiome assessment and characterization, LAE modifies host gut microbiota structure. Mechanistically, LAE specifically binds to acidic phospholipids including phosphatidylserine, depolarizes the membrane and disrupts the bacterial membrane followed by bacterial growth inhibition. This study investigates the molecular mechanism of LAE as well as its antibacterial functions in poultry and livestock. Our data suggest LAE is a potential antibacterial agent in animal health.

We studied the laser-induced thermal damage on the surface of a single crystal silicon mirror illuminated by a mid-infrared intense laser. We used mid−infrared quasi-continuous wave lasers to irradiate the surface of the single−crystal silicon mirror. The power density of the irradiation process is 1 kW/cm2 to 17 kW/cm2, and the transient temperature field and thermal stress field under different laser fluxes were obtained. The simulation results show that we can calculate the thermal stress and temperature under laser irradiation. In addition, irradiance exceeding the corresponding breaking strength and melting point limit was obtained by the model. We can predict the irradiance that causes cracking and melting. There is little difference between experimental results and simulation results. On this basis, the thermal damage to the surface of the silicon wafer caused by continuous mid−infrared laser irradiation was studied.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a common aggressive disease worldwide which usually progresses into incurable castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in most cases after 18–24 months treatment. Androgen receptor (AR) has been considered as a crucial factor involved in CRPC and the study of AR as a potential therapeutic target in CRPC may be helpful in disease control and life-cycle management. In this study, we identified a potent small molecule compound, HG122, that suppressed CRPC cells proliferation and metastasis, and inhibited tumor growth both in subcutaneous and orthotopic tumor model. In addition, HG122 reduced the mRNA expression of PSA and TMPRSS2 which are target genes of AR, resulting in cell growth inhibition and metastasis suppression of CRPC, without affecting the expression of AR mRNA level. Mechanically, HG122 promoted AR protein degradation through the proteasome pathway impairing the AR signaling pathway. In conclusion, HG122 overcomes enzalutamide (ENZ) resistance in CRPC both in vitro and in vivo, thus suggesting HG122 is a potential candidate for the clinical prevention and treatment of CRPC.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to assess the impact of cataract progression using the Haigis formula-calculated intraocular lens (IOL) power and investigate the accuracy of IOL power measured at different time points.MethodsThis prospective study was performed on 75 eyes of 75 patients who underwent uneventful cataract surgery. Preoperative ocular parameters including axial length (AL), keratometry (K), anterior chamber depth (ACD), corneal astigmatism, corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) and uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) examined at the two time points, more than 3 months preoperatively and preoperative 1 day were compared. The ocular parameters measured in the two time points were used to calculate the predicted implanted IOL power and the actual IOL power was chosen on the basis of parameters measured earlier before surgery using the Haigis formula. The mean numerical error (MNE) and mean absolute error (MAE) predicted by the two time points were also compared.ResultsThere were significant differences in the ACD, IOL power, UDVA and CDVA (P0.05) during the average of 5.6 months before surgery. No statistically significant difference was detected in MNE (P>0.05), while the MAE had a significant difference in the two time points (PConclusionThe IOL power measured earlier before surgery might result in a higher accuracy and the postoperative refractive outcome tended towards emmetropia.

Despite aggressive treatment approaches, muscle-invasive bladder urothelial carcinoma (MIBC) patients still have a 50% chance of developing general incurable metastases. Therefore, there is an urgent need for candidate markers to enhance diagnosis and generate effective treatments for this disease. We evaluated four mRNA microarray datasets to find differences between non-MIBC (NMIBC) and MIBC tissues. Through a gene expression profile analysis via the Gene Expression Omnibus database, we identified 56 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Enrichment analysis of gene ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and Reactome pathways revealed the interactions between these DEGs. Next, we established a protein-protein interaction network to determine the interrelationship between the DEGs and selected 10 hub genes accordingly. Bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) patients with COL1A2 , COL5A1 , and COL5A2 alterations showed poor disease-free survival rates, while BLCA patients with COL1A1 and LUM alterations showed poor overall survival rates. Oncomine analysis of MIBC versus NMIBC tissues showed that COL1A1 , COL5A2 , COL1A2 , and COL3A1 were consistently among the top 20 overexpressed genes in different studies. Using the TCGAportal, we noted that the high expression of each of the four genes led to shorter BLCA patient overall survival. It was evident that BLCA patients with an elevated high combined gene expression had significantly shorter overall survival and relapse-free survival than those with low combined gene expression using PROGgeneV2. Using Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis, we noted that COL1A1 , COL1A2 , COL3A1 , and COL5A2 were positively correlated with each other in BLCA. These genes are considered as clinically relevant genes, suggesting that they may play an important role in the carcinogenesis, development, invasion, and metastasis of MIBC. However, considering we adopted a bioinformatic approach, more research is crucial to confirm our results. Nonetheless, our findings may have important prospective clinical implementations.

Photothermal weak absorption is useful for the diagnosis of absorbing defects on the surface of fused silica optics in high-power lasers. However, how they relate to the laser-induced damage performance remains unclear, especially for a fused silica surface that has been post-treated with different processes (e.g., dynamic chemical etching or magnetorheological finishing). Here, we present a correlation study on the surface defect absorption level and laser-induced damage performance of fused silica optics post-treated with different processes using the photothermal common-path interferometer method. Statistical distribution of the absorbing defects at various absorption levels is obtained. The relationship between the defect density and the laser damage performance was analyzed. We show that the surface absorbing defects of fused silica can be affected by the post-treatment type and material removal amount. Furthermore, we show that the density of the defects with the absorption over 2 ppm is strongly correlated with the damage initiation threshold and damage density. Especially, for high-density defects at this absorption level, the damage density of fused silica optics can be well-predicted. In the low-density range, the density of this kind of defect can reflect the zero-probability damage threshold well. The study exhibits the potential of this methodology to non-destructively detect the key absorbing defects on fused silica surfaces as well as evaluate and optimize the post-treatment level of fused silica optics for high-power laser applications.

Abstract Background Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among children is an increasing public health concern. The identification of behavioral risk factors, including sleep quality, has important public health implications for prioritizing behavioral intervention strategies for ADHD. Herein, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of high levels of ADHD symptoms and to explore the association between sleep schedules, sleep-related problems and ADHD symptoms among preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years in mainland China. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted, comprising a large sample of 15,291 preschoolers in Ma’anshan city of Anhui Province in China. ADHD symptoms were assessed by the 10-item Chinese version of the Conners Abbreviated Symptom Questionnaire (C-ASQ). Sleep-related variables included caregivers’ responses to specific questions addressing children’s daytime and nighttime sleep schedules, as well as sleep-related behaviors. Data on other factors were also collected, such as socio-demographic characteristics, TV viewing duration on weekdays and weekends, and outdoor activities. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationships between sleep schedules, sleep-related problems and ADHD symptoms. Results Approximately 8.6% of the total sample of preschoolers had high levels of ADHD symptoms, with boys having higher levels than girls (9.9% vs. 7.2%). In the logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for TV viewing duration, outdoor activities, and socio-demographic characteristics, delayed bedtime was significantly associated with a risk of high levels of ADHD symptoms, with odds ratios (OR) of 2.50 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.09 ~ 3.00] and 2.04 (95% CI: 1.72 ~ 2.42) for weekdays and weekends, respectively. Longer time falling asleep (≥ 31 min) (OR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.47 ~ 2.11), no naps (OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.34 ~ 1.84) and frequent sleep-related problems (OR = 4.57, 95% CI: 3.86 ~ 5.41) were also significantly associated with an increased risk of high levels of ADHD symptoms, while longer sleep duration (> 8.5 h) was associated with a decreased risk of high levels of ADHD symptoms (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.67~ 0.87). Conclusions ADHD symptoms are prevalent in preschoolers in Ma’anshan region, China. Undesirable sleep schedules and sleep-related problems among preschoolers confer a risk of ADHD symptoms, highlighting the finding that beneficial and regular sleep habits potentially attenuate ADHD symptoms among preschoolers.

The damage behavior of fused silica optics induced by stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) was studied theoretically and experimentally based on a coupled-wave theory. The SBS-induced damage mechanism was systematically investigated by analyzing the evolutions of the Stokes-light intensity and induced stress as a function of laser pulse shape, thickness, and surface reflectance of the optics. The results show that the SBS-induced damage often occurs on the front surface of the fused silica optics. The Tophat beam has the most effect on an SBS-induced damage, followed by a focused Gaussian pulse. SBS effect is strongly thickness dependent, which is associated with the gain length. The SBS-induced damage can be efficiently suppressed by decreasing the surface reflection of the optics. Good agreements are obtained between the experimental and theoretical results, which strengthen our understanding of the damage mechanism of fused silica and provide a favorable reference for developing high-power laser systems.

Ammonia-N is toxic to many aquatic animals and serves as a key stress factor in aquatic environments. The effects of ammonia-N stress on the immune response of darkbarbel catfish Pelteobagrus vachellii were investigated in this study. Changes in overall histology, and in the expression of complement C3 and immunoglobulin M (IgM) in spleen and head kidney, and lysozyme and C3 in serum, were measured in 1 and 5 mg/L ammonia-N. Hyperemia, melano-macrophage assembly and loose splenosis were evident in spleen tissue. Both lysozyme and component C3 were significantly reduced in serum (P 0.05). IgM expression also increased significantly at 6–12 h in spleen and 6–24 h in head kidney after the 1 mg/L treatment (P

The objective of this study was to clone the full-length cDNA of Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) in Botia reevesae and to determine the effects of pathogenic bacterial challenge after acute sublethal ammonia exposure on HSP90β expression. The HSP90β cDNA of B. reevesae contained 2358 bp, including a 1947 bp open reading frame, a 36 bp 5′-untranslated region (UTR), a 375 bp 3′-UTR. Sequence comparisons indicated that the predicted amino acid sequence of B. reevesae HSP90 showed a high degree of similarity with other known HSP90β genes, and contained five HSP superfamily signatures, thus suggesting that B. reevesae HSP90β is a cytosolic member of the HSP90 family. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that HSP90 transcripts could be detected in all of the tissues tested, and was strongly expressed in liver, gill and kidney tissues (p

c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) are members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family that have important roles in signal transduction. The small molecule SP600125 is widely used in biochemical studies as a JNK inhibitor. However, recent studies indicate that SP600125 may also act independent of JNK. Here, we report that SP600125 can induce Src, type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-IR), Akt and Erk1/2 phosphorylation. Notably, these effects are independent of its inhibition of JNK. Inhibition of Src abrogates the stimulation of IGF-IR, Akt and Erk1/2 phosphorylation. IGF-IR knockdown blunts the induction of both Akt and Erk1/2 phosphorylation by SP600125. Moreover, combination of SP600125 and the Src inhibitor saracatinib synergistically inhibits cell proliferation. We conclude that SP600125 can activate Src-IGF-IR-Akt/Erk1/2 signaling pathways independent of JNK.

The simple yet efficient and versatile fabrication of colloidal crystals was investigated based on the solidification-induced colloidal crystallization process with particle/water suspension as precursor. The resulting colloidal crystals were constituted by crystal grains with sizes ranging from several tens of micrometers to a few millimeters. Each of the grains had a close-hexagonal array of colloids, which endowed the bulk colloidal crystal powders with some specific optical properties. The freezing of water was shown as the major driving force to form colloidal crystal grains, which supersaturated the solution with nanoparticles and thus induced the formation and growth of colloidal crystal seeds. This process is intrinsically different from those conventional methods based on shearing force, surface tension, columbic interaction or magnetic interaction, revealing a new strategy to fabricate colloidal crystals in a convenient and efficient way.

Suppression of Fresnel reflection from diffraction grating surfaces is very important for many optical configurations. In this work, we propose a simple method to fabricate subwavelength structures on fused-silica transmission grating for optical antireflection. The fabrication is a one-step self-masking reaction ion etching (RIE) process without using any masks. According to effective medium theory, random cone-shaped nanopillars which are integrated on the grating surface can act as an antireflective layer. Effects of the nanostructures on the reflection and transmission properties of the grating were investigated through experiments and simulations. The nanostructure surface exhibited excellent antireflection performance, where the reflection of the grating surface was suppressed to zero over a wide range of incident angles. Results also revealed that the etching process can change the duty cycle of the grating, and thus the diffraction orders if there are oblique lateral walls. The simulation results were in good agreement with the experimental ones, which verified our physical comprehension and the corresponding numerical model. The proposed method would offer a low-cost and convenient way to improve the antireflective performance of transmission-diffractive elements.

The reactive ion etching (RIE) process of fused silica is often accompanied by surface contamination, which seriously degrades the ultraviolet laser damage performance of the optics. In this study, we find that the contamination behavior on the fused silica surface is very sensitive to the RIE process which can be significantly optimized by changing the plasma generating conditions such as discharge mode, etchant gas and electrode material. Additionally, an optimized RIE process is proposed to thoroughly remove polishing-introduced contamination and efficiently prevent the introduction of other contamination during the etching process. The research demonstrates the feasibility of improving the damage performance of fused silica optics by using the RIE technique.