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Abstract The rising concentration of greenhouse gases, especially methane and carbon dioxide, is driving global temperature increases and exacerbating the climate crisis. Monitoring these gases requires detectors that operate in the extended short-wavelength infrared range (~2.4 µm), covering methane (1.65 µm) and carbon dioxide (2.05 µm) wavelengths. Here, we present a high-performance linear mode avalanche photodetector (APD) with an InGaAs/GaAsSb type-II superlattice absorber and an AlGaAsSb multiplier, matched to InP substrates. This APD achieves a room temperature gain of 178, an external quantum efficiency of 3560% at 2 µm, low excess noise (less than 2 at gains below 20), and a small temperature coefficient of breakdown (7.58 mV/K·µm). These results indicate that a manufacturable semiconductor material-based APD could significantly advance high-sensitivity receivers for greenhouse gas monitoring, potentially enabling their commercial production and widespread use.

This review delves into the increasing interest in probiotics and paraprobiotics as a viable alternative to antibiotics in aquaculture, highlighting their potential to enhance fish health and prevent diseases. As the aquaculture industry continues its global expansion, addressing the challenges associated with disease outbreaks in high-density fish populations becomes imperative. The review underscores the promising role of probiotics and paraprobiotics as a sustainable strategy to mitigate these challenges. The diverse positive impacts of various probiotic strains such as Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Clostridium, and others emphasize their roles in enhancing growth, resistance to diseases (including bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections), stress reduction, water quality management, and environmental sustainability. Challenges such as stability, host specificity, and regulatory considerations must be addressed to optimize the use of probiotics in aquaculture. Additionally, paraprobiotics, or non-viable microbial cells, present a safer alternative to the criticized antibiotics and even live probiotics in environments where microbial viability poses a risk. These inactivated cells retain the ability to modulate the immune system and improve gut health, offering a promising complementary approach to fish disease prevention. The review advocates for a systematic approach combining research, innovation, and collaboration to effectively integrate probiotics and paraprobiotics into fish farming practices. Furthermore, the mechanisms by which probiotics and paraprobiotics modulate gut microbiota, produce antimicrobial compounds, and strengthen fish’s immune system have been elucidated. Moreover, the practical applications of probiotics in fish farming, including optimal administration methods and the challenges and limitations faced by the industry, have been discussed. Emphasis on the importance of continued research to explore new probiotic and paraprobiotic strains and develop innovative delivery systems to ensure the sustainability of aquaculture has been discussed. By enhancing fish health, reducing the need for antibiotics, and improving water quality, probiotics, and paraprobiotics contribute to more sustainable and environmentally responsible aquaculture operations.

SUMMARY: This study aimed to investigate the impact of Artemisia argyi alcohol extract (AAAE) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced oxidative stress in broilers, providing a theoretical basis for AAAE as a feed additive. The experiment utilized a 2 × 2 factorial randomized complete block design with 2 levels of AAAE supplementation (0 and 750 mg/kg of base diet) and 2 levels of LPS challenge (0 and 750 μg/kg body weight [BW]). The experimental period spanned 42 d, divided into 3 phases: phase 1 (d 1–14; adaptation period), phase 2 (d 15–28; challenged with 750 mg /kg BW LPS or saline on d 15, 17, 19, and 21, followed by a 7-d recovery period), and phase 3 (d 29–42; challenged with 750 μg/kg BW LPS or saline on d 29, 31, 33, and 35, with another 7-d recovery period). The addition of AAAE in feed significantly alleviated the reduction in ADG, the apparent metabolic rate of nutrients (DM, CP, Ca) induced by LPS in broiler chickens, improving serum and small intestine antioxidant enzyme activities. Additionally, the supplementation of AAAE significantly upregulated the expression levels of liver Nrf2, CAT mRNA, and duodenum Nrf2 mRNA. In conclusion, supplementation of AAAE in the diet alleviated the oxidative damage in liver and duodenum of broilers induced by LPS through the activation of the Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway, leading to increased secretion of downstream antioxidant enzymes.

Glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) is a potential byproduct of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and a major contributor to the passive soil organic carbon (SOC) pool. Despite its crucial role in SOC storage, we know little about the response of GRSP to anthropogenic global change factors (GCFs). Here, using 530 observations from 107 primary studies, we conducted a global meta-analysis to unravel the effects of multiple GCFs (climate change, plant invasion (PI), wildfire, urbanization, land-use change (LUC), and nutrient addition (nitrogen; N, phosphorus; P, and potassium; K) on two functional GRSP fractions (easily extractable- (EE-) and total- (T-) GRSPs) in terrestrial ecosystems. We found that elevated carbon-dioxide increased T-GRSP by 28%, combined NP addition by 39.9%, and NPK addition by 29.5%. Climate warming and alone N addition increased EE-GRSP solely by 2.4% and 13.6%, respectively, but did not influence T-GRSP. However, urbanization and drought decreased T-GRSP by 26% and 15%, respectively. The LUC from natural ecosystems to cropland decreased T-GRSP by 40%, while afforestation in croplands increased it by 32%. Other GCFs (PI, wildfire, and P) had non-significant effects on GRSP probably because of (i) minor changes in AMF activity and (ii) the counterbalancing of effects by opposite processes. GCF impacts were robust when applied at higher intensities for medium-to-long durations (3–10＋ years) in humid conditions and clay-rich soils. The sandy soils experienced greater T-GRSP losses during LUC. Increases in T-GRSP were positively correlated with AMF-root colonization, soil mean-weight diameter, and SOC content. Further, our structure equation model confirmed that GCFs directly influence SOC by altering AMF-GRSP production and indirectly affecting soil aggregate formation and protection, suggesting that optimizing GRSP production can enhance SOC sequestration.

High-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission is a crucial way to solve the reverse distribution of clean energy and loads. The line commutated converter-based HVDC (LCC-HVDC) has become a vital structure for HVDC due to its high technological maturity and economic advantages. During the DC fault of LCC-HVDC, such as commutation failure, the reactive power regulation of the AC grid always lags the DC control process, causing overvoltage in the AC sending grid, which brings off-grid risk to the wind power generation based on power electronic devices. Nevertheless, considering that wind turbine generators have fast and flexible reactive power control capability, optimizing the reactive power control of wind turbines to participate in the transient overvoltage suppression of the sending grid not only improves the operational safety at the equipment level but also enhances the voltage stability of the system. This paper firstly analyses the impact of wind turbine's reactive power on AC transient overvoltage. Then, it proposes an improved voltage-reactive power control strategy, which contains a reactive power control delay compensation and a power command optimization based on the voltage time series prediction. The delay compensation is used to reduce the contribution of the untimely reactive power of wind turbines on transient overvoltage, and the power command optimization enables wind turbines to have the ability to regulate transient overvoltage, leading to the variation of AC voltage, thus suppressing the transient overvoltage. Finally, the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method are verified in a ±800kV/5000MW LCC-HVDC sending grid model based on MATLAB/Simulink.

Feature selection (FS) is a promising pre-processing step before performing most data engineering tasks. The goal of it is to select the optimal feature subset with promising quality from the original high-dimension feature space. The Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA) has been widely used as the optimizer for FS problems. However, with the increase of dimensionality of original feature sets, the FS problems propose significant challenges for SSA. To solve these issues that SSA is easy to fall into local optimum and have poor convergence performance, we propose a multi-swarm SSA (MSSA) to solve the FS problem. In MSSA, the salp swarm was divided into three sub-swarms, the followers updated their positions according to the optimal leader of the corresponding sub-swarm. The design of multi-swarm and multi-exemplar were beneficial to maintain the swarm diversity. Moreover, the updating models of leaders and followers were modified. The salps learn from their personal historical best positions, which significantly improves the exploration ability of the swarm. In addition, an adaptive perturbation strategy (APS) was proposed to improve the exploitation ability of MSSA. When the swarm stagnates, APS will perform the opposition-based learning with the lens imaging principle and the simulated binary crossover strategy to search for promising solutions. We evaluated the performance of MSSA by comparing it with 14 representative swarm intelligence algorithms on 10 well-known UCI datasets. The experimental results showed that the MSSA can obtain higher convergence accuracy with a smaller feature subset.

The present study investigated the effects of water extracts of Artemisia annua L. (WEAA) on rumen immune and antioxidative indexes, fermentation parameters and microbial diversity in lambs. A total of 32 3-month-old Dorper × Han female lambs having comparable body weights (24±0.09 kg) were selected and were randomly assigned to four treatments, with eight repetitions for each treatment. The basal diet, consisting of 45% concentrate and 55% forage, was solely provided to the control group. For the other treatment groups, the basal diet was supplemented with WEAA at dosages of 500, 1000, and 1500 mg/kg diet, respectively. Rumen tissue samples were collected for the analysis of immune and antioxidative parameters, as well as related gene expression. Rumen fluid samples were collected to assess rumen fermentation parameters on days 30 and 60 and to evaluate the microbiota on day 60. Results showed that WEAA supplementation linearly or quadratically increased the content of sIgA, IL-4, IL-2 and the gene expression level of MyD88, IκB-α, IL-4, COX-2, iNOS in rumen tissue (p < 0.05), as well as the bacteria negatively associated with IL-6 (g_ [Eubacterium]_cellulosolvens_group). Furthermore, the addition of WEAA linearly or quadratically increased rumen T-SOD, GSH-Px (p < 0.05) and the gene expression level of Nrf2, SOD2, GSH-Px, HO-1 (p < 0.05), and decreased the rumen concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and gene expression level of Keap1 (p < 0.05), as well as the bacteria positively associated with T-AOC, T-SOD and GSH-Px (g_Lachnospiraceae_NK3A20_group, g_Saccharofermentans, g__Marvinbryantia, g_unclassified_f_Eggerthellaceae). The supplementation of WEAA caused the concentration of microprotein (MCP), total volatile fatty acids (TVFA), propionate to increase either linearly or quadratically, while reducing the concentration of NH3-N and the acetate/propionate ratio (A:P) in rumen fluid (p < 0.05). The addition of WEAA linearly or quadratically increased the abundance of Actinobacteriota, Cyanobacteria and Lachnospiraceae_NK3A20_group (p < 0.10), and g__Lachnospiraceae_NK3A20_group, g_Saccharofermentans, g_Marvinbryantia, g_Bifidobacterium were significantly abundant as specific microflora in the 1000 mg/kg WEAA supplementation group. In conclusion, dietary inclusion of 1000 mg/kg WEAA improved the rumen immune function, antioxidant status, rumen fermentation, and composition of rumen microbes in lambs.

Smaller Kapitza resistance is known to be the most crucial factor responsible for the larger thermal conductivity of nanofluids. But what the underlying mechanism is remains ambiguous. Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations were performed in the present work to examine the effect of ionic addition on the Kapitza resistance of Cu-water nanofluids. The temperature profile indicates that the concentration and type of the additive slightly affects the thickness of the interfacial layer, but the temperature drops significantly. For concentrations of 1 M, the interfacial thermal conductance (ITC, the reciprocal of the Kapitza resistance) of Cu-water with NaCl, NaOH and HCl increases by 48.1 %, 29.2 % and 22.6 % respectively, compared to that without additives. The greatest ITC improvement of 123.7 % can be achieved by adding 3 M NaCl. The density profiles of Cu-water nanofluids with various additives suggest that the changes in the interfacial structure are primarily due to the positions of the added cations and anions. It is important to note, however, that the ITC is closely related to the orderliness of the interfacial layer and the matching of the phonon density of states, since the addition of NaCl can increase the PDOS at lower frequencies 1–5 THz, where that for the Cu nanoparticle appears. The findings provide a practical approach to tailor the thermal conductivity of nanofluids by the addition of appropriate ions.

Today’s increasing demand for aquaculture production is accompanied by various challenges such as diseases, broodstock improvement, domestication, development of suitable pellets and feeding methods, hatchery technology, and water quality management. Thus, probiotic usage has been reported as the ideal alternative to antibiotics, other chemotherapeutics, and additional supplements to other alternative ingredients. The main beneficial roles of probiotics include the enhancement of disease and stress resistance, immunity, promotion of growth and reproduction, improvement of digestion, provide several nutrients, and enhancement of water microbial composition. To guarantee safety, the probiotics provided must be non-invasive and non-pathogenic. The use of probiotics in aquaculture, either directly or in combination with alternative materials such as plant protein diets, vitamins, microalgae, fermented products, and so on, has been shown to improve the health and growth of aquatic animals and offer significant benefits to the sustainability of the industry. There is advocacy for a systematic approach to conducting innovative research to unearth new putative strains, which is substantial in ensuring sustainable probiotic usage and, thus, can help in the continuous development of the aquaculture industry especially in China. Some examples of the probiotics found in China are mainly photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) which are autotroph bacteria capable of photosynthesis, antagonistic bacteria (Pseudoalteromonas sp., Flavobacterium sp., Alteromonas sp., Phaeobacter sp., Bacillus sp., etc.), bacteria that contribute nutrients and enzymes during digestion (lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, etc.), bacteria that improve water quality (nitrifying bacteria, denitrifying bacteria, etc.), Bdellovibrio, and other probiotics. This review also focuses on the potential use of probiotics in aquaculture, especially in China, and probiotics’ prospective future role.

Abstract Novel antimicrobial strategies are urgently needed to treat extensively drug‐resistant (XDR) bacterial infections due to the high mortality rate and lack of effective therapeutic agents. Herein, nanoengineered human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC‐MSCs), named PMZMU, are designed as a sonosensitizer for synergistic sonodynamic‐nano‐antimicrobial therapy against gram‐negative XDR bacteria. PMZMU is composed of a bacterial targeting peptide (UBI29‐41) modified hUC‐MSCs membrane (MSCm), a sonosensitizer meso‐tetra(4‐car‐boxyphenyl) porphine doped mesoporous organo‐silica nanoparticle and an acidity‐responsive metal–organic framework ZIF‐8. This innovative formulation enables efficient loading of polymyxin B, reduces off‐target drug release, increases circulation and targeting efficacy, and generates reactive oxygen species upon ultrasound irradiation. PMZMU exhibits remarkable in vitro inhibitory activity against four XDR bacteria: Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), and Escherichia coli. Taking advantage of the bacterial targeting ability of UBI29‐41 and the inflammatory chemotaxis of hUC‐MSC, PMZMU can be precisely delivered to lung infection sites thereby augmenting polymyxin B concentration. PMZMU‐mediated sonodynamic therapy significantly reduces bacterial burden, relieves inflammatory damage by promoting the polarization of macrophages toward M2 phenotype, and improves survival rates without introducing adverse events. Overall, this study offers promising strategies for treating deep‐tissue XDR bacterial infections, and guides the design and optimization of biomimetic nanomedicine.

Abstract Objective To compare the treatment effectiveness of digitized and 3D-printed repositioning splints with that of conventional repositioning splints in the treatment of anterior displacement of the temporomandibular joint disc. Methods This retrospective study included 96 patients with disc displacement of the anterior temporomandibular joint. They were treated with either digitally designed and 3D-printed repositioning splints or traditional splints and followed up for at least six months. Changes in signs and symptoms such as pain and mouth opening before and after treatment were recorded to evaluate treatment outcomes. Results During the first month of treatment, both the digitally designed and 3D-printed repositioning splint groups (Group B) and the traditional repositioning splint group (Group A) showed significant increases in mouth opening, with increases of 4.93 ± 3.06 mm and 4.07 ± 4.69 mm, respectively, and there was no significant difference between the two groups. Both groups had a significant reduction in visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores, with Group B showing a greater reduction of 1.946 ± 1.113 compared to 1.488 ± 0.978 in Group A (P

Several anti‑Aβ monoclonal antibody drugs have been approved for clinical use at home and abroad recently. In order to facilitate its safe and effective treatment of anti‑Aβ monoclonal antibody drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in China, we present recommendations for the clinical use of anti‑Aβ monoclonal antibody drugs based on existing clinical trials and the clinical practice of AD treatment with Aducanumab at Ruijin Hospital Hainan Branch, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. The recommendations include clinical indications, pre ‑ medication assessment and preparation, medication instructions and precautions, as well as post ‑ medication clinical monitoring, which is aimed to furnish clinicians with comprehensive medication guidance.

Artemisia ordosica Krasch. represents a medicinal species traditionally and extensively employed in traditional medicine for treating ailments such as rheumatic arthritis, sore throat, and inflammation. This study initially focuses on the extraction, purification, and characterization of Artemisia ordosica Krasch. polysaccharides (AOP). The purified AOP exhibits a molecular mass corresponding to 9.00 kDa and consists of multiple monosaccharide units, with glucose (54.08%) as the predominant component, followed by arabinose (13.75%), mannose (13.43%), galactose (12.79%), xylose (3.15%), glucuronic acid (0.93%), galacturonic acid (0.67%), ribose (0.63%), and fucose (0.56%), respectively. Furthermore, to explore the immune-regulatory mechanisms of AOP, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) were cultured and exposed to inhibitors targeting receptors and signaling molecules. The results indicated that TLR4 serves as a potential target through which AOP exerts its immunomodulatory functions. AOP mitigates immune stress in PBLs triggered by LPS by disrupting the interaction between LPS and TLR and downregulating the over-activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. In summary, AOP shows promise as a feed additive to protect animals from immune stress.

Artemisia ordosica Krasch, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, possesses antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the therapeutic effect of Artemisia ordosica Krasch extraction (AOE) in treating colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in mice. The in vitro antioxidant activity of AOE was evaluated by assessing its iron reduction capacity and scavenging capacity towards 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radicals (·OH). The protective effect of AOE on colitis in mice was determined by monitoring key indicators such as body weight, colon length, and survival rate in mice, as well as by assessing the expression of colon-related genes and cytokine levels. We evaluated the impact of AOE on intestinal microbiota by measuring the 16s sequencing of cecal contents and bile acid metabolism. The results showed that the iron reduction capacity of AOE was positively correlated with its concentration. The half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) for scavenging DPPH and hydroxyl radicals were 3.126 mg/mL and 6.139 mg/mL, with a 95% confidence interval of 95%. In vivo studies demonstrated that AOE reduced DSS-induced colitis in mice by increasing the colon length, enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity, inhibiting inflammatory cell infiltration, suppressing the formation of TNF-α and IL-6, and reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. qPCR analysis revealed that AOE reversed the down-regulation of Claudin mRNA expression, and altered the composition of cecal microbiota, thus mitigating DSS-induced colitis. AOE plays a crucial role in alleviating colitis in mice and effectively improves DSS-induced colitis, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic agent for inflammatory bowel diseases.

With the rapid advancement of robotics technology, an increasing number of researchers are exploring the use of natural language as a communication channel between humans and robots. In scenarios where language conditioned manipulation grounding, prevailing methods rely heavily on supervised multimodal deep learning. In this paradigm, robots assimilate knowledge from both language instructions and visual input. However, these approaches lack external knowledge for comprehending natural language instructions and are hindered by the substantial demand for a large amount of paired data, where vision and language are usually linked through manual annotation for the creation of realistic datasets. To address the above problems, we propose the knowledge enhanced bottom-up affordance grounding network (KBAG-Net), which enhances natural language understanding through external knowledge, improving accuracy in object grasping affordance segmentation. In addition, we introduce a semi-automatic data generation method aimed at facilitating the quick establishment of the language following manipulation grounding dataset. The experimental results on two standard dataset demonstrate that our method outperforms existing methods with the external knowledge. Specifically, our method outperforms the two-stage method by 12.98% and 1.22% of mIoU on the two dataset, respectively. For broader community engagement, we will make the semi-automatic data construction method publicly available at https://github.com/wmqu/Automated-Dataset-Construction4LGM.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of vibration stimulation on gingival crevicular fluid biomarkers and orthodontic tooth movement. Methods: Forty patients were randomly assigned to receive therapy with an intraoral vibration device (n = 20, AcceleDent®) or no treatment (n = 20) at a university orthodontic clinic. The quantity of fluid in the gingival sulcus, biomarkers of each fluid in the gingival sulcus, and orthodontic tooth movement were analyzed at three-time intervals (T1, T2, T3) before and after therapy (T0). Results: The results showed that vibration treatment led to higher levels of osteoclast biomarkers (RNAKL, RANKL/OPG) and inflammatory biomarkers (TNF-, IL-11, IL-18) compared to the control group. Additionally, vibration treatment at T1, T2, and T3 significantly improved tooth mobility and GCF volume. The gingival crevicular fluid biomarker levels of the T0, T1, and T2 vibration groups, as well as IL-11, IL-18, TGF-1, and TNF-α vibration groups, were significantly higher than those of the control group at different time points. Conclusion: vibration therapy was found to be closely associated with bone-breaking cells and inflammatory factor levels.

Abstract Background Gyrodactylus is a lineage of monogenean flatworm ectoparasites exhibiting many features that make them a suitable model to study the host-parasite coevolutionary dynamics. Previous coevolutionary studies of this lineage mainly relied on low-power datasets (a small number of samples and a single molecular marker) and (now) outdated algorithms. Methods To investigate the coevolutionary relationship of gyrodactylids and their fish hosts in high resolution, we used complete mitogenomes (including two newly sequenced Gyrodactylus species), a large number of species in the single-gene dataset, and four different coevolutionary algorithms. Results The overall coevolutionary fit between the parasites and hosts was consistently significant. Multiple indicators confirmed that gyrodactylids are generally highly host-specific parasites, but several species could parasitize either multiple (more than 5) or phylogenetically distant fish hosts. The molecular dating results indicated that gyrodactylids tend to evolve towards high host specificity. Speciation by host switch was identified as a more important speciation mode than co-speciation. Assuming that the ancestral host belonged to Cypriniformes, we inferred four major host switch events to non-Cypriniformes hosts (mostly Salmoniformes), all of which occurred deep in the evolutionary history. Despite their relative rarity, these events had strong macroevolutionary consequences for gyrodactylid diversity. For example, in our dataset, 57.28% of all studied gyrodactylids parasitized only non-Cypriniformes hosts, which implies that the evolutionary history of more than half of all included lineages could be traced back to these major host switch events. The geographical co-occurrence of fishes and gyrodactylids determined the host use by these gyrodactylids, and geography accounted for most of the phylogenetic signal in host use. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the coevolution of Gyrodactylus flatworms and their hosts is largely driven by geography, phylogeny, and host switches. Graphical Abstract

Objective To explore changes of brain structure in patients with functional movement disorder (FMD) and their correlation with disease severity. Methods Nine patients with FMD (FMD group) as well as 10 gender⁃ and age⁃matched healthy volunteers (control group) were recruited in Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, from May to October 2023, and then they underwent MRI. Simplified Functional Movement Disorder Rating Scale (S ⁃FMDRS) was used to assess movement disorder symptoms and severity. Clinical Global Impression ⁃ Severity (CGI ⁃ S) was used to evaluate disease severity. Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire ⁃ 20 (SDQ ⁃20) was used to assess body dissociation. Chinese version of Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) was used to assess childhood abuse situation. 36⁃Item Short Form of Health Survey (SF⁃36) was used to assess health status. Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 17 (HAMD⁃17) were used to evaluate anxiety and depression. Results Compared with the control group, the FMD group exhibited higher scores on SDQ⁃20 (Z = 2.259, P = 0.028) and Chinese version of MACE (t = ⁃ 3.570, P = 0.002) as well as HAMA (t = ⁃ 3.999, P = 0.001), while SF⁃36 scores for vitality (t = 3.091, P = 0.009) and social functioning (t = 2.275, P = 0.046) were lower in the FMD group. Cortical thickness was greater in the FMD group in the right inferior occipital gyrus and sulcus cortex (t = ⁃ 2.924, P = 0.009), right anterior cingulate gyrus and sulcus cortex (t = ⁃ 3.286, P = 0.004), right orbitofrontal cortex (t = ⁃ 2.381, P = 0.029), while thickness in the left subcallosal area (t = 2.492, P = 0.023) and left paracentral lobule gyrus and sulcus (t = 2.139, P = 0.047), as well as volume of the right cerebellar white matter (t = 2.685, P = 0.016), left cerebellar white matter (t = 2.121, P = 0.049), and the middle posterior region of the corpus callosum (t = 2.550, P = 0.021) were smaller than those of the control group. Correlation analysis revealed left cerebellar white matter were positively correlated with disease duration (r = 0.837, P = 0.038), while cortical thickness in the left subcallosal area were negatively correlated with disease duration (r = ⁃ 0.831, P = 0.040). Conclusions There are structural changes in the limbic system, sensorimotor area, visual cortex, and certain white matter regions in the brains of FMD patients, and several regions were correlated with the disease duration.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary Artemisia ordosica polysaccharide (AOP) supplementation on broilers’ growth performance and antioxidant function. A total of 288 1-day-old Arbor Acre broilers were randomly divided into 6 groups with 6 replicates each (n = 8). The groups contained a control diet group (basal diet, CON), an antibiotic diet group (basal diet + 50 mg/kg chlortetracycline, CTC) and AOP diet groups (basal diet containing 250, 500, 750, 1000 mg/kg AOP, respectively). The experiment included starter phase (days 1–21) and grower phase (days 22–42). The results showed that adding 750 mg/kg AOP increased the average daily gain (ADG), decreased feed/gain (F/G). Adding 500–1000 mg/kg AOP in the diet of broilers increased the activities of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in spleen, liver and small intestine (P

Objective:. Percutaneous coronary intervention is one of the most common procedures used for the invasive treatment of patients with coronary heart disease; the incidence of in-stent restenosis (ISR) after percutaneous coronary intervention is 5% to 15%. In this study, a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was constructed to investigate potential mechanisms involved in ISR. Methods:. The expression data for differentially expressed microRNAs (DEmiRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) between patients with and without ISR were obtained using limma package. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were predicted based on the DEmiRNAs using the miRDB, miRTarBase, and TargetScan databases. An ISR-specific ceRNA network was subsequently constructed and investigated. To verify the key miRNAs of ceRNA, patients with and without ISR were enrolled from Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine between January 2017 and December 2018 (n = 8, respectively); plasma was collected from all enrolled patients. Results:. Based on the raw data obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, 472 DEmiRNAs and 304 differentially expressed messenger RNAs between patients with and without ISR were identified. A ceRNA network was constructed by combining 270 lncRNAs, 3 miRNAs (miR-125, miR-140, and miR-206), and 4 mRNAs (STRADB, TKT, PCTP, and BTG2). The hub genes of the ceRNA network of ISR included the following: miR-125, miR-206, miR-140, PCDHB9, CASC2, BAK1P1, CSPG4P3Y, CSPG4P4Y, STRCP1, and GRIP2. Verification of miRNAs of ceRNA also showed that the expression of miR-206 was upregulated in patients with ISR vs. those without ISR (P < 0.05). In contrast, the expression of miR-140 and miR-125 was downregulated in patients with ISR vs. those without ISR (P < 0.05). Conclusions:. This study constructed noncoding RNA-related ceRNA networks for ISR. The results indicated that miR-206, miR-125, and miR-140 may be biomarkers of ISR.

Artemisia ordosica polysaccharides (AOP) can promote animal growth, improve intestinal morphology, regulate immunity, and enhance antioxidant capacity. To investigate the antioxidant capacity of AOP, three experiments were conducted. (1) Different concentrations of AOP (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 μg/mL) and 1 µg/mL VA on peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) treated with/without lipopolysaccharides (LPS) were investigated to select the optimum concentration. The results showed that 150 μg/mL AOP had significant antioxidation activity. (2) The PBLs was randomly divided into eight treatments with six replicates, namely CON, AOP, LPS, ML385 (Nrf2 inhibitor), AOP + LPS, AOP + ML385, LPS + ML385 and LPS + ML385 + AOP. The results showed that under a normal condition or stress condition, AOP presented antioxidation activity via upregulating Nrf2/Keap1 pathway-related gene expression. (3) The PBLs was randomly divided into eight treatments with six replicates, namely CON, AOP, LPS, PDTC (NF-κB inhibitor), AOP + LPS, AOP + PDTC, LPS + PDTC and LPS + PDTC + AOP. The results showed that under a normal condition, AOP presented antioxidation activity via increasing TLR4/NF-κB pathway-related gene expression; under a stress condition, AOP alleviated oxidative damage caused by LPS via suppressing TLR4/NF-κB pathway-related gene expression.

This paper proposes a novel System-in-Package (SiP) integrated architecture that incorporates Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) switches and Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters within the chip, aiming to fulfill the demands for miniaturization and multi-functionality for application in emerging wireless technologies. The proposed architecture not only reduces the integration complexity but also considers the architectural design of the integrated module, impedance matching techniques, and signal integrity for carrier aggregation (CA) technology realization. The feasibility of employing SOI switches and SAW filters based on SiP design has been validated through the trial production of a Sub-3GHz radio frequency (RF) front-end diversity receiver module. The resulting RF front-end module demonstrates exceptionally high packaging density and enhanced communication reliability, rendering it suitable for diverse applications in miniaturized RF systems.

Chaotic semiconductor lasers have been widely investigated for high-speed random bit generation, which is applied for the generation of cryptographic keys for classical and quantum cryptography systems. Here, we propose and demonstrate a self-chaotic microlaser with enhanced chaotic bandwidth for high-speed random bit generation. By designing tri-mode interaction in a deformed square microcavity laser, we realize a self-chaotic laser caused by two-mode internal interaction, and achieve an enhanced chaotic standard bandwidth due to the photon–photon resonance effect by introducing the third mode. Moreover, 500 Gb/s random bit generation is realized and the randomness is verified by the NIST SP 800-22 statistics test. Our demonstration promises the applications of microlasers in secure communication, chaos radar, and optical reservoir computing, and also provides a platform for the investigations of multimode nonlinear laser dynamics.

Objective: A method for the determination of aminophylline residues in edible tissues （muscle, liver and kidney） of pigs by solid-phase extraction combined with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was established. Methods: After extracted by methanol, the aminophylline was purified by PRiME HLB solid phase extraction column in one step, and then separated by a C18 chromatographic column. 0.1% formic acid solution and acetonitrile were invoked as the aqueous phase and the organic phase for gradient elution, respectively. Electrospray positive voltage ionization and multi reaction monitoring （MRM） mode are used for compound detection, and matrix matching standard was used for quantification. Results: The analysis of aminophylline drugs was completed within 3.5 minutes, and the results showed good linear relationship （R＞0.998 0） on different matrices in the concentration range of 0.05~1.0 μg/mL. The average recoveries ranged from 87.2% to 101.3%, and the relative standard deviations ranged from 0.7% to 6.2% （n=6）. The detection limit was 2 μg/kg and the quantification limit was 5 μg/kg. Conclusion: The method which is simple and efficient, has good repeatability and high sensitivity. It is suitable for qualitative and quantitative analysis of aminophylline drug residues in edible tissues of pigs.

With the high intensification of poultry breeding, a series of diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria threaten the health of poultry and human. Among them, poultry diseases induced by Escherichia coli cause significant economic loss every year. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with Artemisia annua L. polysaccharide (AAP) on the growth performance and intestinal barrier function of broilers with Escherichia coli (E. coli) challenge. A total of 256 one-day-old chicks were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: control group (fed basal diet), AAP group (fed basal diet supplemented with AAP), E. coli group (fed basal diet and orally administered E. coli), AAP + E. coli group (fed basal diet supplemented with AAP and orally administered E. coli). Dietary AAP supplementation elevated the BW, ADG and ADFI in non-challenged broilers. AAP also increased the apparent metabolic rate of EE and Ca in E. coli-challenged broilers. Moreover, AAP not only enhanced the serum IgA content but also decreased the serum and jejunum content of IL-6, as well as the jejunum level of IL-1β in non-challenged broilers. AAP also down-regulates the mRNA level of inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) by inhibiting the mRNA expression of TLR4 and MyD88 in intestinal NF-κB signaling pathway of E. coli-challenged broilers. Meanwhile, AAP up-regulates the activity and mRNA level CAT by down-regulating the mRNA level of Keap1 in intestinal Nrf2 signaling pathway of E. coli-challenged broilers, and decreased serum MDA concentration. AAP significantly elevated the mRNA level of CAT, SOD and Nrf2 in jejunal of non-challenged broilers. Interestingly, AAP can improve intestinal physical barrier by down-regulating serum ET content, increasing the jejunal villus height/crypt depth (VH/CD) and ZO-1 mRNA level in broilers challenged by E. coli. AAP also elevated the VH/CD and the mRNA level of Occludin, ZO-1, Mucin-2 in non-challenged broilers. Importantly, AAP reshaped the balance of jejunum microbiota in E. coli-challenged broilers by altering α diversity and community composition. In summary, AAP ameliorated the loss of growth performance in broilers challenged with E. coli, probably by regulating the intestinal permeability and mucosa morphology, immune function, antioxidant ability, and microbiota.

Nanosizing and alloying of aluminum (Al) promisingly improve ignition and combustion performance of Al-based propellants. To aim this, lased-induced ignition and combustion characteristics of micro/nano-Al and aluminum@nickel (Al@Ni) alloy powders at elevated pressures (0.1–3.0 MPa) were investigated and the pressure effect on these characteristics was correspondingly evaluated. Comparative results demonstrate that nanosizing and alloying significantly shorten ignition delay and total burn time at elevated pressures, with ignition delay reduction of 98.04% and 52.28% at 1.0 MPa for nano-Al and Al@Ni alloy compared to micro-Al counterpart. Nanosizing and alloying can decrease crucial pressure values (‘mid-pressure extinction domains’) influencing ignition delay, and promote the transfer from the surface to gaseous combustion mode. Maximum combustion temperatures of nano-Al are higher than micro-Al and Al@Ni alloy. During combustion, the combustion of Al@Ni alloy is further intensified due to the microexplosion, while possibly inhibited at higher pressures.

Abstract Al0.85Ga0.15As0.56Sb0.44 has recently attracted significant research interest as a material for 1550 nm low-noise short-wave infrared (SWIR) avalanche photodiodes (APDs) due to the very wide ratio between its electron and hole ionization coefficients. This work reports new experimental excess noise data for thick Al0.85Ga0.15As0.56Sb0.44 PIN and NIP structures, measuring low noise at significantly higher multiplication values than previously reported (F = 2.2 at M = 38). These results disagree with the classical McIntyre excess noise theory, which overestimates the expected noise based on the ionization coefficients reported for this alloy. Even the addition of ‘dead space’ effects cannot account for these discrepancies. The only way to explain the low excess noise observed is to conclude that the spatial probability distributions for impact ionization of electrons and holes in this material follows a Weibull–Fréchet distribution function even at relatively low electric-fields. Knowledge of the ionization coefficients alone is no longer sufficient to predict the excess noise properties of this material system and consequently the electric-field dependent electron and hole ionization probability distributions are extracted for this alloy.

Objective:. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a cardiovascular disease caused by primary proliferative lesions in pulmonary arterioles. Competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) have been reported to act as sponges for microRNAs (miRNAs). To date, however, the mechanisms underlying ceRNA involvement in PAH have not been investigated. This study aimed to construct a PAH-related ceRNA network to further explore the mechanisms of PAH. Methods:. A probe reannotation was conducted to identify the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) involved in PAH. Based on the reannotation results, the “limma” package was used to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and lncRNAs. The miRcode database was used to predict the lncRNA–miRNA interactions. Then, the mRNAs targeted by the miRNAs were predicted by using TargetScan, miRTarBase, and miRDB. Based on the above interactions, a ceRNA network was constructed, which was mapped and visualized with Cytoscape 3.6.1 software. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses were performed using the database. To predict possible drugs or molecules that may mitigate PAH, C-Map analysis was applied to find relevant molecular compounds that can reverse the expression of DEGs in cell lines. Results:. The ceRNA network consisted of 174 nodes and 304 links, which included 10 lncRNAs, 23 miRNAs, and 53 mRNAs. The hub genes of the ceRNA network for PAH included hsa-miR-17-5p, hsa-miR-20b-5p, MEG3, HCP5, hsa-miR-27a-3p, hsa-miR-107, hsa-miR-142-3p, hsa-miR-363-3p, hsa-miR-301b-3p, and hsa-miR-23b-3p. Calprotectin, irinotecan, and medrysone were found to be the 3 significant compounds. Conclusion:. This study found that hsa-miR-17-5p, hsa-miR-20b-5p, MEG3, HCP5, hsa-miR-27a-3p, hsa-miR-107, hsa-miR-142-3p, hsa-miR-363-3p, hsa-miR-301b-3p, and hsa-miR-23b-3p maybe the underlying biomarkers and targets for diagnosis and treatment of PAH.

With growing restrictions on the use of antibiotics in animal feed, plant extracts are increasingly favored as natural feed additive sources. Glycyrrhiza polysaccharide (GP), known for its multifaceted biological benefits including growth promotion, immune enhancement, and antioxidative properties, has been the focus of recent studies. Yet, the effects and mechanisms of GP on broiler growth and meat quality remain to be fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the effects of GP on growth, serum biochemistry, meat quality, and gene expression in broilers. The broilers were divided into five groups, each consisting of five replicates with six birds. These groups were supplemented with 0, 500, 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 mg/kg of GP in their basal diets, respectively, for a period of 42 days. The results indicated that from day 22 to day 42, and throughout the entire experimental period from day 1 to day 42, the groups receiving 1,000 and 1,500 mg/kg of GP showed a significant reduction in the feed-to-gain ratio (F:G) compared to the control group. On day 42, an increase in serum growth hormone (GH) levels was shown in groups supplemented with 1,000 mg/kg GP or higher, along with a significant linear increase in insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) concentration. Additionally, significant upregulation of GH and IGF-1 mRNA expression levels was noted in the 1,000 and 1,500 mg/kg GP groups. Furthermore, GP significantly elevated serum concentrations of alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and globulin (GLB) while reducing blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels. In terms of meat quality, the 1,500 and 2,000 mg/kg GP groups significantly increased fiber density in pectoral muscles and reduced thiobarbituric acid (TBA) content. GP also significantly decreased cooking loss rate in both pectoral and leg muscles and the drip loss rate in leg muscles. It increased levels of linoleic acid and oleic acid, while decreasing concentrations of stearic acid, myristic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid. Finally, the study demonstrated that the 1,500 mg/kg GP group significantly enhanced the expression of myogenin (MyoG) and myogenic differentiation (MyoD) mRNA in leg muscles. Overall, the study determined that the optimal dosage of GP in broiler feed is 1,500 mg/kg.

Zero-valent iron (ZVI) has been extensively studied for its efficacy in removing heavy metals, nitrate, and chlorinated organic compounds from contaminated water. However, its limited effectiveness due to rapid passivation and poor selectivity is prompting for alternative solutions, such as the use of aluminium alloys. In this study, the efficacy of five distinct aluminium alloys, namely Al–Mg, Al–Fe, Al–Cu, and Al–Ni, each comprising 50 % Al by mass at a concentration of 10 g/L, was assessed using copper, nitrate and trichloromethane (TCM) as model contaminants. Results show that chemical pollutants reacted immediately with Al–Mg. On the contrary, the remaining three alloys exhibited a delay of 24 h before demonstrating significant reactivity. Remarkably, Al–Mg alloy reduced nitrate exclusively to ammonium, indicating minimal preference for nitrate reduction to N2. In contrast, the Al–Cu, Al–Ni, and Al–Fe alloys exhibited N2 selectivity of 3 %, 5 %, and 19 %, respectively. The removal efficiency of copper, nitrate and TCM reached 99 % within 24 h, 95 % within 48h and 48 % within 48h, respectively. Noteworthy findings included the correlation between Fe concentration within the Al–Fe alloy and an increased N2 selectivity from 9.3 % to 24.1 %. This resulted in an increase of Fe concentration from 10 % to 58 % albeit with a concurrent reduction in reactivity. Cu2+ removal by Al–Fe alloy occurred via direct electron transfer, while the removal of nitrate and TCM was facilitated by atomic hydrogen generated by the alloy's hydrolysis. Intriguingly, nitrate and TCM suppressed Cu2+ reduction, whereas Cu2+ improved nitrate reduction and TCM degradation. These findings demonstrate the great potential of Al–Mg and Al–Fe alloys as highly efficient agents for water remediation.

BackgroundThis study aims to study the possible action mechanism of T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3 (TIM3) on the migratory and invasive abilities of thyroid carcinoma (TC) cells.MethodsGSE104005 and GSE138198 datasets were downloaded from the GEO database for identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Functional enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis were performed on the common DEGs in GSE104005 and GSE138198 datasets. Subsequently, in order to understand the effect of a common DEG (TIM3) on TC cells, we performed in vitro experiments using FRO cells. The migratory and invasive abilities of FRO cells were detected by wound scratch assay and Transwell assay. Proteins expression levels of the phosphorylated (p)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 were determined via Western blotting after ERK1/2 inhibition in TIM3-NC group and TIM3-mimic group.Results316 common DEGs were identified in GSE104005 and GSE138198 datasets. These DEGs were involved in the biological process of ERK1 and ERK2 cascade. TIM3 was significantly up-regulated in TC. In vitro cell experiments showed that TIM3 could promote migration and invasion of TC cells. Moreover, TIM3 may affect the migration, invasive abilities of TC cells by activating the ERK1/2 pathway.ConclusionThe above results indicate that TIM3 may affect the migratory and invasive of TC cells by activating the ERK1/2 pathway.

AbstractBackground Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common endocrine malignant tumour. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential molecular mechanism of circRNA regulating immune-related mRNA through sponge miRNA in the occurrence and immune regulation of PTC.Methods All data were downloaded from public databases, such as GEO, Immport and TCGA. Differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs (DEmRNAs), DEmiRNAs and DEcircRNAs were identified using metaMA and limma packages. Subsequently, immune-related DEmRNAs were screened, and circRNA-miRNA-mRNA (ceRNA) regulatory network was constructed. In addition, functional annotation, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction, immune cell infiltration analysis and Pearson correlation analysis were performed. Finally, qRT-PCR validation and cell experiments were also performed.Results In total, 2962 DEmRNAs, 78 DEmiRNAs and 51 DEcircRNAs were obtained. Subsequently, 195 immune-related DEmRNAs were obtained based on Immport database. Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction was the only signalling pathway obtained in KEGG analysis. Then, 8 hub immune-related DEmRNAs were identified based on PPI network and CytoHubba plug-in. Subsequently, ceRNA sub-network containing hub immune-related DEmRNAs was extracted from ceRNA regulatory network. In ceRNA sub-network, hsa_circ_0082182-hsa-miR-18b-5p-FGF1/PDGFC, hsa_circ_0016404-hsa-miR-1275-FGF1/CTSB/IL13RA1, hsa_circ_0070100-hsa-miR-27a-3p/hsa-miR-27b-3p-TGFBR3, hsa_circ_0060055/hsa_circ_0038718-hsa-miR-150-3p-CXCL14, hsa_circ_0030427/hsa_circ_0002917-hsa-miR-22-3p-BMP7 and hsa_circ_0030427/hsa_circ_0002917-hsa-miR-125a-5p-LIFR axes were identified. Moreover, FGF1, PDGFC, CTSB, IL13RA1, TGFBR3, CXCL14, BMP7, LIFR, hsa-miR-125a-5p, hsa-miR-1275, hsa-miR-150-3p, hsa-miR-18b-5p and hsa-miR-27b-3p were also found to have good diagnostic accuracy and may be potential novel diagnostic markers for PTC. XCell analysis showed that the levels of immune cell infiltration (including Tregs, HSC, DC and Monocytes) were significantly different between the PTC and the control groups. Knockdown of the expression of hsa_circ_0082182 significantly inhibits the activity, proliferation, migration and invasion of TPC-1 cells.Conclusion Several circRNA-miRNA-mRNA axes identified in this study may be related to the occurrence, progression and survival of PTC. This lays a theoretical foundation for further understanding the molecular mechanism of PTC, and also contributes to clinical management and research.

Abstract Background Osteoporosis (OP) is a major and growing public health problem characterized by decreased bone mineral density and destroyed bone microarchitecture. Previous studies found that Lycium Chinense Mill (LC) has a potent role in inhibiting bone loss. Kukoamine A (KuA), a bioactive compound extract from LC was responsible for the anti-osteoporosis effect. This study aimed to investigate the anti-osteoporosis effect of KuA isolated from LC in treating OP and its potential molecular mechanism. Method In this study, network pharmacology and molecular docking were investigated firstly to find the active ingredients of LC such as KuA, and the target genes of OP by the TCMSP platform. The LC-OP-potential Target gene network was constructed by the STRING database and network maps were built by Cytoscape software. And then, the anti-osteoporotic effect of KuA in OVX-induced osteoporosis mice and MC3T3-E1 cell lines were investigated and the potential molecular mechanism including inflammation level, cell apoptosis, and oxidative stress was analyzed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), micro-CT, ELISA, RT-PCR, and Western Blotting. Result A total of 22 active compounds were screened, and we found KuA was identified as the highest active ingredient. Glycogen Phosphorylase (PYGM) was the target gene associated with a maximum number of active ingredients of LC and regulated KuA. In vivo, KuA treatment significantly increased the bone mineral density and improve bone microarchitecture for example increased BV/TV, Tb.N and Tb.Th but reduced Tb.Sp in tibia and lumber 4. Furthermore, KuA increased mRNA expression of osteoblastic differentiation-related genes in OVX mice and protects against OVX-induced cell apoptosis, oxidative stress level and inflammation level. In vitro, KuA significantly improves osteogenic differentiation and mineralization in cells experiment. In addition, KuA also attenuated inflammation levels, cell apoptosis, and oxidative stress level. Conclusion The results suggest that KuA could protect against the development of OP in osteoblast cells and ovariectomized OP model mice and these found to provide a better understanding of the pharmacological activities of KuA again bone loss.

A novel microscopic Shape-From-Polarization (SFP) 3D shape reconstruction method is proposed, in which degree of polarization is calculated using Polarized Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (PBRDF) to overcome azimuthal ambiguity for both specular and diffuse polarization microscopic scenes. Based on the calculated degree of polarization, a polarization modulation microscopy oriented variational model is established to estimate surface normal vector and rebuild 3D shape of the sample with “fuzzy guidance” based on atomic force microscopy (AFM). Experiments on different microscopic samples indicate the proposed method can restore the stereoscopic morphology distribution with precision in micrometer.

In this study, the effects of Artemisia argyi polysaccharide (AAP) on broilers’ immune and antioxidative functions and the underlying regulatory mechanism were investigated. In this experiment, 288 one-day-old Arbor Acres plus broilers were randomly allocated into 6 treatments with 6 replicates where each treatment group contained 6 replicate groups and there were 8 broilers in each replicate group. The control group was fed the basal diet, and the experimental groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 250, 500, 750 or 1000 mg/kg AAP in comparison with 50 mg/kg chlortetracycline for 42 d. The result demonstrated that the best amount of AAP addition was 1000 mg/kg for growth. It could promote the contents of cytokines, immunoglobulin as well as the activity of the antioxidant enzyme (GPx), and reduce the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the serum of broilers on 42 d. The same dose of AAP could regulate the immune and antioxidant functions in the liver of broilers, and activate the TLR/NF-κB signal pathway in broilers. The growth-promoting effect of AAP was comparable to that of chlorotetracycline.

Objective To explore the application of membranous concept in vestibular schwannoma surgery. Methods A total of 39 patients with vestibular schwannoma who received membranous surgical treatment in The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from May 2020 to June 2021 were enrolled. Through the retrosigmoid approach, the intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring was performed, and the membranous concept was used to separate the brain stem of the tumor and the interface between the tumor and the facial nerve and the cochlear nerve. Facial nerve function was evaluated by the House⁃Brackmann (H⁃B) grade and hearing was evaluated by the American Academy of Otolaryngology⁃Head and Neck Surgery（AAO⁃HNS）scale at one day, one week and one year after surgery. Results Total resection was performed in 31 cases (79.49%) and nearly total resection in 8 cases (20.51%). Facial nerve anatomical preservation was achieved in all patients, and facial nerve function returned to normal or nearly normal (H⁃B grade Ⅰ-Ⅱ) 84.62% (33/39), moderate facial paralysis (H⁃B grade Ⅲ) 10.27% (4/39), moderate and severe facial paralysis (H⁃B grade Ⅳ) 5.13% (2/39) on the first day after surgery. One week after surgery, 71.79% (28/39) of patients with normal or nearly normal facial nerve function, 15.38% (6/39) of moderate facial paralysis, 10.27% (4/39) of moderate and severe facial paralysis, and 2.56% (1/39) of severe facial paralysis (H⁃B grade Ⅴ). One year after surgery, 92.31% (36/39) of patients with facial nerve function returned to normal or nearly normal, 5.13% (2/39) of patients with moderate facial paralysis, and 2.56% (1/39) of patients with moderate and severe facial paralysis. Among the 10 patients (25.64%) who retained effective hearing before surgery (AAO⁃HNS grade≥C), there were 4, 3 and 6 cases at one day, one week and one year after surgery, respectively. Those who did not retain effective hearing before surgery did not recover effective hearing after surgery. According to the comparison of tumor volume and nature, the proportion of patients with normal facial nerve function (H⁃B grade Ⅰ) in the tumor volume≤3 cm group was higher than that in＞3 cm group [12/18 vs. 19.05% (4/21); Fisher's exact probability: P=0.006], the proportion of patients with normal facial nerve function in the solid tumor group was higher than that in cystic group [71.43% (15/21) vs. 1/10; Fisher's exact probability: P=0.010] at one year after surgery. Conclusions The membranous concept in vestibular schwannoma surgery can protect facial nerve function well, and has a positive effect on the protection of cochlear nerve and brain stem.

BackgroundPostoperative pneumonia (POP) is a common complication after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) associated with increased mortality rates, prolonged hospitalization, and high medical costs. It is currently understood that identifying pneumonia early and implementing aggressive treatment can significantly improve patients' outcomes. The primary objective of this study was to explore risk factors and develop a logistic regression model that assesses the risks of POP.MethodsAn internal cohort of 613 inpatients with aSAH who underwent surgery at the Neurosurgical Department of First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University was retrospectively analyzed to develop a nomogram for predicting POP. We assessed the discriminative power, accuracy, and clinical validity of the predictions by using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), the calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA). The final model was validated using an external validation set of 97 samples from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database.ResultsAmong patients in our internal cohort, 15.66% (n = 96/613) of patients had POP. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis identified the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), mechanical ventilation time (MVT), albumin, C-reactive protein (CRP), smoking, and delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) as potential predictors of POP. We then used multivariable logistic regression analysis to evaluate the effects of these predictors and create a final model. Eighty percentage of patients in the internal cohort were randomly assigned to the training set for model development, while the remaining 20% of patients were allocated to the internal validation set. The AUC values for the training, internal, and external validation sets were 0.914, 0.856, and 0.851, and the corresponding Brier scores were 0.084, 0.098, and 0.143, respectively.ConclusionWe found that GCS, MVT, albumin, CRP, smoking, and DCI are independent predictors for the development of POP in patients with aSAH. Overall, our nomogram represents a reliable and convenient approach to predict POP in the patient population.

Artemisia annua L. is a natural herb with a variety of bioactive substances, which can play a variety of biological functions such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial and antiviral, and can be used as a potential feed additive. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different doses of Artemisia annua L. water extract (AAWE) on growth performance and intestinal related indicators in broilers. A total of 200 one-day-old Arbor Acre broilers were selected and randomly divided into five treatment groups, with five replicates in each group and eight birds per replicate. The control group was fed a basal diet, whereas the other groups were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 g/kg AAWE. On d 21, with the increase in AAWE dose, final body weight and feed efficiency showed a quadratic increase effect, whereas feed intake showed a linear reduction effect; however, the apparent metabolic rate of dry matter, crude protein, and ether extract increased quadratically on d 42. In addition, the activity of duodenal chymotrypsin and trypsin, and of jejunal lipase quadratically increased, whereas the intestine crypt depth linearly decreased on d 42. The number of total anaerobic bacteria increased quadratically, whereas the number of Escherichia coli decreased quadratically. The number of Lactobacillus increased linearly, whereas H2S emission linearly decreased on d 21; moreover, NH3 emission (24 h) quadratically decreased on d 42. In conclusion, AAWE promoted the growth performance and intestinal related indicators of broilers.

IntroductionTemporin-GHa obtained from the frog Hylarana guentheri showed bactericidal efficacy against Streptococcus mutans. To enhance its antibacterial activity, the derived peptides GHaR and GHa11R were designed, and their antibacterial performance, antibiofilm efficacy and potential in the inhibition of dental caries were evaluated.MethodsBacterial survival assay, fluorescent staining assay and transmission electron microscopy observation were applied to explore how the peptides inhibited and killed S. mutans. The antibiofilm efficacy was assayed by examining exopolysaccharide (EPS) and lactic acid production, bacterial adhesion and cell surface hydrophobicity. The gene expression level of virulence factors of S. mutans was detected by qRT-PCR. Finally, the impact of the peptides on the caries induced ability of S. mutans was measured using a rat caries model.ResultsIt has been shown that the peptides inhibited biofilm rapid accumulation by weakening the initial adhesion of S. mutans and reducing the production of EPS. Meanwhile, they also decreased bacterial acidogenicity and aciduricity, and ultimately prevented caries development in vivo.ConclusionGHaR and GHa11R might be promising candidates for controlling S. mutans infections.

The integration of language and vision for object affordance understanding is pivotal for the advancement of embodied agents. Current approaches are often limited by reliance on segregated pre-processing stages for language interpretation and object localization, leading to inefficiencies and error propagation in affordance segmentation. To overcome these limitations, this study introduces a unique task, part-level affordance grounding, in direct response to natural language instructions. We present the Instruction-based Affordance Grounding Network (IAG-Net), a novel architecture that unifies language–vision interactions through a varied-scale multimodal attention mechanism. Unlike existing models, IAG-Net employs two textual–visual feature fusion strategies, capturing both sentence-level and task-specific textual features alongside multiscale visual features for precise and efficient affordance prediction. Our evaluation on two newly constructed vision–language affordance datasets, ITT-AFF VL and UMD VL, demonstrates a significant leap in performance, with an improvement of 11.78% and 0.42% in mean Intersection over Union (mIoU) over cascaded models, bolstering both accuracy and processing speed. We contribute to the research community by releasing our source code and datasets, fostering further innovation and replication of our findings.

The fatigue crack growth behavior of 304L austenitic stainless steel (SS) in a 325 °C high-temperature and high-pressure water environment were investigated by a corrosion fatigue test system, by electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD), and by a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The experimental results indicated that the crack growth rate (CGR) of 304L SS increases with increasing the stress intensity factor, stress level, and fatigue frequency (f). Compared to dissolved hydrogen (DH) in a high-temperature water environment, dissolved oxygen (DO) significantly enhances the CGR by about an order of magnitude higher. The crack tip of 304L SS after the corrosion fatigue test under higher stress levels is sharper, with more secondary cracks on the fracture surface, while the crack tip under lower stress levels is blunter with relatively fewer secondary cracks. The oxidation behavior at the crack tip was analyzed under different loading and water chemistry conditions, and a related effect on the crack tip and CGR was clarified.

Abstract Shallow soil refers to the soil layer within the 50 cm depth. Shallow soil temperature (ST) directly or indirectly affects many processes in the soil, such as seed germination, plant growth, and water evaporation. Therefore, the study of shallow ST is of great significance in understanding the surface energy, water cycle, ecology and climate change. This work collected observational data from 141 meteorological stations on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 1981 to 2020 and ERA5 reanalysis data, used the “Moving Surface Spline Interpolation Algorithm Based on Green’s Function” and “Fuzzy C-means algorithm”, and analyzed the temporal and spatial change characteristics of ST at different levels. The results showed that 1) the temperature increase of 0–20 cm (the surface layer of the shallow soil) was roughly the same. The average annual ST was 9.15–9.57°, and the interdecadal variabilities were 0.49–0.53 K/10a. The average annual ST of 40 cm (the bottom layer) was 8.69°, and the interdecadal variability reached 0.98 K/10a. 2) Considering the 7 regions, the warming trend was obvious, and there were certain regional differences. The average annual ST in different regions ranged from 5.2 (northeastern Plateau) to 17.1 °C (western Sichuan Plateau), with a difference of nearly 12 K. The standard deviation ranged from 0.40 (western Sichuan Plateau) to 0.61 K (Qiangtang Plateau), with a difference of 0.21 K. 3) The errors of the obtained grid data were basically less than 3%, which were much smaller than the errors obtained from the ERA5 reanalysis data. This work is significant for understanding the characteristics of ST evolution and land‒atmosphere interactions on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and provides important data support for improving the underlying surface boundary conditions of models.

The development of prediction model on irradiation embitterment (PMIE) of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is an important method for nuclear reactor long term operation. Based on the physical mechanism of RPV irradiation embrittlement, a preliminary model is determined and the critical threshold of Cu content of 0.072% is obtained according to this preliminary model. Then a prediction model named PMIE-2020 for low Cu RPV steels is developed. At last the residual, standard deviation and predicted values and test values distribution analysis are given. Simultaneously, a comparison between PMIE-2020 and other prediction model and irradiation data is provided. Results indicate that the predicted results of PMIE-2020 has no tendency with influence factors such as neutron fluence, flux, irradiation temperature, chemical elements Cu, P, Mn, Ni, Si. The residual standard deviation is 10.76 °C, which is lower than present prediction model. The distribution between predicted values of PMIE-2020 and test values are located the area near the 45° line. These results prove that the PMIE-2020 have high accuracy on irradiation embrittlement prediction.

Shear-coupled grain boundary motion (SCGBM) is an important and efficacious plasticity mechanism in the deformation of metals. In this work, a molecular dynamic (MD) simulation of the interaction between the SCGBM of Σ9[110](221) GB and Cu-rich precipitates in α-iron was carried out. The effects of the size, the temperature, and the composition of the Cu precipitates were also studied. It was found that the precipitates inhibited the GB motion significantly, and the configuration transformation from spheroid to ellipsoid was also investigated in the simulation results. The critical stress of the interaction increased with the size of the precipitates. At higher temperatures, the GB sliding event increased the critical stress of the GB motion, which was higher than that of the interaction, inducing no stress-rise stage in the stress–time curve. The critical stress of the CuNi precipitates on the SCGBM was higher than that of the pure Cu precipitates with the same size, which was one of the reasons for the outstanding strength of the high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels compared with the traditional Cu-containing steels.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a life-threatening disease with high incidence and mortality rates. Urolithin A (UA) is a pomegranate intestinal flora metabolite with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-aging properties. Ferroptosis is a critical factor in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI). However, the link between UA and ferroptosis is unknown. The purpose of this research was to look into the role of UA in regulating LPS-induced ferroptosis in ALI. The current study used LPS to injure two models, one BEAS-2B cell injury model and one ALI mouse model. UA effectively alleviated LPS-induced ALI compared to the LPS group by lowering in vivo lung wet/dry weight ratio, reactive oxygen species, and malondialdehyde production, as well as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione depletion. Furthermore, by increasing GPX4 and SLC7A11 expression and decreasing Fe2+ levels, lung histopathological damage, inflammatory cytokine secretion, and ferroptosis levels can be significantly reduced. The Keap1-Nrf2/HO-1 pathway was upregulated by UA, which inhibited LPS-induced ALI and ferroptosis. ML385 inhibited UA’s protective effect against LPS-induced ALI. These findings suggested that UA could be a novel potential therapeutic target for ALI.

BackgroundObservational studies have revealed associations between diet and lung cancer. However, it is unclear whether the association is disturbed by confounding factors. We used a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method to characterize the associations between diet and the lung cancer risk (including 3 subtypes: lung adenocarcinoma (LA), squamous cell lung carcinoma (SqCLC), and small cell lung cancer (SCLC)).Materials and methodsData on 20 diets were screened from the UK Biobank. Lung cancer data came from a large meta-analysis of 85,716 individuals. The inverse-variance weighted method was used as the main analysis. Sensitivity analysis was also used to explain the different multiplicity patterns of the final model.ResultsOur results showed significant evidence that 3 diets were associated with lung cancer [odds ratio (OR): 0.271, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.150–0.488, p = 1.46 × 10−4, dried fruit; OR: 3.010, 95% CI: 1.608–5.632, p = 5.70 × 10−4, beer] and SqCLC (OR: 0.135, 95% CI: 0.062–0.293, p = 2.33 × 10−5, dried fruit; OR: 0.485, 95% CI: 0.328–0.717, p = 2.9 × 10−4, cheese). There were also suggestive correlations between 5 dietary intakes and lung cancer (OR: 0.441, 95% CI: 0.250–0.778, p = 0.008, cereal; OR: 2.267, 95% CI: 1.126–4.564, p = 0.022, beef), LA (OR: 0.494, 95% CI: 0.285–0.858, p = 0.012, dried fruit; OR: 3.536, 95% CI: 1.546–8.085, p = 0.003, beer) and SCLC (OR: 0.006, 95% CI: 0.000–0.222, p = 0.039, non-oily fish; OR: 0.239, 95% CI: 0.086–0.664, p = 0.006, dried fruit). No other association between diet and lung cancer was observed.ConclusionOur study preliminary found that cheese, dried fruit, and beer intake were significantly associated with the risk of lung cancer or its subtypes, while cereal, beef, and non-oily fish intake were suggestively associated with the risk of lung cancer or its subtypes. Well-designed prospective studies are still needed to confirm our findings in the future.

Acinetobacter baumannii is a gram-negative bacterium and a crucial opportunistic pathogen in hospitals. A. baumannii infection has become a challenging problem in clinical practice due to the increasing number of multidrug-resistant strains and their prevalence worldwide. Vaccines are effective tools to prevent and control A. baumannii infection. Many researchers are studying subunit vaccines against A. baumannii. Subunit vaccines have the advantages of high purity, safety, and stability, ease of production, and highly targeted induced immune responses. To date, no A. baumannii subunit vaccine candidate has entered clinical trials. This may be related to the easy degradation of subunit vaccines in vivo and weak immunogenicity. Using adjuvants or delivery vehicles to prepare subunit vaccines can slow down degradation and improve immunogenicity. The common immunization routes include intramuscular injection, subcutaneous injection, intraperitoneal injection and mucosal vaccination. The appropriate immunization method can also enhance the immune effect of subunit vaccines. Therefore, selecting an appropriate adjuvant and immunization method is essential for subunit vaccine research. This review summarizes the past exploration of A. baumannii subunit vaccines, hoping to guide current and future research on these vaccines.

Atherosclerosis (AS) is the main cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is characterized by endothelial damage, lipid deposition, and chronic inflammation. Gut microbiota plays an important role in the occurrence and development of AS by regulating host metabolism and immunity. As human mitochondria evolved from primordial bacteria have homologous characteristics, they are attacked by microbial pathogens as target organelles, thus contributing to energy metabolism disorders, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Therefore, mitochondria may be a key mediator of intestinal microbiota disorders and AS aggravation. Microbial metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids, trimethylamine, hydrogen sulfide, and bile acids, also affect mitochondrial function, including mtDNA mutation, oxidative stress, and mitophagy, promoting low-grade inflammation. This further damages cellular homeostasis and the balance of innate immunity, aggravating AS. Herbal medicines and their monomers can effectively ameliorate the intestinal flora and their metabolites, improve mitochondrial function, and inhibit atherosclerotic plaques. This review focuses on the interaction between gut microbiota and mitochondria in AS and explores a therapeutic strategy for restoring mitochondrial function and intestinal microbiota disorders using herbal medicines, aiming to provide new insights for the prevention and treatment of AS.