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Lipid oxidation and hypoxia can lead to oxidative damage in aquatic animals. This study explored the effects of Scoparia dulcis extracts (SDE) on lipid oxidation, fish growth performance, digestive ability, antioxidant capacity, and hypoxia tolerance ability. The results showed that SDE decreased malonaldehyde (MDA), conjugated diene (CD), and peroxide value (PO) in the linoleic acid and linolenic acid as well as in fish feed. Broken-line analysis revealed that the optimal acetone extract of S. dulcis (AE) supplements was 4.02, 4.01, and 4.01 g kg−1 determined from PO, CD, and MDA, respectively. Dietary AE supplementation increased feed intake and specific growth rate and activities of amylase, trypsin, and lipase as well as alkaline phosphatase in fish hepatopancreas and gut. Polynomial regression analysis showed that optimal dietary AE supplement was 3.61 g kg−1 diet determined from weight gain. Furthermore, dietary AE supplementation decreased MDA content and increased glutathione content and the activities of glutathione peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione reductase in fish digestive organs, gills, erythrocytes, and muscle. Dietary AE supplementation increased durative time (DT) and oxygen consumption rate (OCR) under hypoxia condition. Based on polynomial regression analysis, optimal dietary AE supplements were 4.73 and 4.60 g kg−1 diet determined from DT and OCR for hypoxia tolerance in fish, respectively. According to our current research, SDE’s antioxidant capacity may be attribute to their phenolic chemicals.

Traditional carbonate rock slice identification is based on manual observation and description, which is highly subjective, mainly qualitative and difficult to quantify. In this paper, an intelligent rock thin-section image information mining model covering the process and technology is designed. The mapping relationship between lithofacies characteristics and thin slice images is constructed through a petrographic analysis framework. A full-flow feature extraction algorithm is also designed by combing image processing and deep learning. Qualitative recognition of grain type in structural component features is obtained by convolutional neural network, that is, the classification of grains (intraclasts, bioclasts, envelopes, spherulites and agglomerates) based on the improved ResNet50 model. Quantitative recognition of grain content, size, shape and contact mode in structural component features are obtained by digital image processing, that is, grain content is calculated based on threshold segmentation, grain morphology parameters are calculated based on minimum peripheral circle/minimum peripheral rectangle and by combining with area ratio/aspect ratio, intersection ratio (IoU) and other algorithms. And the qualitative and quantitative identification of calcite and other minerals in mineral component features are obtained by HSV colour space processing of the stained images. A thin section example from Shun X well is given as an example, and the validity of each feature extraction algorithm is verified through the complete image recognition process and comparison with the manual identification report. The results show that the petrographic analysis framework is effective in representing meaningful information in sparry grain limestone. Through the model of combing petrographic analysis framework with image analysis algorithm, a standard and intelligent identification of this type of carbonate rocks has been achieved, which can provide effective method support for the study of intelligent identification of rock slice images.

Mineral image segmentation based on computer vision is vital to realize automatic mineral analysis. However, current image segmentation methods still cannot effectively solve the problem of sandstone grains that are adjoined and concealed by leaching processes, and the segmentation performance of small and irregular grains still needs to be improved. This investigation explores and designs a Mask R-CNN-based sandstone image segmentation model, including a hybrid attention mechanism, loss function construction, and receptive field enlargement. Simultaneously, we propose a high-quality sandstone dataset with abundant labels named SMISD to facilitate comprehensive training of the model. The experimental results show that the proposed segmentation model has excellent segmentation performance, effectively solving adhesion and overlap between adjacent grains without affecting the classification accuracy. The model has comparable performance to other models on the COCO dataset, and performs better on SMISD than others.

Glucosinolates (GLS) contribute to the unique flavour, nutrition, and plant defence of the Cruciferous vegetables. Understanding the GLS changes through postharvest processing is essential for defined preservation. In this study, four different fresh-cut types, whole flower (W), floret (F), quarterly cut floret (QF) and shredded floret (FS) of broccoli, were stored for 0, 1, 2 and 3 day (s) to explore GLS responses to postharvest treatments. As a result, seven GLS were identified, mainly including glucoraphanin (RAA), neoglucobrassicin (NEO), and glucobrassicin (GBC) and accounting for 52.69%, 20.12% and 14.99% of the total GLS (21.92 ± 0.48) μmol · g-1DW, respectively. FS had the sharpest decrease in GLS after three days of storage (6.55 ± 0.37) μmol · g-1DW, while QF had the least (10.16 ± 0.33) μmol · g-1DW. All GLS components decreased over storage, except for 4-methoxyglucobrassicin (4 ME) in FS and QF, suggesting its key role in serious wound defence. The results suggested certain postharvest approaches influenced the flavour and nutrition of broccoli.

The discovery of alternative medicines with less adverse effects is extremely urgent for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Phillyrin (Phil), the predominant lignan glycoside of Forsythia suspensa, has been reported to exert several pharmacological effects, such as antivirus, anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, anti-obesity, and antipyretic activity. However, the effect of Phil on RA remains unknown. In this study, We utilized both in vivo collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rat models and in vitro TNFα-induced fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) to study the inhibitory effects of Phil on RA. The in vivo studies revealed that Phil treatment effectively ameliorated synovial inflammation and bone erosion in CIA rats. The in vitro studies demonstrated that Phil could significantly suppress the proliferation and migration of arthritic FLSs. In addition, treatment with Phil resulted in decreased mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines including TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and MMP9. Molecular mechanistic investigations revealed that the suppressive effects of Phil were mediated by blockade of the MAPK (ERK, p38, and JNK) and NF-κB pathways. Taken together, our findings suggest that Phil has an anti-arthritic effect in CIA rats by inhibiting the pathogenic characteristic of arthritic FLSs throught suppression of NF-κB and MAPKs signaling pathways. These results demonstrate the potential of Phil as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of RA.

Groundwater resource is the basic power for the socio-economic development of arid-inland basins, and is also the major factor affecting the ecological environment of the Huangqihai Lake. As a typical study area of arid-inland basins, with the lowering of groundwater levels in recent years, the total area of the Huangqihai Lake decreases and even faces the risk of drying up. To quantitatively analyze the spatial-temporal evolution of groundwater resources in the Huangqihai Basin and the transformation relationship between lake water and groundwater, a numerical simulation model of groundwater flow in the Huangqihai Basin is established. The model is calibrated and validated by using long-term observation data from 2010 to 2016. The simulation results show that the accumulative deficit of groundwater storage in the Huangqihai Basin is 1.5×108 m3 from 2010 to 2016, and over-exploitation of groundwater is the critical reason for the negative water balance in this area. The Sobol method is used to identify the controlling factors affecting the changes of groundwater resources in this area. The sensitivity of eight main parameters affecting the groundwater system is evaluated by using four objective functions: lake stage, lake leakage, groundwater storage and groundwater discharge to lake. There are significant differences in sensitivity analysis results of model parameters under different objective functions. The first two functions are significantly affected by the horizontal permeability and lake leakage rate, while the last two are mainly affected by exploitation and recharge from precipitation and irrigation. It is proved that the influence of over-exploitation of groundwater is the main controlling factor of the depletion of water resources and shrinking of lake area in the Huangqihai Basin. The results of this study can provide technical support and scientific decision making for the sustainable utilization of groundwater resources and the protection of surrounding ecological environment in the Huangqihai Basin.

Rapid urban expansion reflects the increasing economic growth in China. As an original conceive for urban sustainability, economic growth contributes to vegetation changes. However, the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the relationships between these two factors remains unclear in China. After analyzing the spatiotemporal characteristics of the urban expansion in different cities in China from 2002 to 2020, we found a rapid and continuous urban expansion in China, with the mean annual expansion of 1710.96 km2 year−1 (p 60% of cities showed incoordination status and 38.08% of cities showed strongly incoordination status. At pixels levels, these strong incoordination status in urban areas can be fully explained by long-term average NTL digital Number (DN) gradient.Based on a piecewise linear regression model, the proportion of areas with the strong incoordination status was significantly increased by the 1.07% DN−1 (p

The paucity of medications with novel mechanisms for pain treatment combined with the severe adverse effects of opioid analgesics has led to an imperative pursuit of non-opioid analgesia and a better understanding of pain mechanisms. Here, we identify the putative glutamatergic inputs from the paraventricular thalamic nucleus to the nucleus accumbens (PVTGlut→NAc) as a novel neural circuit for pain sensation and non-opioid analgesia. Our in vivo fiber photometry and in vitro electrophysiology experiments found that PVTGlut→NAc neuronal activity increased in response to acute thermal/mechanical stimuli and persistent inflammatory pain. Direct optogenetic activation of these neurons in the PVT or their terminals in the NAc induced pain-like behaviors. Conversely, inhibition of PVTGlut→NAc neurons or their NAc terminals exhibited a potent analgesic effect in both naïve and pathological pain mice, which could not be prevented by pretreatment of naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist. Anterograde trans-synaptic optogenetic experiments consistently demonstrated that the PVTGlut→NAc circuit bi-directionally modulates pain behaviors. Furthermore, circuit-specific molecular profiling and pharmacological studies revealed dopamine receptor 3 as a candidate target for pain modulation and non-opioid analgesic development. Taken together, these findings provide a previously unknown neural circuit for pain sensation and non-opioid analgesia and a valuable molecular target for developing future safer medication.

Abstract Li‐ion battery (LIB) recycling has become an urgent need with rapid prospering of the electric vehicle (EV) industry, which has caused a shortage of material resources and led to an increasing amount of retired batteries. However, the global LIB recycling effort is hampered by various factors such as insufficient logistics, regulation, and technology readiness. Here, the challenges associated with LIB recycling and their possible solutions are summarized. Different aspects such as recycling/upcycling techniques, worldwide government policies, and the economic and environmental impacts are discussed, along with some practical suggestions to overcome these challenges for a promising circular economy for LIB materials. Some potential strategies are proposed to convert such challenges into opportunities to maintain the global expansion of the EV and other LIB‐dependent industries.

Background Various tumors are insensitive to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) establish the link between innate and adaptive immunity, which can assist T-cell activation and serve as promising targets for combination to enhance ICB therapy. Here, we aimed to improve efficacy for anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapy by developing a PD-L1/TLR7 dual-targeting nanobody-drug conjugate (NDC), based on the PD-L1 nanobodies and TLR7 agonist we developed.Methods PD-L1 nanobodies were obtained by phage display screening and identified through T-cell activation bioassay, in vivo imaging and quantitative biodistribution study. Immune activation and PD-L1-inducing of TLR7 agonists were evaluated in diverse innate cell models. We constructed PD-L1/TLR7 dual-targeting NDCs by chemically coupling PD-L1 nanobodies and TLR7 agonists. The antitumor effect was evaluated via several murine or humanized solid tumor models. Immunophenotyping, immune cell depletion, tumor rechallenge, RNA sequencing and PD-L1-deficient models were combined to determine the mechanism for NDCs function. The dynamics of the in vivo behaviors of NDCs were assessed based on multiorgan changes in PD-L1 levels.Results The screened PD-L1 nanobodies were characterized as tumor-targeting and alleviated T-cell immunosuppression. The TLR7 agonists induced broad innate immune responses and intratumoral PD-L1 expression on antigen-presenting cells (APCs), and its antitumor effect was dependent on intratumoral delivery. The combination of TLR7 agonists and PD-L1 nanobodies activated both innate and adaptive immunity and upregulated PD-L1-related signaling pathways. After coupling to form dual-targeting NDCs, TLR7 agonists and PD-L1 nanobodies exerted synergistic antitumor effects and safety in either ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ tumor and early or advanced tumor models, reshaped the tumor immune microenvironment and induced antitumor immune memory. CD8+ T cells and natural killer cells were the main effector cells for NDCs to function. NDCs can promote PD-L1 expression on intratumoral APCs and tumor cells, and subsequently achieve targeted enrichment in tumors. Moreover, the efficacy of NDCs is biased toward dependence on host expression of PD-L1.Conclusions The novel PD-L1/TLR7 dual-targeting NDC exhibited potent efficacy against heterogeneous tumors through orchestrating innate and adaptive immunity, which could act as a promising strategy to improve ICB therapy and shows prospects for clinical development.

The identification of microfossils in carbonate rocks with thin-section observation is of great significance for the study of sedimentary environment, but the traditional method by manual identification is highly experience required and is greatly affected by subjective factors.In this paper, a method for microscopic recognition of carbonate rocks based on ResNet convolutional neural network was introduced. Through image preprocessing, model design, model training etc., the intelligent recognition of fossils of organisms within thin section images were realized, and the recognition accuracy showed to be 86%.Meanwhile, an advanced YOLO(You Look Only Once) object detection model was proposed, which could realize the detection and recognition of the area where the organism locates in thin section image, and the recognition accuracy appeared to be 85%.This method verified the feasibility of using digital image processing algorithm and deep learning method to intelligently identify biological microscopic images of carbonate rocks.It can be regarded as a useful supplement to traditional manual identification methods and has certain practical application value.

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) is a globally popular vegetable because of its nutrient richness, especially its glucosinolates (GSLs). The content of GSLs in different organs of broccoli varies greatly. However, few studies have focused on the differences in the GSLs biosynthesis-related genes in different organs. In this study, we selected extreme individuals from an F2 population of broccoli and mixed them to form low and high glucoraphanin content pools of leaf, stalk and floret, respectively. Transcriptome and metabolome analyses showed that 539, 755 and 617 genes are significantly differentially expressed, and 44, 66 and 118 metabolites are significantly differentially accumulated in leaf, stalk and floret comparison groups, respectively. The combined analysis revealed that some genes such as Bo5g113720, Bo2g161100 and Bo7g09800, Bo4g018590, Bo5g021810, and Bo2g011730 showed different expression trends between low and high glucoraphanin content pools, which increased the accumulation of glucoraphanin. These genes have different expression levels in the three plant parts. Strikingly, the accumulation of glucoraphanin upregulated the expression of plant hormone signal transduction-related genes TIFY, JAR1, IAA, GH3 and SAU, and also increased the levels of tentatively identified flavonoid metabolites. Our study deepens the understanding of glucosinolate biosynthesis in different organs at the molecular level, and also provides evidence for the crosstalk between glucosinolates and flavonoids biosynthesis pathways.

Activin A, a critical member of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, is a pluripotent factor involved in allergies, autoimmune diseases, cancers and other diseases with immune disorder. Similar to its family member, TGF-β, activin A also transmits signals through SMAD2/SMAD3, however, they bind to distinct receptors. Recent studies have uncovered that activin A plays a pivotal role in both innate and adaptive immune systems. Here we mainly focus its effects on activation, differentiation, proliferation and function of cells which are indispensable in the immune system and meanwhile make some comparisons with those of TGF-β.

With programmed death 1/ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) as the cornerstone, anti-PD antibodies have pioneered revolutionary immunotherapies for malignancies. But most patients struggled to respond to anti-PD owing to primary or acquired resistance or even hyperprogression, pointing to more efforts needed to explore this axis. PD-1 constrains T-cell immunoreactivity via engaging with PD-L1 of tumor/myeloid cells is the canonical PD-1/PD-L1 axis function mode. Studies are increasingly aware of the impact of noncanonical PD-1/PD-L1 expression in various cancers. PD-L1 induced on activated T-cells ligates to PD-1 to mediate self-tolerance or acts on intratumoral myeloid cells and other T-cells, affecting their survival, differentiation and immunophenotyping, leading to tumor immunosuppression. Myeloid PD-1 interferes with their proliferation, differentiation, cytokine secretion and phagocytosis, mediating remarkable pro-tumor effects. Tumor cell intrinsic PD-1 signaling has diverse functions in different tumors, resulting in pro-proliferation or proliferation inhibition. These nonclassical PD-1/PD-L1 functions may be novel anti-PD mechanisms or causes of treatment resistance. This review highlights the nonnegligible role of T-cell-intrinsic PD-L1 and tumor/myeloid PD-1 in the cell interplay network and the complex impact on the efficacy of anti-PD antibodies. Reconsidering and rational utilization of the comprehensive PD-1/PD-L1 axis could cumulate breakthroughs in precision treatment and combination for anti-PD therapies.

Abstract Arachidonic acid (AA) signaling pathway is an important constituent of inflammatory processes. In our previous study, it was found that dihydro-stilbene gigantol relieved hepatic inflammation in mice with CCl4-induced acute liver injury. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of arachidonate metabolic cascade in this process. Our results showed CCl4 activated AA metabolism with the evidence of cPLA2 phosphorylation, which was dependent on the MAPK/JNK activation. Pretreatment with JNK inhibitor SU3327 or gigantol abolished the cPLA2 activation, along with the attenuation of liver damage. Besides, gigantol markedly decreased immune cells activation. Metabolomic analysis revealed that gigantol universally reversed the upregulation of major AA metabolites in injured mouse livers induced by CCl4, especially 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE). Gigantol also decreased the mRNA and protein expression of platelet-, and leukocyte-type 12-lipoxxygenase (LOX) in the liver. Furthermore, pan-LOX inhibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) and specific 12-LOX inhibitors baicalein and ML351 attenuated the liver injury to the same extent as gigantol. Overall, our study elucidated a comprehensive profile of AA metabolites during hepatic inflammation caused by CCl4, highlighting the role of 12-LOX-12-HETE pathway in this process. And gigantol alleviated liver inflammation partly through inhibiting the JNK/cPLA2/12-LOX pathway.

Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) are the prominent non-immune cells in synovium and play a pivotal role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis. Searching for natural compounds that may suppress the pathological phenotypes of FLSs is important for the development of RA treatment. Tomatidine (Td), a steroidal alkaloid derived from the solanaceae family, has been reported to have anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and immunomodulatory effects. However, its effect on RA remains unknown. Here, we examined the inhibitory effect of Td on TNFα-induced arthritic FLSs, and subsequently investigated its therapeutic effect on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats. Our results revealed that Td significantly inhibited TNFα-induced proliferation and migration of arthritic FLSs. In addition, we found that Td treatment could efficaciously ameliorate synovial inflammation and joint destruction of rats with CIA. Both in vitro and in vivo studies showed that Td significantly suppressed the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, IL-6 and TNFα, and downregulated the expression of MMP-9 and RANKL. Further molecular mechanism studies revealed that the inhibitory effect of Td on RA might attribute to the decreased activations of MAPKs (ERK and JNK) and NF-κB. These findings provide evidence that Td has the potential to be developed into a complementary or alternative agent for RA therapy.

One major bottleneck of today's industrial hydrometallurgical lithium‐ion battery recycling processes is the limited operation efficiency, particularly for leaching Co, Li, and Ni elements. Boosting the leaching rate and solid to liquid (S/L) ratio can increase the productivity and yield of recycled materials, which can save chemicals and energy cost. Herein, the use of ethylene glycol (EG), a green and sustainable reducing agent, for the separation of spent cathode materials resulting in high leaching efficiencies for very high loadings is demonstrated. The dramatically improved leaching efficiency is attributed to the EG reducing moieties that enable better cathode reduction and dissolution. The separation process avoids the use of toxic organic solvents, making the overall leaching process greener. The leaching efficiency is shown to remain high despite the use of high loadings as compared to the state‐of‐the‐art works. The cathode separation process is then modified to allow for a facile separation of a cathode and anode mixture. This mixture is demonstrated to attain high leaching efficiencies at comparable loadings for cathode‐only process. This redox leaching‐based recovery process holds a potential for industry adoption due to the elimination of energy‐intensive pretreatment step and the high efficiencies obtained.

The millimeter wave (mmWave) channel is dominated by line-of-sight propagation. Therefore, the acquisition of angle-of-arrival (AoA) and polarization state of the wave is of great significance to the receiver. In this paper, we investigate AoA and polarization estimation in a mmWave system employing dual-polarized antenna arrays. We propose an enhanced AoA estimation method using a localized hybrid dual-polarized array for a polarized mmWave signal. The use of dual-polarized arrays greatly improves the calibration of differential signals and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the phase offset estimation between adjacent subarrays. Given the estimated phase offset, an initial AoA estimate can be obtained, and is then used to update the phase offset estimation. This leads to a recursive estimation with improved accuracy. We further propose an enhanced polarization estimation method, which uses the power of total received signals at dual-polarized antennas to compute the cross-correlation-to-power ratio instead of using only one axis dipole. Thus the accuracy of polarization parameter estimation is improved. We also derive a closed-form expression for mean square error lower bounds of AoA estimation and present an average SNR analysis for polarization estimation performance. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the enhanced AoA and polarization parameter estimation methods compared to the state of the art.

Over the past three decades, China has experienced rapid urbanization, and with the continuous increase in urbanization, urban public services have improved dramatically. However, many studies have found that urbanization damages the ecosystem, causing a decline in ecosystem services. Nevertheless, few studies have analyzed the spatial interaction between urban public services and ecosystem services. This study aims to determine whether urban public services and ecosystem services can achieve positive synergies. We quantified five critical ecosystem services, i.e., carbon sequestration and oxygen production (CSOP), habitat quality (HQ), water conservation (WC), PM2.5 removal (PR), and temperature reduction (TR), and five urban public services, i.e., education services (EDS), medical services (MS), living services (LS), social security services (SSS) and tourism facilities (TF). We found that a few win–win areas form in the center of Hangzhou city and that it is difficult to achieve positive synergies between urban public services and ecosystem services in urban areas without appropriate ecological conditions. In addition, we found thresholds of urban public services that can prevent a sharp decline in ecosystem services in the process of urban expansion. This research proposes an approach to spatial interaction analysis involving urban public services and ecosystem services and provides insights into the harmonious development of urban ecology.

Different cutting types not only affect the quality and bioactive substances of broccoli but may produce wounding stress that influences the quantity and diversity of microorganisms and finally leads to safety concerns. In this study, three different fresh-cutting types (floret (F), quarterly cut floret (QF) and shredded floret (FS)) and four storage stages (0, 1, 2 and 3 day(s)) were designed to detect the bacterial diversity in broccoli. Results showed that the quantity and growth of microorganisms in fresh-cut broccoli were positively correlated with the intensity of fresh-cut damage, and the 97 strains isolated using 16S rRNA gene sequences were mainly classified into four phyla: Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. The predominant phylum was Proteobacteria, dominated by Pseudomonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. Four representative strains of different species were selected to analyze their spoilage potential on fresh-cut broccoli. Pseudomonas spp. had great impacts on the corruption of broccoli, which affected fresh-cut broccoli by metabolizing to produce nitrite and consuming nutrition. Moreover, Comamonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. also affected the quality of broccoli, but received little attention previously. This study provides a reference for precise bacteriostasis and preservation of fresh-cut vegetables such as broccoli.

Sugars, which are critical osmotic compounds and signalling molecules in plants, and Sugars Will Eventually be Exported Transporters (SWEETs), which constitute a novel family of sugar transporters, play central roles in plant responses to multiple abiotic stresses. In the present study, a member of the SWEET gene family from cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), CsSWEET2, was identified and characterized. Histochemical analysis of β-glucuronidase expression in transgenic Arabidopsis plants showed that CsSWEET2 is highly expressed in the leaves; subcellular localization indicated that CsSWEET2 proteins are localized in the plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum. Heterologous expression assays in yeast demonstrated that CsSWEET2 encodes an energy-independent hexose/H+ uniporter that can complement both glucose and fructose transport deficiencies. Compared with wild-type Arabidopsis plants, transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing CsSWEET2 had much lower relative electrolyte leakage levels and were much more resistant to cold stress. Sugar content analysis showed that glucose and fructose levels in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants were significantly higher than those in the wild-type plants. Taken together, our results suggest that, by mediating sugar metabolism and compartmentation, CsSWEET2 plays a vital role in improving plant cold tolerance.

As the sole cell type responsible for bone resorption, osteoclasts play a pivotal role in a variety of lytic bone diseases. Suppression of osteoclast formation and activation has been proposed as an effective protective therapy for new bone. In this study, we reported for the first time that phillyrin (Phil), an active ingredient extracted from forsythia, significantly inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption in vitro and protected against lipopolysaccharide-induced osteolysis in vivo. Further molecular investigations demonstrated that Phil effectively blocked RANKL-induced activations of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase, which suppressed the expression of c-Fos and nuclear factor of activated T-cells cytoplasmic 1. Taken together, these data suggested that Phil might be a potential antiosteoclastogenesis agent for treating osteoclast-related bone lytic diseases.

Glucosinolates (GSLs) are important precursor compounds with anticancer activities in Brassicaceae vegetables and are readily hydrolyzed by myrosinase. Given the diversity of these species, establishing an accurate and universal method to quantify intact GSLs in different plant tissues is necessary. Here, we compared and optimized three tissue disruption methods for sample preparation. After microwave treatment for 90 s, 13 GSLs in homogenized Chinese cabbage samples were recovered at 73–124%. However, a limitation of this method was that different tissues could not be processed under the same microwave conditions. Regarding universality, GSLs in Brassicaceae vegetables could be extracted from freeze-dried sample powder with 70% methanol (v/v) or frozen-fresh sample powder with 80% methanol (v/v). Moreover, heating extraction is necessary for GSLs extracted from frozen-fresh sample powder. Average recoveries of the two optimized methods were 74–119% with relative standard deviations ≤ 15%, with the limits of quantification 5.72–17.40 nmol/g dry weight and 0.80–1.43 nmol/g fresh weight, respectively. Notably, the method for analyzing intact GSLs was more efficient than that for desulfo-GSLs regarding operational complexity, detection speed and quantification accuracy. The developed method was applied to identify the characteristic GSLs in 15 Brassicaceae vegetables, providing a foundation for further research on GSLs.

A thermal simulation experiment of diagenesis, hydrocarbon generation and evolution of the organic matter-rich shale was carried out to investigate formation and evolution of organic pores under the constraint from immature, low mature, mature, high mature to overmature geological conditions. The argon ion polishing–field emission scanning electron microscope was used to analyze microscopic features of original samples and simulated samples of various evolution stages. Results showed organic pores could be formed during hydrocarbon generation from biochemical and hypothermal processes in the immature and low mature stages, and the shale shallow-buried depth might be favorable for preservation of organic pores; the generation and evolution of organic pores were of heterogeneity, and the maturity was not a decisive factor which controlled formation and development of organic pores, while the difference in physiochemical structure of organic matter played an important role in formation and evolution of organic pores; the organic pore development was obviously related with the retained oil, and the organic pores formed in the oil generation stage were easily filled by pyrolysis asphalt; organic contraction fractures/organic marginal pores might be important storage spaces for shale gas occurrence, and their development was mainly controlled by the physiochemical structure and evolution degree of organic matters when the chemical adsorbed organic matter was converted into the physical adsorbed organic matter and the free organic matter. Keywords: Thermal simulation experiment, Organic pores, Thermal evolution stage, Heterogeneity, Plane porosity, Retained oil, Shale

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide is a sustainable way of producing carbon-neutral fuels. Here, the authors take a combined nanoscale and molecular approach to develop a highly active and selective cobalt phthalocyanine/carbon nanotube hybrid electrocatalyst for carbon dioxide reduction to carbon monoxide.

Asparagus bean (Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis) is a warm season legume which is widely distributed over subtropical regions and semiarid areas. It is mainly grown as a significant protein source in developing countries. Salinity, as one of the main abiotic stress factors, constrains the normal growth and yield of asparagus bean. This study used two cultivars (a salt-sensitive genotype and a salt-tolerant genotype) under salt stress vs. control to identify salt-stress-induced genes in asparagus bean using RNA sequencing. A total of 692,086,838 high-quality clean reads, assigned to 121,138 unigenes, were obtained from control and salt-treated libraries. Then, 216 root-derived DEGs (differentially expressed genes) and 127 leaf-derived DEGs were identified under salt stress between the two cultivars. Of these DEGs, thirteen were assigned to six transcription factors (TFs), including AP2/EREBP, CCHC(Zn), C2H2, WRKY, WD40-like and LIM. GO analysis indicated four DEGs might take effects on the "oxidation reduction", "transport" and "signal transduction" process. Moreover, expression of nine randomly-chosen DEGs was verified by quantitative real-time-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis. Predicted function of the nine tested DEGs was mainly involved in the KEGG pathway of cation transport, response to osmotic stress, and phosphorelay signal transduction system. A salt-stress-related pathway of "SNARE interactions in vesicular transport" was concerned. As byproducts, 15, 321 microsatellite markers were found in all the unigenes, and 17 SNP linked to six salt-stress induced DEGs were revealed. These candidate genes provide novel insights for understanding the salt tolerance mechanism of asparagus bean in the future.

Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is an annual legume of economic importance and widely grown in the semi-arid tropics. However, high-density genetic maps of cowpea are still lacking. Here, we identified 34,868 SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) that were distributed in the cowpea genome based on the RAD sequencing (restriction-site associated DNA sequencing) technique using a population of 170 individuals (two cowpea parents and 168 F2:3 progenies). Of these, 17,996 reliable SNPs were allotted to 11 consensus linkage groups (LGs). The length of the genetic map was 1,194.25 cM in total with a mean distance of 0.066 cM/SNP marker locus. Using this map and the F2:3 population, combined with the CIM (composite interval mapping) method, eleven quantitative trait loci (QTL) of yield-related trait were detected on seven LGs (LG4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11) in cowpea. These QTL explained 0.05–17.32% of the total phenotypic variation. Among these, four QTL were for pod length, four QTL for thousand-grain weight (TGW), two QTL for grain number per pod, and one QTL for carpopodium length. Our results will provide a foundation for understanding genes related to grain yield in the cowpea and genus Vigna.

Obesity has been associated with osteoarthritis (OA) due to increased mass and metabolic factors which are independent of the biomechanical contribution to joint load. Resveratrol, a natural polyphenolic compound, exerts protective effects on OA through its anti-inflammatory property. However, the mechanism of resveratrol on obesity-related OA is unclear. To investigate the effect and possible mechanism of oral resveratrol on obesity-related OA, we fed C57BL/6J mice with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 16 weeks to establish obesity-related OA model; then two doses (22.5 mg/kg and 45 mg/kg) of resveratrol were given by gavage for additional 12 weeks. Mice with HFD significantly increased body weights compared to the control mice, while resveratrol treatment did not cause obvious weight loss. Histological assessments showed that resveratrol at 45 mg/kg significantly improved OA symptoms. Levels of serum IL-1β and leptin were decreased by resveratrol treatment and positively correlated with Mankin scores. Moreover, resveratrol significantly inhibited the expression of TLR4 and TRAF6 in cartilage. These results suggest that HFD induced obesity can lead to the occurrence of OA, and resveratrol may alleviate OA pathology by decreasing the levels of systematic inflammation and/or inhibiting TLR4 signaling pathway in cartilage. Thus, resveratrol might be a promising therapeutic treatment for obesity-related OA.

The effects of resveratrol on osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis have been demonstrated in vitro and in animal models employing intra-articular injections. However, the potential for oral resveratrol supplements to mediate protective effects on OA have not been examined. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the potential anti-OA effects of oral resveratrol on mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). C57BL/6J male mice were fed either a standard diet or a HFD, and a subset of the latter also received varying doses of resveratrol. Twelve weeks later, all of the animals were sacrificed and knee joints were evaluated with histological, immunohistochemical, and TUNEL analyses. Mice that received a HFD had significantly greater body weights than the control mice and also exhibited features consistent with knee OA. The mice that received a HFD in combination with low, intermediate, or high doses of resveratrol were only slightly heavier than the control mice at the end of 12 weeks. Quantitative histological assessments indicated that resveratrol treatment partly recovered joint structure in the mice that received a HFD, while high doses of resveratrol prevented the degradation of type II collagen into C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II) and retained type II collagen expression in cartilage. Furthermore, TUNEL analyses revealed a reduction in chondrocyte apoptosis in the resveratrol-treated mice compared with the HFD mice. Thus, oral resveratrol appears to exert anti-OA effects in a mouse model of HFD-induced OA, thereby highlighting the potential preventive and therapeutic value of administering resveratrol for obesity-associated OA.