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Pichia pastoris, a methylotrophic yeast, can utilize methanol as a carbon source and energy source to synthesize high-value chemicals, and is an ideal host for biomanufacturing. Constructing the P. pastoris cell factory is somewhat impeded due to the absence of genetic tools for manipulating multi-gene biosynthetic pathways. To broaden its application in the field of metabolic engineering, this study identified and screened 15 novel integration sites in P. pastoris using CRISPR-Cpf1 genome editing technology, with EGFP serving the reporter protein. These integration sites have integration efficiencies of 10–100 % and varying expression strengths, which allow for selection based on the expression levels of genes as needed. Additionally, these integrated sites are applied in the heterologous biosynthesis of P. pastoris, such as the astaxanthin biosynthetic pathway and the carbon dioxide fixation pathway of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle. During the three-site integration process, the 8 genes of the CBB cycle were integrated into the genome of P. pastoris. This indicates the potential of these integration sites for integrating large fragments and suggests their successful application in metabolic engineering of P. pastoris. This may lead to improved efficiency of genetic engineering in P. pastoris.

Abstract Biomolecular condensates formed by liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) have become an extensive mechanism of macromolecular metabolism and biochemical reactions in cells. Large molecules like proteins and nucleic acids will spontaneously aggregate and assemble into droplet-like structures driven by LLPS when the physical and chemical properties of cells are altered. LLPS provides a mature molecular platform for innate immune response, which tightly regulates key signaling in liver immune response spatially and physically, including DNA and RNA sensing pathways, inflammasome activation, and autophagy. Take this, LLPS plays a promoting or protecting role in a range of liver diseases, such as viral hepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis, hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury, autoimmune liver disease, and liver cancer. This review systematically describes the whole landscape of LLPS in liver innate immunity. It will help us to guide a better-personalized approach to LLPS-targeted immunotherapy for liver diseases.

Manganese (Mn) is an essential cofactor for lignin-degrading enzymes and crucial for nutrient cycling and ecosystem functions. During litter decomposition, Mn may accumulate to fulfill the microbial demand for degrading recalcitrant substances such as lignin, which is reflected in the relative increase in Mn in decomposing litter compared with its initial amount. However, a global-scale quantification of the patterns and factors influencing Mn behavior at different decomposition stages has not been conducted. Thus, we systematically synthesized 1,466 observations from 53 publications to assess the global patterns and influencing factors of Mn accumulation in litter across various stages of decomposition. Our findings are as follows: (1) Mn primarily accumulated during litter decomposition on a global scale, despite some variability among stages. Notably, Mn accumulation was lower in the early decomposition stage (

Increasing experimental evidence and modeling efforts have found that microbial necromass is highly associated with mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM). However, recent studies found that MAOM is predominantly derived from plant litter materials, challenging the notion that microbial necromass is preferentially occluded in MAOM. Here, we compiled 245 observations of glucosamine, galactosamine, mannosamine and muramic acid (specific biomarker for microbial necromass) in MAOM and particle organic matter (POM) from current experiments conducted in croplands, forests and grasslands. We evaluated the influence of climatic and edaphic factors on the partitioning of amino sugars in MAOM and POM. Total amino sugars are predominantly occluded within MAOM (3.23 ± 0.53 mg/g soil) rather than POM (1.73 ± 0.26 mg/g soil) on a global scale, and this preference varies among ecosystem types. Specifically, there are no significant differences in the concentrations of total amino sugars between MAOM and POM in croplands and grasslands. However, forests have significantly higher concentrations of total amino sugars in MAOM (3.88 ± 0.85 mg/g soil) compared to POM (2.23 ± 0.57 mg/g soil). Our results corroborate a consistent preponderance of glucosamine over muramic acid in MAOM and POM across diverse ecosystems. Altitude and MAT were key factors in explaining the occlusion of total amino sugars in MAOM, but those in POM decreased with increasing soil bulk density. Our synthesis across different ecosystems suggests that microbial necromass is predominantly preserved in MAOM, which is driven by climatic factors.

Background: Recent studies indicate that both prefrontal and visual regions play critical roles in visual working memory (VWM), with prefrontal regions mainly associated with executive functions, and visual cortices linked to representations of memory contents. VWM involves the selective filtering of irrelevant information, yet the specific contributions of the prefrontal regions and visual cortex in this process remain unclear. Objective: To understand the dynamic causal roles of prefrontal and visual regions in VWM. Methods: The differentiation of VWM components was achieved using a computational model that incorporated a swap rate for non-target stimuli. Single-pulse magnetic transcranial stimulation (spTMS) was delivered to the early visual cortex (EVC) and the inferior frontal junction (IFJ) across different phases of an orientation recall task that with or without distractors. Results: Our results indicate that spTMS over the EVC and IFJ influences VWM particularly when distractors are present. VWM precision can be impacted by spTMS applied to either region during the early retention, while spTMS effect is especially prominent when EVC is stimulated during the late retention phase and when directed at the ipsilateral EVC. Conversely, the probability of accurately recalling the target exhibited comparable patterns when spTMS was administered to either the EVC or IFJ. Conclusions: We highlight the “sensory recruitment” of VWM characterized by critical involvement of EVC particularly in the information-filtering process within VWM. The maintenance of memory content representations necessitates ongoing communication between the EVC and IFJ throughout the entirety of the VWM process in a dynamic pattern.

Leaf inclination angle (LIA) and tillering impact the winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) population canopy structure. Understanding their effects on water use (WU) parameters and yield can guide water-saving strategies through population control. In this study, six near-isogenic lines (NILs) and their parents were selected as materials. These special materials were characterized by varying tillering at the current sowing density, a similar genetic background, and, particularly, a gradient in mean flag leaf LIA. The investigation focused on the jointing to early grain-filling stage, the peak water requirement period of wheat crops. Population-scale transpiration (PT) and evaporation from the soil surface (E) were partitioned from total evapotranspiration (ET) by the means of micro-lysimeters. The results showed decreased PT, E, and ET with increased population density (PD) within a narrow density range derived from varying tillering across genotypes. Significant correlations existed between PD and ET, E, and PT, especially in the wettest 2017–2018 growing season. Within such narrow PD range, all the correlations between WU parameters and PD were negative, although some correlations were not statistically significant, thereby suggesting the population structure’s predominant impact. No significant correlation existed between LIA and both ET and PT within the LIA range of 35°–65°. However, significant correlations occurred between LIA and E in two growing seasons. Genotypes with similar LIA but different PD produced varied ET; while with similar PD, the four pairs of genotypes with different LIA each consumed similar ET, thus highlighting PD’s more crucial role in regulating ET. The yield increased with higher LIA, and showed a significant correlation, emphasizing the LIA’s significant effect on yield. However, no correlation was observed with PD, indicating the minor effect of tillering at the current sowing density. Therefore these results might offer valuable insights for breeding water-saving cultivars and optimizing population structures for effective field water conservation.

Growing private vehicle use and a limited supply of parking resources have increased competition for parking spaces. Ineffective searching for parking spaces is a significant barrier to smooth traffic flow. Smart technology-generated parking reservations are regarded as an excellent way to increase parking efficiency and lessen traffic. Although there is increased attention on smart parking research and parking reservation optimization, a scoping review is currently lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the research literature related to parking reservations. Out of the original 438 publications identified in this search, 99 were eventually chosen for analysis. The review categorized parking reservations into four research topics: inventory control, allocation decisions, pricing strategies, and performance evaluation. The elements considered in these research themes, modeling techniques, and evaluation criteria are explored in detail. In addition, the challenges and further enhancements of parking reservation optimization are discussed. It is believed that the findings from this study will be beneficial in further research on parking reservations.

Abstract Realizing bicontinuous fibrillar charge transport networks in the photoactive layer has been considered a promising method to achieve high‐efficiency organic solar cells (OSCs); however, this has been rarely achieved due to the interference of molecular organization of donor and acceptor components during solution casting. In this contribution, the fibrillization of polymer donor PM6 and small molecular nonfullerene acceptor L8‐BO is realized with the assistance of conjugated polymer D18‐Cl. Atomic force microscopy and photo‐induced force microscopy reveal that PM6 and D18‐Cl co‐assemble into long and slender fibrils within wide blending ratios due to their high compatibility; in contrast, the fibrillization of L8‐BO can be encouraged with the incorporation of 1% D18‐Cl. By utilizing a pseudo‐bulk heterojunction (p‐BHJ) active layer fabricated by layer‐by‐layer deposition, the optimized PM6+20% D18‐Cl/L8‐BO+1% D18‐Cl OSCs obtain bicontinuous fibril networks, leading to enhanced exciton dissociation and charge transport processes and superior power conversion efficiency of 19.2% (certified 18.91%) compared to 18.8% of the PM6:D18‐Cl:L8‐BO ternary BHJ OSCs.

Abstract Non‐sidelooking airborne radar encounters significant non‐stationary and heterogeneous clutter environments, resulting in a severe shortage of samples. Sparse recovery‐based space‐time adaptive processing (SR‐STAP) methods can achieve good clutter suppression performance with limited samples. Nonetheless, grid‐based SR‐STAP algorithms encounter off‐grid effects in non‐sidelooking arrays, which can severely degrade the clutter suppression performance. In this study, the authors propose a novel gridless SR‐STAP method in the continuous spatial‐temporal domain to address the issue of off‐grid effects. Inspired by the fact that sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) framework implicitly performs a structured covariance matrix estimation, the authors reparameterise its cost function to directly estimate the block‐Toeplitz structured matrix from the measurements in a gridless manner. Since the proposed cost function is non‐convex, we utilise a majorisation‐minimisation‐based iterative procedure to estimate the clutter covariance matrix. Finally, using the standard concept of semidefinite programming, the authors derive a convex gridless implementation of the SBL cost function for uniformly sampled radar systems. Extensive simulation experiments demonstrate the exceptional clutter suppression and target detection performance of the proposed algorithm.

Social dominance is a universal phenomenon among grouped animals that profoundly affects survival, health, and reproductive success by determining access to resources, and exerting a powerful influence on subsequent behavior. However, the understanding of pain and anxiety comorbidities in dominant or subordinate animals suffering from chronic pain is not well-defined. Here, we provide evidence that subordinate mice are more susceptible to pain-induced anxiety compared to dominant mice. We propose that the gut microbiota may play a mediating role in this mechanism. Our findings demonstrate that transplantation of fecal microbiota from subordinate mice with chronic inflammatory pain, but not dominant mice, into antibiotics-treated pseudo-germ-free mice significantly amplifies anxiety-like phenotypes, highlighting the critical involvement of gut microbiota in this behavioral response. Using chronic inflammatory pain model, we carried out 16S rRNA sequencing and untargeted metabolomic analyses to explore the relationship between microbiota and metabolites in a stable social hierarchy of mice. Interestingly, anxiety-like behaviors were directly associated with some microbial genera and metabolites, especially bile acid metabolism. Overall, we have demonstrated a close relationship between social status and anxiety susceptibility, highlighting the contributions of gut microbiota and the associated metabolites in the high-anxiety state of subordinate mice with chronic inflammatory pain.

As an inflammatory disease with a disrupted immune system, cytokine disorders in atopic dermatitis (AD) are closely related to the abnormal activation of JAK-STAT signal pathway. The critical relevance of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway to the pathogenesis of AD provides a strong rationale for JAK inhibitor research. Baricitinib, a small-molecule oral JAK inhibitor, has been proven to inhibit JAK-STAT signaling in a variety of diseases, including AD. It is currently available in China for off-label use. However, its efficacy in China and its mechanism are rarely reported. In our study, we found that the immune status of patients with moderate and severe AD was hyperactive. Among the 49 known immunotherapy targets, JAK1 and JAK2 genes on lymphocytes of AD patients were significantly upregulated, which was closely related to the symptom severity in moderate and severe AD patients. Baricitinib can improve immune hyperresponsiveness and clinical symptoms in moderate and severe AD by inhibiting the activation of Th2 cell subsets and the secretion of Th2-type cytokines through MAPK, mTOR and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways, providing an important theoretical basis for clinical off-label use of Baricitinib to treat moderate and severe AD.

Abstract Space‐time adaptive processing (STAP) struggles to effectively suppress clutter in the heterogeneous clutter environment due to the lack of training samples. In order to enhance clutter suppression performance of STAP, a subspace‐weighted mixed‐norm minimisation approach is given. First, a roughly estimated clutter subspace is obtained using the subspace augment (SA) approach. The weight vector is then designed using the association between the dictionary matrix and the noise subspace, allowing the algorithm to penalise sparse coefficients democratically. Finally, in order to solve the subspace‐weighted mixed‐norm minimisation problem, we derive a fast algorithm based on the alternating direction multiplier method (ADMM) framework. The proposed algorithm does not require iteratively updating the weight vector in contrast to the iterative re‐weighted l1 ${l}_{1}$ (IRL1) algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in terms of computational efficiency and clutter suppression performance.

The public health emergencies have had a significant impact on the world economy, and the sports industry has been no exception. This study employed StataMP-64 software and event study methodologies to examine the reaction of the Chinese sports industry's capital markets to the outbreak of public health emergencies. The event study method, which is becoming increasingly popular in the field of economics and management, is well-suited for evaluating the impact of specific events on stock returns in the capital market. This method has also garnered significant interest in the sports industry. In this study, the expected return is calculated using the classical market model, and the cumulative abnormal return and average cumulative abnormal return were calculated for each sports company during the period of the Wuhan "city closure" event and the inflection point event. The Wilcoxon non-parametric test has been used to examine the significance of the abnormal return. The results indicate that the event study method, applied to a procedural market model, is effective in analyzing the capital market's response to the public health emergencies outbreak in the Chinese sports industry.

Abstract Background and objective Thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT) is a prethrombotic marker, and its application in ischemic stroke is still uncertain. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the relationship between plasma TAT and ischemic stroke base on the current evidence. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted for searching the relative studies that investigated the association of TAT and ischemic stroke in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library databases. Mean difference and 95% confidence interval as the effect sizes were synthesized by random effects model in Review Manager (RevMan) Version 5.4. The heterogeneity was investigated using the chi-square test and the possible sources of heterogeneity were explored by sensitivity analysis and meta-regression. The publication bias was estimated by Egger’s tests. Results A total of 12 eligible studies were included involving 1431 stroke cases and 532 healthy controls, of which six studies were eventually included in the meta-analysis. Plasma TAT in patients with ischemic stroke was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (MD 5.31, 95% CI = 4.12–6.51, P < 0.0001, I 2 = 97.8%). There is a difference of TAT level in the same period among cardioembolic, lacunar, and atherothrombotic stroke (all P < 0.0001), in which the cardioembolic stroke with the highest level. Meanwhile, it is significant of TAT levels among various phases of cardioembolic stroke and the acute phase are markedly elevated (MD 7.75, 95CI%, 6.07–9.43, P < 0.001). However, no difference was found in the atherothrombotic (P = 0.13) and lacunar stroke (P = 0.34). Besides, the higher TAT level is closely related to the poor prognosis of patients with ischemic stroke, including higher recurrence, mortality, unfavorable recovery (modified Rankin scale > 2), and poor revascularization. Conclusions This study suggested that plasma TAT levels are different in ischemic stroke subtypes, which are closely associated with the progression and might have an effect on the prognosis. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD: 42021248787

Abstract Background Patients suffering from chronic pain often also exhibit depression symptoms. Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitors can decrease blood levels of inflammatory cytokines. However, whether inhibiting sEH signaling is beneficial for the comorbidity of pain and depression is unknown. Methods According to a sucrose preference test (SPT), spared nerve injury (SNI) mice were classified into pain with or without an anhedonia phenotype. Then, sEH protein expression and inflammatory cytokines were assessed in selected tissues. Furthermore, we used sEH inhibitor TPPU to determine the role of sEH in chronic pain and depression. Importantly, agonists and antagonists of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and translocator protein (TSPO) were used to explore the pathogenesis of sEH signaling. Results In anhedonia-susceptible mice, the tissue levels of sEH were significantly increased in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), hippocampus, spinal cord, liver, kidney, and gut. Importantly, serum CYP1A1 and inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and the tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), were increased simultaneously. TPPU improved the scores of mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT) and SPT, and decreased the levels of serum CYP1A1 and inflammatory cytokines. AHR antagonist relieved the anhedonia behaviors but not the algesia behaviors in anhedonia-susceptible mice, whereas an AHR agonist abolished the antidepressant-like effect of TPPU. In addition, a TSPO agonist exerted a similar therapeutic effect to that of TPPU, whereas pretreatment with a TSPO antagonist abolished the antidepressant-like and analgesic effects of TPPU. Conclusions sEH underlies the mechanisms of the comorbidity of chronic pain and depression and that TPPU exerts a beneficial effect on anhedonia behaviors in a pain model via AHR and TSPO signaling.

Carbon (C) release from plant and microbial residues is a primary pathway of energy flow from photosynthetic and metabolic biomass to carbon dioxide (CO _2 ) in terrestrial ecosystems. Traditional view show that microbial residue C is more resistant to decompose than plant litter because their smaller particle sizes could be preferentially occluded in microaggregates with less microbial accessibility. However, we still lack a quantitative assessment (i.e. isotopic C labeling) to isolate the progressive release of C fractions from both plant and microbial residues. Here we used a global data set of 117 decomposition experiments that traced the ^13 C or ^14 C release of isotopically labeled plant and microbial residues to estimate the C release rates and turnover times by using a first-order exponential kinetics model. The average C release rates of crop, grass and tree litter were 7.78, 3.79 and 2.11 yr ^−1 , which were significantly lower than microbial residues (13.07 yr ^−1 ). Although C release rates of both plant and microbial residues were positively correlated with site temperature, the mean turnover time of microbial residues was 2–6 times lower than plant litter. We suggest that a constraint in microbial and plant residues leads to a predictable pattern of C release during terrestrial decomposition, which could be included in Earth system models.

Abstract Aims This study aims to analyse the factors associated with prognosis in hospitalized patients with heart failure, particularly the role of depressive symptoms, and to develop a prediction model for depressive symptoms based on clinical characteristics in hospitalized patients with heart failure. Methods and results Baseline information was collected at admission, and patients were followed up after discharge. The endpoint events were being hospitalized for heart failure or all‐cause death. Depressive symptoms were evaluated and defined via the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)‐2 and PHQ‐9. The bidirectional elimination was used to screen independent predictors of heart failure with depression symptoms. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) optimized the predictor variables, and the prediction model was constructed. The model was internally validated by the bootstrap sampling method (Bootstrap), and its performance was assessed by discrimination and calibration. The mean age of patients with heart failure was 69.43 ± 12.15 years, and the proportion of males was 66.67%. The prevalence of depressive symptoms in hospitalized patients with heart failure was 46.83%, and the prevalence of moderate/severe depressive symptoms was 11.62%. Eighty cases (30.30%) were readmitted for heart failure, and 13 cases (4.92%) were all‐cause deaths. Depressive symptoms (HR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.55–3.80) and the PHQ‐9 score (HR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.06–1.16) were both independent risk factors for endpoint events (P

Abstract Virtual synchronous generator (VSG), which can behave with analogous characteristics as the conventional synchronous generator (SG) and provide voltage and inertia/damping support, is universally regarded as a grid‐friendly interface. Here, the comprehensive sequence‐impedance model of the VSG is developed by using the harmonic linearization method. To improve the accuracy of impedance model, the influences of the reactive power loop (RPL) and mirror frequency effect (MFE) are discussed and evaluated for the first time. Three different impedance models of the VSG (conventional, considering RPL, and considering both MFE and RPL) are derived and compared in detail. Besides, the synchronous frequency resonance (SFR) issue and grid‐interactive oscillation risk of the VSG are also investigated. The results indicate that the VSG may suffer from power oscillation when the integral coefficient of RPL is too large, but has excellent robustness and stability when connected to weak grid. This feature makes it more appealing in weak grid integration. Finally, the validity of the theoretical analysis is verified by simulations and experiments.

Objective: The study aimed to examine the dose–response associations between night-sleep duration and depression risk in middle-aged and older adults.Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP, and the Wanfang data knowledge service platforms from inception to 31 July 2022. Cohort and case–control studies assessing the relationship between night-sleep duration and depression were selected. We used the Newcastle–Ottawa scale to assess the quality of the published research. Two researchers carried out data extraction and quality assessment. The restricted cubic spline function and generalized least squares method were used to establish dose–response relationships between sleep duration and depression. We aimed to analyze the estimated effect size presented as the risk ratio (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) using Stata 12.0.Result: Six cohort studies with 33,595 participants were included in this meta-analysis. A U-shaped association between sleep duration and depression risk was revealed. On one hand, compared with 7-h of night sleep, both shorter and longer sleep duration were associated with an increased risk of depression (5 h: risk ratio = 1.09, 95% confidence interval = 1.07–1.12; 6 h: RR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.02–1.04; 8 h: RR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.05–1.15; 9 h: RR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.17–1.47; 10 h: RR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.31–1.92; non-linear test p < 0.05). On the other hand, an increased risk of depression with shorter sleep duration was observed in middle-aged and older people among the non-Asian population (5 h: RR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.02–1.17), while both shorter and longer sleep duration can increase the risk of depression among an Asian population (5 h: RR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.07–1.13; 6 h: RR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02–1.05; 8 h: RR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.05–1.14; 9 h: RR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.18–1.53; 10 h: RR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.36–2.12).Conclusion: The lowest-risk onset of depression occurred among middle-aged and older people with 7 h of night sleep, which suggested that shorter and longer night-sleep duration might lead to an increased incidence of depression.Clinical Trial Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=344052, identifier 344052

Heart failure (HF) with depression is a common comorbidity associated with worse clinical status and quality of life. Although there have been numerous high-quality studies and relevant reviews on HF comorbid with depression, few bibliometric analyses of this field have been reported. In order to understand the development process, research hotspots and future directions, this review analyzes the papers on HF comorbid with depression from January 2002 to December 2021 through CiteSpace and VOSviewer. Visual cooperative networks between countries, authors and institutions were conducted to understand the basic development status of HF comorbid with depression. Furthermore, we performed co-occurrence analysis, burst detection, and timeline analysis for keywords to understand this field's research directions and hotspots. Finally, a detailed review and analysis of the classical literature in this field were conducted based on co-citation analysis. This bibliometric analysis provides an overview of studies on HF comorbid with depression and emphasizes the research on comorbidity mechanisms and more effective interventions as a priority for future research.

Abstract Objective The purpose of this retrospective study is to evaluate the effectiveness of early cardiac rehabilitation on patients with heart failure following acute myocardial infarction. Methods Two hundred and thirty-two patients who developed heart failure following acute myocardial infarction were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into heart failure with reduced ejection fraction group (n = 54) and heart failure with mid-range ejection fraction group (n = 178). Seventy-eight patients who accepted a two-week cardiac rehabilitation were further divided into two subgroups based on major adverse cardiovascular events. Key cardio-pulmonary exercise testing indicators that may affect the prognosis were identified among the cardiac rehabilitation patients. Results Early cardiac rehabilitation significantly reduced cardiac death and re-hospitalization in patients. There was more incidence of diabetes, hyperkalemia and low PETCO2 in the cardiac rehabilitation group who developed re-hospitalization. Low PETCO2 at anaerobic threshold (≤ 33.5 mmHg) was an independent risk factor for re-hospitalization. Conclusions Early cardiac rehabilitation reduced major cardiac events in patients with heart failure following acute myocardial infarction. The lower PETCO2 at anaerobic threshold is an independent risk factor for re-hospitalization, and could be used as a evaluating hallmark for early cardiac rehabilitation.

Atmospheric pressure cold plasmas are widely used in the biomedical field as evidenced by developments in recent years. In this study, a quartz tube-guided gas–liquid two-phase discharge has been configured with a hollow needle-water structure. The power source for the device was sinusoidal, and switching between a gas–liquid miscible discharge and a pure gaseous discharge was simple. It was discovered that the gas–liquid discharge was beneficial in terms of reactant species generation and reaction efficiency in terms of processing water. The types of particles, the physicochemical properties, and the concentrations of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in the discharge were studied spectroscopically. The discharge was discovered to have high levels of H2O2 and NO2−, and the activated water was proven to be effective at sterilizing samples that were contaminated with micro-organisms. Key experimental parameters including the driving voltage and the air flow rate were optimized to achieve the best sterilization conditions. The membrane potential changes in the treated bacteria were also studied to explore the causes of bacterial inactivation. The results showed that the device exhibited a strong bactericidal effect for the gas–liquid mixed phase discharge operating at 17 kV for 5 min with a gas flow rate of 0.3 SLM. In addition, the present device offers enhanced sterilization efficiency relative to the efficiency of conventional plasma sterilization equipment and, therefore, has a wide range of applications.

To clarify the differences in growth and yield responses to drought stress among genotypes contrasting in environmental background, dryland and irrigated genotypes, as well as the underlying biochemical mechanism would provide valuable information for developing superior dryland cultivars. Pot experiments for the whole life cycle in fifteen genotypes and comparative metabolomics analysis for seedlings between two drought tolerant (DT) dryland genotypes and two drought sensitive (DS) irrigated ones were carried out. The DT dryland genotypes suffered heavy biomass loss during severer drought but showed minor yield loss ultimately, while the DS irrigated ones showed minor biomass loss but greater yield loss. Additionally, the superior DT dryland genotypes showed better yield performance under both drought stress and well-watered conditions, indicating their possessing both drought tolerance and high yield potential traits. Suffering severer drought stress, seedling leaves of the DS irrigated genotypes increased some amino acids and organic acids to maintain cell metabolism and accumulate more biomass. Proline in particular was overproduced, which might cause toxicity to cell systems and lead to enormous yield loss ultimately. In contrast, DT dryland genotypes increased the beneficial amino acid and phenolic acids to enhance cell self-protection for alleviating drought damage and efficiently minimized yield loss ultimately.

Understanding the dynamics of avian gut fungal communities and potentially pathogenic species across different seasons is crucial for assessing their health and ecological interactions. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was employed to examine the changes in gut fungal communities and the presence of potential pathogens between different seasons in captive Baikal teal and common teal. Between the summer and autumn seasons, both duck species showed significant differences in fungal diversity and community composition. A higher fungal diversity in both species was exhibited in the summer than in the autumn. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the two most common phyla, with a greater proportion of Ascomycota than Basidiomycota in both duck species in the summer. Interestingly, our study also identified animal pathogens and plant saprotrophs in the gut fungal communities. Seasonal variation had an effect on the diversity and abundance of both animal pathogens and saprotrophs. Specifically, during the summer season, the diversity and relative abundance were higher compared to the autumn season. In addition, there were differences between duck species in terms of animal pathogens, while no significant differences were observed in saprotrophs. Overall, the communities of the gut fungi, animal pathogens, and saprotrophs were found to be influenced by seasonal changes rather than host species. Therefore, seasonal variations might dominate over host genetics in shaping the gut microbiota of captive Baikal teal and common teal. This study underscores the importance of incorporating an understanding of seasonal dynamics and potential pathogens within the gut microbiota of captive ducks. Such considerations have the potential to drive progress in the development of sustainable and economically viable farming practices.

Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) approaches based on sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) have attracted much attention for the benefit of reducing the training samples requirement and accurately recovering sparse signals. However, it has the problem of a heavy computational burden and slow convergence speed. To improve the convergence speed, the variational Bayesian inference (VBI) is introduced to STAP in this paper. Moreover, to improve computing efficiency, a fast iterative algorithm is derived. By constructing a new atoms selection rule, the dimension of the matrix inverse problem can be substantially reduced. Experiments conducted on the simulated data and measured data verify that the proposed algorithm has excellent clutter suppression and target detection performance.

Transposons are accepted as evolutionary catalysts but how they do so remains less clear. Analyzing 100 animal genomes finds that terminal inverted repeat-type transposable elements catalyze new gene structures and new genes in animals via both transposition-independent and -dependent mechanisms.

Plasma-activated solution (PAS) has attracted wide attention in cancer treatment because it can treat deep tumors and offer storability. The changes in reactive species and physicochemical properties of PAS during storage can affect its anticancer effect. In this study, the plasma-activated medium (PAM) was prepared by treating RPMI 1640 medium with afterglow gas generated by a custom-built air surface dielectric barrier discharge device. PAM was stored at four common temperature conditions (25 °C, 4 °C, −20 °C, and −80 °C) for 1 day, 4 days, and 7 days, and then, the physicochemical properties, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), and the anti-cancer effect on A549 cells under different storage conditions were compared. The results showed that PAM exhibited different anticancer effects at different storage temperatures over a 7 day storage period. The anticancer ability of PAM under 80 °C storage remained stable after 7 days of storage and decreased at all other temperatures. These results were also verified by apoptosis results, and the differences were mainly related to the concentration of H2O2 and NO2−, and oxido reduction potential. Our results provided a theoretical basis for the storage of PAM and its application in anticancer therapy.

On-chip optical gas sensors, which use resonant shifts of cavities to detect molecular concentrations, have the advantages of high sensitivity, real-time detection, and compact footprint. However, such sensors are usually limited by a serious cross-sensitivity issue induced by environmental temperature variations. To overcome this limitation, we study a dual-mode graphene-on-microring resonator to accurately measure gas concentrations without suffering from temperature variations. To be specific, the influences of gas-induced graphene’s optical conductivity changes and environmental temperature variations on effective refractive indices of TE0 and TE1 modes in the resonator can be decoupled based on the modal linear independent responses. With this method, we designed a nitrogen dioxide sensor with a sensitivity of 0.02 nm/ppm and a limit of detection of 0.5 ppm. Our study paves the way for developing on-chip optical gas sensors with excellent sensitivity and temperature stability.

Abstract Fireflies are among the most charismatic insects for their spectacular bioluminescence, but the origin and evolution of bioluminescence remain elusive. Especially, the genic basis of luciferin (d-luciferin) biosynthesis and light patterns is largely unknown. Here, we present the high-quality reference genomes of two fireflies Lamprigera yunnana (1053 Mb) and Abscondita terminalis (501 Mb) with great differences in both morphology and luminous behavior. We sequenced the transcriptomes and proteomes of luminous organs of two species. We created the CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutants of Abdominal B gene without luminous organs in the larvae of A. terminalis and sequenced the transcriptomes of mutants and wild-types. Combining gene expression analyses with comparative genomics, we propose a more complete luciferin synthesis pathway, and confirm the convergent evolution of bioluminescence in insects. Using experiments, the function of the firefly acyl-CoA thioesterase (ACOT1) to convert l-luciferin to d-luciferin was validated for the first time. Comparisons of three-dimension reconstruction of luminous organs and their differentially expressed genes among two species suggest that two positive genes in the calcium signaling pathway and structural difference of luminous organs may play an important role in the evolution of flash pattern. Altogether, our results provide important resources for further exploring bioluminescence in insects.

Flea beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini) are a hyperdiverse group of organisms with approximately 9900 species worldwide. In addition to walking as most insects do, nearly all the species of flea beetles have an ability to jump and this ability is commonly understood as one of the key adaptations responsible for its diversity. Our investigation of flea beetle jumping is based on high-speed filming, micro-CT scans and 3D reconstructions, and provides a mechanical description of the jump. We reveal that the flea beetle jumping mechanism is a catapult in nature and is enabled by a small structure in the hind femur called an ‘elastic plate’ which powers the explosive jump and protects other structures from potential injury. The explosive catapult jump of flea beetles involves a unique ‘high-efficiency mechanism’ and ‘positive feedback mechanism’. As this catapult mechanism could inspire the design of bionic jumping limbs, we provide a preliminary design for a robotic jumping leg, which could be a resource for the bionics industry.

Abstract Background Membrane lipid composition associates closely with membrane stability and fluidity under water stress. In this study, lipidomic analyses based on electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) were carried out to explore dynamic changes of membrane lipids in term of molecular species caused by PEG (Polyethylene glycol-6000)-induced water stress in wheat seedlings. Results Among the main phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) are primary degradation targets, and PC was degraded in the largest degree. Membrane ion leakage dramatically increased later than the significant reduction of these phospholipids, indicating that the loss of membrane integrity lagged behind severe phospholipid degradation. Monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) increased firstly and decreased later, while digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) ratcheted up with stress. DGDG/MGDG increased after stress for 3 days, and unsaturation of DGDG was promoted with stress. Variation trends of galactolipids differed among molecular species. The time when MGDG (34:3), DGDG (34:3) began to decline approached to the time when non-stomatal limitation impaired photosynthesis. While the two predominant molecular species MGDG (36:6) and DGDG (36:6) began to decline later. So we speculated that MGDG (34:3), DGDG (34:3) might be key components in photosynthesis apparatus and participate in photosynthesis directly. While the two predominant molecular species, MGDG (36:6) and DGDG (36:6) might locate in thylakoid lipid bilayer matrix and play roles in stabilizing the membrane. The research provides new insights into the dynamic response of lipid metabolism to PEG-induced water stress. Conclusion In wheat plants under water stress, the major molecular species of PC, PE and PG were degraded, MGDG and DGDG molecular species had differing degradation time courses.

The mechanisms underlying the maturation of learning and memory abilities are poorly understood. Here, authors show that episodic learning produces persistent neuronal activation, BDNF-dependent increase in excitatory synapse markers (synaptophysin and PSD-95), and significant maturation of AMPA receptor synaptic responses in the hippocampus of infant rats and mice compared to juveniles and adults.

Heterogeneous Electron-Fenton (HEF) has been recognized as a prospective solution in tackling refractory organic contaminants. Nevertheless, the low production efficiency of H2O2 and external addition of H2O2 or Fe2+ limit its wide application. In this work, the bi-functional Fe/CeO2 composites were designed to achieve the simultaneous generation of H2O2 and •OH. The electro-catalysis experiments indicate Fe/CeO2 composites present 97% degradation efficiency for 17 mg/L phenol within 0.5 h and it still presented good degradation performance in high salinity condition. The H2O2 yield produced by Fe, CeO2, and Fe/CeO2 revealed that CeO2 and Fe/CeO2 have similar H2O2 productivity about 24 mg/L h−1, suggesting that H2O2 is mainly produced by CeO2. O2-TPD profiles, XPS and Raman spectra indicate that the relative amount of oxygen deficient region (Ov) and chemisorbed oxygen in Fe/CeO2 composites is higher than that in CeO2, which promote the adsorption of O2. Then the effective O2 adsorption can ensure the subsequent electrocatalysis of O2 to H2O2. The impedance measurement shows that Fe/CeO2 composite exhibits excellent conductivity, enabling the transporting of electron. EPR experiments and radical scavenging experiments disclosed that the primary reactive species was •OH, proving the in-situ activation of H2O2 to •OH by Fe/CeO2 composites. This work should offer new insights about the rational design of bi-functional catalyst towards simultaneous generation and activation H2O2 to •OH, thus improving electrocatalytic performance.

To solve the problem of the low segmentation accuracy of lung nodule CT images using U-Net, an improved method for segmentation of lung nodules by U-Net was proposed. Initially, the dense network connection and sawtooth expanded convolution design was added to the feature extraction part, and a local residual design was adopted in the upsampling process. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm was evaluated using the LIDC-IDRI lung nodule public dataset. The results showed that the improved algorithm had 7.03%, 14.05%, and 10.43% higher performance than the U-Net segmentation algorithm under the three loss functions of DC, MIOU, and SE, and the accuracy was 2.45% higher compared with that of U-Net. Thus, the proposed method had an effective network structure.

To study how plant architecture affects the canopy traits and water use of wheat, the Triticum aestivum L. population is expected to provide important information for cultivar improvement and the ideal population structure establishment for conserving water without causing an enormous grain yield loss. This study was conducted for three consecutive growing seasons using two genotypes with contrasting plant architectures as the materials, the upright-leafed compact type Jing 411 and the flat-leafed loose type Jinmai 47. The population-scale transpiration (PT) and soil evaporation (E) were partitioned from the evapotranspiration (ET) using micro-lysimeters, and the canopy traits population density and the canopy temperature depression (CTD) were also monitored during the period from the jointing to early grain filling stage—the largest water requirement period of wheat crops. Jinmai 47 showed a lower E than Jing 411, but a similar PT and ET, though it had a higher population density at the sowing density. The total evapotranspiration (TET) for the whole growing season was also similar in the two genotypes. This indicated that Jinmai 47 performed better in water conservation than Jing 411. With a similar PT and TET, however, Jinmai 47 showed a rather larger CTD and a significantly higher grain yield than Jing 411. If the higher population density and higher leaf net photosynthetic rate could explain its higher grain yield, the higher leaf stomotal conductance and transpiration rate and the higher population density could not explain the similar PT, ET and TET to Jing 411. Presumably, the involvement of the plant architecture disrupted the original higher transpiration–larger CTD relation, and broke up the prevailing saving water-losing yield concept. Thus, the study might suggest the important water saving value of the flat-leafed loose architecture in wheat crops and demonstrate the possibility of conserving irrigation water without causing serious grain yield loss by taking advantage of the distinct plant architecture to establish an appropriate population structure.

Porphyrin (TMPyP) functionalized carbon quantum dots (CQDs-TMPyP), a novel and efficient carbon nanocomposite material, were developed as a novel luminescent material, which could be very useful for the sensitive detection of copper ions in the Cu2+ quenching luminescence of functionalized carbon quantum dots. Therefore, we constructed a sensitive “signal off” ECL biosensor for the detection of Cu2+. This sensor can sensitively respond to copper ions in the range of 10 nM to 10 μM, and the detection limit is 2.78 nM. At the same time, it has good selectivity and stability and a benign response in complex systems. With excellent properties, this proposed ECL biosensor provides an efficient and ultrasensitive method for Cu2+ detection.

The large-scale fermentation of Pichia pastoris for recombinant protein production would be time consuming and produce a large amount of waste yeast. Here we introduce a novel semi-continuous fermentation process for P. pastoris GS115 that can separate vitality cells from broth and recycle the cells to produce high-secretory recombinant pectate lyase. It is based on differences in cell sedimentation coefficients with the formation of salt bridges between metal ions and various cell states. Compared to batch-fed cultivation and general semi-continuous culture, the novel process has significant advantages, such as consuming fewer resources, taking less time, and producing less waste yeast. Sedimentation with the addition of Fe3+ metal ions consumed 14.8 ± 0.0% glycerol, 97.8 ± 1.3% methanol, 55.0 ± 0.9 inorganic salts, 81.5 ± 0.0% time cost, and 77.0 ± 0.1% waste yeast versus batch-fed cultivation to produce an equal amount of protein; in addition, the cost of solid–liquid separation was lower for cells in the collected fermentation broth. The process is economically and environmentally efficient for producing recombinant proteins.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), as the most widely distributed and widely studied neurotrophic factor in the mammalian brain, plays a key role in depression and the mechanisms of action for antidepressants. Currently, there is a large number of studies on the role of BDNF in the pathogenesis and therapeutic mechanism of depression. The quantity and quality of these studies, however, are unknown. To give beginners a quicker introduction to this research topic, we therefore performed a bibliometric analysis. A total of 5300 publications were included. We obtained the publications on this topic from the Web of Science database, and a variety of bibliographic elements were collected, including annual publications, authors, countries/regions, institutions, journals, and keywords. Moreover, we found that oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are the hotspots in the field in very recent years. Collectively, this study provides a comprehensive summary and analysis on the role of BDNF in depression and its treatment and offers meaningful values for beginners on this topic.

Over the last few decades, biosensors have made significant advances in detecting non-invasive biomarkers of disease-related body fluid substances with high sensitivity, high accuracy, low cost and ease in operation. Among various two-dimensional (2D) materials, MXenes have attracted widespread interest due to their unique surface properties, as well as mechanical, optical, electrical and biocompatible properties, and have been applied in various fields, particularly in the preparation of biosensors, which play a critical role. Here, we systematically introduce the application of MXenes in electrochemical, optical and other bioanalytical methods in recent years. Finally, we summarise and discuss problems in the field of biosensing and possible future directions of MXenes. We hope to provide an outlook on MXenes applications in biosensing and to stimulate broader interests and research in MXenes across different disciplines.

Cadmium (Cd) due to its strong toxicity and high mobility, which poses a considerable threat to soil environment and human health, has aroused widespread concern. Biochar has been used for remediating Cd-contaminated soil recently, however this method has the risk of fixed-Cd re-release. Phytoremediation can make up for its shortcoming. In this study, a pot experiment was carried out, where Bidens pilosa L. (B.pilosa) was as the tested plant and biochars (maize straw biochar and wheat straw biochar with two particle sizes) were as amendments. The mechanism of how biochars promoted B.pilosa Cd accumulation in Cd-contaminated farmland soil was explored. Results showed that the application of 5% wheat straw fine biochar (WF), wheat straw coarse biochar (WC), maize straw fine biochar (MF) and maize straw coarse biochar (MC) increased the total Cd accumulation of B.pilosa to 251.57%, 217.41%, 321.64% and 349.66%, respectively. Biochars amendment significantly promoted B.pilosa growth and increased Cd accumulation by improving soil physical properties, nutrient levels (available nitrogen, available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK) and organic matter (OM)) and microbial activity, and changing the nutrients distribution in B.pilosa organs although tissues although DTPA-Cd reduced to some extent. The effect of MF on AP increase was better than MC, while the effect of WF on AK increase was better than WC. Fine-particle was superior to coarse-particle in increasing B.pilosa biomass of aboveground, OM and microbial activity in soil. The changes of N, P and K concentrations in B.pilsosa roots, stems and leaves were closely related to the changes of AN, AP and AK in soil after biochars application. The results indicated that the combination of straw biochars and hyperaccumulators had the synergistic effect. This study can provide data support and meaningful reference values for remediating actual Cd-contaminated soil.

Abstract Background The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris is well-known for the production of a broad spectrum of functional types of heterologous proteins including enzymes, antigens, engineered antibody fragments, and next gen protein scaffolds and many transcription factors are utilized to address the burden caused by the high expression of heterologous proteins. In this article, a novel P. pastoris transcription factor currently annotated as Fhl1p, an activator of ribosome biosynthesis processing, was investigated for promoting the expression of the recombinant proteins. Results The function of Fhl1p of P. pastoris for improving the expression of recombinant proteins was verified in strains expressing phytase, pectinase and mRFP, showing that the productivity was increased by 20–35%. RNA-Seq was used to study the Fhl1p regulation mechanism in detail, confirming Fhl1p involved in the regulation of rRNA processing genes, ribosomal small/large subunit biogenesis genes, Golgi vesicle transport genes, etc., which contributed to boosting the expression of foreign proteins. The overexpressed Fhl1p strain exhibited increases in the polysome and monosome levels, showing improved translation activities. Conclusion This study illustrated that the transcription factor Fhl1p could effectively enhance recombinant protein expression in P. pastoris. Furthermore, we provided the evidence that overexpressed Fhl1p was related to more active translation state.

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to analyze cardiopulmonary fitness in Phase I cardiac rehabilitation on the prognosis of patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods The study enrolled a total of 499 STEMI patients treated with PCI between January 2015 and December 2015. Patients were assigned to individualized exercise prescriptions (IEP) group and non-individualized exercise prescriptions (NIEP) group according to whether they accept or refuse individualized exercise prescriptions. We compared the incidence of major cardiovascular events between the two groups. IEP group were further divided into two subgroups based on prognosis status, namely good prognosis (GP) group and poor prognosis (PP) group. Key cardio-pulmonary exercise testing (CPX) variables that may affect the prognosis of patients were identified through comparison of the cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF). Results There is no significant difference in the incidence of cardio-genetic death, re-hospitalization, heart failure, stroke, or atrial fibrillation between the IEP and the NIEP group. But the incidence of total major adverse cardiac events (MACE) was significantly lower in the IEP group than in the NIEP group (P = 0.039). The oxygen consumption (VO2) at ventilation threshold (VT), minute CO2 ventilation (E-VCO2), margin of minute ventilation carbon dioxide production (△CO2), rest partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide(R-PETCO2), exercise partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide(E-PETCO2) and margin of partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide(△PETCO2) were significantly higher in the GP subgroup than in the PP subgroup; and the slope for minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2) was significantly lower in GP subgroup than in PP subgroup (P = 0.010). The VO2 at VT, VE/VCO2 slope, E-VCO2, △CO2, R-PETCO2, E-PETCO2 and margin of partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide CO2 (△PETCO2) were predictive of adverse events. The VO2 at VT was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease prognosis. Conclusions Individualized exercise prescription of Phase I cardiac rehabilitation reduced the incidence of cardiovascular events in patients with STEMI after PCI. VO2 at VT is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease prognosis, and could be used as an important evaluating indicator for Phase I cardiac rehabilitation.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematologic malignancy. MM stem cells (MMSCs) are thought to be the main causes of in vivo engraftment and eventual recurrence. As a notable new technology, cold atmospheric plasmas (CAPs) show a promising anti-tumor effect, due to their production of various ROS. In this study, we found that different types of plasma could inhibit MM’s ability to form cell colonies, suppress MM in vivo engraftment, and extend survival times. We demonstrated that NAC (a ROS scavenger) could block ROS increases and reverse the inhibition of MM’s cell-colony-formation ability, which was induced by the plasma treatment. By using a stem cell signaling array, we found that the Notch pathway was inhibited by the plasma treatment; this was further confirmed by conducting real-time PCRs of three MM cell lines. Together, these results constitute the first report of plasma treatment inhibiting MM in vivo engraftment and prolonging survival time by suppressing the Notch pathway via ROS regulation.

Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) algorithms based on sparse recovery (SR) have been researched because of their low requirement of training snapshots. However, once some portion of clutter is not located on the grids, i.e., off-grid problems, the performances of most SR-STAP algorithms degrade significantly. Reducing the grid interval can mitigate off-grid effects, but brings strong column coherence of the dictionary, heavy computational load, and heavy storage load. A sparse Bayesian learning approach is proposed to mitigate the off-grid effects in the paper. The algorithm employs an efficient sequential addition and deletion of dictionary atoms to estimate the clutter subspace, which means that strong column coherence has no effect on the performance of the proposed algorithm. Besides, the proposed algorithm does not require much computational load and storage load. Off-grid effects can be mitigated with the proposed algorithm when the grid-interval is sufficiently small. The excellent performance of the novel algorithm is demonstrated on the simulated data.

166.6-MHz superconducting cavities have been chosen for the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) as the main accelerating structures to provide 900 kW of beam power and 5.4 MV of accelerating voltage. A proof-of-principle cavity adopting the quarter-wave beta = 1 geometry was previously developed. Excellent performance was achieved in vertical tests at cryogenic temperatures. The cavity was later welded with a helium jacket, dressed with a power coupler and other ancillaries, and high-power tested in a test cryomodule. Performance degradation was observed and analyzed. Evidence from temperature sensor readout and heat loss measurement results suggested an overheating in the cavity–coupler interface region causing a “thermal runaway” and eventually quenching the cavity at its design voltage. Electromagnetic-fluid-thermal coupled simulation has thus been conducted, and the hypothesis was nicely validated. Finally, solutions were proposed including an elongated niobium extension tube at the coupler port and an optimized helium gas cooling of the power coupler’s outer conductor. These modifications have been subsequently applied on the 166.6-MHz higher-order-mode damped superconducting cavities for the HEPS. Heat loss at 4.2 K contributed by the power coupler can be largely reduced with a modest gas cooling scheme. Similar design approaches can also be applied to other non-elliptical superconducting structures with on-cavity high-power coupler mountings.

Introduction Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of heterogeneous bone marrow clonal diseases characterized by the abnormal differentiation and development of bone marrow cells. Src homology region 2 domain-containing phosphatase (SHP)-1 is an important tumor suppressor gene that regulates the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway. Methods Survival analysis was performed to evaluate the function of decitabine (5-Aza) in treating MDS patients with and without SHP-1 methylation. The effects of 5-Aza treatment on SHP-1 expression and methylation and STAT3 phosphorylation were investigated in MDS cells by methylation-specific PCR, reverse transcription PCR, and western blotting. Cell viability and apoptosis were similarly evaluated by MTT assay and flow cytometry. Results High-risk MDS patients showed significant SHP-1 hypermethylation compared with low-risk patients, and patients with no SHP-1 methylation had longer overall survival. SHP-1 expression was significantly increased at mRNA and protein levels following 5-Aza treatment, while the phosphorylation of STAT3 protein was significantly decreased. Apoptosis increased significantly in MDS cells treated with higher doses of 5-Aza while cell viability decreased significantly. Conclusion SHP-1 hypermethylation was associated with poor prognosis in HR patients with MDS, suggesting it could be used as a prognostic indicator.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a severe complication of type 1 diabetic (T1D) patients, manifested as combined diastolic and systolic dysfunction. DCM is associated with impaired calcium homeostasis secondary to decreased calcium-sensitive receptor (CaSR) expression. Spermine, a direct agonist of CaSR, was found deficient in cardiomyocytes of T1D rats. However, the role of spermine in DCM was unclear. Here, we examined the cardioprotective effect of exogenous spermine on DCM in streptozotocin (STZ) induced-T1D rats and high-glucose (HG)-incubated neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Exogenous spermine significantly attenuated cardiac dysfunction in T1D rats, characterized by improved echocardiography, less fibrosis, reduced myocardial endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and oxidative stress, and increased expression of myocardial membrane CaSR. In cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, exogenous spermine attenuated myocardial injury induced by HG treatment, demonstrated by restored cellular glucose uptake capacity, reduced expression of apoptotic markers, lowered level of oxidative stress, ER stress and unfolded protein response, and upregulated cell membrane CaSR. Mechanistically, the cardioprotective effect of spermine appeared dependent upon effective elimination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and up-regulation of CaSR expression by suppressing the Nrf2-ROS-p53-MuRF1 axis. Taken together, these results suggest that exogenous spermine protects against DCM in vivo and in vitro, partially via suppressing ROS and p53-mediated downregulation of cell membrane CaSR.

Objective To describe clinicoradiological features and outcomes of reversible splenial lesion syndrome (RESLES) in children. Methods Data from 23 children (25 RESLES episodes; two patients had recurring episodes) was retrospectively reviewed at the Department of Pediatric Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated with Shandong University, China. Primary disease, central nervous system manifestations, treatments, outcomes, and laboratory examination, electroencephalogram, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results were assessed. Results Fourteen boys and nine girls (23 patients; 8 months to 11 years old) with 25 RESLES episodes (20 type-1, 5 type-2) were enrolled. Epileptic seizure and infection were the most common pathogenesis. Prominent clinical manifestations were disturbance of consciousness and visual disturbance. Cranial MRI of 20 RESLES type-1 episodes showed oval lesions in the splenium of corpus callosum (SCC), and five RESLES type-2 episodes showed lesions in the entire corpus callosum that were associated with the symmetric cerebral white matter. Lesions were hyperintense on diffusion-weighed images (DWI) and disappeared when later reviewed (range, 4–30 days). Conclusions RESLES etiology in children is complex, and its clinical manifestations are nonspecific. Diagnosis mainly depends on cranial MRI, especially DWI, showing highly intense lesions on SCC. RESLES has a good prognosis and excessive treatment should be avoided.

A good understanding of the response of photosynthesis rate (PN) and transpiration rate (Tr) to stomatal alteration during the diurnal variations is important to cumulative photosynthetic production and water loss of crops. Six wheat genotypes were studied for 2 years with pot cultivation in rain-shelter. Among different genotypes, stomatal conductance (gs) was significantly correlated with both PN and Tr. But for each genotype, though gs was significantly correlated with PN regardless of relative air humidity (RH) status and it was also significantly correlated with Tr under lower RH (LRH, 15.4%) and moderate RH (MRH, 28.3%), it was not correlated with Tr under higher RH (HRH, 36.7%) during the diurnal changes. The conditional correlation between gs and Tr of wheat evoked new thinking on the relationships among gs, PN and Tr. Path analysis was further carried out to clarify the correlations of gs with the four atmospheric factors, that of Tr with gs and the four factors and the direct and indirect effects of the factors, during their diurnal dynamic variation. The effects of these factors on gs or Tr were related to RH. All the four factors had a much higher correlation with gs under HRH than that under LRH and MRH. Air temperature (T) had a rather higher direct effect than RH and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Also, the other factors had a much higher indirect effect on gs through vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and T. Transpiration rate was highly correlated with gs under LRH and MRH, with gs having a higher direct effect on it. In comparison, Tr was not correlated with gs under HRH but highly correlated with the atmospheric factors, with T, RH, and PAR having a higher indirect effect through VPD.