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Summary: In nature, many organisms (e.g., chameleons) protect themselves by changing their colors in response to environmental changes. Inspired by these organisms, we present a multi-responsive, flexible, and structurally colored hydrogel film with a one-dimensional (1D) ordered periodic groove structure. The groove structure endows the film with bright, highly angle-dependent structural colors, which can be reversibly tuned by stretching and releasing. In addition, because of the thermosensitive properties of the hydrogel, the film can be switched between colored state and opaque white state with temperature. In addition, the optical state of the film is sensitive to solvent and can be reversibly changed between colored state and transparent state with soaking and evaporation of the solvent. This reversible, multi-responsive, flexible, and structurally colored hydrogel film has great potential to be used in the fields of color display, sensors, anti-counterfeiting, and so on because of its flexible and diverse tuning methods, excellent optical performance, and convenient preparation process.

Ejin Oasis, located in the lower reaches of the Heihe River Basin (HRB), has experienced severe ecosystem decline between the 1960s and 1990s. In response, the Chinese Government implemented the Ecological Water Diversion Project (EWDP) in 2000. To evaluate the effects of the EWDP, this study monitored changes in land use and vegetation in the Ejin Oasis since 2000 and examined driving factors behind such changes. Results demonstrated that the Ejin Oasis ecosystem generally improved between 2000 and 2011. Water body area significantly increased. Lake area of once dried-up Sogo Nuur increased to 45 km2. Accordingly, vegetation cover restoration has also significantly increased. For example, the Seasonally Integrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (SINDVI) has shown that 31.18% of the entire study area experienced an increase in vegetation area. On the other hand, even though the EWDP has been successful in driving vegetation recovery and lake restoration, farmland reclamation has counteracted such restoration initiatives. Farmland area almost doubled between 2000 and 2011. Thus, farmland expansion management is necessary for the full restoration of the Ejin Oasis ecosystems as well as HRB sustainable development. The results of this study can provide a reference for the management of the HRB.

The optical transmission characteristics for the hollow carbon-coated Fe3O4 colloidal photonic crystal have been calculated with the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. We analyze the influence of the factors on the photonic band gap (PBG) that include lattice constant a, the number of the particles in propagating direction Ny, the thickness of carbon layer Hc and Fe3O4 cluster layer Hf, and the thickness ratio of the two layers. The results show that the PBGs red shift and the bandwidth first increases and then decreases with the increasing a. In the situation of increasing Ny, the PBG changes from irregular to uniform, followed by the oscillations on both sides of the PBG growing in number and the deepened PBG in the low-frequency region. The PBGs move toward the low frequency direction with the increase of Hc, and the optimal value of Hc for the uniform color response is 10 nm ~25 nm. The PBGs red shift with the increasing Hf, and the first bandwidth increases while the second decreases. The optimal Hf for the ideal PBG is 35 nm ~55 nm. The stop bands move to the high-frequency direction with the increasing thickness ratio (Hc : Hf), and the best ratio is 10 nm : 55 nm for the complete PBG and wider bandwidth.

This research proposes a multi-stage feature fusion network (MSFF) for medical image classification. In view of the problems existing in medical images, such as noise, diversity, and similarity among different classes, MSFF enhances the global context perception in the window partitioning framework through Context Modulation Attention (CMA). Meanwhile, it extracts fine-grained local information via the multi-stage Contextual Information Refinement (CIR) module and gradually fuses multi-stage local and global features to generate richer semantic representations. The experimental results demonstrate that MSFF significantly outperforms existing methods in multiple performance metrics (including accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC), Kappa coefficient, Area Under the Curve (AUC), balanced accuracy, and geometric mean) on four datasets (Endoscopic Bladder Tissue, Kvasir, SARS-COV-2 Ct-Scan, and Thyroid Nodule), showing its excellent performance in the task of medical image classification.

Intensification of poultry industry has led to a surge in animal product output, but this has also revealed issues with environmental management in poultry houses, particularly the harmful effects of high hydrogen sulfide (H2S) levels on poultry health. The study aimed to assess the therapeutic impact of tea tree oil (TTO) on H2S-induced spleen and intestinal injuries in chickens. A total of 240 one-day-old Lohmann Brown chicks were randomly divided into three groups: the control group (CON), the H2S exposure group (AVG), and the TTO treatment group (TTG), with four replicates, each consisting of 20 chicks. The experiment lasted 42 days. Results showed that TTO treatment alleviated tissue damage in the thymus, kidneys, spleen, and bursa of Fabricius, and improved the organ index (P < 0.05) compared with the AVG. Serum analysis revealed that TTO lowered levels of alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase(AST), triglycerides(TG), CD3 positive CD4 positive T cells(CD3+CD4+), CD4 positive to CD8 positive Rratio(CD4+/CD8+), and alkaline phosphatase(AKP), while increasing albumin(ALB), globulin(GLO), immunoglobulin A(IgA), and immunoglobulin G(IgG) levels (P < 0.05). Intestinal findings indicated that TTO treatment enhanced villus height, reduced crypt depth, and upregulated the expression of Claudin 1, Occludin, and ZO-1 mRNA in the jejunum (P < 0.05). After TTO treatment, H2S-induced oxidative stress injury and apoptosis protein expression in spleen were improved (P < 0.05). TTO also reduced interferon-γ(INF-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) and interleukin-1β(IL-1β) proteins (P < 0.05), while raising CD3+CD8+ T-cell subsets (P < 0.05). Compared with CON, TTO treatment alleviated serum biochemical disorders and intestinal damage caused by H2S exposure and restored them to normal (P > 0.05). In conclusion, TTO can improve spleen and intestinal function and reduce the effects of H2S on growth performance and health of chickens.

ABSTRACT: This study investigated the use of tea tree oil (TTO) in the treatment of H2S-induced lung injury in chickens, focusing on the detoxification mechanism. H2S can damage the respiratory system and reduce growth performance. TTO can improve immune inflammation and growth performance. The mechanism by which TTO mitigates the harmful effects of H2S on chicken lungs remains unclear. Therefore, the experimental model was established by H2S exposure and TTO addition in drinking water. The 240 one-day-old Roman pink chicks were selected for the experiment. The trial was divided into control group (CON), treatment group (TTG, 0.02 mL/L TTO+H2S) and H2S exposure group (AVG, H2S). There were 4 replicates in each group and the trial lasted for 42 d. The therapeutic effect of TTO on lung injury in chickens were determined by growth performance evaluation, transcription sequencing and network pharmacology analysis. The results showed that in the test's third week, the body weights of the chickens in the CON were higher than those in the AVG and TTG (P < 0.05). Pathological sections showed that TTO alleviated the symptoms of lung inflammation and bleeding caused by ROS. As showed by transcriptional sequencing, the mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes Caspase-9, BAK-1, BCL-2 and BAX were significantly altered (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the mRNA expression of inflammation-related genes IL-2, IL-6, and IL-17 were downregulated (P < 0.05). Network pharmacological analysis showed that CA2, CA4, GABRA5 and ADH1C were the key targets of TTO. The TTO treatment significantly altered these targets (P < 0.05). Molecular docking confirmed the strong binding ability between the active component and the targets. This study showed that TTO inhibits H2S-induced oxidative damage to the lungs, thereby improving their health status. This provides a new solution for the prevention of harmful gas in the poultry industry.

ABSTRACT: A large amount of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is produced in the process of chicken breeding, which can cause serious inflammation and oxidative damage to the respiratory system of chickens. Tea tree oil (TTO) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. No studies have been reported on the use of TTO in H2S-induced lung injury in chickens. Therefore, in this study, 240 one-day-old Roman pink laying hens were randomly and equally divided into 3 groups: control group (CON), H2S exposure group (AVG, containing H2S), and TTO treatment group (TTG, containing H2S and 0.02 mL/L TTO) to establish an experimental model of TTO treatment with H2S exposure for a period of 42 d. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to detect lung histopathology. Gene expression profiles were analyzed using transcriptomics. The underlying mechanism of the amelioration of lung injury by TTO was further revealed by antioxidant enzyme assays and qRT-PCR. The results showed that H2S exposure induced significant gene expression of CYP450s (CYP1B1 and CYP1C1) (P < 0.05), and caused intense oxidative stress, apoptosis and inflammation compared with CON. TTO could reduce ROS production and enhance antioxidant capacity (SOD, CAT, T-AOC, and GSH-PX) by regulating the CYP450s/ROS pathway (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the treatment group showed significantly decreased expression of apoptotic (Caspase-8, Caspase-3, Bid and Fas) (P < 0.05) and inflammatory (IL-4, IL-16, NF-κB, TNF-α and IFN-γ) (P < 0.05) factors in the lung. This study revealed that TTO regulated CYP450s/ROS pathway to alleviate H2S-induced lung injury in chickens. These results enrich the theory of the action mechanism of TTO on H2S-exposed chicken lungs and are of great value for the treatment of H2S-exposed animals.

Abstract Background Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) causes chronic gastric disease. An efficient oral vaccine would be mucosa-targeted and offer defense against colonization of invasive infection in the digestive system. Proteolytic enzymes and acidic environment in the gastrointestinal tract (GT) can, however, reduce the effectiveness of oral vaccinations. For the creation of an edible vaccine, L. lactis has been proposed as a means of delivering vaccine antigens. Results We developed a plSAM (pNZ8148-SAM) that expresses a multiepitope vaccine antigen SAM-WAE containing Urease, HpaA, HSP60, and NAP extracellularly (named LL-plSAM-WAE) to increase the efficacy of oral vaccinations. We then investigated the immunogenicity of LL-plSAM-WAE in Balb/c mice. Mice that received LL-plSAM-WAE or SAM-WAE with adjuvant showed increased levels of antibodies against H. pylori, including IgG and sIgA, and resulted in significant reductions in H. pylori colonization. Furthermore, we show that SAM-WAE and LL-plSAM-WAE improved the capacity to target the vaccine to M cells. Conclusions These findings suggest that recombinant L. lactis could be a promising oral mucosa vaccination for preventing H. pylori infection.

Abstract Background Filamentous fungi are efficient degraders of plant biomass and the primary producers of commercial cellulolytic enzymes. While the transcriptional regulation mechanisms of cellulases have been continuously explored in lignocellulolytic fungi, the induction of cellulase production remains a complex multifactorial system, with several aspects still largely elusive. Results In this study, we identified a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor, designated as Clr-5, which regulates the expression of cellulase genes by influencing amino acid metabolism in Neurospora crassa during growth on cellulose. The deletion of clr-5 caused a significant decrease in secreted protein and cellulolytic enzyme activity of N. crassa, which was partially alleviated by supplementing with yeast extract. Transcriptomic profiling revealed downregulation of not only the genes encoding main cellulases but also those related to nitrogen metabolism after disruption of Clr-5 under Avicel condition. Clr-5 played a crucial role in the utilization of multiple amino acids, especially leucine and histidine. When using leucine or histidine as the sole nitrogen source, the Δclr-5 mutant showed significant growth defects on both glucose and Avicel media. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed that the transcript levels of most genes encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes and those involved in the catabolism and uptake of histidine, branched-chain amino acids, and aromatic amino acids, were remarkably reduced in strain Δclr-5, compared with the wild-type N. crassa when grown in Avicel medium with leucine or histidine as the sole nitrogen source. These findings underscore the important role of amino acid metabolism in the regulation of cellulase production in N. crassa. Furthermore, the function of Clr-5 in regulating cellulose degradation is conserved among ascomycete fungi. Conclusions These findings regarding the novel transcription factor Clr-5 enhance our comprehension of the regulatory connections between amino acid metabolism and cellulase production, offering fresh prospects for the development of fungal cell factories dedicated to cellulolytic enzyme production in bio-refineries.

【Objective】The study aimed to explore the remediation effect and physiological response of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens)to manganese(Mn) contaminated soil.【Method】The physiological response and heavy metal enrichment characteristics of moso bamboo were analyzed by measuring the botanical traits, photosynthetic parameters and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of moso bamboo at different Mn stress concentrations (0, 1 000, 2 000 and 4 000 mg/kg)in soil.【Result】Under 4 000 mg/kg Mn stress, the plant height, leaf length, leaf width and basal diameter of moso bamboo decreased by 22.6%, 25.9%, 21.3% and 26.7%, respectively, compared to the control, and the water utilization of moso bamboo leaves decreased significantly by 30.6 perccentage pints, the photochemical quenching index (qP) and nonchemical quenching index (qN) decreased by 29.8% and 20.7%, respectively. Furthermore, peroxidase (POD) activity and peroxidase (CAT) activity were reduced by 39.4% and 22.6%, respectively. Under Mn stressed soils supplemented with 0, 1 000, 2 000 and 4 000 mg/kg concentrations, the average above ground(stem and leaves)Mn enrichment of moso bamboo was 1 098.6, 2 336.4, 3 530.9 and 5 370.4 mg/kg, respectively, with Mn transfer coefficients of 1.59, 3.83, 3.56 and 4.17, respectively.【Conclusion】Mn stress at high concentrations has an inhibitory effect on the botanical traits of the moso bamboo, but the moso bamboo is still able to grow and has a good enrichment capacity for Mn stressed soils. It can be used as a new plant for manganese stressed soils. This study provides some reference value for future research in the field of heavy metal pollution control and phytoremediation.

【Objective】By measuring a series of index changes of Pseudomonas syringae pv. Actinidiae (Psa) after treatment with benzothiazolinone aqueous emulsion, the antibacterial mechanism of benzothiazolinone aqueous emulsion against Psa was revealed, which would provide a theoretical basis for the control of kiwifruit ulcer disease with benzothiazolinone.【Method】Psa was treated with benzothiazolinone diluted 10 times (X10), benzothiazolinone stock solution (Y) and sterile water (CK). The enzymatic activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were determined by using kits and the soluble protein content was determined by Coomassie Brilliant Blue staining. Changes in the cell membrane structure of Psa were observed by fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy and cell cycle assays were performed by flow cytometry.【Result】The study showed that Psa growth and reproduction were significantly inhibited by benzothiazolinone treatment, which shortened the logarithmic growth period of Psa, caused cell membrane rupture, cell contents leakage and increased cell death, and the final amount of mycobacteria was only 5.5% of the control. Psa had oxidative stress response to benzothiazolinone, and the enzyme activities of Psa were significantly increased after treatment, showing a trend of increasing first and then decreasing. After treatment of benzothiazolinone, CAT enzyme activity reached a peak of 118.795 U/mg at 10 h and SOD enzyme activity reached a peak of 1 060.452 U/mg at 4 h. Bacterial protein content of X10 and Y differed significantly at 12 h compared with the control, decreasing by 47.1% and 73.4%, respectively. With the increase of the concentration of benzothiazolinone, more G0G1 phase cells piled up and the percentage of cells increased from 30.27% in the control group to 45.23% in treatment group Y. The percentage of S phase cells decreased from 58.84% in the control group to 41.86% in treatment group Y. The G0G1 phase cells in treatment group Y were 56.8% higher than those in CK and 23.7% lower than those in CK in S phase.【Conclusion】Benzothiazolinone ruptures bacterial cell membranes, causes oxidative stress response in Psa, and inhibits Psa growth by inhibiting DNA synthesis in bacterial cells. It can effectively prevent and control bacterial ulcer disease of kiwifruit.

【Objective】Efficient separation and extraction of polyethylene microplastics from soil is a key link to study the behavior of polyethylene microplastics in terms of environmental pollution and toxicology, with a view to constructing a separation method for in situ separation and efficient extraction of polyethylene microplastics from soil.【Method】Polyethylene microplastics in soil were extracted by using sieve flotation method, density separation method and Soxhlet extraction method, and the extraction rate of polyethylene microplastics in soil was calculated by the three separation methods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the changes of surface micromorphological features of polyethylene microplastics; thermogravimetric (TG) was used to analyze the changes of pyrolytic characteristic parameters of polyethylene microplastics; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to analyze the changes of characteristic functional groups of polyethylene microplastics.【Result】All three separation methods can extract polyethylene microplastics from soil, with the highest extraction rate of 95.58% by sieve flotation method, 89.60% by density separation method and 86.10% by soxhlet extraction method. SEM analysis showed that the surface of polyethylene microplastic particles separated by Soxhlet extraction method had fine fish scale pattern or flake structure; the surface of polyethylene microplastic extracted by density separation method had a large amount of soil impurity particles attached; the surface of polyethylene microplastic particles separated by sieve flotation method almost had no soil impurity and the surface microscopic morphological features were not destroyed. Thermogravimetric (TG) and Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis showed that the main components of polyethylene microplastics extracted by the three separation methods were all polyethylene microplastics and did not destroy the original functional group structure of polyethylene microplastics.【Conclusion】The extraction rates of polyethylene microplastics in soil by the three separation methods ranked as: sieve flotation method > density separation method > Soxhlet extraction method, and the integrity of microscopic surface characteristics showed as: sieve flotation method > density separation method > Soxhlet extraction method, the sieve flotation method is better than the other two separation methods in terms of extraction rate and retention of microscopic surface characteristics information of the extracts.

A high level of computation is required for edge detection in color images captured by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to address issues, such as noise, distortion, and information loss. Thus, an edge detection method for UAV-captured color images based on the improved whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is proposed in this study. In this method, the color image pixels are represented by quaternions, and the global random position variables and information exchange mechanism are introduced into the random walk foraging formula of the WOA. Further, a random disturbance factor is also introduced into the predator-prey formula of the spiral bubble net. The proposed improved WOA is then used to obtain the preliminary edge of the UAV-captured color image. An edge-point classification method using the radius of the shortest distance between the whale and the current global optimum in each iteration is presented to enhance a preliminary edge. The experimental results show that the proposed edge detection method has the advantages of strong denoising, fast speed, and good quality.

Obesity poses a significant threat to various health conditions such as heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart attack, with the gut microbiota playing a crucial role in maintaining the body’s energy balance. We identified a novel probiotic fungal strain, Kluyveromyces lactis JSA 18 (K. lactis), which was isolated from yak milk and was found to possess anti-obesity properties. Additionally, Lactobacillus plantarum CGMCC 8198 (LP8198) from our previous study was also included to evaluate its anti-obesity properties. The findings indicated that K. lactis caused a notable reduction in weight gain, liver and fat indexes, and hyperlipidemia in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Administering K. lactis and LP8198 to mice on a high-fat diet resulted in a reduction of serum triglyceride levels. Furthermore, the supplements reduced ALT and AST activity, and inhibited the production of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-1β. In addition, lipid metabolism was enhanced by the downregulation of ACC1, PPAR-γ, SREBP-1, and Fasn. Moreover, this study found that K. lactis and LP8198 have little effect on gut bacteria. Additionally, K. lactis partially influenced intestinal fungi, while LP8198 had a minor influence on gut mycobiota. The main goal of this research was to show how effective K. lactis can be as a probiotic in combating obesity.

Hyperuricaemia (HUA) is a disorder of purine metabolism, which manifests itself as an increase in uric acid production and a decrease in uric acid excretion, as well as a change in the structure of the intestinal microbiota. Most of the drugs currently used to treat HUA have significant side effects, and it is essential to find a treatment for HUA that is free of side effects. In this study, a novel strain, Pediococcus acidilactici GQ01, was screened from natural fermented wolfberry. The effects of both live bacteria GQ01 and its heat-killed G1PB postbiotic on HUA were investigated. The results showed that both probiotic GQ01 and G1PB postbiotics could effectively decrease blood uric acid, creatinine, and urea nitrogen levels in the HUA mice model. P. acidilactici GQ01 was more effective in inhibiting ADA activity, while G1PB postbiotics was more effective in inhibiting XOD activity. Meanwhile, GQ01 and G1PB were able to ameliorate liver and kidney tissue injury, upregulate the expression of ABCG2 in kidney and XOD gene in liver, downregulate the protein expression of URAT1 and GLUT9 in kidney, and therefore reduce the value of blood uric acid by decreasing the uric acid reabsorption and increasing the excretion of uric acid. Additionally, both probiotics and postbiotics could regulate the intestinal microbiota structure of HUA mice, so as to bring the dysfunctional intestinal composition back to normal. Furthermore, P. acidilactici GQ01 and G1PB postbiotics can increase the levels of acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid in the intestinal tract, improve the intestinal function, and maintain the healthy homeostatic state of the intestinal tract. In summary, P. acidilactici GQ01 and its G1PB postbiotics may be developed as functional food or drug materials capable of treating HUA.

In this study, five strains of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (L. rhamnosus) and two strains of Lactobacillus paracasei (L. paracasei) isolated from infants were used as experimental bacteria and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG as control strain. The gastrointestinal tolerance of these strains were evaluated through acid resistance test, bile salt resistance test, hydrophobicity test, automatic aggregation ability test and cell adhesion test. L. rhamnosus SW-02, the best effective strain in tolerance evaluation, was co-cultured with intestinal organoids. The morphology and growth status of organoids were observed by inverted phase contrast microscope, and the budding rate was calculated. The proliferation status of organoids was evaluated by EdU staining. The mRNA levels of the proliferation marker Ki67, intestinal stem cell marker Lgr5 and tight junction protein Zo-1 were measured by real-time PCR. The level of MUC2 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results showed that compared with other strains, L. rhamnosus SW-02 had strong acid resistance. SW-02, SW-03 and SW-X had strong bile salt resistance. LGG, SW-01, SW-02, SW-04 and TX-02 had high hydrophobicity to xylene. For automatic aggregation capability, SW-01 was the strongest, followed by SW-02. The adhesion test of HT-29 cells showed that SW-01, SW-02 and SW-03 had high adhesion ability. When SW-02 was co-cultured with intestinal organoids, SW-02 significantly (P