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In this study, sixteen compounds were isolated from the branches of Mitragyna diversifolia, including twelve triterpenes (1–12), a phenolic compound (13), and three flavonoids (14–16). Among them, compounds 1–7, and 10–16 were reported for the first time from this plant. Compounds 7, 14, and 15 exhibited significant inhibitory activities against α-glucosidase, with IC50 values of 18.48 ± 2.74, 12.14 ± 1.58 and 35.77 ± 4.52 µM, respectively. Furthermore, the inhibitory kinetics of α-glucosidase revealed that all fractions, active compounds 7, 14, and 15 belong to the mix inhibition type. In molecular docking, the analysis showed that compounds 13, 14, 15, and 16 possessed superior binding capacities with α-glucosidase (−8.3, −9.6, −9.9, and −9.2 kcal/mol, respectively). The results of the glucose uptake experiment indicated that only compound 14 showed a significant promotion effect on the glucose uptake rate of 3T3-L1 adipocytes (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, compounds 13, 14, 15, and 16 possessed potent antioxidant abilities with DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP. In DNA and protein oxidative damage assays, compound 15 had a stronger effect than the positive control Vc. The network-based pharmacological analysis platform was used to predict the diabetes-related target proteins of active compounds 7, 13, 14, 15, and 16, and two candidate targets (ALB and PPARG) related to their therapeutic effects on diabetes were identified.

The water vapor changes in arid areas could affect the structure and evolution of water resource systems in their surrounding areas. Based on the precipitable atmospheric water vapor (GPS-PWV) of 4 ground-based GPS stations, the observation data of 2 sounding stations and the hourly surface pressure water vapor data of 108 meteorological observation stations on the north slope of the Middle Kunlun Mountains from January 2020 to December 2022, this study established the atmospheric water vapor content and surface water vapor pressure (W-e) model suitable for the north slope of the Middle Kunlun Mountains using the unary linear fitting method. The results of water vapor content calculated by this model were verified. Then we analyzed the distribution characteristics of atmospheric water vapor content in the western section, the middle section, and the eastern section of the study area, as well as the relationship between the beginning time of precipitation and the W-PWV peak value. The results show that: (1) The annual mean W-PWV is largest in the western section of the study area, followed by the middle section, and the smallest in the eastern section which located in the southern edge of the desert. The W-PWV of the stations with altitude greater than 1 500 m gradually decrease with altitude increasing. The average W-PWV of each meteorological observation station in summer is about twice than that in spring and autumn. (2) The monthly variation of W-PWV shows a unimodal distribution characteristic. The W-PWV of the stations with an altitude higher than 1 300 m but lower than 1 500 m reached its peak in July and August, while that of the other stations reached its peak in August. The W-PWV of stations with an altitude below 2 000 m and above 2 000 m maintained a high value at night and during the day, respectively, which may be related to the thermal difference between mountain and basin from daytime to nighttime. (3) There is a good correspondence between the W-PWV calculated by W-e model and the beginning time of precipitation. Before precipitation, the W-PWV of each station is jumped varying degrees, and the peak value of W-PWV within 1-2 h before the precipitation is more than 1.5 times of the monthly average value of W-PWV.

Optimized maize (Zea mays L.) canopy architecture enhances density-tolerance. DHEAP (N, N-Diethyl-2-hexanoyl oxygen radicals-ethyl amine (2-ethyl chloride) phosphonic acid salt) has been shown to increase maize upper canopy strata compactness, but its overall effect on the whole canopy structure and how it shapes the canopy structure remain unclear. This study examined how DHEAP affected the canopy structure of maize hybrids Zhengdan 958 (ZD958) and Xianyu 335 (XY335), with distinct canopy structures, under different planting densities. The results showed that DHEAP increased the leaf orientation value (LOV) of upper canopy strata by 8.0% while reducing middle and lower strata LOV by 11.7% and 18.4%, respectively. This indicates that DHEAP shaped a canopy structure that was compact in the upper strata and loose in the middle and lower strata. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that leaf angle had a greater impact on the upper canopy strata, while leaf auricle size had a greater impact on the middle and lower canopy strata. After DHEAP treatment, light transmission above different canopy strata increased at the reproductive stage. Concurrently, the middle canopy captured more light energy, enhanced yield formation, and boosted radiation use efficiency by 21.9% under high density. In terms of grain yield, DHEAP treatment resulted in a 9.1% and 23.9% increase in ZD958 and XY335, respectively, under high-density conditions. These results suggest that DHEAP shaped the maize canopy structure with high density tolerance, improved the distribution of light within the canopy, and increased grain yield.

This study investigates the effect of tectochrysin, a flavonoid found in plants and fruits in ovarian cancer. We employed in vitro assays to assess the impact of tectochrysin in ovarian cancer cells. The study evaluated cell viability, colony and spheroid formation, cell invasion, migration and protein levels of CDK1 and Cyclin B1. Tectochrysin inhibited cell viability in ovarian cancer cell lines while showing lower toxicity towards normal ovarian cells. It reduced colony, spheroid formation, invasion and migration and increased cisplatin sensitivity. In vivo, tectochrysin inhibited tumor growth and enhanced cisplatin sensitivity. The overexpression of CDK1 promoted ovarian cancer progression while tectochrysin inhibited this through CDK1/Cyclin B1. Tectochrysin demonstrates anti-cancer effects in ovarian cancer by selectively targeting cancer cells, enhancing cisplatin sensitivity via CDK1/Cyclin B1 pathway. These findings suggest that tectochrysin could be a synergistic agent for ovarian cancer treatment, meriting further clinical investigation.

Tracking and detection have brought great challenges to network security. Therefore, this paper proposes a monitoring method of stealthy complex network attacks considering security situation awareness. By constructing a tracking model of invisible complex network attacks, public monitoring nodes are selected for monitoring. The cost of a single monitoring node is calculated by the algorithm, and the monitoring node is determined by the monitoring node algorithm, so as to reduce the resource occupancy rate of the monitoring node and improve the monitoring accuracy. The simulation results show that this method is stable in the range of 1000 to 4000 nodes, and can effectively monitor the complex network attacks of stealing secrets.

BackgroundThe existing health resources and services are difficult to meet the needs of rapid economic development and the aging population in China. This paper evaluates the regional differences of individual and allocation efficiencies of health resources in China to explore ways to change the current situation.MethodsThe models of single-input single-output efficiency (SISOE), single-input multi-output efficiency (SIMOE), multi-input single-output efficiency (MISOE), and multi-input multi-output efficiency (MIMOE) were developed to calculate the individual and allocation efficiencies of health resources of China in this study.ResultsIt was found that the efficiencies of the number of health institutions (NHI) in the eastern and western regions of China were relatively close, with values of 0.61 and 0.59, respectively, significantly higher than 0.49 in the middle region. The efficiencies of the number of health personnel (NHP) in the eastern, middle, and western regions were closer, with values of 0.77, 0.75, and 0.79, respectively. The efficiencies of the number of health institution beds (NHIB) in the eastern and western regions were very close, with values of 0.79 and 0.78, respectively, while that in the middle region was 0.72. The efficiencies of the total health expenditure (THE) were 0.72, 0.76, and 0.79 in the east, middle, and western regions, respectively. The efficiencies of the number of diagnosis and treatment persons (NDTP) were 0.81, 0.70, and 0.71 in the eastern, middle, and western regions, respectively, while the efficiencies of the number of inpatients (NI) were 0.75, 0.79, and 0.81, respectively. The efficiencies of the utilization rate of beds (URB) and the average days of hospitalization (ADH) in the three regions were below 0.51. The health resources allocation efficiencies (HRAEs) were 0.86, 0.83, and 0.87 in the eastern, middle, and western regions, respectively.ConclusionThere were obvious regional differences in HRAE in China with the situation of “Middle Collapse.” The main direct reason for the low HRAE in the middle region was the lower efficiencies of NHI, NHIB, URB, and ADH. It revealed that there was relatively blind expansion of health institutions and beds with lower health service quality in the middle region. Governments should make strategic adjustments to public health resources and increase the investment in medical technology and manpower in the middle region. Hospitals in the eastern region should strengthen inter-regional medical and health technical cooperation with partners in the middle region by establishing a tele-medical network. The models of SISOE, SIMOE, MISOE, and MIMOE put forward in this study are simple, reasonable, and useful for resource efficiency analysis, which makes it convenient to adopt targeted measures to upgrade the efficiency of resource allocation. This study provides a new perspective and method to understand the mechanism of regional differences in China’s health resource allocation efficiency.

Abstract Green seaweed, as the most abundant species of macroseaweeds, is an important marine biological resource. It is a rich source of several amino acids, fatty acids, and dietary fibers, as well as polysaccharides, polyphenols, pigments, and other active substances, which have crucial roles in various biological processes such as antioxidant activity, immunoregulation, and anti-inflammatory response. In recent years, attention to marine resources has accelerated the exploration and utilization of green seaweeds for greater economic value. This paper elaborates on the main nutrients and active substances present in different green seaweeds and provides a review of their biological activities and their applications for high-value utilization. Graphical abstract

Drought stress caused by insufficient irrigation or precipitation impairs agricultural production worldwide. In this study, a two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of coronatine (COR), a functional analog of jasmonic acid (JA), on maize drought resistance. The experiment included two water treatments (rainfed and irrigation), four COR concentrations (mock, 0 μmol L−1; A1, 0.1 μmol L−1; A2, 1 μmol L−1; A3, 10 μmol L−1) and two maize genotypes (Fumin 985 (FM985), a drought-resistant cultivar and Xianyu 335 (XY335), a drought-sensitive cultivar). Spraying 1 μmol L−1 COR at seedling stage increased surface root density and size, including root dry matter by 12.6%, projected root area by 19.0%, average root density by 51.9%, and thus root bleeding sap by 28.2% under drought conditions. COR application also increased leaf area and SPAD values, a result attributed to improvement of the root system and increases in abscisic acid (ABA), JA, and salicylic acid (SA) contents. The improvement of leaves and roots laid the foundation for increasing plant height and dry matter accumulation. COR application reduced anthesis and silking interval, increasing kernel number per ear. COR treatment at 1 μmol L−1 increased the yield of XY335 and FM985 by 7.9% and 11.0%, respectively. Correlation and path analysis showed that grain yields were correlated with root dry weight and projected root area, increasing maize drought resistance mainly via leaf area index and dry matter accumulation. Overall, COR increased maize drought resistance mainly by increasing root dry weight and root area, with 1 μmol L−1 COR as an optimal concentration.

Aiming at the problems of complex behavior of power entities and concealed attack means in the digital active power grid,a multi-category attribution anomaly detection algorithm based on fuzzy clustering was proposed.Firstly,the similarity measurement method of power entity behavior was optimized,a fuzzy clustering algorithm was constructed based on the measurement value,and the membership matrix of entity behavior corresponding to various classes was obtained through several iterations.Secondly,the nearest neighbor distance,nearest neighbor density,and nearest neighbor relative anomaly factor of entities in each category were calculated according to the category softening membership matrix.Finally,the relative abnormal situation of the entity in various clusters was analyzed to judge whether the behavior of the power entity belongs to the abnormal behavior category.The results show that compared with LocalOutlier Factor(LOF),K-means,and RandomForest algorithms,the new method has detected more abnormal behaviors and achieved better anomaly detection evaluation indexes.The problem of a single evaluation angle of samples in traditional anomaly detection algorithms was solved and the ability of the digital active power grid to resist unknown threats was improved.

The human gastrointestinal mucosa is colonized by thousands of microorganisms, which participate in a variety of physiological functions. Intestinal dysbiosis is closely associated with the pathogenesis of several human diseases. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), which include NK cells, ILC1s, ILC2s, ILC3s and LTi cells, are a type of innate immune cells. They are enriched in the mucosal tissues of the body, and have recently received extensive attention. The gut microbiota and its metabolites play important roles in various intestinal mucosal diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), allergic disease, and cancer. Therefore, studies on ILCs and their interaction with the gut microbiota have great clinical significance owing to their potential for identifying pharmacotherapy targets for multiple related diseases. This review expounds on the progress in research on ILCs differentiation and development, the biological functions of the intestinal microbiota, and its interaction with ILCs in disease conditions in order to provide novel ideas for disease treatment in the future.

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease, in addition, gut microbiota plays an important role in the etiology of RA. However, our understanding of alterations to the gut fungal microbiota in Chinese population with RA is still limited. Methods Serum samples were obtained from 62 patients with RA, and 39 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs). Fecal samples were obtained from 42 RA patients and 39 HCs. Fecal fungal microbiota targeting internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2) rRNA genes was investigated using MiSeq sequencing, as well as their associations with some diagnostic biomarkers for RA. Results Our results showed that the fungal diversity did not alter in RA patients but taxonomic composition of the fecal fungal microbiota did. The gut mycobiota of RA patients was characterized by decreased abundance of Pholiota, Scedosporium, and Trichosporon. The linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size analysis (LEfSe) analysis identified several RA-enriched fungal genera, which were positively correlated with most RA biomarkers. Furthermore, since RA is an age- and gende-related disease, we classified RA patients into subgroups with age and gender and analyzed the sequencing results. Our data demonstrated that Wallemia and Irpex were the most discriminatory against RA patients over 60 years old, while Pseudeurotiaceae was the most discriminatory against female RA patients. Conclusions The case-control study presented here confirmed the alterations of gut fungal microbiota in Chinese patients with RA, and we speculated that the fungal dysbiosis may contribute to RA development.

Due to the narrow time window for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, the stroke lesion area in the patient must be identified as quickly and accurately as possible to evaluate the risks and get the most timely and effective treatment. Therefore, there is great clinical significance in the study of automatic identification and segmentation methods for stroke lesions. In this paper, we propose a partitioning-stacking prediction fusion (PSPF) method based on an improved attention U-net to solve the problems of 3D-CNN-based networks, including their high computational cost and insufficient training data, and to achieve accurate segmentation of 3D stroke lesions. Our proposed PSPF method includes three steps in the first part. In Step 1, partitioning, we partition the slices obtained in a certain plane direction by slicing a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) into subsets according to the 2D graph similarity, then use each partitioned subset to perform training and prediction separately. In Step 2, stacking, we stack the 2D slice results of all subsets according to the position order in MRI before slicing and partitioning to form a 3D lesion result. In Step 3, fusion, we use soft voting to fuse the three orthogonal planes' 3D results that were obtained voxel by voxel in Steps 1 and 2. In the second part, we propose an improved attention U-net, which uses the features from three different scales to generate the attention gating coefficients that further improve training efficiency and segmentation accuracy. We implement a 6-fold cross-validation on the Anatomical Tracings of Lesions After Stroke (ATLAS) dataset to validate our method and model using metrics such as Dice Coefficient (DC), F2 score, and Area under Precision-Recall curve (APR). The results show that compared to the existing methods, our proposed method can not only improve the segmentation precision on unbalanced data but also improve the detailed performance of lesion segmentation. Our proposed method and model are generalized and accurate, demonstrating the good potential for clinical routines. The source codes and models in our method have been made publicly available at [available.upon.acceptance].

Maize (Zea mays L.) lodging is an important factor limiting its yield increase worldwide. EDAH (containing 27% ethephon and 3% DA-6) is commonly used to decrease lodging. There is an urgent need to select efficient application methods of agrochemical for better spray deposition. In our research, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (15 L ha−1 and 30 L ha−1) with EDAH dosages of 72 and 90 g a.i. ha−1, and electric knapsack sprayers (EKS) (450 L ha−1) with dosages of 90 g a.i. ha−1 were used to compare the droplet deposition distribution, uniformity and maize growth. According to our research, EDAH applied by UAV had a higher droplet deposition rate than EKS; EKS had a higher droplet coverage rate, deposition density, droplet distribution uniformity. At the same dosage of EDAH, the UAV had a better effect on controlling maize growth than EKS, and almost equal effects were detected when the dosage applied by the UAVs was decreased by 20%. Considering the lodging occurrence and yield, we recommend that the dosage of EDAH applied by UAVs should be 72 g a.i. ha−1 when there is weak lodging and 90 g a.i. ha−1 when there is heavy lodging, with a spray volume of 15 L ha−1.

Objectives This work aimed to investigate the roles of long noncoding (lnc)RNA MACC1-AS1 (MACC1 antisense RNA 1) in progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Real-time quantitative PCR, western blot, spheroid formation, aldehyde dehydrogenase isoform 1 (ALDH1) activity analysis, luciferase reporter assay, and RNA pull-down analysis were used to examine MACC1-AS1–mediated effects on HCC cell stemness. Results MACC1-AS1 was highly expressed in HCC tissues and cells. MACC1-AS1 positively regulated the expression of stemness master regulators and inhibited spheroid-forming ability and ALDH1 activity. Furthermore, MACC1-AS1 promoted the stemness of HCC cells by antagonizing microRNA (miR)-145 activity. Overexpression of miR-145 also attenuated HCC cell stemness. Conclusions This work revealed a novel MACC1-AS1/miR-145 axis that regulates the stemness of HCC cells.

Coronatine (COR) is a phytotoxin produced by the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, it has a structure similar to that of jasmonates (JAs), but it is much more active as a plant growth regulator. The goal of this study was to gain more insight into the effect and the mechanism of COR effects on stalk characteristics are related lodging resistance of maize. The agronomic traits, stalk ultrastructure, and endogenous hormones in maize stalks were studied in field trails and greenhouses, using hybrid cultivar “Xianyu 335” (XY335), “Zhengdan 958” (ZD958) and inbred line B73 as materials in 2018 and 2019. Different concentration of COR were sprayed onto maize foliar surfaces at the seven-expanded-leaves (V7) stage. Foliar application with 10 µmol L−1 of COR at the V7 stage decreased plant and ear height, increased weight and diameter of the basal internodes, and increased penetration strength and stalk bending resistance. Compared to the control treatment, in COR-treated plants, salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) were decreased significantly in stalks. The treatment of 10 µmol L−1 of COR enhanced lignin accumulation, the integrity, and the thickness of cell walls in maize stalks in the early stages of stem growth in the inbred line B73, as revealed by autofluorescence microscopy and scanning electron micrographs. Our results indicated that COR improved stalk bending resistance of maize not only by optimizing stalk morphological characteristics, but also by altering hormone levels, which may led to greater lignin accumulation, thickens cell wall, and decreased the area of vascular bundles.

Caenorhabditis elegans is as an ideal model system for the study of mechanisms underlying learning and memory. In the present study, we employed C. elegans assay system of thermotaxis memory to investigate the possible role of serotonin neurotransmitter in memory control. Our data showed that both mutations of tph-1, bas-1, and cat-4 genes, required for serotonin synthesis, and mutations of mod-5 gene, encoding a serotonin reuptake transporter, resulted in deficits in thermotaxis memory behavior. Exogenous treatment with serotonin effectively recovered the deficits in thermotaxis memory of tph-1 and bas-1 mutants to the level of wild-type N2. Neuron-specific activity assay of TPH-1 suggests that serotonin might regulate the thermotaxis memory behavior by release from the ADF sensory neurons. Ablation of ADF sensory neurons by expressing a cell-death activator gene egl-1 decreased the thermotaxis memory, whereas activation of ADF neurons by expression of a constitutively active protein kinase C homologue (pkc-1(gf)) increased the thermotaxis memory and rescued the deficits in thermotaxis memory in tph-1 mutants. Moreover, serotonin released from the ADF sensory neurons might act through the G-protein-coupled serotonin receptors of SER-4 and SER-7 to regulate the thermotaxis memory behavior. Genetic analysis implies that serotonin might further target the insulin signaling pathway to regulate the thermotaxis memory behavior. Thus, our results suggest the possible crucial role of serotonin and ADF sensory neurons in thermotaxis memory control in C. elegans.

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a syndrome commonly occurring among the pregnant. Shallow trophoblast invasion is considered to be closely related to PE. Therefore, in trophoblast cells, we explored the potential mechanisms of lncRNA XIST in the modulation of trophoblast invasion and proliferation. Methods: GEO online analyzer was used to screen the abnormally expressed RNAs in placenta tissues from patients with severe PE and healthy controls. The prediction of target bindings was performed on TargetScan and starBase. Transfection was conducted to regulate the RNA expression levels in trophoblast cells, HTR-8/SVneo. RT-qPCR measured expression of lncRNA XIST, miR-340-5p and KCNJ16. The CCK-8 assay examined cell viability. Flow cytometer analyzed apoptosis and luciferase assay determined the luciferase activity. Transwell assays detected the invasion and western blot verified the changes in protein expression of MMP2, MMP9 and KCNJ16 in trophoblast cells. Results: lncRNA XIST expression was enhanced in PE patients. Upregulation of lncRNA XIST in HTR-8/SVneo cells inhibited the cell proliferation and invasion, and induced apoptosis. XIST upregulation inhibited MMP2 and MMP9 protein expression. lncRNA XIST/ KCNJ16 interplayed as ceRNAs of miR-340-5p. Specifically,miR-340-5p overexpression reversed the effect of XIST upregulation on the cell apoptosis, proliferation and invasive ability and the knockdown of KCNJ16 could add to the effect of miR-340-5p overexpression in HTR-8/SVneo. Conclusion: lncRNA XIST was upregulated in PE. Upregulation of lncRNA XIST exerted the inhibitory effects on the proliferation and invasion of trophoblast cells through the interactions with miR-340-5p/KCNJ16, which suggests that the lncRNA XIST/miR-340-5p/KCNJ16 axis might play a role in PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]