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Abstract Background The pregnant women with intrahepatic cholestasis were at high risk of fetal distress, preterm birth and unexpected stillbirth. Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) was mainly caused by disorder of bile acid metabolism, whereas the specific mechanism was obscure. Methods We performed proteomics analysis of 10 ICP specimens and 10 placenta specimens from patients without ICP through data-independent acquisition (DIA) technique to disclose differentially expressed proteins. We executed metabolomic analysis of 30 ICP specimens and 30 placenta specimens from patients without ICP through UPLC-MS/MS to identify differentially expressed metabolites. Enrichment and correlation analysis was used to obtain the direct molecular insights of ICP development. The ICP rat models were constructed to validate pathological features. Results The heatmap of proteomics analysis showed the top 30 up-regulated and 30 down-regulated proteins. The metabolomic analysis revealed 20 richer and 4 less abundant metabolites in ICP samples compared with placenta specimens from patients without ICP, and enrichment pathways by these metabolites included primary bile acid biosynthesis, cholesterol metabolism, bile secretion, nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, purine metabolism and metabolic pathways. Combined analysis of multiple omics results demonstrated that bile acids such as Glycohyocholic acid, Glycine deoxycholic acid, beta-Muricholic acid, Noncholic acid, cholic acid, Gamma-Mercholic Acid, alpha-Muricholic acid and Glycochenodeoxycholic Aicd were significantly associated with the expression of GLRX3, MYL1, MYH7, PGGT1B, ACTG1, SP3, LACTB2, C2CD5, APBB2, IPO9, MYH2, PPP3CC, PIN1, BLOC1S1, DNAJC7, RASAL2 and ATCN3 etc. The core protein ACAT2 was involved in lipid metabolic process and animal model showed that ACAT2 was up-regulated in placenta and liver of pregnant rats and fetal rats. The neonates had low birth weight and Safranin O-Fast green FCF staining of animal models showed that poor osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation of fetal rats. Conclusion Multiple metabolites-alpha-Muricholic acid, beta-Muricholic acid, Glycine deoxycholic acid and Glycochenodeoxycholic Acid etc. were perfect biomarkers to predict occurrence of ICP. Bile acids were significantly associated with varieties of protein expression and these proteins were differentially expressed in ICP samples. Our study provided several biomarkers for ICP detection and potential therapeutic targets for ICP development.

Abstract Background Indigenous chickens were developed through a combination of natural and artificial selection; essentially, changes in genomes led to the formation of these modern breeds via admixture events. However, their confusing genetic backgrounds include a genomic footprint regulating complex traits, which is not conducive to modern animal breeding. Results To better evaluate the candidate regions under domestication in indigenous chickens, we considered both runs of homozygosity (ROHs) and selective signatures in 13 indigenous chickens. The genomes of Silkie feather chickens presented the highest heterozygosity, whereas the highest inbreeding status and ROH number were found in Luhua chickens. Short ROH (

Objective To investigate the correlation between heart rate variability (HRV) and the degree of nervousness before blood donation. Methods The psychological state of 253 blood donors before blood donation was assessed by the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and the degree of nervousness and their HRV were measured. The correlation between the SAS score, the degree of nervousness and the HRV parameters was analyzed, and the differences were compared among different types of donors by multivariate linear regression. Results A total of 247 blood donors were included in the study. Five HRV parameters in blood donors aged 18-24 were higher than in those aged 25 years and above(all P

Abstract The freshness of vegetable soybean (VS) is an important indicator for quality evaluation. Currently, deep learning-based image recognition technology provides a fast, efficient, and low-cost method for analyzing the freshness of food. The RGB (red, green, and blue) image recognition technology is widely used in the study of food appearance evaluation. In addition, the hyperspectral image has outstanding performance in predicting the nutrient content of samples. However, there are few reports on the research of classification models based on the fusion data of these two sources of images. We collected RGB and hyperspectral images at four different storage times of VS. The ENVI software was adopted to extract the hyperspectral information, and the RGB images were reconstructed based on the downsampling technology. Then, the one-dimensional hyperspectral data was transformed into a two-dimensional space, which allows it to be overlaid and concatenated with the RGB image data in the channel direction, thereby generating fused data. Compared with four commonly used machine learning models, the deep learning model ResNet18 has higher classification accuracy and computational efficiency. Based on the above results, a novel classification model named ResNet-R &H, which is based on the residual networks (ResNet) structure and incorporates the fusion data of RGB and hyperspectral images, was proposed. The ResNet-R &H can achieve a testing accuracy of 97.6%, which demonstrates a significant enhancement of 4.0% and 7.2% compared to the distinct utilization of hyperspectral data and RGB data, respectively. Overall, this research is significant in providing a unique, efficient, and more accurate classification approach in evaluating the freshness of vegetable soybean. The method proposed in this study can provide a theoretical reference for classifying the freshness of fruits and vegetables to improve classification accuracy and reduce human error and variability.

Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a substantial public health safety concern drawing considerable attention in China and globally. The detection of HBV serological markers can enable the assessment of HBV infection and replication status in vivo and evaluate the body’s protection against HBV. Therefore, this study aims to identify the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of HBV infection in children to prevent and control HBV infection in Wuhan areas. Methods We conducted an extensive retrospective cohort analysis of 115,029 individuals aged 0–18 years who underwent HBV serological markers detection for HBV infection in hospital between 2018 and 2021 using Electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. We generated descriptive statistics and analysed HBV infection’s epidemiological and clinical characteristics between different sex and age groups. Results The overall positive detection rates of HBsAg, HBsAb, HBeAg, HBeAb, and HBcAb in all participants were 0.13%, 79.09%, 0.17%, 2.81%, and 5.82%, respectively. The positive rate of HBeAb and HBcAb in males was significantly lower than that in females (2.64% vs. 3.13%, 5.56% vs. 6.29%) (P

AbstractContext Crocin exhibits anti-depressant properties. However, its underlying mechanisms and its relationship with metabolomics remain unclear.Objective This study elucidates the mechanism of action and potential targets of crocin in treating chronic unexpected mild stress (CUMS)-induced depression in rats.Materials and methods Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats underwent 4 weeks of CUMS to establish the depression model. The normal control (distilled water), crocin (25 mg/kg), and fluoxetine (5.4 mg/kg) groups were orally administered for 4-weeks. Behavioural tests evaluated the effects of crocin, while liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomics identified differential metabolites and their associated metabolic pathways. Subsequently, network pharmacology was utilized to predict the targets of crocin.Results Crocin significantly increased body weight (from 319.16 ± 4.84 g to 325.67 ± 2.84 g), sucrose preference (from 0.46 ± 0.09 to 0.70 ± 0.09), vertical activity (from 2.83 ± 1.94 to 8 ± 2.36), horizontal activity (from 1 ± 0.63 to 4.5 ± 3.08) and decreased immobilization time (from 13.16 ± 2.69 to 3.97 ± 3.00). Metabolomics analysis identified 7 metabolites and 5 associated metabolic pathways. From the combined analysis of network pharmacology and metabolomics, three targets (PRMT1, CYP3A4, and GLB1) are the overlapping targets and the two most important metabolic pathways are tryptophan metabolism and glycerolipid metabolism.Discussion and conclusions This study provides insights into the antidepressant therapeutic effect of crocin and its underlying mechanisms. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the metabolic mechanism involved in the anti-depressant effect of crocin, establishing a strong foundation for future research in this area.

Dendrobium stem is a valuable food with medicinal and edible properties. Due to its high medicinal value and price, closely related Dendrobium varieties are often sold as imitations on the market. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new methods that can quickly identify Dendrobium stem and its closely related species. The Heracles Neo ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose was used in this study to determine and analyze the composition and contents of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Dendrobium stem and samples of five other species closely related to it. A total of 20 VOCs were identified, and a fingerprint map of the VOCs was constructed. Principal component analysis (PCA), Euclidean distance, and other methods were used to comprehensively process and analyze the obtained VOC information. The AroChemBase database was also used for qualitative analysis of the compounds. The results showed that there are significant differences in the odor fingerprint spectra of Dendrobium stem and the five other closely related species. The main types of compounds in Dendrobium stem and its five closely related species were organic esters, aldehydes, ketones, and olefins. Among them, 3-methylbutanal and n-butanol were characteristic compounds of the Dendrobium stem sample, while the VOCs acetonitrile and trometamol were present in the five related Dendrobium species samples. The Heracles Neo ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose can quickly and accurately identify Dendrobium stem and its five closely related species. It can also be used for the quality evaluation of Dendrobium stem, providing a theoretical reference for reducing the phenomenon of medicinal confusion in the Dendrobium stem market.

Abstract The reticulons and receptor expression-enhancing proteins (REEPs) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are necessary and sufficient for generating ER tubules. However, the mechanism of curvature generation remains elusive. Here, we systematically analyze components of the REEP family based on AI-predicted structures. In yeast REEP Yop1p, TM1/2 and TM3/4 form hairpins and TM2-4 exist as a bundle. Site-directed cross-linking reveals that TM2 and TM4 individually mediate homotypic dimerization, allowing further assembly into a curved shape. Truncated Yop1p lacking TM1 (equivalent to REEP1) retains the curvature-generating capability, undermining the role of the intrinsic wedge. Unexpectedly, both REEP1 and REEP5 fail to replace Yop1p in the maintenance of ER morphology, mostly due to a subtle difference in oligomerization tendency, which involves not only the TM domains, but also the TM-connecting cytosolic loop and previously neglected C-terminal helix. Several hereditary spastic paraplegia-causing mutations in REEP1 appear at the oligomeric interfaces identified here, suggesting compromised self-association of REEP as a pathogenic mechanism. These results indicate that membrane curvature stabilization by integral membrane proteins is dominantly achieved by curved, oligomeric scaffolding.

Objective: Digitalization supported by digital technology presents a potential solution for improving the efficiency of resource utilization. However, the impacts of digitalization on trade-related carbon emissions intensity have not been studied systematically.Methods: Based on panel data of 41 countries and regions over the period 2000–2014, this study examines how different types of digital value chain embeddedness can affect carbon emissions intensity using a semi-parametric partially linear model.Results: Research findings indicate that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between digital domestic value chain embeddedness and carbon emissions intensity embodied in domestic trade; only when digitalization reaches a threshold of approximately 0.88, does the effects on carbon emissions intensity become negative. In addition, the impacts of digital global value chain embeddedness on carbon emissions intensity embodied in import trade and export trade are recognized as being non-linear; the thresholds of digitalization are approximately 0.1 and 0.3 for import trade and approximately 0.03 and 0.21 for export trade. Although participating in global value chains is conducive to accelerating digital technology diffusion, the actual environmental effects are constrained by a country’s absorptive capacity and high economic system complexity. Compared with developed countries, developing countries lag behind in entering the downward stage of the inverted U-shaped curve, thereby gaining environmental benefits from digital value chain embeddedness. Moreover, in terms of utilizing digital value chain embeddedness to improve energy efficiency, measures include optimizing trade conditions, adjusting energy structure, and increasing trade scale, which can play an active role.Value: This study sheds light on the exploration of the potential of digitalization and the facilitation of economic development in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Summary: Pollen tube integrity is required for achieving double fertilization in angiosperms. The rapid alkalinization factor4/19-ANXUR1/2-Buddha’s paper seal 1/2 (RALF4/19-ANX1/2-BUPS1/2)-complex-mediated signaling pathway is critical to maintain pollen tube integrity, but the underlying mechanisms regulating the polar localization and distribution of these complex members at the pollen tube tip remain unclear. Here, we find that COBRA-like protein 11 (COBL11) loss-of-function mutants display a low pollen germination ratio, premature pollen tube burst, and seed abortion in Arabidopsis. COBL11 could interact with RALF4/19, ANX1/2, and BUPS1/2, and COBL11 functional deficiency could result in the disrupted distribution of RALF4 and ANX1, altered cell wall composition, and decreased levels of reactive oxygen species in pollen tubes. In conclusion, COBL11 is a regulator of pollen tube integrity during polar growth, which is conducted by a direct interaction that ensures the correct localization and polar distribution of RALF4 and ANX1 at the pollen tube tip.

Abstract Background Children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) are prone to a missed diagnosis at the early stages of the disease, which greatly affects the prognosis of children. In this study, the application value of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) antibody titres and RNA detection for diagnosing MP infection in children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was evaluated. The present study aimed to seek appropriate detection methods and strategies for early rapid diagnosis in children with MPP. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 563 paediatric patients aged 1 month to 15 years with CAP who were admitted to Wuhan Children’s Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology between July 2021 and February 2022. In all patients, throat swabs were collected for MP-RNA detection (simultaneous amplification and testing, SAT), and paired serum samples were collected for MP total antibody detection (particle agglutination, PA). Results The classification as MPP or non-MPP was based on clinical diagnosis, serum MP antibody titre, and clinical or laboratory evidence of infection by other pathogen(s). Among the 563 patients with pneumonia, 187 patients were in the MPP group, and 376 patients were in the non-MPP group. The Kappa values between the particle agglutination test at different titres (1:80, 1:160) and MP-RNA detection were 0.612 and 0.660 (P 36 m), PA (1:160) was just the opposite, while MP-RNA was slightly better than other age groups in the 13–72 months age group. Conclusions For the diagnosis of MPP in children at the early of the disease, the antibody titre (1:160) parallel MP-RNA should be given preference, and then the disease should be further classified according to the antibody titre level and the age of the child. The combined application of the two detection methods could complement each other and strengthen the advantages, providing reliable laboratory evidence for the clinical diagnosis and timely treatment of MPP. When using the PA method alone to provide a reference standard to clarify MP infection, the differential diagnosis ability of 1:80 for MPP is better than 1:160, especially for children younger than 36 months.

Hawthorn is a type of natural food with significant medicinal and nutritional properties; it has been listed in the “Both Food and Drug” list by the Chinese Ministry of Health Item List since 1997. However, hawthorn varieties have complex origins, and there are significant differences in the content, type, and medicinal efficacy of the chemically active ingredients in different varieties of hawthorn. This leads to the phenomenon of mixed varieties and substandard products being passed off as high-quality. In this work, by using headspace gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS), we identified and analyzed volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in four varieties of hawthorn, establishing their characteristic fingerprints. As a result, a total of 153 peaks were detected, and 139 VOCs were also identified. As shown by the fingerprint profiles, the different hawthorn samples contained different VOCs. Meanwhile, by using principal component analysis (PCA), Euclidean distance, and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), the relationship between the VOCs found in the different varieties of hawthorn was revealed. This study developed a simple, fast, accurate, and sensitive method for identifying, tracking, and evaluating hawthorn varieties.

In grassland ecosystems, the decomposition of litter serves as a vital conduit for nutrient transfer between plants and soil. The aim of this study was to depict the dynamic process of grass litter decomposition and explore its major driver. Three typical grasses [Stipa bungeana Trin (St. B), Artemisia sacrorun Ledeb (Ar. S), and Thymus mongolicus Ronniger (Th. M)] were selected for long-term litter decomposition. Experiments were conducted using three single litters, namely, St. B, Ar. S, and Th. M, and four different compositions of mixed litter: ML1 (55% St. B and 45% Th. M), ML2 (55% St. B and 45% Ar. S), ML3 (75% St. B and 25% Th. M), and ML4 (75% St. B and 25% Ar. S). The dynamic patterns of mass and microelements (Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn) within different litter groups were analyzed. Our findings indicated that, after 1035 days of decomposition, the proportion of residual mass for the single litters was as follows: Th. M (60.6%) > St. B (47.3%) > Ar. S (44.3%), and for the mixed groups it was ML1 (48.0%) > ML3 (41.6%) > ML2 (40.9) > ML4 (38.4%). Mixed cultivation of the different litter groups accelerated the decomposition process, indicating that the mixture of litters had a synergistic effect on litter decomposition. The microelements of the litter exhibited an initial short-term increase followed by long-term decay. After 1035 days of decomposition, the microelements released from the litter were, in descending order, Mg > Ca > Fe > Cu > Mn > Zn. Compared to the separately decomposed St. B litter, mixing led to an inhibition of the release of Ca (antagonistic effect), while it promoted the release of Mg, Cu, and Zn (synergistic effect). For the single litter, the stepwise regression analysis showed that Ca was the dominant factor determining early litter decomposition. Mg, Mn, and Cu were the dominant factors regulating later litter decomposition. For the mixed litter groups, Ca, Mn, and Mg were the dominant factors closely related to early decomposition, and TN emerged as a key factor regulating the mass loss of mixtures during later decomposition. In summary, nitrogen and microelements co-drive the decomposition of typical grass litter. Our study underscores that, in the succession process of grassland, the presence of multiple co-existing species led to a faster loss of plant-derived materials (litter mass and internal elements), which was primarily modulated by species identity and uniformity.

BackgroundS100A8/A9, which is a member of S100 proteins, may be involved in the pathophysiology of Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) that seriously threatens children’s health. However, circulating markers to assess the severity of pneumonia in children are yet to be explored. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of serum S100A8/A9 level in determining the severity of CAP in children.MethodsIn this prospective and observational study, we recruited 195 in-hospital children diagnosed with CAP. In comparison, 63 healthy children (HC) and 58 children with non-infectious pneumonia (pneumonitis) were included as control groups. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Serum S100A8/A9 levels, serum pro-calcitonin concentrations, and blood leucocyte counts were quantified.ResultsThe serum S100A8/A9 levels in patients with CAP was 1.59 ± 1.32 ng/mL, which was approximately five and two times higher than those in healthy controls and those in children with pneumonitis, respectively. Serum S100A8/A9 was elevated parallelly with the clinical pulmonary infection score. The sensitivity, specificity, and Youden’s index of S100A8/A9 ≥1.25 ng/mL for predicting the severity of CAP in children was optimal. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of S100A8/A9 was the highest among the indices used to evaluate severity.ConclusionsS100A8/A9 may serve as a biomarker for predicting the severity of the condition in children with CAP and establishing treatment grading.

Cell plates are transient structures formed by the fusion of vesicles at the center of the dividing plane; furthermore, these are precursors to new cell walls and are essential for cytokinesis. Cell plate formation requires a highly coordinated process of cytoskeletal rearrangement, vesicle accumulation and fusion, and membrane maturation. Tethering factors have been shown to interact with the Ras superfamily of small GTP binding proteins (Rab GTPases) and soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs), which are essential for cell plate formation during cytokinesis and are fundamental for maintaining normal plant growth and development. In Arabidopsis thaliana, members of the Rab GTPases, tethers, and SNAREs are localized in cell plates, and mutations in the genes encoding these proteins result in typical cytokinesis-defective phenotypes, such as the formation of abnormal cell plates, multinucleated cells, and incomplete cell walls. This review highlights recent findings on vesicle trafficking during cell plate formation mediated by Rab GTPases, tethers, and SNAREs.

Abstract Cooperative adaptive cruise control is recognised as an effective means to reduce the rear‐end collision caused by the delayed reaction and improper driving behaviours of manually driven vehicles. However, vehicle‐to‐vehicle communication, as the key to collect information for the cooperative adaptive cruise control system, is likely to be interrupted by malicious attacks and equipment failures. When communication interruption occurs, sensors of the adaptive cruise control system will replace vehicle‐to‐vehicle communication for information collection, that is, cooperative adaptive cruise control vehicles degrade to adaptive cruise control vehicles automatically, causing an increased rear‐end collision risk. This study aims to investigate the safety impact of cooperative adaptive cruise control vehicles’ degradation under spatial continuous communication interruption. A mixed platoon, consisting of cooperative adaptive cruise control vehicles, adaptive cruise control vehicles, manually driven vehicles, and improved manually driven vehicles with information‐sending devices, is simulated with the realistic cooperative adaptive cruise control and adaptive cruise control model, and the intelligent driver model. Different platoon forms are discussed by adjusting the quantity and position of manually driven vehicles in the mixed platoon. The results show that manually driven vehicles can effectively block the backward extension of speed fluctuation and reduce the rear‐end collision risk under the spatial continuous communication interruption. Nevertheless, equipping manually driven vehicles with information‐sending devices weakens the ability to defend against communication interruption.

Abstract Gut microbiota plays important roles in host nutrition, metabolism and immunity, and is affected by multiple factors. However, the understandings of the gut microbiota in pigs within different breeds, growth periods and genders from a large cohort remain largely undefined. In the present study, the characteristics of the gut microbiota in 120 pigs of different breeds, growth periods and genders were investigated using the Illumina MiSeq PE300 combined with QIIME2 platform. A total of 7 388 636 raw reads and 16 411 features were obtained. Additionally, the microbial diversity, compositions and phenotypes were described. 66.53% microbiota belonged to the top 10 most abundant genera (pan gut bacteria), and 28 species were commonly identified (core gut bacteria, commonality ≥ 75%) among the pigs. Besides, the correlations within pan and core gut microbiota were firstly investigated. The metagenomic function was predicted by using PICRUSt2. Furthermore, the explanatory effects of the influencing factors suggested that growth period was the greatest contributor to the gut microbiota in pigs. These results expanded our knowledge of mammalian gut microbiota within different influencing factors and microbial‐related biological features in swine, which contributes to improving animal production and assisting animal model research.

In recent years, as the desire for a healthy lifestyle has become more widespread, consumers are gaining an increasing appreciation for safe, high-quality food. Researchers are constantly seeking new ways to protect foods from insect pests and fungi. This study used GC-IMS to analyze the volatile organic compounds and flavor characteristics of Finger Citron in response to different doses of 60Co irradiation. The principal component analysis method was used to explore the overall differences in flavor spectra, and a total of 60 compounds were identified. The fingerprints of volatile organic compounds in the samples showed that the volatile organic compounds with doses of 60Co irradiation in about 0 kGy and 5 kGy are similar, while the 10 kGy samples are quite different. The PCA results showed that the similarity between 0 kGy and 5 kGy was slightly higher, and the difference between 10 kGy and other samples was greater. Therefore, it was determined that 60Co irradiation with a 10 kGy intensity has a significant influence on the content of volatile oils components, while 60Co irradiation with a 5 kGy intensity has little effect. Irradiation technology is demonstrated as a promising method of food sterilization, but the irradiation dose and chemical composition must be taken into consideration.

With the continuous advancements in electrification, connectivity, and intelligence in the automotive industry, the mixed traffic of vehicles with different levels of driving automation is changing the carbon emission characteristics in the impact areas of off-ramps on highways. Considering the insufficient research on the carbon emission characteristics of heterogeneous traffic flow in the downstream influence areas of highway off-ramps, this study applied a scenario analysis method. Furthermore, considering factors such as vehicle composition, road control, and platoon management, it establishes and calibrates measurement models for carbon emissions from conventional vehicles, intelligent vehicles, the platoon driving of electric vehicles, and the mixed platoon driving of conventional vehicles and electric vehicles. This study also provides a simulation scenario for a three-lane highway off-ramp based on the actual conditions of the Xi’an Ring Expressway. Finally, by applying the constructed carbon emission calculation models for heterogeneous traffic flow in the intelligent vehicle mixed traffic scenario, a quantitative analysis was conducted to assess the impacts of the intelligent vehicle infiltration rate, off-ramp vehicle proportion, smart-vehicle-dedicated lanes, and platoon driving on carbon emissions in the downstream influence area of off-ramps. The results revealed the impact of intelligent vehicle integration and platoon driving on carbon emission characteristics in the downstream influence areas of highway off-ramps.

Titanium (Ti) implants have been widely used for the treatment of tooth loss due to their excellent biocompatibility and mechanical properties. However, modifying the biological properties of these implants to increase osteointegration remains a research challenge. Additionally, the continuous release of various metal ions in the oral microenvironment due to fluid corrosion can also lead to implant failure. Therefore, simultaneously improving the bioactivity and corrosion resistance of Ti-based materials is an urgent need. In recent decades, micro-arc oxidation (MAO) has been proposed as a surface modification technology to form a surface protective oxide layer and improve the comprehensive properties of Ti. The present study doped nano silicon nitride (Si3N4) particles into the Ti surface by MAO treatment to improve its corrosion resistance and provide excellent osteoinduction by enhancing alkaline phosphatase activity and osteogenic-related gene expression. In addition, due to the presence of silicon, the Si3N4-doped materials showed excellent angiogenesis properties, including the promotion of cell migration and tubule formation, which play essential roles in early recovery after implantation.

The gut microbiota is a complex ecosystem that is essential for the metabolism, immunity and health of the host. The gut microbiota also plays a critical role in nutrient absorption and metabolism, and nutrients can influence the growth and composition of the gut microbiota. To gain a better understanding of the relationship between the gut microbial composition and nutrient metabolism, we used a pig model by collecting the contents of the different intestinal locations from six pigs to investigate microbial composition in different intestinal locations based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing and the concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), amino acids, fat, and crude ash in different intestinal locations using gas chromatography and chemical analysis. The results showed that the richness and diversity of intestinal microbial communities gradually increased from the small intestine to the large intestine. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria was higher in the jejunum and ileum, whereas the proportion of Firmicutes was higher in the cecum and colon. The concentrations of SCFAs were higher in the cecum and colon (P < 0.05). The concentrations of amino acids were higher in the small intestine than in the large intestine, while the amino acid content was significantly higher in the ascending colon than in the transverse colon and descending colon. The correlation analysis revealed that Ruminococcaceae UCG-005, Coriobacteriaceae_uncultured, [Eubacterium] hallii group, Mogibacterium and Lachnospiraceae AC2044 group had a higher positive correlation with SCFAs, crude ash and fat but had a negative correlation with amino acids in different gut locations of pigs. These findings may serve as fundamental data for using nutrient metabolism to regulate human and animal gut microbes and health and provide guidance for exploring host-microbe bidirectional interaction mechanisms and driving pathways.

Background: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a pregnancy-specific complication characterized by pruritus without skin damage and jaundice. The poor perinatal outcomes include fetal distress, preterm birth, and unexpected intrauterine death. However, the mechanism of ICP leading to poor prognosis is still unclear.Methods: We analyzed 10 ICP and 10 normal placental specimens through quantitative proteomics of data-independent acquisition (DIA) to screen and identify differentially expressed proteins. GO, KEGG, COG/KOG, StringDB, InterProScan, Metascape, BioGPS, and NetworkAnalyst databases were used in this study. PITA, miRanda, TargetScan, starBase, and LncBase Predicted v.2 were used for constructing a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. Cytoscape was used for drawing regulatory networks, and cytoHubba was used for screening core nodes. The ICP rat models were used to validate the pathological mechanism.Results: GO, KEGG, and COG/KOG functional enrichment analysis results showed the differentially expressed proteins participated in autophagy, autophagosome formation, cofactor binding, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, and coenzyme transport and metabolism. DisGeNET analysis showed that these differentially expressed proteins were associated with red blood cell disorder and slow progression. We further analyzed first 12 proteins in the upregulated and downregulated differentially expressed proteins and incorporated clinicopathologic parameters. Our results showed HBG1, SPI1, HBG2, HBE1, FOXK1, KRT72, SLC13A3, MBD2, SP9, GPLD1, MYH7, and BLOC1S1 were associated with ICP development. ceRNA network analysis showed that MBD2, SPI1, FOXK1, and SLC13A3 were regulated by multiple miRNAs and lncRNAs.Conclusion: ICP was associated with autophagy. The ceRNA network of MBD2, SPI1, FOXK1, and SLC13A3 was involved in ICP progression, and these core proteins might be potential target.

Membrane-based reverse electrodialysis is a promising technology for harvesting the osmotic energy to solve the increasingly severe energy problems. However, the osmotic power generation generally suffers from low power output for the poor performance of the ion-exchange membranes. Recently, bioinspired nanochannel membranes are emerging as an appealing materials platform for high-performance osmotic energy conversion owing to their tailorable physiochemical properties. In this review, we discuss tailored ion transmembrane transport and highlight the tunable synthesis of various polymeric materials with nanochannels for osmotic energy conversion, involving homopolymer membrane, blend membrane and Janus membrane. We then present a discussion of the structure−property relationships of polymeric nanochannel membrane based on ion transport dynamics, ultimately targeting properties such as enhanced ionic conductivities, ion selectivity, ion rectification, and desirable mechanical strength. Finally, we give an outlook to future research directions and applications. Advances in bioinspired nanochannel membranes based on polymeric materials will usher opportunities toward osmotic energy conversion, potentially transforming the power output from concept to applications.

Cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is popular with consumers over the world due to its special flavor. Soluble solids content (SSC) and firmness are two key metrics for evaluating the product qualities. In this work, we develop non-destructive testing techniques for SSC and fruit firmness based on hyperspectral images and the corresponding deep learning regression model. Hyperspectral reflectance images of over 200 tomato fruits are derived with the spectrum ranging from 400 to 1,000 nm. The acquired hyperspectral images are corrected and the spectral information are extracted. A novel one-dimensional (1D) convolutional ResNet (Con1dResNet) based regression model is proposed and compared with the state of art techniques. Experimental results show that, with a relatively large number of samples our technique is 26.4% better than state of art technique for SSC and 33.7% for firmness. The results of this study indicate the application potential of hyperspectral imaging technique in the SSC and firmness detection, which provides a new option for non-destructive testing of cherry tomato fruit quality in the future.

Abstract Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is listed as a class I carcinogen in human gastric cancer; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. In this study, we identified Protogenin (PRTG) was upregulated in both gastric cancer tissues and H. pylori-infected tissues by analyzing dysregulated genes in TCGA and GEO databases. Importantly, upregulated PRTG predicted poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients and integrative analysis revealed that PRTG served as an oncogenic protein in gastric cancer and was required for H. pylori-mediated tumorigenic activities in in vitro cellular and in vivo tumor-bearing mouse models. Mechanistically, H. pylori infection enhanced PRTG expression by promoting transcriptional factor ZEB1 stabilization and recruitment to the PRTG promoter, and which then activated the sub-following cGMP/PKG signaling pathway in bioinformatic and cellular studies. Cellular studies further confirmed that PRTG depended on activating cGMP/PKG axis to promote proliferation, metastasis, and chemoresistance of gastric cancer cells. The PKG inhibitor KT5823 played synergistic anti-tumor effects with cisplatin and paclitaxel to gastric cancer cells in in vitro cellular and in vivo tumor-bearing mouse models. Taken together, our findings suggested that H. pylori infection depends on ZEB1 to induce PRTG upregulation, and which leading to the development and progression of gastric cancer through activating cGMP/PKG signaling pathway. Blocking PRTG/cGMP/PKG axis, therefore, presents a promising novel therapeutic strategy for gastric cancer.

The egg production of laying hens is crucial to breeding enterprises in the laying hen breeding industry. However, there is currently no systematic or accurate method to identify low-egg-production-laying hens in commercial farms, and the majority of these hens are identified by breeders based on their experience. In order to address this issue, we propose a method that is widely applicable and highly precise. First, breeders themselves separate low-egg-production-laying hens and normal-laying hens. Then, under a halogen lamp, hyperspectral images of the two different types of hens are captured via hyperspectral imaging equipment. The vertex component analysis (VCA) algorithm is used to extract the cockscomb end member spectrum to obtain the cockscomb spectral feature curves of low-egg-production-laying hens and normal ones. Next, fast continuous wavelet transform (FCWT) is employed to analyze the data of the feature curves in order to obtain the two-dimensional spectral feature image dataset. Finally, referring to the two-dimensional spectral image dataset of the low-egg-production-laying hens and normal ones, we developed a deep learning model based on a convolutional neural network (CNN). When we tested the model’s accuracy by using the prepared dataset, we found that it was 0.975 percent accurate. This outcome demonstrates our identification method, which combines hyperspectral imaging technology, an FCWT data analysis method, and a CNN deep learning model, and is highly effective and precise in laying-hen breeding plants. Furthermore, the attempt to use FCWT for the analysis and processing of hyperspectral data will have a significant impact on the research and application of hyperspectral technology in other fields due to its high efficiency and resolution characteristics for data signal analysis and processing.

Little is known about whether the application of biogas residues in rice fields will affect the degradation of pesticides. This study investigated the dissipation behavior of the fungicide difenoconazole in paddy water and sediment after the application of a chemical fertilizer or biogas residues. The results showed that the application of biogas residues changes the dissipation of difenoconazole in both paddy water and sediment. The half-lives of difenoconazole in paddy water and sediment with biogas residues were 0.50 and 10.09 days, respectively, while the half-lives of difenoconazole in paddy water and sediment with chemical fertilizer were only 0.22 and 4.64 days, respectively. After biogas residues were applied in a paddy field, no significant changes in pH value of paddy water and sediment and soil microorganisms were observed, but soil organic matter decreased by 30%. The above studies suggest that biogas residues may affect the dissipation of pesticides in paddy field water and sediments, which provides a new focus on the scientific and rational use of biogas residues as organic fertilizer in rice fields.

SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) proteins assemble to drive the final membrane fusion step of membrane trafficking. Thus, SNAREs are essential for membrane fusion and vesicular trafficking, which are fundamental mechanisms for maintaining cellular homeostasis. In plants, SNAREs have been demonstrated to be located in different subcellular compartments and involved in a variety of fundamental processes, such as cytokinesis, cytoskeleton organization, symbiosis, and biotic and abiotic stress responses. In addition, SNAREs can also contribute to the normal growth and development of Arabidopsis. Here, we review recent progress in understanding the biological functions and signaling network of SNAREs in vesicle trafficking and the regulation of root growth and development in Arabidopsis.

Background and AimsPrevious studies suggested that dietary inflammatory index (DII) was associated with a variety of adverse health conditions. However, less is known about the role of DII in prediabetes and insulin resistance (IR). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether DII is associated with prediabetes and IR in American adults.Method and ResultsDII scores were calculated using the average of two 24-hour dietary recalls. Linear regression models were performed to evaluate the associations of DII with markers of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk, and the associations of DII with prediabetes and IR were estimated using logistic regression model. The diet of the participants showed an anti-inflammatory potential, with a mean DII score of −0.14 (range: −5.83 to +5.32). After controlling for multiple potential confounders, DII scores were positively associated with fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (β: 0.009; 95%CI: 0.005 to 0.012), fasting serum insulin (FSI) (β: 0.083; 95%CI: 0.067 to 0.099) and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (β: 0.092; 95%CI: 0.075 to 0.109). Participants in the highest tertile of DII score have increased odds of prediabetes (OR: 1.40; 95%CI: 1.17 to 1.69; P for trend

With the establishment of the national emergency management department, state attaches more importance to emergency communications support after disasters. In order to solve the problem of the destruction of ground communications equipment after the disaster and the inability to guarantee normal communications, the research of quick“Sky to Ground Integrated” network building based on drone base stations has entered the planning and construction period. In order to meet the requirements of large bandwidth, low latency and low cost in the development of tethered type unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) emergency system, based the key techniques such as large-scale antenna, edge computer and network slicing based on 5G, an emergency communication solution of tethered UAV based on 5G is put forward in this paper. The implementation architecture and key technologies of the scheme are analyzed, and the corresponding conclusion is given.

The ground 5G base station provides low-frequency control signals to complete the control of the initial beam access. The aerial unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) base station provides data services for the ground users. The heterogeneous network(HetNet) formed by the ground 5G base station and high-altitude UAV becomes an important research direction of integrated communication between heaven and earth in the future. In this paper, based on beam scanning and downlink control pilot multiplexing technology, an initial beam association mechanism for heterogeneous network architecture of UAV is proposed. While the upper and lower bounds of system coverage are given, the deployment optimization parameters corresponding to higher beamforming gain are obtained through simulation evaluation.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the effects of yoga on exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare cystic lung disease in women. Patients and methods This was a nonrandomized, controlled study conducted in Beijing, China (August 27, 2017 – April 26, 2018). Twenty-six participants were allocated to the intervention (yoga) group (n = 13) or control group (n = 13). The yoga intervention involved a 24-week program of yoga class training for 90 min once a week and no fewer than 2 at-home sessions per week (at least 15 min per session). The 6-min walking distance (6MWD), lung function, serum vascular endothelial growth factor-D (VEGF-D) levels, quality of life, and symptoms of anxiety and depression were measured at baseline, 12-week and 24-week follow-up. An incremental cardiopulmonary exercise test was conducted at baseline and the 24-week follow-up. Results Eleven patients completed the yoga training program. The yoga group exhibited improvements in the following outcomes versus those of the control group: 6MWD (+ 55 ± 29 m vs + 18 ± 49 m, P = 0.04), anaerobic threshold (3.4 ± 2.4 ml/min/kg vs 1.6 ± 1.4 ml/min/kg, P = 0.035) and peak work load (11.7 ± 14.6 W vs 0.2 ± 9.1 W, P = 0.027). There was no significant difference in peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), lung function, VEGF-D level, and quality of life between the yoga and control groups. No adverse effects were found in the yoga group. Conclusion Yoga is a feasible and safe intervention for pulmonary rehabilitation and potentially improves exercise capacity in patients with LAM. Trial registration (Clinical trial registration number at www.chictr.org.cn : ChiCTR-OON-1701274)

Country attaches great importance to the planning and construction of emergency communication network, especially with more attention paid to the UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) emergency communication technology research. Relative to the 4G network characteristics of the "Try best", 5G with large bandwidth, low latency and high reliability of network capacity,provides a flexible configuration space for performance of a network configuration, and will gradually become the preferred technology meet the demand of emergency communication different scenarios. UAV is proposed in this paper, based on fixed wing type 5G of emergency communication coverage solution. The solution achieves network through the integration of UAV airborne 5G base stations, combined with ground acer station auxiliary. UAV base station downlink coverage and back link budget are simulated，the results show that the proposed solution can meet the demand of remote areas and emergency communication coverage.

ABSTRACTReal-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay on anal swabs was recently reported to be persistently positive even after throat testing was negative during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, data about the consistent performance of RT-PCR assay on throat and anal swabs remain limited in paediatric patients. Here, we retrospectively reviewed RT-PCR-testing results of 212 paediatric patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection at Wuhan Children’s Hospital. The diagnostic potential of these two types of specimens showed significant difference (positive rate: 78.2% on throat swabs vs. 52.6% on anal swabs, McNemar Test P = 0.0091) and exhibited a weak positive consistency (Kappa value was 0.311, P

Abstract Background The Chinese assessment standards of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Rehabilitation Set is available now. It is coming to be used as a basic functional evaluation tool in China. With data accumulating, a mobile application is needed to eliminate the extra cost of data entry, storage, and graphical presentation of trends. This study aimed to design, develop and test a mobile app based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Rehabilitation Set Rehabilitation Set. Methods The study had three phases. The first involved specifying the functional requirements of the app. Then an app was designed and refined to meet those requirements. In a pilot test, the app was used by rehabilitation professionals in clinical practice and their comments were collected for its further modification in one-on-one interviews. Results The app met the initial requirements, and the pilot study showed it worked as designed. The pilot study also showed that the app is user-friendly and convenient to use in rehabilitation practice. Some feedback was given to improve the app. Conclusion An Android mobile app implementing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Rehabilitation Set was successfully developed.

One major challenge for modern artificial neural networks (ANNs) is that they typically does not handle incremental learning well. In other words, while learning the new features, the performances of existing features usually deteriorate. This phenomenon is called catastrophic forgetting, which causes great problems for continuous, incremental, and intelligent learning. In this work, we propose a dynamic correction vector based algorithm to address both the bias problem from knowledge distillation and the overfitting problem. Specifically, we have made the following contributions: 1) we have designed a novel dynamic correction vector based algorithm; 2) we have proposed new loss functions accordingly. Experimental results on MNIST and CIFAR-100 datasets demonstrate that our technique can outperform state-of-the-art incremental learning methods by 4% on large datasets.

This paper describes a scenario where D2D assisted cooperative relaying downlink transmission utilizing non-orthogonal multiple access (DC-NOMA) in the same time or frequency resource. Aiming to enhance the performance including ergodic sum rate (ESR) of the whole system and output block error rate (BER) of detection receiver. Firstly, we investigate the convexity of ESR maximization optimization problem and then prove its non-strictly concave property. Unlike existing works of optimizing the power coefficient only in one-stage, a jointly two-stage power allocation scheme based on iterative search is proposed for the formulated ESR maximizing problem. It is proved that the proposed algorithm converges to a stable state within limited numbers of iteration. Secondly, in order to improve the detection performance of the NOMA system downlink receiver, we propose a novel receiving detection algorithm based on the max-log-map algorithm and design a new receiver structure adapted to this algorithm. Finally we confirm the feasibility and verify the enhancement of the receiver design. The numerical results illustrate that: i) the jointly two-stage power allocation scheme can achieve up to 45.6% of performance gains in term of ESR in comparison of with the one-stage optimizing scheme; and ii) the delay and BER of the receiver both decrease significantly using novel receiver detection algorithm in the case of high-order signal modulation and multi-user multiplexing.

Ecological stoichiometry is useful for revealing the biogeochemical characteristics of flows of nutrients and energy between plant and soil, as well as the important implications behind these ecological phenomena. However, the ecological stoichiometric linkages among leaf, litter, soil, and enzymes in the natural forests of the Loess Plateau remain largely unknown. Here, leaf, litter, and soil samples were collected from four age classes of natural Pinus tabuliformis Carr. (P. tabuliformis) to explore the deep linkages among these components. We measured the total carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), and total phosphorus (P) concentrations of leaf and litter, as well as the concentrations of soil organic C, total N, total P, nitrate N, ammonium N, available P, and the activities of β-1,4-glucosidase (a C-acquiring enzyme), β-1,4-N-acetylglucosidase (an N-acquiring enzyme), and alkaline phosphatase (a P-acquiring enzyme) in the topsoil (0–20 cm). The average leaf N:P was 6.9 indicated the growth of P. tabuliformis was constrained by N according to the relative resorption theory of nutrient limitation. The C:N, C:P, and N:P ratios in leaf, litter, and soil and the enzyme activity were not significantly different among age classes (p > 0.05). Litter C:N (43.3) was closer to the ratio of leaf C:N (48.8), whereas the litter C:P (257.7) was obviously lower than the ratio of leaf C:P (338.15). We calculated the stoichiometric homeostasis index (1/H) of leaf responses to soil elements and enzyme activities and found that the relationship between leaf C:P and soil C:P was homeostatic (p < 0.05), whereas the remaining indices showed the leaf stoichiometries were strictly homeostatic (p > 0.05). Correlation analysis showed both litter C:P and N:P were positively correlated with leaf and soil C:P, while the stoichiometric ratios of soil elements and enzymes were obviously irrelevant with leaf stoichiometries (p > 0.05). Partial least squares path modeling indicated that litter significantly changed soil element and enzyme characteristics through direct and indirect effects, respectively. However, soil elements and enzymes impacted leaf stoichiometries barely, which was further confirmed by an overall redundancy analysis. In summary, C:N:P stoichiometry within the plant–soil continuum revealed that natural P. tabuliformis is a relatively stable ecosystem in the Loess Plateau, where the element exchanges between plant and soil maintain dynamic balance with forest development. Further studies are needed to capture the critical factors that regulate leaf stoichiometry in the soil system.

Alterations in glycosylation regulate fundamental molecular and cellular processes of cancer, serving as important biomarkers and therapeutic targets. However, the potential association and regulatory mechanisms of E6 oncoprotein on glycosylation of cervical cancer cells are still unclear. Here, we evaluated the glycomic changes via using Lectin microarray and determined the corresponding enzymes associated with endogenous high-risk HPV16 E6 expression in cervical cancer cells. α-2,6 sialic acids and the corresponding glycosyltransferase ST6GAL1 were significantly increased in E6 stable-expressing HPV− cervical cancer C33A cells. Clinical validation further showed that the expression of ST6GAL1 was significantly increased in patients infected with high-risk HPV subtypes and showed a positive association with E6 in cervical scraping samples. Interfering ST6GAL1 expression markedly blocked the oncogenic effects of E6 on colony formulation, proliferation, and metastasis. Importantly, ST6GAL1 overexpression enhanced tumorigenic activities of both E6-positive and E6-negative cells. Mechanistical investigations revealed that E6 depended on activating YAP1 to stimulate ST6GAL1 expression, as verteporfin (inhibitor of YAP1) significantly suppressed the E6-induced ST6GAL1 upregulation. E6/ST6GAL1 triggered the activation of downstream cGMP/PKG signaling pathway and ODQ (inhibitor of GMP production) simultaneously suppressed the oncogenic activities of both E6 and ST6GAL1 in cervical cancer cells. Taken together, these findings indicate that ST6GAL1 is an important mediator for oncogenic E6 protein to activate the downstream cGMP/PKG signaling pathway, which represents a novel molecular mechanism and potential therapeutic targets for cervical cancer.

As the development of deep neural networks, 3D object recognition is becoming increasingly popular in the computer vision community. Many multi-view-based methods are proposed to improve the category recognition accuracy. These approaches mainly rely on multi-view images that are rendered with the whole circumference. In real-world applications, however, 3D objects are mostly observed from partial viewpoints in a less range. Therefore, we propose a multi-view-based 3D convolutional neural network that takes only part of contiguous multi-view images as input and can still maintain high accuracy. Moreover, our model takes these view images as a joint variable to better learn the spatially correlated features using 3D convolution and 3D max-pooling layers. The experimental results on ModelNet10 and ModelNet40 datasets show that our MV-C3D technique can achieve outstanding performance with multi-view images that are captured from partial angles with less range. The results on 3D-rotated real image dataset MIRO further demonstrate that MV-C3D is more adaptable in real-world scenarios. The classification accuracy can be further improved with the increasing number of view images.

MicroRNA-520d-3p (miR-520d-3p) is a novel cancer-related miRNA and functions as a tumor suppressor in human cancers. However, the expression patterns and mechanisms of miR-520d-3p involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain rarely known. Here, we found that the expression levels of miR-520d-3p in HCC tissues and cells were significantly lower than in tumor-adjacent tissues and L02 cells. Decreased level of miR-520d-3p was relevant to poor overall survival, whereas miR-520d-3p up-regulation resulted in a marked inhibition of cell growth, migration and invasion. In addition, the long non-coding RNA, myocardial infarction associated transcript (MIAT) was up-regulated in both HCC tissues and cell lines. MIAT suppressed the expression and function of miR-520d-3p. Moreover, erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular A2 (EPHA2) was speculated and confirmed as a direct target of miR-520d-3p. We also demonstrated that MIAT may function as a sponge competitive endogenous RNA for miR-520d-3p, and thus regulate the molecular expression of EPHA2. In summary, our study has identified a novel signaling pathway through which miR-520d-3p exerts its anticarcinogenic roles and suggested that the MIAT/miR-520d-3p/EPHA2 may be a new target for HCC therapy.

Type III CRISPR-Cas systems show the target (tg)RNA-activated indiscriminate DNA cleavage and synthesis of oligoadenylates (cOA) and a secondary signal that activates downstream nuclease effectors to exert indiscriminate RNA/DNA cleavage, and both activities are regulated in a spatiotemporal fashion. In III-B Cmr systems, cognate tgRNAs activate the two Cmr2-based activities, which are then inactivated via tgRNA cleavage by Cmr4, but how Cmr4 nuclease regulates the Cmr immunization remains to be experimentally characterized. Here, we conducted mutagenesis of Cmr4 conserved amino acids in Saccharolobus islandicus, and this revealed that Cmr4α RNase-dead (dCmr4α) mutation yields cell dormancy/death. We also found that plasmid-borne expression of dCmr4α in the wild-type strain strongly reduced plasmid transformation efficiency, and deletion of CRISPR arrays in the host genome reversed the dCmr4α inhibition. Expression of dCmr4α also strongly inhibited plasmid transformation with Cmr2αHD and Cmr2αPalm mutants, but the inhibition was diminished in Cmr2αHD,Palm. Since dCmr4α-containing effectors lack spatiotemporal regulation, this allows an everlasting interaction between crRNA and cellular RNAs to occur. As a result, some cellular RNAs, which are not effective in mediating immunity due to the presence of spatiotemporal regulation, trigger autoimmunity of the Cmr-α system in the S. islandicus cells expressing dCmr4α. Together, these results pinpoint the crucial importance of tgRNA cleavage in autoimmunity avoidance and in the regulation of immunization of type III systems.

Low temperature is a major adverse environment that affects normal plant growth. Previous reports showed that the actin cytoskeleton plays an important role in the plant response to low-temperature stress, but the regulatory mechanism of the actin cytoskeleton in this process is not clear. C-repeat binding factors (CBFs) are the key molecular switches for plants to adapt to cold stress. However, whether CBFs are involved in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton has not been reported. We found that Arabidopsis actin depolymerizing factor 5 (ADF5), an ADF that evolved F-actin bundling function, was up-regulated at low temperatures. We also demonstrated that CBFs bound to the ADF5 promoter directly in vivo and in vitro. The cold-induced expression of ADF5 was significantly inhibited in the cbfs triple mutant. The freezing resistance of the adf5 knockout mutant was weaker than that of wild type (WT) with or without cold acclimation. After low-temperature treatment, the actin cytoskeleton of WT was relatively stable, but the actin cytoskeletons of adf5, cbfs, and adf5 cbfs were disturbed to varying degrees. Compared to WT, the endocytosis rate of the amphiphilic styryl dye FM4-64 in adf5, cbfs, and adf5 cbfs at low temperature was significantly reduced. In conclusion, CBFs directly combine with the CRT/DRE DNA regulatory element of the ADF5 promoter after low-temperature stress to transcriptionally activate the expression of ADF5; ADF5 further regulates the actin cytoskeleton dynamics to participate in the regulation of plant adaptation to a low-temperature environment.

Objective. This study aimed to use multidimensional musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging technique to investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on shoulder subluxation in poststroke patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain. Methods. In this prospective single-blind, randomized, sham-controlled study, thirty-four patients with shoulder subluxation and hemiplegic shoulder pain were recruited and randomly assigned into the EA group or the sham EA (SEA) group. In the EA group, EA was applied to the Jian yu (LI15), Bi nao (LI14), Jian zhen (SI9), and Jian liao (TE14) acupoints. In the SEA group, the EA was applied 15 mm away from the Lou gu (SP7), Di ji (SP8), Jiao xin (KI8), and Zhu bin (KI9) acupoints. Both groups underwent treatment 30 minutes/day, five days a week, for two weeks using dense waves with a frequency of 2/100 Hz. A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment in reducing shoulder pain. Musculoskeletal ultrasound was used to evaluate the changes of measures of shoulder subluxation in multidimensions (i.e., the acromiohumeral distance, AHD; acromion-greater tuberosity, AGT; and acromion-lesser tuberosity, ALT). Both the within- and between-groups treatment effects were assessed. Results. The pain intensity measured by VAS and shoulder subluxation measured by musculoskeletal ultrasound (i.e., AHD, AGT, and ALT) showed significant (p0.05). Conclusions. Using VAS for measuring pain intensity and multidimensional musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging technique for measuring shoulder subluxation, this study finds that the hemiplegic shoulder pain can be improved significantly by the EA while the shoulder subluxation cannot be. Our findings further reveal the analgesic mechanism of EA on hemiplegic shoulder pain following stroke.

Objective: To develop a team approach to applying the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Rehabilitation Set (ICF-RS) in clinical evaluation. Design: A Delphi study. Subjects: Experts from rehabilitation institutions in China including physicians, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Methods: A 2-round Delphi survey and expert panel discussion were used to generate the team approach. Firstly, the candidate types of professionals for team rating were chosen through expert panel discussion. A carefully selected group of participants was then asked to score the suitability of physicians, nurses, or other candidate therapists for each category’s rat-ing, applying the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Rehabilitation Set in clinical evaluation. After initial assignment of cate-gory to types of professionals, a second round Delphi survey was conducted to quantify the professionals’ agreement with the category assignments and generate a final team evaluation approach. Results: Thirty of the category assignments achiev-ed consensus. The final team evaluation approach assigned 6 categories to physicians to evaluate, 7 categories to nurses, 9 categories to physiotherapists, and 8 to occupational therapists. Conclusion: Such a team evaluation approach could facilitate implementation of the ICF-RS in clinical settings and provide a more convenient assessment tool for professionals.

In this retrospective COVID-19 study on 105 infected children admitted to Wuhan Children's Hospital, we have revealed two biomarkers (DBIL and ALT) to promptly screen out the severe ones from all the cases with the assistance of a proposed supervised decision-tree classifier. This clinical route achieves a 100% F1-score in the present investigation, which can be expected to facilitate early diagnosis and intervention for pediatric COVID-19 case

ABSTRACT Cnidarians cannot synthesize sterols (which play essential roles in growth and development) de novo but often use sterols acquired from endosymbiotic dinoflagellates. While sterol availability can impact the mutualistic interaction between coral host and algal symbiont, the biosynthetic pathways (in the dinoflagellate endosymbionts) and functional roles of sterols in these symbioses are poorly understood. In this study, we found that itraconazole, which perturbs sterol metabolism by inhibiting the sterol 14-demethylase CYP51 in dinoflagellates, induces bleaching of the anemone Heteractis crispa and that bleaching perturbs sterol metabolism of the dinoflagellate. While Symbiodiniaceae have clade-specific sterol metabolites, they share features of the common sterol biosynthetic pathway but with distinct architecture and substrate specificity features of participating enzymes. Tracking sterol profiles and transcripts of enzymes involved in sterol biosynthesis across time in response to different environmental cues revealed similarities and idiosyncratic features of sterol synthesis in the endosymbiont Breviolum minutum. Exposure of algal cultures to high levels of light, heat, and acidification led to alterations in sterol synthesis, including blocks through downregulation of squalene synthase transcript levels accompanied by marked growth reductions. IMPORTANCE These results indicate that sterol metabolites in Symbiodiniaceae are clade specific, that their biosynthetic pathways share architectural and substrate specificity features with those of animals and plants, and that environmental stress-specific perturbation of sterol biosynthesis in dinoflagellates can impair a key mutualistic partnership for healthy reefs.

Objective The therapeutic efficacy of apigenin in PC12 cells and rats remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of apigenin against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, both in vitro and in vivo . Methods We first treated PC12 cells with cobalt chloride (CoCl 2 ) to create a model of oxidative stress injury. Cell viability was then determined using a multifunctional microplate reader. In addition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, apoptosis, and mitochondrial membrane potentials (MMPs) were examined using high-content cytometer analysis. The efficacy of apigenin treatment was also analyzed in a rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model using TTC staining and neurological deficit scores. Results The half-inhibitory concentration of CoCl 2 was 1.2 mM. Pretreatment with 10 µg ⋅ mL −1 apigenin significantly enhanced cell viability, reduced ROS levels, alleviated apoptosis, and improved MMP in PC12 cells with CoCl 2 -induced injury in vitro . In addition, apigenin treatment in vivo significantly improved neurological deficit scores and reduced infarct areas in MCAO rats. These results suggest that the neuroprotective mechanisms of apigenin may be related to mitochondrial activation. Conclusions Apigenin had excellent neuroprotective effects for the treatment of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in vitro and in vivo.