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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a highly prevalent liver disease that is closely related to obesity and metabolic disorders. 5-methoxyflavone (5-MF) is a flavonoid with DNA polymerase-β inhibitory properties. In this study, we explored the effects of 5-MF on NAFLD and its potential mechanisms using oleic acid/palmitic acid-treated HepG2 cells and high-fat diet-fed C57BL/6J mice. Our results showed that 5-MF not only alleviated fat deposition and hepatic steatosis, but also improved oxidative damage. In addition, 5-MF has the effect of alleviating disorders of glucose metabolism and enhancing energy expenditure in HFD-induced obese mice. Mechanistically, reverse screening methods and molecular docking analysis were used in combination, and revealed that cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) is the target for 5-MF. Further experiments showed that 5-MF ameliorated triglycerides deposition by inhibiting the enzyme activity and protein expression of CYP1A1. In conclusion, 5-MF provides a novel strategy for the prevention and treatment of high-fat-induced NAFLD.

Two novel Bacillus glycoside hydrolase family 53 (GH53) endo-1,4-β-galactanases (Bs936 and Bs4828) were identified. The recombinant Bs936 and Bs4828 displayed maximal activities at pH 5.5/55 °C and pH 6.5/65 °C, respectively. Stability analyses revealed that the enzymes were stable between pH 4.5-10, retaining over 80% activities after 12 h incubation at 25 °C. Moreover, Bs936 maintained about 75% activity after being treated at 45 °C for 2 h, while Bs4828 kept full activity after 4 h of incubation at 50 °C. Importantly, Bs936 and Bs4828 exhibited good activity towards β-1,4-galactan, showing specific activities of 1859.46- and 3110.79 U/mg towards potato galactan, respectively. The corresponding K

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LSG2-8 on the growth performance, immune function, antioxidant capacity, and disease resistance of Rhynchocypris lagowskii. Fish were fed with the feed containing five levels such as 0, 1.0 × 10

Novel p-Ag2S/n-Nb2O5 heterojunction composites were successfully obtained for the first time by hydrothermal and ion-exchange deposition way. A series of photocatalytic tests and characterization results confirm that the optimized 10 wt% Ag2S/Nb2O5 heterojunction composite exhibits excellent photocatalytic degradation activity for methylene blue (92.8%) under simulated solar light irradiation, which is approximately 2.7 times higher than that of pure Nb2O5 (34.3%) and 2.2 times higher than that of Ag2S (42.0%). The outstanding photocatalytic activity of Ag2S/Nb2O5 heterojunction composites could be ascribed to enhance simulated solar light response and effectively accelerates photo-induced charge separation and migration via a Z-scheme mechanism. Furthermore, the trapping experimental results confirm that both superoxide radicals (·O− 2) and hydroxyl radicals (·OH) play a key role in photocatalytic degradation process.

The overexpression of p21-activated kinase 4 (PAK4) is associated with a variety of cancers. In this paper, the binding modes and inhibitory mechanisms of four 7

Reproductive traits have a high economic value in goat breeding, and increasing the number of lambs produced by ewes is of great importance to improve the production efficiency of goat farming. Lambing traits in goats are low heritability traits, but their genetic basis is ultimately determined by genes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between

Periodic nanostructures, a group of nanomaterials consisting of single or multiple nano units/components periodically arranged into ordered patterns (e.g., vertical and lateral superlattices), have attracted tremendous attention in recent years due to their extraordinary physical and chemical properties that offer a huge potential for a multitude of applications in energy conversion, electronic and optoelectronic applications. Recent advances in the preparation strategies of periodic nanostructures, including self-assembly, epitaxy, and exfoliation, have paved the way to rationally modulate their ferroelectricity, superconductivity, band gap and many other physical and chemical properties. For example, the recent discovery of superconductivity observed in "magic-angle" graphene superlattices has sparked intensive studies in new ways, creating superlattices in twisted 2D materials. Recent development in the various state-of-the-art preparations of periodic nanostructures has created many new ideas and findings, warranting a timely review. In this review, we discuss the current advances of periodic nanostructures, including their preparation strategies, property modulations and various applications.

Lead (Pb) halide perovskites have witnessed highly promising achievements for high-efficiency solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and photo/radiation detectors due to their exceptional optoelectronic properties. However, compound stability and Pb toxicity are still two main obstacles towards the commercialization of halide perovskite-based devices. Therefore, it is of substantial interest to search for non-toxic candidates with comparable photophysical characteristics. Metal-halide double perovskites (MHDPs), A2BBʹX6, are recently booming as promising alternatives for Pb-based halide-perovskites for their non-toxicity and significantly enhanced chemical and thermodynamic stability. Moreover, this family exhibits rich combinatorial chemistry with tuneable optoelectronic properties and thus a great potential for a broad range of optoelectronic/electronic applications. Herein, we present a comprehensive review of the MHDPs synthesized so far, and classified by their optical and electronic properties. We systematically generalize their electronic structure by both theoretical and experimental efforts to prospect the relevant optoelectronic properties required by different applications. The progress of the materials in various applications is explicated in view of the material structure-function relationship. Finally, a perspective outlook to improve the physical and optoelectronic properties of the materials is proposed aiming at fostering their future development and applications.

Charge carrier transport in materials is of essential importance for photovoltaic and photonic applications. Here, the authors demonstrate a controllable acceleration or deceleration of charge carrier transport in specially structured metal-alloy perovskite (MACs)PbI

Reproductive traits have a high economic value in goat breeding, and increasing the number of lambs produced by ewes is of great importance to improve the production efficiency of goat farming. Lambing traits in goats are low heritability traits, but their genetic basis is ultimately determined by genes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between INHA, RARG, and PGR gene polymorphisms and production performance, such as lambing, cashmere production, milk production, and body size in Liaoning cashmere goats. A total of six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) loci were identified in these three genes, G144A and T504C on the INHA gene, A56G, G144A, G490C on the RARG gene, and G109519T on the PGR gene. For lambing and cashmere production traits, the AA genotype of G144A on the INHA gene, TT on the T504C genotype, GG genotype of G144A on the INHA gene, A56G, G144A, and T504C on RARG and G109519T on PGR gene are dominant genotypes. AATT is a dominant haplotype combination. Allele G can be used as a molecular marker for lambing, cashmere, and milk production traits in Liaoning cashmere goats. Marker-assisted selection can be used for early selection to achieve improvement of genetic traits in Liaoning cashmere goats.

The terahertz (THz)-wave absorption properties in organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite (OHP) materials are investigated with the in-depth development of OHP-based THz applications. In the THz range from 0.5 to 3 THz, OHPs typically show several interesting phonon modes such as transverse, longitudinal, and halogen self-vibrations. To modulate these frequencies, the density changes in defect-incorporated structures and element mixtures were tested and confirmed. In the literature, the origin of phonon modes in OHP materials have been mostly explained. However, we found new phonon vibration modes in formamidinium (FA)-based hybrid perovskite structures. FAPbI3 single crystals, organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites, of the δ-, δ/α-mixed-, and α-phases were prepared. We intriguingly found that the δ/α-mixed-phase exhibited significant THz-wave absorption peaks at 2.0 and 2.2 THz that were not related to any phonon modes from either the δ- or α-phases, although the δ/α-mixed-phase sample was confirmed to be formed by a physical combination of the δ- and α-phases without the creation of any new chemical states. Our theoretical study performed with ab initio calculations provides an explanation for these unusual THz-wave absorption behaviors; they originate from the novel vibration modes excited at the seamless interfaces in the mixed phase of FAPbI3. We found new phonon vibration modes in formamidinium (FA)-based hybrid perovskite structures. We intriguingly found that the δ/α-mixed-phase exhibited significant THz-wave absorption peaks at 2.0 and 2.2 THz that were not related to any phonon modes from either the δ- or α-phases, although the δ/α-mixed-phase sample was confirmed to be formed by a physical combination of the δ- and α-phases without the creation of any new chemical states. From the theoretical study, they originate from the novel vibration modes excited at the seamless interfaces in the mixed phase of FAPbI3. New vibrational modes generated by low-cost organic–inorganic crystals could be of value for terahertz devices used for non-invasive cell and tissue imaging. Vibrationally excited molecules can often be identified from terahertz energy signals, but these signals are hard to detect with conventional electronics. Researchers led by Young-Kyun Kwon from Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea, and Min-Cherl Jung at the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki, Japan, report insights into how optically active materials known as hybrid perovskites can be engineered to improve terahertz detection. The team’s analysis of formamidinium-lead-iodide perovskites showed that new terahertz-sensitive modes could be seen when the material solidified into a crystal containing two different structural arrangements known as phases. Theoretical simulations revealed the modes appear because of vibrations generated at the phase interfaces.

Artificial photosynthesis, converting solar energy to renewable fuels and valuable chemicals, shows a high potential for addressing the exhaustion of fossil fuels and the greenhouse effect. The superior optoelectronic properties of metal halide perovskites (MHPs) make this emerging family of materials promising candidates for efficient solar-to-fuel conversion. However, the issue of stability has been the main obstacle for MHPs based photocatalysis. In this work, we emphasize the major bottleneck that hinders the application of MHPs for photocatalytic solar-to-fuel conversion. After outlining the unstable factors for MHPs based photocatalysis, we analyse recent works in related fields and provide a critical review of approaches to improving the stability of MHPs for the photocatalytic H2 evolution reaction and CO2 reduction reaction. We conclude by proposing possible directions for the development of stabilizing MHPs towards efficient and cost-effective solar-to-fuel conversion.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common disease with a multitude of complications. Increasing evidence shows that the dietary supplement with betaine, a natural chemical molecule, can effectively reduce the fat accumulation in the liver. Translational regulation is considered to play a vital role in gene expression, but whether betaine functions through the regulation of gene translational level is still unclear. To this end, RNC-seq (ribosome-nascent chain complex bound mRNA sequencing) and RNA-seq co-analyses were performed to identify betaine target genes by using the liver samples from high-fat diet + betaine treated and high-fat diet treated mice. The results showed that betaine does play a lipid-lowering role by regulating the expression of gene translation levels; some NAFLD- and lipid metabolism- associated genes were differentially expressed at translational level, for example. And the mRNA translation ratio (TR) of gene significantly increased after betaine treatment. Besides, it is found that the regulation of some genes at transcriptional level is opposite to that at translational level, which indicates that transcriptional regulation and translational regulation may be independent from each other. Finally, we identified several candidate genes, especially Gpc1 , which may mediate the lipid-lowering effect of betaine in the liver. To sum up, this study depicted the molecular portrait of mice liver with or without betaine treatment from the angel of translatome and transcriptome, giving insights into the molecular mechanism of betaine-mediated lipid-lowering effect and also providing new clues for understanding and prevention of NAFLD.

Hybrid learning approaches prove to be superior to single technologies in the field of intrusion detection. Moreover, the representative feature is a determinant of generating accurate signatures and improving detection performance. In this paper, we propose a hybrid intrusion detection algorithm based on Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN). More specifically, we first implement GMM to characterize the spatial distribution of each category. Then, a novel GMM-based data formation method is performed to extract distance and density features, called GMDD. By sufficiently utilizing the classification information contained in the original data, GMDD constructs concise and high-quality characteristics. Finally, k-NN is trained and tested on newly transformed datasets to build the detection model. The experimental results on KDD’99 and NSL-KDD datasets indicate that the proposed method not only outperforms other recent studies in terms of accuracy, detection rate and false alarm rate, but also provides excellent computational efficiency.

Dark septate endophytes (DSEs) are one of the most studied groups of root fungal endophytes in recent years. However, the effects of DSE on host plant are still under debate, and the molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. In this study, we identified a DSE fungus of the genus Anteaglonium, named T010, from the wild blueberry. When inoculated into Vaccinium corymbosum L. plants, T010 could enhance root growth and promote shoot branching, leading to increased plant growth. By comparative transcriptome analysis, we obtained 1948 regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the V. corymbosum plants treated by T010. Further functional enrichment analysis identified a series of DEGs enriched in transcriptional regulation, material transport, phytohormone biosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis. Moreover, the comparative analysis of liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry verified that T010 treatment induced the changes in the contents of various phytohormones and flavonoids. This is the first report on the isolation of DSE fungi of the genus Anteaglonium from blueberry roots. Moreover, our results suggested that T010 colonization could result in a series of changes in cell metabolism, biosynthesis and signal pathways, thereby promoting plant growth. Particularly, the changes of phytohormone and flavonoid metabolism induced by T010 colonization might contribute to the promotion of blueberry growth. Our results will provide new insights into understanding of the interaction of DSE fungi and host plants, as well as the development and utilization of DSE preparations.

Halide perovskite is one of the most promising semiconducting materials in a variety of fields such as solar cells, photodetectors, and light-emitting diodes. Lead halide perovskite single crystals featuring long diffusion length, high carrier mobility, large light absorption coefficient and low defect density, have been attracting increasing attention. Fundamental study of the intrinsic nature keeps revealing the superior optoelectrical properties of perovskite single crystals over their polycrystalline thin film counterparts, but to date, the device performance lags behind. The best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of single crystal-based solar cells is 21.9%, falling behind that of polycrystalline thin film solar cells (25.2%). The oversized thickness, defective surfaces, and difficulties in depositing functional layers, hinder the application of halide perovskite single crystals in optoelectronic devices. Efforts have been made to synthesize large-area single crystalline thin films directly on conductive substrates and apply defect engineering approaches to improve the surface properties. This review starts from a comprehensive introduction of the optoelectrical properties of perovskite single crystals. Then, the synthesis methods for high-quality bulk crystals and single-crystalline thin films are introduced and compared, followed by a systematic review of their optoelectronic applications including solar cells, photodetectors, and X-ray detectors. The challenges and strategical approaches for high-performance applications are summarized at the end with a brief outlook on future work.