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At present, there are few studies considering both nonlinear and fractional characteristics of suspension in vehicle systems. In this paper, a fractional nonlinear model of a quarter vehicle with two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) is innovatively proposed to describe the suspension system containing the viscoelastic material metal rubber. Given the lack of a general calculation scheme for the multi-degree-of-freedom fractional-order incremental harmonic balance method (IHBM), a general calculation scheme for the 2-DOF incremental harmonic balance method for nonlinear systems with fractional order is derived. The nonlinear dynamical properties of the presented model are acquired using this method. The accuracy of the proposed method is verified through a comparison with the power series expansion method. Afterward, the effects of the various parameters on the dynamic performance are analyzed. The vibration peak value of the fractional-order model is significantly higher than that of the integer-order model (IOM). Therefore, the suspension parameters should be designed with a margin when using IOM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zn-doped MnCO3/carbon sphere (Zn-doped MnCO3/CS) composites were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal procedure. Among various samples (ZM-50, ZM-05, and ZMC-0), the ternary Zn-doped MnCO3/CS (ZMC-2) catalyst demonstrated excellent visible light-induced photocatalytic activity. This improvement comes from the Zn addition and the conductive CS, which facilitate electron movement and charge transport. The catalyst exhibited efficient degradation of methylene blue (MB) over a wide pH range, achieving a removal efficiency of 99.6% under visible light. Radical trapping experiments suggested that •OH and •O2− played essential roles in the mechanism of organic pollutant degradation. Moreover, the catalyst maintained good degradation performance after five cycles. This study offers valuable perspectives into the fabrication of carbon-based composites with promising photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dysbiosis of gut microbiota is causally linked to impaired host glucose metabolism. We aimed to study effects of the new method of fecal microbiota transplantation, washed microbiota transplantation (WMT), on reducing glycemic variability (GV) in unstable diabetes. Methods: Fourteen eligible patients received three allogenic WMTs and were followed up at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months. Primary outcomes were daily insulin dose, glucose excursions during meal tests, and GV indices calculated from continuous monitoring or self‐monitoring glucose values. Secondary outcomes were multiomics data, including 16S rRNA gene sequencing, metagenomics, and metabolomics to explore underlying mechanisms. Results: Daily insulin dose and glucose excursions markedly dropped, whereas GV indices significantly improved up to 1 month. WMT increased gut microbial alpha diversity, beta diversity, and network complexity. Taxonomic changes featured lower abundance of genera Bacteroides and Escherichia‐Shigella, and higher abundance of genus Prevotella. Metagenomics functional annotations revealed enrichment of distinct microbial metabolic pathways, including methane biosynthesis, citrate cycle, amino acid degradation, and butyrate production. Derived metabolites correlated significantly with improved GV indices. WMT did not change circulating inflammatory cytokines, enteroendocrine hormones, or C‐peptide. Conclusions: WMT showed strong ameliorating effect on GV, raising the possibility of targeting gut microbiota as an effective regimen to reduce GV in diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The matrix effect in complex spices and herbs presents a great challenge to the simultaneous, rapid, quantitative analysis of multiple pesticides by mass spectrometry. The aim of this work was to develop and validate an effective UPLC–MS/MS multi-residue method for the analysis of pesticide residues to reduce matrix effects in four spices and one herb and infer which component caused the matrix effect in black pepper. In this paper, we highlight the importance of reducing matrix effects. SPE and dilution factors combined with d-SPE were two approaches to reduce matrix effects compared with d-SPE, and dilution (5-fold) combined with d-SPE was more effective than SPE in reducing matrix effects. With the validated d-SPE method combined with dilution (5-fold), 22 pesticides showed satisfactory recovery (77 to 114%) and RSDs (1.4%–19.1%) at three spiked concentrations in dried chilli pepper, star anise, mint, and cinnamon skin, but not in black pepper. Compared to the other three spices and one herb, black pepper appeared to have a stronger matrix effect. D-SPE method combined with dilution (5-fold) was not suitable for black pepper and required more efficient purification methods and higher dilution factors. With the validated SPE method combined with 10-fold dilution, 19 pesticides showed satisfactory recovery (71% to 113%) and RSDs (2.1%–18.2%) at three spiked concentrations in black pepper. We ascertained that piperine was the component contributing most to the matrix effect in black pepper. The method was used to monitor 15 market samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To establish a new standard for measurement islet autoantibodies by electrochemiluminescence (ECL) assay and to discuss its applications for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) prediction and diagnosis. Methods ECL assay was used to measure serum levels of glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody (GADA65), insulin autoantibody (IAA) and protein tyrosine phosphatase antibody (IA-2A) in 124 healthy volunteers, 180 T1DM patients, and 180 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Patients admitted in Sir Run Run Hospital, Nanjing Medical University from December 2016 to June 2018 with diagnosis of T1DM or T2DM were enrolled in the study. Healthy volunteers were recruited from students in Nanjing Medical University. The serum antibody level was represented as antibody index. The positive cut-off limit for each antibody was defined as 99% of the indicated antibody index from healthy volunteers. The chi-square test was used to analyze the positivity of GADA65, IAA, IA-2A of T1DM and T2DM patients detected by ECL method. Results The cut-off points for GADA65, IAA and IA-2A were 0.047, 0.009 and 0.0029 respectively by ECL methods. The intra-assay coefficients of variation (CV) for GADA65, IAA and IA-2A were 1.88% - 8.30%, 1.39% - 3.40%, 1.23% - 3.17% respectively, and the inter-assay CV were 3.9%-7.3%, 2.7%-9.8%, 2.2%-7.4% respectively. The repeatability of the result was 99.8%. The positivity of GADA65, IAA, IA-2A were 52% (94/180), 45% (81/180), 21% (39/180) respectively in T1DM patients and were 2.2% (4/180), 2.2% (4/180), 2.2% (4/180) respectively in T2DM patients. There were statistic significances in positivity between T1DM and T2DM for all three antibodies (χ²=113.57, 32.35, 91.31, all P<0.001). The positive ratio of GADA65 and IA-2A detected by ECL or radio-binding assay shows no difference. Conclusion The ECL assay has high sensitivity, specificity and repeatability and could be used for the prediction and diagnosis of T1DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- (PPAR-) γ plays critical roles in human metabolic disorders and has recently been implicated as a regulator of cellular proliferation and inflammatory responses. Regulatory T cells (Tregs), which express high levels of PPAR-γ protein, have the ability to maintain immune tolerance to self-antigens and regulate immune response to Schistosoma infection. However, mechanisms involved in the resolution of these responses are elusive.Methods: Liver and spleen tissue samples in Schistosoma japonicum-infected mice after administration of pioglitazone (a PPAR-γ agonist) were collected. The hepatic and splenic pathologies were detected by H&E and Masson staining. The percentages of Th1/2 and Treg cells in the liver and spleen of each mouse were determined using flow cytometry. Levels of gene expression of PPAR-γ and Foxp3 in tissues or cells were determined using real-time PCR (RT-PCR). Macrophages were treated with pioglitazone in vitro or cocultured with normal purified CD4+ T cells for detecting Treg cells by flow cytometry. The interactions of PPAR-γ with Foxp3 in CD4+ T cells were detected by coimmunoprecipitation.Results: Administration of pioglitazone resulted in the prevention of the development of hepatic and splenic pathologies. Activation of PPAR-γ by pioglitazone resulted in increased percentages of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells and decreased percentages of CD3+CD4+IFN-γ+ and CD3+CD4+IL-4+ cells in the liver and spleen of Schistosoma japonicum-infected mice. In addition, the PPAR-γ agonist can induce Treg cells in vitro directly or by modulating the macrophage's function indirectly. Furthermore, through interaction with Foxp3 in CD4+ T cells, the PPAR-γ agonist can promote the expression of Foxp3; however, the inhibitor of PPAR-γ weakened the expression of Foxp3 by modifying the coexpression of Foxp3 and PPAR-γ.Conclusions: Our study reveals a previously unrecognized role for PPAR-γ/Foxp3 signaling in regulating the immunopathology that occurs during Schistosoma infection through induction of Treg cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) remains inevitable in liver surgeries, macrophages play a critical role in the development of IRI, but little is known about the macrophages regulate pathogenesis of IRI. Based on target-guided screening, we identified a small 3 kDa peptide (SjDX5-271) from various schistosome egg-derived peptides that induced M2 macrophage polarization. SjDX5-271 treatment protected the mice against liver IRI through promoting M2 macrophage polarization, the protective effect was abrogated when the macrophages were depleted. Transcriptomic sequencing showed that the TLR signaling pathway was significantly inhibited in macrophages derived from the SjDX5-271 treatment group. We further identified that SjDX5-271 promotes M2 macrophage polarization by inhibiting the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway and further alleviates hepatic inflammation in liver IRI. Collectively, SjDX5-271 exhibits promising therapeutic effects in IRI and represents a novel therapeutic approach for IRI, even in immune-related diseases. This study revealed the development of a new biologic from the parasite and enhanced our understanding of host-parasite interplay, providing a blueprint for future therapies for immune-related diseases.