Circle-seq based method for eccDNA synthesis and its application as a canonical promoter independent vector for robust microRNA overexpression

Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) has recently gained increasing attention due to its significant role in cancer and other pathophysiologic states. The majority of circular DNAs detected by Circle-seq are small-size eccDNAs with enigmatic functions. One major technical hurdle is to synthesize eccDNA for functional identification. Here, we describe CAES (Circle-seq based Artificial EccDNA Synthesis), a promising and reliable method for artificial eccDNA synthesis. Eight eccDNAs carrying different microRNA genes (eccMIR) found in gastric cancer tissues, ranging from 329 bp to 2189 bp in size, were created utilizing the CAES method. Exonuclease V and single restriction-endonuclease digestion identified the circular structure of synthetic eccDNAs. The DNA circularization efficiency afforded by CAES ranged from 15.6% to 31.1%, which was negatively correlated with the eccDNA length. In addition, we demonstrated that CAES-synthesized eccMIRs can express both miRNA-3p and - 5p molecules efficiently independent of a canonical promoter in human cell lines. Further assays proved that these eccMIRs were functional as they were able to repress the luciferase gene containing a miRNA-target sequence in the 3'UTR as well as the endogenous mRNA targets. Finally, kinetics study revealed that eccDNA exhibited a decay rate similar to the standard plasmids and linear DNA in cultured cells. Together, this study offers a rapid and convenient method for Circle-seq users to synthesize artificial eccDNAs. It also demonstrates the promising potential of eccMIR as a bacterial DNA-free vector for safe and robust miRNA overexpression in both basic research and therapeutic applications.

Neural stem cell-derived exosomes promote mitochondrial biogenesis and restore abnormal protein distribution in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

JOURNAL/nrgr/04.03/01300535-202407000-00040/figure1/v/2023-11-20T171125Z/r/image-tiff

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. We previously showed that neural stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles improved mitochondrial function in the cortex of APP/PS1 mice. Because Alzheimer's disease affects the entire brain, further research is needed to elucidate alterations in mitochondrial metabolism in the brain as a whole. Here, we investigated the expression of several important mitochondrial biogenesis-related cytokines in multiple brain regions after treatment with neural stem cell-derived exosomes and used a combination of whole brain clearing, immunostaining, and lightsheet imaging to clarify their spatial distribution. Additionally, to clarify whether the sirtuin 1 (SIRT1)-related pathway plays a regulatory role in neural stem cell-derived exosomes interfering with mitochondrial functional changes, we generated a novel nervous system-SIRT1 conditional knockout APP/PS1 mouse model. Our findings demonstrate that neural stem cell-derived exosomes significantly increase SIRT1 levels, enhance the production of mitochondrial biogenesis-related factors, and inhibit astrocyte activation, but do not suppress amyloid-β production. Thus, neural stem cell-derived exosomes may be a useful therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease that activates the SIRT1-PGC1α signaling pathway and increases NRF1 and COXIV synthesis to improve mitochondrial biogenesis. In addition, we showed that the spatial distribution of mitochondrial biogenesis-related factors is disrupted in Alzheimer's disease, and that neural stem cell-derived exosome treatment can reverse this effect, indicating that neural stem cell-derived exosomes promote mitochondrial biogenesis.

Unveiling microplastic distribution and interactions in the benthic layer of the Yangtze River Estuary and East China Sea

Microplastics (MPs), recognized as an emerging global environmental concern, have been extensively detected worldwide, with specific attention directed towards the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE) and East China Sea (ECS) regions. Despite their critical research significance, there remains a knowledge gap concerning the distribution of MPs in the benthic layer within this area, particularly regarding interactions governing their occurrence. Here we illuminate the distribution of MPs within the benthic layer and unravel the intricate interplay between bottom water and sediment in the YRE and ECS. We find that MPs are notably more abundant in bottom water, ranging from 8 to 175 times higher than in surface water. These MPs predominantly consist of polyester fibers, exhibit a size range between 0.5 and 5.0 mm, and display distinct coloration. Co-occurrence network analysis and Principal Coordinate Analysis confirm a robust correlation between MPs in bottom water and sediment, signifying the pivotal role of bottom water in mediating the distribution and transportation of MPs within the benthic layer. Furthermore, a positive correlation between MPs in sediment and bottom water turbidity underscores the impact of surface sediment resuspension and upwelling on MPs distribution. This study clarifies the intricate interactions within the benthic layer and highlights the crucial role of bottom water as a mediator in the vertical distribution of MPs, advancing our understanding of the "source-to-sink" transport processes governing MPs within water-sediment systems.

Interferon regulatory factors inhibit TiLV replication by activating interferon-a3 in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) is an emerging virus that seriously threatens the tilapia industries worldwide. Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs), which are the crucial mediators regulating the response of interferon (IFN) to combat invading viruses, have not yet been reported in tilapia during TiLV infection. Here, six IRF (IRF1, IRF2, IRF4, IRF7, IRF8, and IRF9) homologs from tilapia were characterized and analyzed. These IRFs typically shared the conserved domains and phylogenetic relationship with IRF homologs of other species. Tissue distribution analysis showed that all six IRF genes were expressed in various tissues, with the highest expression in immune-related tissues. Furthermore, overexpression of IRFs in tilapia brain (TiB) cells significantly inhibited TiLV propagation, as evidenced by decreased viral segment 8 gene transcripts and copy numbers of viral segment 1. More importantly, all six IRF genes significantly enhanced the promoter activity of type I interferon-a3 (IFNa3) in TiB cells, suggesting that tilapia IRF genes serve as positive regulators in activating IFNa3. Surprisingly, the promoter activity of IFNa3 mediated by IRF genes was markedly inhibited post-TiLV infection, indicating that TiLV antagonized IRF-mediated IFN immune response. Taken together, six IRF genes of tilapia are highly conserved transcription factors that inhibit TiLV infection by activating the promoter of IFNa3, which is in turn restrained by TiLV. These findings broaden our knowledge about the functionality of IRF-mediated antiviral immunity in tilapia against TiLV infection and host-TiLV interaction, which lays a foundation for developing antiviral strategies in tilapia cultural industries.

Deep learning radiomics model based on PET/CT predicts PD-L1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer

Purpose

Programmed cell death protein-1 ligand (PD-L1) is an important prognostic predictor for immunotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aimed to develop a non-invasive deep learning and radiomics model based on positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET/CT) to predict PD-L1 expression in NSCLC.

Methods

A total of 136 patients with NSCLC between January 2021 and September 2022 were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomly divided into the training dataset and the validation dataset in a ratio of 7:3. Radiomics feature and deep learning feature were extracted from their PET/CT images. The Mann-whitney U-test, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator algorithm and Spearman correlation analysis were used to select the top significant features. Then we developed a radiomics model, a deep learning model, and a fusion model based on the selected features. The performance of three models were compared by the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value.

Results

Of the patients, 42 patients were PD-L1 negative and 94 patients were PD-L1 positive. A total of 2446 radiomics features and 4096 deep learning features were extracted per patient. In the training dataset, the fusion model achieved a highest AUC (0.954, 95% confident internal [CI]: 0.890-0.986) compared with the radiomics model (0.829, 95%CI: 0.738-0.898) and the deep learning model (0.935, 95%CI: 0.865-0.975). In the validation dataset, the AUC of the fusion model (0.910, 95% CI: 0.779-0.977) was also higher than that of the radiomics model (0.785, 95% CI: 0.628-0.897) and the deep learning model (0.867, 95% CI: 0.724-0.952).

Conclusion

The PET/CT-based deep learning radiomics model can predict the PD-L1 expression accurately in NSCLC patients, and provides a non-invasive tool for clinicians to select positive PD-L1 patients.

A framework to evaluate the impact of a hazard chain and geographical covariates on spatial extreme water levels: A case study in the Pearl River Delta

The interactions and collective impacts of different types of hazards within a compound hazard system, along with the influence of geographical covariates on flooding are presently unclear. Understanding these relationships is crucial for comprehending the formation and dynamic processes of the hazard chain and improving the ability to identify flood warning signals in complex hazard scenarios. In this study, we presented a multivariate spatial extreme value hierarchical (MSEVH) framework to assess the spatial extreme water levels (EWL) at different return levels under the influence of a hazard chain and geographical covariates. The Pearl River Delta (PRD) was selected as a research example to assess the effectiveness of the MSEVH framework. Firstly, we identified a hazard chain (extreme streamflow from the Xijiang River (XR) - extreme streamflow from the Beijiang River (BR) - extreme sea level) and three geographical covariates influencing EWL in the PRD. Then, we compared four hazard scenarios in the MSEVH framework to evaluate the spatial EWL at different return levels under the influence of the hazard chain in the PRD. The final step involves assessing spatial EWL with the effect of the hazard chain and geographical covariates. The results indicate that when extreme streamflow from XR and BR occurs concurrently, the extreme streamflow from BR weakens the influence of extreme streamflow from XR on EWL in the PRD. However, it cannot fully offset the overall impact of extreme streamflow from XR on EWL. In addition, when extreme streamflow from XR, extreme streamflow from BR, and extreme sea level occur simultaneously, the extreme sea level enhances the influence of concurrent extreme streamflow from XR and BR on EWL in the PRD. The proposed MSEVH is not only applicable to the PRD but also shows promising potential for evaluating extreme hydrometeorological variables under the influence of other hazard chains.

Appearance, components, pasting, and thermal characteristics of chalky grains of rice varieties with varying protein content

This study investigated two rice varieties, GuichaoII and Jiazao311, with distinct protein content to determine the variation in appearance, components, pasting, and thermal properties of rice with different chalkiness degrees. Grain length, width, head rice weight, and whiteness of both varieties markedly increased as chalkiness increased from 0% to 50%. However, the variation in components, pasting, and thermal characteristics of chalky grain substantially differed between the rice varieties. The protein content of GuichaoII (low protein content) significantly increased with the chalkiness degree, along with a significant increase in onset, peak, and conclusion temperatures and gelatinization enthalpy. In Jiazao311 (high protein content), the chalkiness degree increased with the protein content but decreased with the starch content, along with increased trough, final, setback, and consistency viscosities. Compared to amylose content, protein content had a greater influence on the thermal properties and pasting characteristics of chalky grains of GuichaoII and Jiazao311, respectively.

A fully validated LC‑MS/MS method for quantifying bevacizumab in plasma samples from patients with NSCLC and its implications in therapeutic drug monitoring

Given the increasing use of bevacizumab in combinatorial drug therapy for a multitude of different cancer types, there is a need for therapeutic drug monitoring to analyze the possible correlation between drug trough concentration, and therapeutic effect and adverse reactions. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry method was then developed and validated to determine bevacizumab levels in human plasma samples. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Shimadzu InertSustainBio C18 HP column, whereas subsequent mass spectrometric analysis was performed using a Shimadzu 8050CL triple quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an electro-spray ionization source in the positive ion mode. In total, three multiple reaction monitoring transitions of each of the surrogate peptides were chosen with 'FTFSLDTSK' applied as the quantification peptide whereas 'VLIYFTSSLHSGVPSR' and 'STAYLQMNSLR' were designated as the verification peptides using the Skyline software. This analytical method was then fully validated, with specificity, linearity, lower limit of quantitation, accuracy, precision, stability, matrix effect and recovery calculated. The linearity of this method was developed to be within the concentration range 5-400 µg/ml for bevacizumab in human plasma. Subsequently, eight patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were recruited and injected with bevacizumab over three periods of treatment to analyze their steady-state trough concentration and differences. To conclude, the results of the present study suggest that bevacizumab can be monitored in a therapeutic setting in patients with NSCLC.

Whole transcriptome mapping reveals the lncRNA regulatory network of TFP5 treatment in diabetic nephropathy

BACKGROUND

TFP5 is a Cdk5 inhibitor peptide, which could restore insulin production. However, the role of TFP5 in diabetic nephropathy (DN) is still unclear.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to characterize the transcriptome profiles of mRNA and lncRNA in TFP5-treated DN mice to mine key lncRNAs associated with TFP5 efficacy.

METHODS

We evaluated the role of TFP5 in DN pathology and performed RNA sequencing in C57BL/6J control mice, C57BL/6J db/db model mice, and TFP5 treatment C57BL/6J db/db model mice. The differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) and mRNAs (DEmRNAs) were analyzed. WGCNA was used to screen hub-gene of TFP5 in treatment of DN.

RESULTS

Our results showed that TFP5 therapy ameliorated renal tubular injury in DN mice. In addition, compared with the control group, the expression profile of lncRNAs in the model group was significantly disordered, while TFP5 alleviated the abnormal expression of lncRNAs. A total of 67 DElncRNAs shared among the three groups, 39 DElncRNAs showed a trend of increasing in the DN group and decreasing after TFP treatment, while the remaining 28 showed the opposite trend. DElncRNAs were enriched in glycosphingolipid biosynthesis signaling pathways, NF-κB signaling pathways, and complement activation signaling pathways. There were 1028 up-regulated and 1117 down-regulated DEmRNAs in the model group compared to control group, and 123 up-regulated and 153 down-regulated DEmRNAs in the TFP5 group compared to the model group. The DEmRNAs were involved in PPAR and MAPK signaling pathway. We confirmed that MSTRG.28304.1 is a key DElncRNA for TFP5 treatment of DN. TFP5 ameliorated DN maybe by inhibiting MSTRG.28304.1 through regulating the insulin resistance and PPAR signaling pathway. The qRT-PCR results confirmed the reliability of the sequencing data through verifying the expression of ENSMUST00000211209, MSTRG.31814.5, MSTRG.28304.1, and MSTRG.45642.14.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the present study provides novel insights into molecular mechanisms of TFP5 treatment in DN.

Transcriptional convergence after repeated duplication of an amino acid transporter gene leads to the independent emergence of the black husk/pericarp trait in barley and rice

The repeated emergence of the same trait (convergent evolution) in distinct species is an interesting phenomenon and manifests visibly the power of natural selection. The underlying genetic mechanisms have important implications to understand how the genome evolves under environmental challenges. In cereal crops, both rice and barley can develop black-coloured husk/pericarp due to melanin accumulation. However, it is unclear if this trait shares a common origin. Here, we fine-mapped the barley HvBlp gene controlling the black husk/pericarp trait and confirmed its function by gene silencing. The result was further supported by a yellow husk/pericarp mutant with deletion of the HvBlp gene, derived from gamma ray radiation of the wild-type W1. HvBlp encodes a putative tyrosine transporter homologous to the black husk gene OsBh4 in rice. Surprisingly, synteny and phylogenetic analyses showed that HvBlp and OsBh4 belonged to different lineages resulted from dispersed and tandem duplications, respectively, suggesting that the black husk/pericarp trait has emerged independently. The dispersed duplication (dated at 21.23 MYA) yielding HvBlp occurred exclusively in the common ancestor of Triticeae. HvBlp and OsBh4 displayed converged transcription in husk/pericarp tissues, contributing to the black husk/pericarp trait. Further transcriptome and metabolome data identified critical candidate genes and metabolites related to melanin production in barley. Taken together, our study described a compelling case of convergent evolution resulted from transcriptional convergence after repeated gene duplication, providing valuable genetic insights into phenotypic evolution. The identification of the black husk/pericarp genes in barley also has great potential in breeding for stress-resilient varieties with higher nutritional values.

Laparoscopic Anatomic Bi-segmentectomy (S5 and S6) Using Takasaki's Approach and Indocyanine Green Fluorescence Navigation

BACKGROUND

To date, most laparoscopic anatomic bi-segmentectomy practices have been performed vertically, such as the resection of segments 6 and 7, segments 5 and 8, and segments 2 and 3;1-3 however, transversal hepatectomy may be more appropriate for certain lesions that are located in a specific area.4,5 Herein, we present a video of a pure laparoscopic anatomic bi-segmentectomy (S5 and S6) using Takasaki's approach and indocyanine green fluorescence navigation.

METHOD

A 58-year-old male with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was admitted to our institution. The preoperative abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan showed a 5 × 4 cm tumor located between segments 5 and 6. Right hepatectomy was not adopted because of severe cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Therefore, laparoscopic anatomic bi-segmentectomy (5 and 6) was planned. After cholecystectomy, G5 and G6 were dissected and ligated using Takasaki's Glissonean pedicle approach.6 The ischemic line then appeared on the liver surface. An intraoperative ultrasound was used to confirm that the tumor was within the ischemic line. Afterwards, intraoperative fluorescence navigation (negative stained) was performed to detect the demarcation line and guide the transection of liver parenchymal.

RESULTS

The operative time was 225 min and the estimated blood loss was 150 mL. The total Pringle time was 75 min. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 8. Pathology confirmed the diagnosis of HCC and the surgical margin was negative.

CONCLUSIONS

Laparoscopic anatomic bi-segmentectomy (S5 and S6) is technically feasible and safe, which may be a beneficial alternative to formal right hepatectomy in some cases.

Improvement effects of cyclic peptides from Annona squamosa on cognitive decline in neuroinflammatory mice

Cyclic peptides can resist enzymatic hydrolysis to pass through the intestine barrier, which may reduce the risk of mild cognition decline. But evidence is lacking on whether they work by alleviating neuroinflammation. A cylic peptide from Annona squamosa, Cylic(PIYAG), was biologically evaluated in vivo and in vitro. Cylic(PIYAG) enhanced the spatial memory ability of LPS-induced mice. And treatment with Cylic(PIYAG) markedly reduced the iNOS, MCP-1, TNF-α, and gp91phox expression induced by LPS. Cylic(PIYAG, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.2 μM) could significantly reduce the protein expression level of COX-2 and iNOS (P < 0.05) in BV2 cells. The concentration of Cylic(PIYAG) in blood reached a peak of 3.64 ± 1.22 μg/ml after intragastric administration in 1 h. And fluorescence microscope shows that Cylic(PIYAG) mainly locates and may play an anti-inflammatory role in the cytoplasm of microglia. This study demonstrates that the peptidic can prevent microglia activation, decrease the inflammatory reaction, improve the cognition of LPS-induced mice.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-023-01441-8.

In situ Mo-doped ZnIn2S4/Ni-Ni Hofmann-type coordination polymer composites for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

Solar energy-assisted hydrogen production technology is an essential tool for exploring hydrogen energy. To date, semiconductors have been used as the primary photocatalyst to generate hydrogen via photocatalytic water splitting. However, the high photogenerated electron-hole recombination rate of semiconductor photocatalysts results in a low hydrogen production rate. Herein, the synergistic effect of Mo-ion doping and the incorporation of Ni-based Hofmann-type coordination polymer (Ni-Ni HCP) on the photocatalytic performance of ZnIn2S4 (ZIS) is investigated. The hydrogen production rate of the prepared in-situ Mo doped ZnIn2S4 wrapped Ni-Ni HCP (Ni-Ni HCP/Mo-ZIS) sample under visible-light irradiation is 26.7 mmol g-1h-1, which is 10 times that of pure ZIS. Hydrogen production rate test, microscopic characterization, and density functional theory calculation confirm that the proposed dual modulation approach (combined ion doping and heterogeneous structure construction) could effectively increase the photocatalytic efficiency of ZIS. The stability of prepared samples is also examined by four-cycle photocatalytic hydrogen production tests. The proposed integrated method opens a new route for advancing renewable energy technology towards a sustainable future.

Remove an Unusual Laryngeal Foreign Body with a Modified Endoscopic Injection Needle

Foreign body (FB) aspiration requiring prompt intervention to prevent severe complications. The endoscopic injection needle, commonly employed for intramucosal injections in the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract, while with no previous reports of used for FB extraction. Here we report a case of a pea impacted in the laryngeal ventricle of an adult patient, which became lodged in her right laryngeal ventricle. Conventional methods, such as flexible forceps and baskets, were deemed unsuitable for retrieving this fragile and mushy FB. Therefore, we introduce a novel technique using a modified endoscopic injection needle, which proved successful in removing the foreign body. Laryngoscope, 134:2338-2340, 2024.

Superabsorbent carboxymethyl cellulose-based hydrogel fabricated by liquid-metal-induced double crosslinking polymerisation

Herein, we introduced a liquid-metal/polymerisable deep eutectic solvent (LM/PDES) system to the carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and acrylic acid solution to prepare a double-cross-linked CMC-polyacrylic acid (PAA)-LM/PDES superabsorbent hydrogel via graft crosslinking polymerisation for 5 min. FTIR and XRD provided evidence for the coordinate crosslinking between Ga3+ and carboxy groups in the CMC-PAA-LM/PDES gel structure and chemical crosslinking between CMC and PAA components. The pore size of the obtained hydrogels gradually decreases with the increase of LM-AA/PDES content. The rigid CMC polysaccharide chains increased the distance between the ionic groups on the flexible PAA molecular chains, resulting in high osmotic pressure. In addition, the synergistic effects of hydrophilic groups, electrostatic repulsion, macroporous structures and double crosslinking on the CMC and PAA structures provided a driving force and space for the gel to absorb electrolyte containing liquid. The absorption capacity of the CMC-PAA-LM/PDES gel for physiological saline reached 97 g/g, which exceeded that of a single cross-linked CMC-PAA gel and a reported superabsorbent material (71 g/g). This work solved the problem of long heating times and insufficient mechanical properties for the preparation of superabsorbent gels, providing a theoretical reference for improving the absorption capacity of superabsorbent materials for electrolyte-containing aqueous solutions.

Integrating socio-economic vulnerability factors improves neighborhood-scale wastewater-based epidemiology for public health applications

Wastewater Based Epidemiology (WBE) of COVID-19 is a low-cost, non-invasive, and inclusive early warning tool for disease spread. Previously studied WBE focused on sampling at wastewater treatment plant scale, limiting the level at which demographic and geographic variations in disease dynamics can be incorporated into the analysis of certain neighborhoods. This study demonstrates the integration of demographic mapping to improve the WBE of COVID-19 and associated post-COVID disease prediction (here kidney disease) at the neighborhood level using machine learning. WBE was conducted at six neighborhoods in Seattle during October 2020 - February 2022. Wastewater processing and RT-qPCR were performed to obtain SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration. Census data, clinical data of COVID-19, as well as patient data of acute kidney injury (AKI) cases reported during the study period were collected and the distribution across the city was studied using Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping. Further, we analyzed the data set to better understand socioeconomic impacts on disease prevalence of COVID-19 and AKI per neighborhood. The heterogeneity of eleven demographic factors (such as education and age among others) was observed within neighborhoods across the city of Seattle. Dynamics of COVID-19 clinical cases and wastewater SARS-CoV-2 varied across neighborhood with different levels of demographics. Machine learning models trained with data from the earlier stages of the pandemic were able to predict both COVID-19 and AKI incidence in the later stages of the pandemic (Spearman correlation coefficient of 0·546 - 0·904), with the most predictive model trained on the combination of wastewater data and demographics. The integration of demographics strengthened machine learning models' capabilities to predict prevalence of COVID-19, and of AKI as a marker for post-COVID sequelae. Demographic-based WBE presents an effective tool to monitor and manage public health beyond COVID-19 at the neighborhood level.

Responses and resistance capacity of Solanum nigrum L. mediated by three ecological category earthworms in metal-[Cd-As-Cu-Pb]-contaminated soils of North China

Earthworms play vital functions affecting plant growth and metal accumulation from downground to aboveground. Soil metal mobilization may be combined with use of earthworm and hyperaccumulator-Solanum nigrum to improve its remediation efficiency. Understanding the effects of specific-species earthworm belonging to different ecological categories on mechanisms underlying of S. nigrum is critical for metal-polluted remediation. However, seldom studies concerned earthworm-assisted phytoremediation of metal contaminated soil in Northern China. This study investigated the effects of earthworm (Eisenia fetida, Amynthas hupeiensis and Drawida gisti) on S. nigrum with exposure to uncontaminated and [Cd-As-Cu-Pb]-contaminated soil (referred to as S0 and S1) for 60 days, respectively. In S1 soil, A. hupeiensis (anecic) had stronger effects on growth and metal accumulation in the organs (root, stem, and leaf) of S. nigrum than D. gisti (endogeic) and E. fetida (epigeic), attributing to their ecological category. The BAF values of S. nigrum were generally ranking in Cd (0.66-5.13) > As (0.03-1.85) > Cu (0.03-0.06) > Pb (0.01-0.05); the BAFCd values were ranking in leaf (2.34-5.13) > root (1.96-4.14) > stem (0.66-1.33); BAFAs, BAFCu, and BAFPb were root (0.04-1.63) > stem (0.01-0.09) ≈ leaf (0.01-0.06). A. hupeiensis decreased the TF values of S. nigrum from the roots to the shoots. Co-effects of metal stress and earthworm activity on metal uptake by shoots suggested that A. hupeiensis increased the uptake of As, Cu, and Pb (by 56.3 %, 51.5 %, and 16.2 %, p < 0.05), but not Cd, which appeared to remain steady for prolonged durations. Alterations in the integrated biomarker response index version 2 (IBRv2) values demonstrated that A. hupeiensis (12.65) improved the resistance capacity (stimulated GSH, SnGS1, and SnCu-SOD) of S. nigrum under metal-containing conditions, compared with E. fetida and D. gisti (IBRv2 were 9.61 and 9.11). This study may provide insights into the patterns of 'soil-earthworm-plant system' on improving remediation efficiency of S. nigrum, from the perspective of earthworm ecological niche partitioning.

The hepatotoxicity of hexafluoropropylene oxide trimer acid caused by apoptosis via endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondrial crosstalk

As a ubiquitous pollutant in the environment, hexafluoropropylene oxide trimer acid (HFPO-TA) has been proven to have strong hepatotoxicity. However, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Consequently, in vivo and in vitro models of HFPO-TA exposure were established to investigate the detrimental effects of HFPO-TA on the liver. In vivo, we discovered that HFPO-TA enhanced endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-mitochondrial association, caused mitochondrial oxidative damage, activated ER stress, and induced apoptosis in mouse livers. In vitro experiments confirmed that IP3R overexpression on ER structure increased mitochondrial calcium levels, which led to mitochondrial damage and mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in HepG2 cells exposed to HFPO-TA. Subsequently, damaged mitochondria released a large amount of mitochondrial ROS, which activated ER stress and ER stress-dependent apoptosis. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that HFPO-TA can induce apoptosis by regulating the crosstalk between ER and mitochondria, ultimately leading to liver damage. These findings reveal the significant hepatotoxicity of HFPO-TA and its potential mechanisms.

Intramolecular boron-locking strategy induced remarkable first hyperpolarizability: role of torsion angles between donor and acceptor units

In conventional strategies to design donor-acceptor (D-A) organic molecules with a large electronic contribution to the first hyperpolarizability (β), the effects of the torsion angles (θ1 and θ2) between donor and acceptor moieties are barely considered. To address this issue, in this work, a promising and novel intramolecular boron-locking strategy combined with the different locking groups of different acceptors to control θ1 and θ2, has been proposed to make D-A organic molecules with large β values. Intriguingly, reducing the torsion angles will make the β value of the pyridiny thiophene triphenylamine unit (Py-Th-TPA) dramatically increase up to 94%, which is mainly ascribed to the smaller θ1 and θ2 leading to lower excited energy of the crucial excited state, and enhanced charge transfer (CT) from TPA to Py-Th moieties, and finally greatly increase the donor and acceptor part contributions to β. Correlation between the difference, |θ1 - θ2| and β, provides a large coefficient of determination, R2 = 0.78, which demonstrates that |θ1 - θ2| can be regarded as a potential descriptor for designing nonlinear optics (NLO) materials with D-A architecture. Clearly, we uncovered that θ1 and θ2 play a crucial role in the performance of NLO materials with D-A fragments.

Laparoscopic liver resection or enucleation for giant hepatic hemangioma: how to choose?

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic treatment has been increasingly adopted for giant hepatic hemangioma (HH), but the role of liver resection or enucleation remains uncertain. The aim of this study is to compare the laparoscopic resection (LR) with laparoscopic enucleation (LE) for HH, and to provide evidence on how to choose the most suitable approach for HH.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of HH patients underwent laparoscopic treatment between March 2015 and August 2022 was performed. Perioperative outcomes were compared based on the surgical approaches, and risk factors for increased blood loss was calculated by logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 127 patients in LR group and 287 patients in LE group were enrolled in this study. The median blood loss (300 vs. 200 mL, P < 0.001) was higher in LE group than that in LR group. Independent risk factors for blood loss higher than 400 mL were tumor size ≥ 10 cm, tumor adjacent to major vessels, tumor occupying right liver or caudate lobe, and the portal phase enhancement ratio (PER) ≥ 38.9%, respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that LR was associated with less blood loss (155 vs. 400 mL, P < 0.001) than LE procedure in patients with high PER value. Both LR and LE approaches exhibited similar perioperative outcomes in patients with low PER value.

CONCLUSIONS

Laparoscopic treatment for HH could be feasibly and safely performed by both LE and LR. For patients with PER higher than 38.9%, the LR approach is recommended.

[Therapeutic mechanism of basic fibroblast growth factor on spinal cord injury in rats based on the Notch/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 signaling pathway]

Objective

To explore the therapeutic effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats and the influence of Notch/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway.

Methods

A total of 40 10-week-old male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were selected to establish T 10-segment SCI model by a free falling object. Among them, 32 successful models were randomly divided into model group and bFGF group, with 16 in each group. Another 16 SD rats were selected as sham-operation group, with only T 10 processes, dura mater, and spinal cord exposed. After modeling, the rats in bFGF group were intraperitoneally injected with 100 μg/kg bFGF (once a day for 28 days), and the rats in model group and sham-operation group were injected with normal saline in the same way. The survival of rats in each group were observed after modeling. Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scores were performed before modeling and at immediate, 14 days, and 28 days after modeling to evaluate the functional recovery of hind limbs. Then, the spinal cord tissue at the site of injury was taken at 28 days and stained with HE, Nissl, and propidium iodide (PI) to observe the pathological changes, neuronal survival (number of Nissl bodies) and apoptosis (number of PI red stained cells) of the spinal cord tissue; immunohistochemical staining and ELISA were used to detect the levels of astrocyte activation markers [glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)] and inflammatory factors [interleukin 1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interferon γ (IFN-γ)] in tissues, respectively. Western blot was used to detect the expressions of Notch/STAT3 signaling pathway related proteins [Notch, STAT3, phosphoryl-STAT3 (p-STAT3), bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2)] in tissues.

Results

All rats survived until the experiment was completed. At immediate after modeling, the BBB scores in model group and bFGF group significantly decreased when compared to sham-operation group ( P<0.05). At 14 and 28 days after modeling, the BBB scores in model group significantly decreased when compared to sham-operation group ( P<0.05); the bFGF group showed an increase compared to model group ( P<0.05). Compared with before modeling, the BBB scores of model group and bFGF group decreased at immediate after modeling, and gradually increased at 14 and 28 days, the differences between different time points were significant ( P<0.05). The structure of spinal cord tissue in sham-operation group was normal; in model group, there were more necrotic lesions in the spinal cord tissue and fewer Nissl bodies with normal structures; the number of necrotic lesions in the spinal cord tissue of the bFGF group significantly reduced compared to the model group, and some normally structured Nissl bodies were visible. Compared with sham-operation group, the number of Nissl bodies in spinal cord tissue significantly decreased, the number of PI red stained cells, GFAP, IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, Notch, p-STAT3 /STAT3, BMP-2 protein expression levels significantly increased in model group ( P<0.05). The above indexes in bFGF group significantly improved when compared with model group ( P<0.05).

Conclusion

bFGF can improve motor function and pathological injury repair of spinal cord tissue in SCI rats, improve neuronal survival, and inhibit neuronal apoptosis, excessive activation of astrocytes in spinal cord tissue and inflammatory response, the mechanism of which may be related to the decreased activity of Notch/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Developing an AI-empowered head-only ultra-high-performance gradient MRI system for high spatiotemporal neuroimaging

Recent advances in neuroscience requires high-resolution MRI to decipher the structural and functional details of the brain. Developing a high-performance gradient system is an ongoing effort in the field to facilitate high spatial and temporal encoding. Here, we proposed a head-only gradient system NeuroFrontier, dedicated for neuroimaging with an ultra-high gradient strength of 650 mT/m and 600 T/m/s. The proposed system features in 1) ultra-high power of 7MW achieved by running two gradient power amplifiers using a novel paralleling method; 2) a force/torque balanced gradient coil design with a two-step mechanical structure that allows high-efficiency and flexible optimization of the peripheral nerve stimulation; 3) a high-density integrated RF system that is miniaturized and customized for the head-only system; 4) an AI-empowered compressed sensing technique that enables ultra-fast acquisition of high-resolution images and AI-based acceleration in q-t space for diffusion MRI (dMRI); and 5) a prospective head motion correction technique that effectively corrects motion artifacts in real-time with 3D optical tracking. We demonstrated the potential advantages of the proposed system in imaging resolution, speed, and signal-to-noise ratio for 3D structural MRI (sMRI), functional MRI (fMRI) and dMRI in neuroscience applications of submillimeter layer-specific fMRI and dMRI. We also illustrated the unique strength of this system for dMRI-based microstructural mapping, e.g., enhanced lesion contrast at short diffusion-times or high b-values, and improved estimation accuracy for cellular microstructures using diffusion-time-dependent dMRI or for neurite microstructures using q-space approaches.

Biomarkers identification in follicular fluid in relation to live birth in in vitro fertilization of women with polycystic ovary syndrome in different subtypes by using UPLC-MS method

BACKGROUND

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common infertility disorder which affects reproductive-aged women. However, metabolic change profiles of follicular fluid (FF) in lean and obese women diagnosed with and without PCOS remains unclear.

METHODS

95 infertile women were divided into four subgroups: LC (lean control), OC (overweight control), LP (lean PCOS), and OP (overweight PCOS). The FF samples were collected during oocyte retrieval and assayed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) metabolomics.

RESULTS

A total of 236 metabolites were identified by metabolic analysis. The pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the glycerophospholipid metabolism (impact = 0.11182), ether lipid metabolism (impact = 0.14458), and primary bile acid biosynthesis (impact = 0.03267) were related to metabolic pathway between PCOS and control. Correlation analyses showed that epitestosterone sulfate was found positively correlated with fertilization rate in PCOS, while falcarindione, lucidone C. and notoginsenoside I was found to be negatively correlated. The combined four biomarkers including lucidone C, epitestosterone sulfate, falcarindione, and notoginsenoside I was better in predicting live birth rate, with AUC of 0.779.

CONCLUSION

The follicular fluid of women with PCOS showed unique metabolic characteristics. Our study provides better identification of PCOS follicular fluid metabolic dynamics, which may serve as potential biomarkers of live birth.

The anti-hyperlipidemia effect of Atractylodes macrocephala Rhizome increased HDL via reverse cholesterol transfer

Aim

Atractylodes macrocephala Rhizome (AM) has been used to treat hyperlipidemia for centuries, but its functional components and mechanisms are not clear. This research aimed to investigate the active components in AM and the mechanisms that underlie its anti-hyperlipidemia effect.

Methods

SD rats were fed a high-sucrose high-fat diet in conjunction with alcohol (HSHFDAC) along with different AM extracts (AMW, AMO, AME, and AMP) for 4 weeks. AM's active components were analyzed using multiple databases, and their mechanisms were explored through network pharmacology. The relationship between AM's effect of enhancing serum HDL-c and regulating the expression of reverse cholesterol transport (RCT)-related proteins (Apo-A1, LCAT, and SR-BI) was further validated in the HSHFDAC-induced hyperlipidemic rats. The kidney and liver functions of the rats were measured to evaluate the safety of AM.

Results

AMO, mainly comprised of volatile and liposoluble components, contributed the most significant anti-hyperlipidemia effect among the four extracts obtained from AM, significantly improving the blood lipid profile. Network pharmacology analysis also suggested that volatile and liposoluble components, comprise AM's main active components and they might act on signaling pathways associated with elevated HDL-c. Validation experiments found that AMO substantially and dose-dependently increased HDL-c levels, upregulated the expression of Apo-A1, SR-BI, and LCAT, improved the pathological changes in the kidney and liver, and significantly reduced the serum creatinine levels in rats with hyperlipidemia.

Conclusion

The main anti-hyperlipidemia active components of AM are its volatile and liposoluble components, which may enhance serum HDL-c by increasing the expression of the RCT-related proteins Apo-A1, LCAT, and SR-BI.

Protein inhibitor of activated STAT1 (PIAS1) alleviates cerebral infarction and inflammation after cerebral ischemia in rats

Background

Ischemic stroke is a severe disorder with high incidence, disability rate and mortality. Multiple pathogenesis mechanisms are involved in ischemic stroke, such as inflammation and neuronal cell apoptosis. Protein inhibitor of activated signal transducer and activators of transcription 1 (PIAS1) plays a crucial role in various biological processes, including inflammation. PIAS1 is also downregulated in ischemia-reperfusion injury and involved in the disease processes. However, the role of PIAS1 in cerebral ischemia is unclear.

Methods

Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were induced with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). The role and mechanisms of PIAS1 in ischemic cerebral infarction were explored by Longa test, 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, Morris water maze (MWM) test, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, quantification of brain water content, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) nick end labeling (TUNEL), Western blot and immunofluorescence assays.

Results

The expression of PIAS1 in MCAO-induced rat was declined compared to sham rats. Overexpression of PIAS1 reduced the Longa neurological scores, the percent of infarction area, the pathological abnormality, the escape latency of swimming and the percent of brain water content, and increased the number of platform crossings and time in the target quadrant in the MCAO-induced rats. Besides, overexpression of PIAS1 decreased the MCAO-induced the contents of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, but further elevated the concentrations of IL-10 in both sera and brain tissues. Moreover, overexpression of PIAS1 reversed the MCAO-induced apoptosis rate and the relative protein level of Bax, cleaved caspase3 and Bcl-2. Overexpression of PIAS1 also reversed the level of proteins involved in NF-κB pathway.

Conclusion

PIAS1 reduced inflammation and apoptosis, thereby alleviating ischemic cerebral infarction in MCAO-induced rats through regulation NF-κB pathway.

Impact of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis on the recurrence and long-term survival of hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma patients after hepatectomy

BACKGROUND

Underlying liver disease is correlated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, the impact of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis on the patients' prognoses remains unclear.

METHODS

The clinicopathological data of 638 HBV-infected patients with early-stage HCC between 2017 and 2019 were prospectively collected. Hepatic inflammation and fibrosis were evaluated by experienced pathologists using the Scheuer score system. Survival analysis was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier analysis.

RESULTS

Application of the Scheuer scoring system revealed that 50 (7.9%), 274 (42.9%), and 314 (49.2%) patients had minor, intermediate, and severe hepatic inflammation, respectively, and 125 (15.6%), 150 (23.5%), and 363 (56.9%) patients had minor fibrosis, advanced fibrosis, and cirrhosis, respectively. Patients with severe hepatitis tended to have a higher rate of HBeAg positivity, higher HBV-DNA load, elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, and a lower proportion of capsule invasion (all Pp < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the recurrence-free and overall survival among the three groups (P = 0.52 and P = 0.66, respectively). Patients with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis had a higher proportion of HBeAg positivity and thrombocytopenia, higher FIB-4, and larger tumor size compared to those with minor fibrosis (all P < 0.05). Patients with minor, advanced fibrosis, and cirrhosis had similar prognoses after hepatectomy (P = 0.48 and P = 0.70). The multivariate analysis results indicated that neither hepatic inflammation nor fibrosis was an independent predictor associated with prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

For HBV-related HCC patients receiving antiviral therapy, hepatic inflammation and fibrosis had little impact on the post-hepatectomy prognosis.

Controllable synthesis of crystalline germanium nanorods as anode for lithium-ion batteries with high cycling stability

Germanium (Ge) nanomaterials have emerged as promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their higher capacity compared to commercial graphite. However, their practical application has been limited by the high cost associated with harsh preparation conditions and the poor electrode cycling stability in charging and diacharging. In this study, we successfully synthesized crystalline Ge nanorods through the reaction of intermetallic compound CaGe and ZnCl2. Ge nanorods with different morphologies and crystallinity can be obtained through precisely controlling the reaction temperature. When employed as electrodes for LIBs, the Ge nanorods demonstrate exceptional long-term cyclic stability. Even after 1000 cycles at a high rate of 2C (1C = 1600 mA g-1), it exhibits a remarkable reversible capacity of around 1000 mAh/g. Furthermore, such Ge electrode displays excellent cycling performance across a wide temperature range. And it could achieve reversible capacities of 1267, 832, and 690 mAh/g, with the rate of 1C, at temperatures of 20, 0, and -20 °C, respectively. Above all, our study offers a cost-effective approach for the synthesis of crystalline Ge nanorods, addressing the concerns associated with high production costs. And the application of Ge nanorods as anode materials in LIBs over a wide temperature range opens up new possibilities for the development of advanced energy storage systems.

Ring Expansion toward Disila-carbocycles via Highly Selective C-Si/C-Si Bond Cross-Exchange

Herein, we successfully inhibited the preferential homodimerization and C-Si/Si-H bond cross-exchange of benzosilacyclobutenes and monohydro-silacyclobutanes and achieved the first highly selective C-Si/C-Si bond cross-exchange reaction by deliberately tuning the Ni-catalytic system, which constitutes a powerful and atom-economical ring expansion method for preparing medium-sized cyclic compounds bearing two silicon atoms at the ring junction, which are otherwise inaccessible. The DFT calculation explicitly elucidated the pivotal role of Si-H bond at silacyclobutanes and the high ring strain of two substrates in realizing the two C-Si bonds cleavage and reformation in the catalytic cycle.

Influence of moderate-to-high intensity physical activity on depression levels: a study based on a health survey of Chinese university students

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to examine how moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) affects the severity of depression symptoms among Chinese college students. Additionally, it seeks to analyze the mediating mechanisms involving self-rated health and general self-efficacy.

METHODS

The study utilized data from the 2023 Chinese College Health Tracking Survey and employed multiple linear regression and structural equation modeling techniques to investigate the impacts of MVPA on depression levels and its underlying mediating mechanisms among college students. The primary cohort comprised 49,717 enrolled college students from 106 universities in China.

RESULTS

A total of 41,620 valid questionnaires were collected (response rate: 83.7%), with females accounting for 58.6%. In the past month, approximately 30.2% of college students engaged in MVPA. Self-rated health (B = - 0.282, P < 0.001) and general self-efficacy (B = - 0.133, P < 0.001) significantly influenced college students' depression scores. Even after controlling for other variables, participating in MVPA remained significantly associated with reduced depression scores (B = - 0.062, P = 0.002). The results of the structural equation model showed that MVPA not only directly decreased college students' depression scores but also indirectly reduced the likelihood of depression occurrence by improving their physical health status and general self-efficacy.

CONCLUSION

The lack of physical activity among Chinese college students is evident. Engaging in MVPA can reduce the likelihood of depression among college students. MVPA achieves this reduction by enhancing college students' general self-efficacy and improving their physical health. The factors influencing depression levels among college students are multifaceted. For future interventions targeting college students' mental health, comprehensive approaches that incorporate behavioral and psychological factors should be emphasized.

Association between de novo variants of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial-related genes and undiagnosed developmental disorder and autism

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests that mitochondrial abnormalities increase the risk of two neurodevelopmental disorders: undiagnosed developmental disorder (UDD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, which nuclear-encoded mitochondrial-related genes (NEMGs) were associated with UDD-ASD is unclear.

AIM

To explore the association between de novo variants (DNVs) of NEMGs and UDD-ASD.

DESIGN

Comprehensive analysis based on DNVs of NEMGs identified in patients (31 058 UDD probands and 10 318 ASD probands) and 4262 controls.

METHODS

By curating NEMGs and cataloging publicly published DNVs in NEMGs, we compared the frequency of DNVs in cases and controls. We also applied a TADA-denovo model to highlight disease-associated NEMGs and characterized them based on gene intolerance, functional networks and expression patterns.

RESULTS

Compared with levels in 4262 controls, an excess of protein-truncating variants and deleterious missense variants in 1421 cataloged NEMGs from 41 376 patients (31 058 UDD and 10 318 ASD probands) was observed. Overall, 3.23% of de novo deleterious missense variants and 3.20% of de novo protein-truncating variants contributed to 1.1% and 0.39% of UDD-ASD cases, respectively. We prioritized 130 disease-associated NEMGs and showed distinct expression patterns in the developing human brain. Disease-associated NEMGs expression was enriched in both excitatory and inhibitory neuronal lineages from the developing human cortex.

CONCLUSIONS

Rare genetic alterations of disease-associated NEMGs may play a role in UDD-ASD development and lay the groundwork for a better understanding of the biology of UDD-ASD.

Innate lymphoid cell subsets in the pathogenesis of primary biliary cholangitis

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an autoimmune liver disease characterized by destructive lymphocytic cholangitis and specific anti-mitochondrial antibodies. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) have been reported to play a role in liver homeostasis and autoimmunity.

METHODS

We evaluated the features of peripheral ILC1s and ILC3 in patients with PBC and hepatic ILC1 and ILC3 in two different PBC mouse models (dominant-negative transforming growth factor-beta receptor II [dnTGFβRII] and 2-octynoic acid-bovine serum albumin [2OA-BSA]).

RESULTS

A total of 115 patients and 18 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Decreased circulating ILC1/3s were observed in early-stage PBC patients, and the numbers of ILC1/3s were negatively correlated with specific parameters and the proportion of T-helper (Th) 1 and Th17 cells. Reduced numbers of ILC1s were observed in PBC mouse models with different etiologies. ILC1-deficient mice had more severe hepatic inflammation after inducing the 2OA-BSA model. Continuous low-dose injections of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) reduced ILC1 levels in mice, consistent with the lower level of ILC1s in PBC patients with high LPS (> 50 ng/mL), and aggravated hepatic lymphocyte infiltration.

CONCLUSION

Patients with PBC had decreased ILC1s, which were negatively correlated with CD4+ T cells. Deficient ILC1 populations led to disease exacerbations in mice. Our results indicated that ILC1s may participate in the pathogenesis of PBC.

Superoxide dismutase nanozymes: current status and future perspectives on brain disease treatment and diagnosis

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an important metalloenzyme that catalyzes the dismutation of superoxide radicals (O2˙-) into hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and oxygen (O2). However, the clinical application of SOD is severely limited due to its structural instability and high cost. Compared with natural enzymes, nanomaterials with enzyme-like activity, nanoenzymes, are more stable, economical and easy to modify and their activity can be adjusted. Certain nanozymes that exhibit SOD-like activity have been created and shown to help prevent illnesses brought about by oxidative stress. These SOD-like nanozymes offer an important solution to the problems associated with the clinical application of SOD. In this review, we briefly introduce neurodegenerative diseases, present the research progress of SOD-like nanoenzymes in the diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases, review their mechanism of action in the treatment and diagnosis of brain diseases, and discuss the shortcomings of the current research with a view to providing a reference for future research. We expect more highly active SOD-like nanoenzymes to be developed with a wide range of applications in the diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases.

Circulating immune cell phenotyping is potentially relevant for diabetic retinopathy risk assessment

BACKGROUND

Inflammation is believed to play a central role in the development of diabetes mellitus and is a common feature of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the association with diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains a topic of debate.

METHODS

This study employed two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to establish causal associations between immune cell characteristics and DR. Using publicly available GWAS genetic data, we investigated the causal relationship between 731 immune cell characteristics and the risk of DR. A total of four types of immune features, including relative cell (RC), absolute cell (AC), median fluorescence intensities (MFI), and morphological parameters (MP), were included. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robustness, heterogeneity, and potential horizontal pleiotropy of the results.

RESULTS

Thirty-five immune cell phenotypes were correlated with the risk of developing DR among four immune traits (MFI, RC, AC, and MP), and DR resulted in altered expression of twenty-six immune cells.

CONCLUSION

We have demonstrated a strong correlation between immune cell traits and DR using a genetic approach. This finding offers valuable insights for early DR prevention and future clinical research and treatment.

Tracing the entry process of submicrometre plastics in soybean sprouts by leaf-derived fluorescent carbon dots

As a global emerging contaminant, microplastics (MPs) in water or soil can accumulate in vegetables, making them easily ingested through the diet. With excellent and tunable optical properties, carbon dots (CDs) are highly advantageous for tracing the entry process of MPs. Originally, long-wavelength CDs were synthesized from leaf-derived extracts, and fluorescent submicrometer plastics (CDs-MPs) with clean surfaces and concentrated particle sizes were obtained by soap-free microemulsion polymerization. The concentration of CDs-MPs exhibits a significant linear relationship with long-wavelength fluorescence intensity (λEx/λEm: 415/676 nm). Soybean sprouts (SBS), as an important type of food, are susceptible to contamination of MPs due to their soft epidermis and rapidly growing biomass. The results showed that CDs-MPs could be embedded into the cortex of SBS and enter the plant with cell division and elongation, leading to an increase in pore size on the cell wall surface. After entering the root system, CDs-MPs will pass through the Casparian strip and migrate in the vessels. Then, CDs-MPs enter the leaves through vascular bundles, and the distribution and size of epicuticular wax on leaves have changed. Furthermore, SBS showed resistant growth and increased levels of oxidative response when exposed to MPs/CDs-MPs. It is the first study to demonstrate the application of leaf-derived CDs in the prevention of MPs pollution by revealing the migration behavior of submicrometre plastics in SBS.

PPDM++: Parallel Point Detection and Matching for Fast and Accurate HOI Detection

Human-Object Interaction (HOI) detection aims to understand human activities by detecting interaction triplets. Previous HOI detection methods adopt a two-stage instance-driven paradigm. Unfortunately, many non-interactive human-object pairs generated by the first stage are the main obstacle impeding HOI detectors from high efficiency and promising performance. To remedy this, we propose a novel top-down interaction-driven paradigm, detecting interactions first and bridging interactive human-object pairs through interactions. We formulate HOI as a point triplet [Formula: see text]human point, interaction point, object point[Formula: see text] and design a Parallel Point Detection and Matching (PPDM) framework. We further take advantage of two-stage methods and propose a novel framework, PPDM++, that detects the interactive human-object pairs by PPDM, then extracts region features for each pair to predict actions. The core of PPDM/PPDM++ is to convert the instance-driven bottom-up paradigm to an interaction-driven top-down paradigm, thus avoiding additional computation costs from traversing a tremendous number of non-interactive pairs. Benefiting from the advanced paradigm, PPDM/PPDM++ has achieved significant performance gains with high efficiency. PPDM-DLA-34 has achieved 19.94 mAP with 42 FPS as the first real-time HOI detector, and PPDM++-SwinB achieves 30.1 mAP with 17 FPS on HICO-DET dataset. We also built an application-oriented database named HOI-A, a supplement to the existing datasets.

Exosomal miR-1202 mediates Brodmann Area 44 functional connectivity changes in medication-free patients with major depressive disorder: An fMRI study

Previous large-sample postmortem study revealed that the expression of miR-1202 in brain tissues from Brodmann area 44 (BA44) was dysregulated in patients with major depressive disorder (MDDs). However, the specific in vivo neuropathological mechanism of miR-1202 as well as its interplay with BA44 circuits in the depressed brain are still unclear. Here, we performed a case-control study with imaging-genetic approach based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data and miR-1202 quantification from 110 medication-free MDDs and 102 healthy controls. Serum-derived circulating exosomes that readily cross the blood-brain barrier were isolated to quantify miR-1202. For validation, repeated MR scans were performed after a six-week follow-up of antidepressant treatment on a cohort of MDDs. Voxelwise factorial analysis revealed two brain areas (including the striatal-thalamic region) in which the effect of depression on the functional connectivity with BA44 was significantly dependent on the expression level of exosomal miR-1202. Moreover, longitudinal change of the BA44 connectivity with the striatal-thalamic region in MDDs after antidepressant treatment was found to be significantly related to the level of miR-1202 expression. These findings revealed that the in vivo neuropathological effect of miR-1202 dysregulation in depression is possibly exerted by mediating neural functional abnormalities in BA44-striatal-thalamic circuits.

High-quality faba bean reference transcripts generated using PacBio and Illumina RNA-seq data

The genome of faba bean was first published in 2023. To promote future molecular breeding studies, we improved the quality of the faba genome based on high-density genetic maps and the Illumina and Pacbio RNA-seq datasets. Two high-density genetic maps were used to conduct the scaffold ordering and orientation of faba bean, culminating in an increased length (i.e., 14.28 Mbp) of chromosomes and a decrease in the number of scaffolds by 45. In gene model mining and optimisation, the PacBio and Illumina RNA-seq datasets from 37 samples allowed for the identification and correction 121,606 transcripts, and the data facilitated a prediction of 15,640 alternative splicing events, 2,148 lncRNAs, and 1,752 fusion transcripts, thus allowing for a clearer understanding of the gene structures underlying the faba genome. Moreover, a total of 38,850 new genes including 56,188 transcripts were identified compared with the reference genome. Finally, the genetic data of the reference genome was integrated and a comprehensive and complete faba bean transcriptome sequence of 103,267 transcripts derived from 54,753 uni-genes was formed.

Genomic and phenotypic signatures provide insights into the wide adaptation of a global plant invader

Invasive alien species are primary drivers of biodiversity loss and species extinction. Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) is one of the most aggressive invasive plants in coastal ecosystems around the world. However, the genomic bases and evolutionary mechanisms underlying its invasion success have remained largely unknown. Here, we assembled a chromosome-level reference genome and performed phenotypic and population genomic analyses between native US and introduced Chinese populations. Our phenotypic comparisons showed that introduced Chinese populations have evolved competitive traits, such as early flowering time and greater plant biomass, during secondary introductions along China's coast. Population genomic and transcriptomic inferences revealed distinct evolutionary trajectories of low- and high-latitude Chinese populations. In particular, genetic mixture among different source populations, together with independent natural selection acting on distinct target genes, may have resulted in high genome dynamics of the introduced Chinese populations. Our study provides novel phenotypic and genomic evidence showing how smooth cordgrass rapidly adapts to variable environmental conditions in its introduced ranges. Moreover, candidate genes related to flowering time, fast growth, and stress tolerance (i.e., salinity and submergence) provide valuable genetic resources for future improvement of cereal crops.

Design Strategies towards Advanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalysts at Large Current Densities

Hydrogen (H2), produced by water electrolysis with the electricity from renewable sources, is an ideal energy carrier for achieving a carbon-neutral and sustainable society. Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is the cathodic half-reaction of water electrolysis, which requires active and robust electrocatalysts to reduce the energy consumption for H2 generation. Despite numerous electrocatalysts have been reported by the academia for HER, most of them were only tested under relatively small current densities for a short period, which cannot meet the requirements for industrial water electrolysis. To bridge the gap between academia and industry, it is crucial to develop highly active HER electrocatalysts which can operate at large current densities for a long time. In this review, the mechanisms of HER in acidic and alkaline electrolytes are firstly introduced. Then, design strategies towards high-performance large-current-density HER electrocatalysts from five aspects including number of active sites, intrinsic activity of each site, charge transfer, mass transfer, and stability are discussed via featured examples. Finally, our own insights about the challenges and future opportunities in this emerging field are presented.

Nanoarchitectonics of Bimetallic Cu-/Co-Doped Nitrogen-Carbon Nanozyme-Functionalized Hydrogel with NIR-Responsive Phototherapy for Synergistic Mitigation of Drug-Resistant Bacterial Infections

Superbug infections and transmission have become major challenges in the contemporary medical field. The development of novel antibacterial strategies to efficiently treat bacterial infections and conquer the problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is extremely important. In this paper, a bimetallic CuCo-doped nitrogen-carbon nanozyme-functionalized hydrogel (CuCo/NC-HG) has been successfully constructed. It exhibits photoresponsive-enhanced enzymatic effects under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation (808 nm) with strong peroxidase (POD)-like and oxidase (OXD)-like activities. Upon NIR irradiation, CuCo/NC-HG possesses photodynamic activity for producing singlet oxygen(1O2), and it also has a high photothermal conversion effect, which not only facilitates the elimination of bacteria but also improves the efficiency of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and accelerates the consumption of GSH. CuCo/NC-HG shows a lower hemolytic rate and better cytocompatibility than CuCo/NC and possesses a positive charge and macroporous skeleton for restricting negatively charged bacteria in the range of ROS destruction, strengthening the antibacterial efficiency. Comparatively, CuCo/NC and CuCo/NC-HG have stronger bactericidal ability against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and ampicillin-resistant Escherichia coli (AmprE. coli) through destroying the cell membranes with a negligible occurrence of AMR. More importantly, CuCo/NC-HG plus NIR irradiation can exhibit satisfactory bactericidal performance in the absence of H2O2, avoiding the toxicity from high-concentration H2O2. In vivo evaluation has been conducted using a mouse wound infection model and histological analyses, and the results show that CuCo/NC-HG upon NIR irradiation can efficiently suppress bacterial infections and promote wound healing, without causing inflammation and tissue adhesions.

A new species, Aster yaoshanensis (Asteracae, Astereae), from Guangxi (China), based on morphology and molecular phylogenetic data

Aster yaoshanensis sp. nov., a new species of the family Asteraceae is here described and illustrated. The species is presently known only from rock crevices of mountain valleys in Dayaoshan National Nature Reserve, Guangxi autonomous region, China. Phylogenetic analyses based on ITS sequences and complete plastome data have shown that this new species is a member of genus Aster with high support. Morphologically, it mostly resembles A. jishouensis, but it can be easily distinguished from the latter by bract indumentum (glabrous except margin ciliate vs. villous especially on veins abaxially, glabrous adaxially) and color (green vs. purple), shorter corolla (3.2-3.5 mm vs. 4.5-5.3 mm), bract stalk (obvious, ca.1.2 mm vs. sessile), and different distribution (Guangxi vs. Hunan). The detailed description, distribution map, and photos are provided. This study further elucidates the species identification, phylogeny and characteristic evolution of Aster.

Efficacy of computer-assisted robotic based clinical training program for spinal oncology education on pedicle screw placement

Pedicle screw placement (PSP) is the fundamental surgical technique that requires high accuracy for novice orthopedists studying spinal oncology education. Therefore, we set forth to establish a computer-assisted robotic navigation training program for novice spinal oncology education. Novice orthopedists were involved in this study to evaluate the feasibility and safety of the computer-assisted robotic navigation (CARN) training program. In this research, trainees were randomly taught by the CARN training program and the traditional training program. We prospectively collected the clinical data of patients with spinal tumors from 1st May 2021 to 1st March 2022. The ability of PSP was evaluated by cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis, learning curve, and accuracy of pedicle screws. The patients included in both groups had similar baseline characteristics. In the CUSUM analysis of the learning curve for accurate PSP, the turning point in the CARN group was lower than that in the traditional group (70th vs. 92nd pedicle screw). The LC-CUSUM test indicated competency for PSP at the 121st pedicle screw in the CARN group and the 138th pedicle screw in the traditional group. The accuracy of PSP was also significantly higher in the CARN group than in the traditional group (88.17% and 79.55%, P = 0.03 < 0.05). Furthermore, no major complications occurred in either group. We first described CARN in spinal oncology education and indicated the CARN training program as a novel, efficient and safe training program for surgeons.

Investigation of correlation between shear wave elastography and lymphangiogenesis in invasive breast cancer and diagnosis of axillary lymph node metastasis

BACKGROUND

Accurate evaluation of axillary lymph node metastasis (LNM) in breast cancer is very important. A large number of hyperplastic and dilated lymphangiogenesis cases can usually be found in the pericancerous tissue of breast cancer to promote the occurrence of tumor metastasis.Shear wave elastography (SWE) can be used as an important means for evaluating pericancerous stiffness. We determined the stiffness of the pericancerous by SWE to diagnose LNM and lymphangiogenesis in invasive breast cancer (IBC).

METHODS

Patients with clinical T1-T2 stage IBC who received surgical treatment in our hospital from June 2020 to December 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. A total of 299 patients were eventually included in the preliminary study, which included an investigation of clinicopathological features, ultrasonic characteristics, and SWE parameters. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to establish diagnostic model and evaluated its diagnostic performance of LNM. The correlation among SWE values, collagen volume fraction (CVF), and microlymphatic density (MLD) in primary breast cancer lesions was analyzed in another 97 patients.

RESULTS

The logistic regression model is Logit(P)=-1.878 + 0.992*LVI-2.010*posterior feature enhancement + 1.230*posterior feature shadowing + 0.102*posterior feature combined pattern + 0.009*Emax. The optimum cutoff value of the logistic regression model was 0.365, and the AUC (95% CI) was 0.697 (0.636-0.758); the sensitivity (70.7 vs. 54.3), positive predictive value (PPV) (54.0 vs. 50.8), negative predictive value (NPV) (76.9 vs. 69.7), and accuracy (65.2 vs. 61.9) were all higher than Emax. There was no correlation between the SWE parameters and MLD in primary breast cancer lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

The logistic regression model can help us to determine LNM, thus providing more imaging basis for the selection of preoperative treatment. The SWE parameter of the primary breast cancer lesion cannot reflect the peritumoral lymphangiogenesis, and we still need to find a new ultrasonic imaging method.

Distributed Control for Nonlinear Time-Delay Multiagent Systems: Hybrid Saturation-Constraint Impulsive Approach

This article mainly studies the problem of impulse consensus of multiagent systems under communication constraints and time delay. Considering the limited communication bandwidth of the agent, global and partial saturation constraints are considered. In addition, so as to further improve communication efficiency by reducing communication frequency, the novel control protocol combining event-triggered strategy and general impulse control protocol is proposed. Under this kind of novel control protocol, the communication frequency of multiagent systems can be reduced while avoiding "Zeno behavior." Through theoretical analysis, sufficient conditions for the systems to achieve consensus are obtained for the above two saturation constraint cases. In the end, the effectiveness of the novel protocols is proved by providing two different simulation instances.

Degeneration of foundation cushion species induced by ecological constraints can cause massive changes in alpine plant communities

Foundational cushion plants can re-organize community structures and sustain a prominent proportion of alpine biodiversity, but they are sensitive to climate change. The loss of cushion species can have broad consequences for associated biota. The potential plant community changes with the population dynamics of cushion plants remain, however, unclear. Using eight plant communities along a climatic and community successional gradient, we assessed cushion population dynamics, the underlying ecological constraints and hence associated plant community changes in alpine communities dominated by the foundational cushion plant Arenaria polytrichoides. The population dynamics of Arenaria are attributed to ecological constraints at a series of life history stages. Reproductive functions are constrained by increasing associated beneficiary plants; subsequent seedling establishment is constrained by temperature, water and light availability, extreme climate events, and interspecific competition; strong competitive exclusion may accelerate mortality and degeneration of cushion populations. Along with cushion dynamics, species composition, abundance and community structure gradually change. Once cushion plants completely degenerate, previously cushion-dominated communities shift to relatively stable communities that are overwhelmingly dominated by sedges. Climate warming may accelerate the degeneration process of A. polytrichoides. Degeneration of this foundational cushion plant will possibly induce massive changes in alpine plant communities and hence ecosystem functions in alpine ecosystems. The assessment of the population dynamics of foundation species is critical for an effective conservation of alpine biodiversity.

Hierarchically Assembled Nanofiber Scaffolds with Dual Growth Factor Gradients Promote Skin Wound Healing Through Rapid Cell Recruitment

To address current challenges in effectively treating large skin defects caused by trauma in clinical medicine, the fabrication, and evaluation of a novel radially aligned nanofiber scaffold (RAS) with dual growth factor gradients is presented. These aligned nanofibers and the scaffold's spatial design provide many all-around "highways" for cell migration from the edge of the wound to the center area. Besides, the chemotaxis induced by two growth factor gradients further promotes cell migration. Incorporating epidermal growth factor (EGF) aids in the proliferation and differentiation of basal layer cells in the epidermis, augmenting the scaffold's ability to promote epidermal regeneration. Concurrently, the scaffold-bound vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) recruits vascular endothelial cells at the wound's center, resulting in angiogenesis and improving blood supply and nutrient delivery, which is critical for granulation tissue regeneration. The RAS+EGF+VEGF group demonstrates superior performance in wound immune regulation, wound closure, hair follicle regeneration, and ECM deposition and remodeling compared to other groups. This study highlights the promising potential of hierarchically assembled nanofiber scaffolds with dual growth factor gradients for wound repair and tissue regeneration applications.

Dihydrocelastrol induces cell death and suppresses angiogenesis through BCR/AP-1/junb signalling in diffuse large B cell lymphoma

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Although treatment options have improved, a large proportion of patients show low survival rates, highlighting an urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the new small-molecule compound dihydrocelastrol (DHCE), acquired through the structural modification of celastrol (CE), in the treatment of DLBCL. DHCE showed potent anti-lymphoma efficacy and synergistic effects with doxorubicin. DHCE triggered DLBCL cell apoptosis and G0/G1-phase blockade, thereby hindering angiogenesis. DHCE inhibited B-cell receptor cascade signalling and Jun B and p65 nuclear translocation, thereby suppressing pro-tumourigenic signalling. Finally, DHCE exerted lower toxicity than CE, which showed severe hepatic, renal, and reproductive toxicity in vivo. Our findings support further investigation of the clinical efficacy of DHCE against DLBCL.