Exogenous melatonin delays leaves senescence and enhances saline and alkaline stress tolerance in grape seedlings

Saline and alkaline stress is one of the major abiotic stresses facing agricultural production, which severely inhibits the growth and yield of plant. The application of plant growth regulators can effectively prevent crop yield reduction caused by saline and alkaline stress. Exogenous melatonin (MT) can act as a signaling molecule involved in the regulation of a variety of physiological processes in plants, has been found to play a key role in enhancing the improvement of plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. However, the effects of exogenous MT on saline and alkaline tolerance of table grape seedlings and its mechanism have not been clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of exogenous MT on morphological and physiological growth of table grape seedlings (Vitis vinifera L.) under saline and alkaline stress. The results showed that saline and alkaline stress resulted in yellowing and wilting of grape leaves and a decrease in chlorophyll content, whereas the application of exogenous MT alleviated the degradation of chlorophyll in grape seedling leaves caused by saline and alkaline stress and promoted the accumulation of soluble sugars and proline content. In addition, exogenous MT increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes, which resulted in the scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by saline and alkaline stress. In conclusion, exogenous MT was involved in the tolerance of grape seedlings to saline and alkaline stress, and enhanced the saline and alkaline resistance of grape seedlings to promote the growth and development of the grape industry in saline and alkaline areas.

Repression of the SUMO-conjugating enzyme UBC9 is associated with lowered double minutes and reduced tumor progression

Double minutes (DMs), extrachromosomal gene fragments found within certain tumors, have been noted to carry onco- and drug resistance genes contributing to tumor pathogenesis and progression. After screening for SUMO-related molecule expression within various tumor sample and cell line databases, we found that SUMO-conjugating enzyme UBC9 has been associated with genome instability and tumor cell DM counts, which was confirmed both in vitro and in vivo. Karyotyping determined DM counts post-UBC9 knockdown or SUMOylation inhibitor 2-D08, while RT-qPCR and Western blot were used to measure DM-carried gene expression in vitro. In vivo, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) identified micronucleus (MN) expulsion. Western blot and immunofluorescence staining were then used to determine DNA damage extent, and a reporter plasmid system was constructed to detect changes in homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathways. Our research has shown that UBC9 inhibition is able to attenuate DM formation and lower DM-carried gene expression, in turn reducing tumor growth and malignant phenotype, via MN efflux of DMs and lowering NHEJ activity to increase DNA damage. These findings thus reveal a relationship between heightened UBC9 activity, increased DM counts, and tumor progression, providing a potential approach for targeted therapies, via UBC9 inhibition.

Antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation pH-responsive films based on gelatin/chitosan incorporated with aloe-emodin

Using novel active food packaging has gradually become a daily necessity in terms of impeding microbial contamination. Here, an antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (PDI) pH-responsive film is developed by incorporating aloe-emodin (AE) into a vehicle of gelatin/chitosan (GC). Besides enhancement in hydrophobicity, the well-dispersed crystals of AE in the GC matrix by hydrogen bonding can upgrade the film's mechanical strength and barrier. The matrix is capable of regulating the release of AE in response to acidic stimuli by a combination mechanism of diffusion and polymer relaxation. Being benefitted from the inherent bioactivity of AE and the PDI activity under visible light irradiation (i.e., 456 nm), the target film of GC-AE2 has excellent antibacterial effect towards Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, showing bacterial viability of 9.93 ± 1.33 % and 14.85 ± 1.16 %, respectively. Furthermore, the film can effectively thwart Botrytis cinerea infection in cherry tomatoes, demonstrating its potential in preventing the microbial spoilage of postharvest fruits.

Novel insights into hotspots of insect vectors of GLRaV-3: Dynamics and global distribution

Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) is the most prevalent and economically damaging virus in grapevines and is found on nearly all continents, except Antarctica. Ten mealybugs act as vector insects transmitting the GLRaV-3. Understanding the potential distribution range of vector insects under climate change is crucial for preventing and managing vector insects and controlling and delaying the spread of GLRaV-3. This study investigated the potential geographical range of insect vectors of GLRaV-3 worldwide using MaxEnt (maximum entropy) based on occurrence data under environmental variables. The potential distributions of these insects were projected for the 2030s, 2050s, 2070s, and 2090s under the three climate change scenarios. The results showed that the potential distribution range of most vector insects is concentrated in Southeastern North America, Europe, Asia, and Southeast Australia. Most vector insects contract their potential distribution ranges under climate-change conditions. The stacked model suggested that potential distribution hotspots of vector insects were present in Southeastern North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Southeast Australia. The potential distribution range of hotspots would shrink with climate change. These results provide important information for governmental decision-makers and farmers in developing control and management strategies against vector insects of GLRaV-3. They can also serve as references for studies on other insect vectors.

Bioinformatics characteristics and expression analysis of IL-8 and IL-10 in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) upon Nocardia seriolae infection

IL-8 and IL-10 are crucial inflammatory cytokines that participate in defending host cells against infections. To demonstrate the function of the two interleukin genes in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), we initially cloned and identified the cDNA sequences of il-8 and il-10 in largemouth bass, referred to as Msil-8 and Msil-10, respectively. The open reading frame (ORF) of Msil-8 was 324 bp in length, encoding 107 amino acids, while the ORF of Msil-10 consisted of 726 bp and encoded 241 amino acids. Furthermore, the functional domains of the SCY domain in MsIL-8 and the IL-10 family signature motif in MsIL-10 were highly conserved across vertebrates. Additionally, both MsIL-8 and MsIL-10 showed close relationships with M. dolomieu. Constitutive expression of Msil-8 and Msil-10 was observed in various tissues, with the highest level found in the head kidney. Subsequently, largemouth bass were infected with Nocardia seriolae via intraperitoneal injection to gain a further understanding of the function of these two genes. Bacterial loads were initially detected in the foregut, followed by the midgut, hindgut, and liver. The mRNA expression of Msil-8 was significantly down-regulated after infection, especially at 2 days post-infection (DPI), with a similar expression to Msil-10. In contrast, the expression of Msil-8 and Msil-10 was significantly upregulated in the foregut at 14 DPI. Taken together, these results reveal that the function of IL-8 and IL-10 was likely hindered by N. seriolae, which promoted bacterial proliferation and intercellular diffusion.

Phenolic constituents from the branches of Viburnum chinshanense as potential α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory agents

This paper reports the isolation of two undescribed phenolic glycosides (1 and 2), together with seven known compounds (3-9) from the branches of Viburnum chinshanense. The structures of undescribed compounds were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic methods (1D NMR, 2D NMR, and HRESIMS). The sugar units of compounds 1 and 2 were identified by acid hydrolysis and HPLC analysis of the chiral derivatives of the monosaccharides. Furthermore, the α‑amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of all isolates were evaluated and compounds 1, 5, and 8 displayed potential α‑amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. The molecular docking analyses of compounds 1 and 8 with the potent inhibition towards the target enzymes were also performed.

Application value of intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring in cerebral eloquent area glioma surgery: a retrospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION

Surgery for gliomas involving eloquent areas is a very challenging microsurgical procedure. Maximizing both the extent of resection (EOR) and preservation of neurological function have always been the focus of attention. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) is widely used in this kind of surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of IONM in eloquent area glioma surgery.

METHODS

Sixty-eight glioma patients who underwent surgical treatment from 2014 to 2019 were included in this retrospective cohort study, which focused on eloquent areas. Clinical indicators and IONM data were analysed preoperatively, two weeks after surgery, and at the final follow-up. Logistic regression, Cox regression, and Kaplan‒Meier analyses were performed, and nomograms were then established for predicting prognosis. The diagnostic value of the IONM indicator was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

RESULTS

IONM had no effect on the postoperative outcomes, including EOR, intraoperative bleeding volume, duration of surgery, length of hospital stay, and neurological function status. However, at the three-month follow-up, the percentage of patients who had deteriorated function in the monitored group was significantly lower than that in the unmonitored group (23.3% vs. 52.6%; P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that IONM was a significant factor in long-term neurological function (OR = 0.23, 95% CI (0.07-0.70). In the survival analysis, long-term neurological deterioration indicated worsened overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). A prognostic nomogram was established through Cox regression model analysis, which could predict the probability 3-year survival rate. The concordance index was 0.761 (95% CI 0.734-0.788). The sensitivity and specificity of IONM evoked potential (SSEP and TCeMEP) were 0.875 and 0.909, respectively. In the ROC curve analysis, the area under the curve (AUC) for the SSEP and TCeMEP curves was 0.892 (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The application of IONM could improve long-term neurological function, which is closely related to prognosis and can be used as an independent prognostic factor. IONM is practical and widely available for predicting postoperative functional deficits in patients with eloquent area glioma.

In Defense of Clip-Based Video Relation Detection

Video Visual Relation Detection (VidVRD) aims to detect visual relationship triplets in videos using spatial bounding boxes and temporal boundaries. Existing VidVRD methods can be broadly categorized into bottom-up and top-down paradigms, depending on their approach to classifying relations. Bottom-up methods follow a clip-based approach where they classify relations of short clip tubelet pairs and then merge them into long video relations. On the other hand, top-down methods directly classify long video tubelet pairs. While recent video-based methods utilizing video tubelets have shown promising results, we argue that the effective modeling of spatial and temporal context plays a more significant role than the choice between clip tubelets and video tubelets. This motivates us to revisit the clip-based paradigm and explore the key success factors in VidVRD. In this paper, we propose a Hierarchical Context Model (HCM) that enriches the object-based spatial context and relation-based temporal context based on clips. We demonstrate that using clip tubelets can achieve superior performance compared to most video-based methods. Additionally, using clip tubelets offers more flexibility in model designs and helps alleviate the limitations associated with video tubelets, such as the challenging long-term object tracking problem and the loss of temporal information in long-term tubelet feature compression. Extensive experiments conducted on two challenging VidVRD benchmarks validate that our HCM achieves a new state-of-the-art performance, highlighting the effectiveness of incorporating advanced spatial and temporal context modeling within the clip-based paradigm.

Comprehensive analysis reveals that LTBR is a immune-related biomarker for glioma

Glioma is a common malignant brain tumor with great heterogeneity and huge difference in clinical outcomes. Although lymphotoxin (LT) beta receptor (LTBR) has been linked to immune system and response development for decades, the expression and function in glioma have not been investigated. To confirm the expression profile of LTBR, integrated RNA-seq data from glioma and normal brain tissues were analyzed. Functional enrichment analysis, TMEscore analysis, immune infiltration, the correlation of LTBR with immune checkpoints and ferroptosis, and scRNAseq data analysis in gliomas were in turn performed, which pointed out that LTBR was pertinent to immune functions of macrophages in gliomas. In addition, after being trained and validated in the tissue samples of the integrated dataset, an LTBR DNA methylation-based prediction model succeeded to distinguish gliomas from non-gliomas, as well as the grades of glioma. Moreover, by virtue of the candidate LTBR CpG sites, a prognostic risk-score model was finally constructed to guide the chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy for glioma patients. Taken together, LTBR is closely correlated with immune functions in gliomas, and LTBR DNA methylation could serve as a biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of gliomas.

Modulation of supramolecular structure by stepwise removal of tert-butyl groups from tetraazaperopyrene derivatives on Ag(111)

Tert-butyl functional groups can modulate the self-assembly behavior of organic molecules on surfaces. However, the precise construction of supramolecular architectures through their controlled thermal removal remains a challenge. Herein, we precisely controlled the removal amount of tert-butyl groups in tetraazaperopyrene derivatives by stepwise annealing on Ag(111). The evolution of 4tBu-TAPP supramolecular self-assembly from the grid-like structure composed of 3tBu-TAPP through the honeycomb network formed by 2tBu-TAPP to the one-dimensional chain co-assembled by tBu-TAPP and TAPP was successfully realized. This series of supramolecular nanostructures were directly visualized by high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy. Tip manipulation and density functional theory calculations show that the formation of honeycomb network structure can be attributed to the van der Waals interactions, N-Ag-N coordination bonds, and weak C-H⋯N hydrogen bonds. Further addition of two tert-butyl groups (6tBu-TAPP) leads to a completely different assembly evolution, due to the fact that the additional tert-butyl groups affect the molecular adsorption behavior and ultimately induce desorption. This work can possibly be exploited in constructing stable and long-range ordered nanostructures in surface-assisted systems, which can also promote the development of nanostructures in functional molecular devices.

Comparative analysis of inherited metabolic diseases in normal newborns and high-risk children: Insights from a 10-year study in Shanghai

BACKGROUND

Compare the differences between normal newborns and high-risk children with inherited metabolic diseases. The disease profile includes amino acidemias, fatty acid oxidation disorders, and organic acidemias.

METHODS

Data was collected on newborns and children from high-risk populations in Shanghai from December 2010 to December 2020.

RESULTS

232,561 newborns were screened for disorders of organic, amino acid, and fatty acid metabolism. The initial positive rate was 0.66 % (1,526/232,561) and the positive recall rate was 77.85 %. The positive predictive value is 4.71 %. Among them, 56 cases were diagnosed as metabolic abnormalities. The total incidence rate is 1:4153. Hyperphenylalaninemia and short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase are the most common diseases in newborns. In addition, in 56 children, 39 (69.42 %) were diagnosed by genetic sequencing. Some hotspot mutations in 14 IEMs have been observed, including PAH gene c.728G > A, c.611A > G, and ACADS gene c. 1031A > G, c.164C > T. A total of 49,860 symptomatic patients were screened, of which 185 were diagnosed with IEM, with a detection rate of 0.37 %. The most commonly diagnosed diseases in high-risk infants aremethylmalonic acidemia and hyperphenylalaninemia.

CONCLUSION

There are more clinical cases of congenital metabolic errors diagnosed by tandem mass spectrometry than newborn screening. The spectrum of diseases, prevalence, and genetic characteristics of normal newborns and high-risk children are quite different.

Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor as a Potential Plasma Biomarker of Cognitive Impairment in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease

As the pathogenesis of cerebral small vessel disease with cognitive impairment (CSVD-CI) remains unclear, identifying effective biomarkers can contribute to the clinical management of CSVD-CI. This study recruited 54 healthy controls (HCs), 60 CSVD-CI patients, and 57 CSVD cognitively normal (CSVD-CN) patients. All participants underwent neuropsychological assessments and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging. Macrophage migration inhibitory factors (MIFs) were assessed in plasma. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator model was used to determine a composite marker. Compared with HCs or CSVD-CN patients, CSVD-CI patients had significantly increased plasma MIF levels. In CSVD-CI patients, plasma MIF levels were significantly correlated with multiple cognitive assessment scores, plasma levels of blood-brain barrier (BBB)-related indices, white matter hyperintensity Fazekas scores, and the mean amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in the right superior temporal gyrus. Higher plasma MIF levels were significantly associated with worse global cognition and information processing speed in CSVD-CI patients. The composite marker (including plasma MIF) distinguished CSVD-CI patients from CSVD-CN and HCs with >80% accuracy. Meta-analysis indicated that blood MIF levels were significantly increased in CSVD-CI patients. In conclusion, plasma MIF is a potential biomarker for early identification of CSVD-CI. Plasma MIF may play a role in cognitive decline in CSVD through BBB dysfunction and changes in white matter hyperintensity and brain activity.

Active cellulose acetate/purple sweet potato anthocyanins@cyclodextrin metal-organic framework/eugenol colorimetric film for pork preservation

As a natural pH-sensing colorant, purple sweet potato anthocyanins (PSPAs) have demonstrated great potential in colorimetric film for freshness monitoring. However, the photothermal instability of PSPAs is still a challengeable issue. Herein, γ-cyclodextrin metal-organic framework (CD-MOF) loaded with PSPAs (PSPAs@CD-MOF, i.e., PM) and eugenol (EUG) were incorporated in cellulose acetate (CA) matrix for developing a smart active colorimetric film of CA/PM/EUG, where PM and EUG were hydrogen-bonded with CA. Attentions were focused on the photothermal colorimetric stability, colorimetric response, and antibacterial activity of the films. The presence of PM and EUG endowed the film outstanding UV-blocking performance and enhanced the barrier against water vapor and oxygen. Target film of CA/PM15/EUG10 had good photothermal colorimetric stability due to the protection of CD-MOF on PSPAs and the color changes with pH-stimuli were sensitive and reversible. In addition to antioxidant activity, CA/PM15/EUG10 had antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The application trial results indicated that the CA/PM15/EUG10 was valid to indicate pork freshness and extended the shelf-life by 100 % at 25 °C, which has demonstrated a good perspective on smart active packaging for freshness monitoring and shelf-life extension.

Asymptomatic elevation of parathyroid hormone levels by antibodies against reagent alkaline phosphatase

CONTEXT

Although immunoassay interference is a well-known phenomenon, its detection in routine clinical practice remains challenging. Most immunoassay interference can be attributed to the presence of heterophilic or anti-hormone antibodies. However, reports on immunoassay interference specifically related to parathyroid hormone (PTH) are scarce.

CASE DESCRIPTION

A 77-year-old woman with hypertension, nephrotic syndrome, and high PTH levels for one year was admitted to our Surgical Department for treatment. The patient had no specific symptoms and normal calcium and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels but markedly elevated PTH levels. PTH was 2172 pg/mL using the Beckman Coulter system, whereas the Roche, Abbot, and Siemens systems yielded normal results. PTH concentration decreased to 63.8 pg/mL after pretreatment with polyethylene glycol 6000 and did not decrease to normal levels following pretreatment with heterophilic blocking tube-50 (HBT-50), heterophilic blocking reagent (HBR)-21, or HBR-25. When the HBR-21 concentration was increased, serum PTH decreased to 99.0 pg/mL. After treatment with scavenger bovine alkaline phosphatase (inactive), the concentration of PTH decreased to a normal value (51.3 pg/mL). Additionally, PTH (1-84) concentration was 17.6 pg/mL using LC-MS/MS.

CONCLUSION

PTH was falsely evaluated due to anti-bovine ALP antibodies (antibodies against reagent ALP). Anti-bovine ALP antibodies should be considered in assays that use ALP as a signal generator.

Photocatalytic chitosan-based bactericidal films incorporated with WO3/AgBr/Ag and activated carbon for ethylene removal and application to banana preservation

Ethylene (C2H4) and pathogenic microorganisms are the two major causes of the deterioration of postharvest fruits and vegetables (F&V). Hence, the development of active packaging with C2H4 scavenging and bactericidal activities is urgently desirable. Herein, a novel photocatalytic active film (CS-PC-AC) is developed for banana preservation by incorporating WO3/AgBr/Ag photocatalyst (PC) and activated carbon (AC) into chitosan (CS). The fabricated PC is a ternary Z-scheme heterojunction and its high photocatalytic activity is achieved by the bridge of Ag between WO3 and AgBr through rapid transfer and separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. AC plays an indispensable role in the photocatalytic reaction through molecule adsorption and transport. PC and AC are hydrogen bonded with chitosan and their incorporation has slight effect on film's thermal stability but decreases the film's mechanical and barrier properties to some extent. CS-PC-AC exhibits strong bactericidal activity (killing ~100 % of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus within 3 h) and good C2H4 scavenging activity (C2H4 scavenging rate of 49 ± 2 %) under visible light irradiation, which can extend the banana shelf-life by at least 50 % at 25 °C. These results indicate the good perspective of CS-PC-AC in the delay of the deterioration of postharvest F&V.

Intervention with ICOSL Antibodies Alleviates Inflammatory Infiltrations in Mice with Neutrophilic Asthma

Background

Neutrophilic asthma is characterized by the predominant infiltration of neutrophils in airway inflammation.

Objective

To explore the therapeutic potential of an antibody against the inducible T cell co-stimulator ligand (ICOSL) in a mouse model of neutrophilic asthma.

Methods

Female BALB/c mice were randomly assigned to different groups. They were then injected with ovalbumin (OVA)/lipopolysaccharides (LPS) to induce neutrophilic asthma. The mice were then treated with either anti-ICOSL (the I group), control IgG (the G group), or no treatment (the N group). Additionally, a control group of mice received vehicle PBS and was labeled as the C group (n=6 per group). One day after the last allergen exposure, cytokine levels were measured in plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) using ELISA. After analyzing and categorizing BALF cells, the lung tissues were examined histologically and immunohistochemically.

Results

Administering anti-ICOSL resulted in a significant decrease in the total number of inflammatory infiltrates and neutrophils found in BALF. Moreover, it led to a decrease in the levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-13, and IL-17 in both BALF and plasma. Additionally, there was an increase in IFN-γ levels in the BALF of asthmatic mice (p<0.05 for all). Treatment with anti-ICOSL also reduced lung interstitial inflammation, mucus secretion, and ICOSL expression in asthmatic mice.

Conclusion

The treatment of anti-ICOSL effectively improved lung interstitial inflammation and mucus secretion in mice with neutrophilic asthma by restoring the balance of Th1/Th2/Th17 responses. These findings indicate that blocking the ICOS/ICOSL signaling could be an effective way to manage neutrophilic asthma.

[Analysis of a case of Kabuki syndrome due to a novel variant of KMT2D gene]

OBJECTIVE

To report on a case of Kabuki syndrome (KS) due to a novel variant of KMT2D gene.

METHODS

A child diagnosed with KS at the Fujian Children's Hospital on July 25, 2022 was selected as the study subject. Whole exome sequencing was carried out for the child and her parents. Candidate variant was validated by Sanger sequencing and bioinformatic analysis.

RESULTS

The child, a 4-month-old female, had presented with distinctive facial features, growth retardation, cardiac malformations, horseshoe kidney, hypothyroidism, and recurrent aspiration pneumonia. Whole exome sequencing revealed that she has harbored a heterozygous c.6285dup (p.Lys2096Ter) variant of the KMT2D gene. Sanger sequencing confirmed that neither of her parents had carried the same variant. The variant was previously unreported and may result in a truncated protein and loss of an enzymatic activity region. The corresponding site of the variant is highly conserved. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), the variant was classified as pathogenic (PVS1+PS2+PM2_Supporting).

CONCLUSION

The c.6285dup variant of the KMT2D gene probably underlay the KS in this child.

LncRNA H19 Inhibits Keratinocyte Cell Proliferation and Migration by Targeting miR-17-5p/RUNX1 Axis in Chronic Wounds

The migration and proliferation of keratinocytes are critical for re-epithelization during chronic wound healing. Runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1) has been indicated to repress keratinocyte proliferation. Nonetheless, the potential molecular mechanism of RUNX1 in regulating keratinocyte proliferation and migration remains unclear. Cell counting kit-8 and wound-healing assays were implemented for examining keratinocyte viability and migration, respectively. Western blotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction were utilized for quantifying protein and RNA levels. Luciferase reporter assay was employed for verifying the interaction between RUNX1, miR-17-5p, and long noncoding RNA H19. The results showed that RUNX1 depletion promoted keratinocyte proliferation and migration and repressed extracellular matrix degradation. Mechanistically, H19 upregulated RUNX1 expression by competitively absorbing miR-17-5p. Rescue experiments revealed that overexpressing RUNX1 reversed H19 silencing-mediated effects on the phenotypes of keratinocytes. In conclusion, H19 knockdown promotes keratinocyte proliferation and migration and suppresses extracellular matrix degradation via the miR-17-5p/RUNX1 axis.

Multidimensional analysis of wheat original crucial endogenous enzymes driving microbial communities metabolism during high-temperature Daqu fermentation

Knowledge of the metabolism of functional enzymes is the key to accelerate the transformation and utilization of raw materials during high temperature Daqu (HTD) manufacturing. However, the metabolic contribution of raw materials-wheat is always neglected. In this research, the relationship between the metabolism of wheat and microorganisms was investigated using physicochemical and sequencing analysis method. Results showed that the process of Daqu generation was divided into three stages based on temperature. In the early stage, a positive correlation was found between Monascus, Rhizopus and glucoamylase metabolism (r > 0.8, p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the glucoamylase metabolism in wheat occupied 63.8 % of the total matrix at the day 4. In the middle to later stages, the wheat metabolism of proteases, α-amylases and lipases in gradually reached their peak. Additionally, Lactobacillus and α-amylases presented a positive correlation (r > 0.7, p < 0.05), and the α-amylases metabolism in wheat occupied 22.18 % of the total matrix during the same time period. More importantly, the changes of enzyme activity metabolic pathway in wheat and microorganism were reflected by respiratory entropy (RQ). Overall, these results guide the choice of substrate during Daqu production.

TLR5M and TLR5S Synergistically Sense Flagellin in Early Endosome in Lamprey Petromyzon marinus, Switched by the N-Glycosylation Site N239

In mammals, TLR5 functions as a homodimer to recognize bacterial flagellin on the cytomembrane. The current investigations reveal the existence of two types of TLR5, a membrane-bound PmTLR5M, and a soluble variant PmTLR5S, in lamprey (Petromyzon marinus). Although both PmTLR5M and PmTLR5S can bind flagellin, only PmTLR5M is capable of eliciting a proinflammatory response, whereas PmTLR5S can detect the flagellin and facilitate the role of PmTLR5M in early endosomes. The trafficking chaperone UNC93B1 enhances the ligand-induced signaling via PmTLR5M or the combination of PmTLR5M and PmTLR5S. PmTLR5M recruits MyD88 as an adaptor. Furthermore, chimeric receptor studies demonstrate the indispensability of the intradomain of PmTLR5M in effective activation of the proinflammatory pathway upon flagellin stimulation, and the combination of PmTLR5S with a singular intradomain in both homodimer and heterodimer ectodomain arrangements can very significantly augment the immune response. Furthermore, the flagellin binding sites between PmTLR5M and PmTLR5S are conserved, which are essential for ligand binding and signal transduction. Moreover, investigations on N-linked glycosylation modifications reveal that the N239 site in PmTLR5M and PmTLR5S plays a switch role in both flagellin binding and immune responses. In addition, PmTLR5M exhibits the high-mannose-type and complex-type N-glycosylation modifications; however, PmTLR5S shows exclusive complex-type N-glycosylation modification. The key N239 site demonstrates complex-type N-glycosylation modification. The findings address the function and mechanism of TLR5 in ligand recognition, subcellular localization, and signaling pathway in lowest vertebrate and immune system transition species, highlight the regulatory role of N-glycosylation modification in TLRs, and augment immune evolutionary research on the TLR signaling pathway.

Interaction between curcumin and ultrafiltered casein micelles or whey protein, and characteristics of their complexes

This work evaluated the interaction between micellar casein (MC) or whey protein (WP) in ultrafiltration retentate with curcumin (Cur), as well as the physicochemical and functional properties of Cur-MC and Cur-WP complexes. The MC had a higher affinity for Cur than WP, shown by higher binding constants of Cur-MC at various temperatures. Thermodynamic analysis of the binding process indicated that the interaction between Cur and MC or WP was hydrophobic in nature. Cur promoted the size and polydispersity index of MC and WP at 4 mM but did not alter the morphology of spray-dried MC and WP. The Cur-MC complexes showed better aqueous solubility at pH 2-3 and 6-10 compared to free MC. Combination with MC or WP improved the 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) radical scavenging activity of Cur. In addition, combination with MC and WP promoted cumulative release of Cur during simulated gastrointestinal digestion, especially for WP. Thus, MC and WP in retentates can be good alternative protein-based carriers for Cur delivery, whereas their complexes in powder form have good functional properties that could be used as active food ingredients in several food formulations. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Microfiltration is a cheap and convenient approach that can be used to easily produce micellar casein (MC), with whey protein (WP) as one byproduct. In this study, we proved that MC and WP in retentates have strong interaction with curcumin (Cur), whereas their complexes have good functional properties. Thus, spray-dried MC-Cur or WP-Cur complexes could be used as active food ingredients in several food formulations.

Hydrogel-encapsulated medium chain lipid-modified zeolite imidazole framework-90 as a promising platform for oral delivery of proteins

The administration of protein therapeutics through oral means is seen as a convenient and painless experience for patients, making it a significant consideration in the field of drug delivery. Nevertheless, the challenging conditions within the gastrointestinal tract, along with the obstacles to absorption, impede the efficient transportation of proteins. Here, we successfully implemented post-synthetic modifications to attach medium-chain lipids (C10) onto the surface of zeolitic imidazole framework-90 (ZIF-90), then encapsulated the nanoparticles with sodium alginate, resulting in a potential platform for the oral administration of proteins. By means of biomimetic mineralization, ZIF-90 achieves a simple and efficient encapsulation of proteins of varying sizes, while shielding them against degradation by digestive enzymes. Sodium alginate hydrogel protects proteins against gastric acid and helps the cargo to rapidly penetrate the mucus layer. Through a mixed mechanism dominated by micropinocytosis, the C10-conjugated ZIF-90 (ZIF-90-C10) can be uptake by Caco-2 cells with a 200-400% increase and transported through the Golgi apparatus after escaping from lysosomes, exhibiting enhanced uptake in the overall gastrointestinal tract. Furthermore, ZIF-90-C10 retains its adenosine triphosphate-responsive release, which drastically lowers the likelihood of accumulation in vivo and allows targeted delivery for disease cells. Our work highlights mid-chain lipid conjugation as a potent approach to enhancing nanoparticle delivery efficiency and a potential strategy for oral delivery of biomacromolecules when combined with pH-responsive gels.

Conversion of chirality to twisting via sequential one-dimensional and two-dimensional growth of graphene spirals

The properties of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals materials can be tuned through nanostructuring or controlled layer stacking, where interlayer hybridization induces exotic electronic states and transport phenomena. Here we describe a viable approach and underlying mechanism for the assisted self-assembly of twisted layer graphene. The process, which can be implemented in standard chemical vapour deposition growth, is best described by analogy to origami and kirigami with paper. It involves the controlled induction of wrinkle formation in single-layer graphene with subsequent wrinkle folding, tearing and re-growth. Inherent to the process is the formation of intertwined graphene spirals and conversion of the chiral angle of 1D wrinkles into a 2D twist angle of a 3D superlattice. The approach can be extended to other foldable 2D materials and facilitates the production of miniaturized electronic components, including capacitors, resistors, inductors and superconductors.

Affine medical image registration with fusion feature mapping in local and global

Objective. Medical image affine registration is a crucial basis before using deformable registration. On the one hand, the traditional affine registration methods based on step-by-step optimization are very time-consuming, so these methods are not compatible with most real-time medical applications. On the other hand, convolutional neural networks are limited in modeling long-range spatial relationships of the features due to inductive biases, such as weight sharing and locality. This is not conducive to affine registration tasks. Therefore, the evolution of real-time and high-accuracy affine medical image registration algorithms is necessary for registration applications.Approach. In this paper, we propose a deep learning-based coarse-to-fine global and local feature fusion architecture for fast affine registration, and we use an unsupervised approach for end-to-end training. We use multiscale convolutional kernels as our elemental convolutional blocks to enhance feature extraction. Then, to learn the long-range spatial relationships of the features, we propose a new affine registration framework with weighted global positional attention that fuses global feature mapping and local feature mapping. Moreover, the fusion regressor is designed to generate the affine parameters.Main results. The additive fusion method can be adaptive to global mapping and local mapping, which improves affine registration accuracy without the center of mass initialization. In addition, the max pooling layer and the multiscale convolutional kernel coding module increase the ability of the model in affine registration.Significance. We validate the effectiveness of our method on the OASIS dataset with 414 3D MRI brain maps. Comprehensive results demonstrate that our method achieves state-of-the-art affine registration accuracy and very efficient runtimes.

[Clinical and genetic analysis of a patient with HUPRA syndrome due to missense variants of SARS2 gene and literature review]

Objective: To explore the clinical manifestations and genotype of an infant with hyperuricemia, pulmonary hypertension, renal failure in infancy, and alkalosis syndrome (HUPRAS). Methods: Clinical data of the patient were collected. Peripheral blood samples from the patient and his parents were acquainted for whole exome sequencing. The filtrated variants were verified by Sanger sequencing. The pathogenicity of the variants was predicted by bioinformatic tools. Results: The patient is a male infant of 6 months old, carrying two missense variants in the SARS2 allele: a paternal inherited c.1205G>A (p. Arg402His) and a maternal inherited c.680G>A (p. Arg227Gln). The two variants were in extremely low population frequencies. The pathogenetic prediction tools categorized them as deleterious. Arg402 and Arg227 were highly conserved in evolution. The variants led to changes in the hydrogen bonds and hydrophobicity of seryl-tRNA synthetase encoded by SARS2. Conclusions: c.1205G>A (p. Arg402His) and c.680G>A (p. Arg227Gln) are the possible causative variants of the HUPRA syndrome.

Improving the second-tier classification of methylmalonic acidemia patients using a machine learning ensemble method

INTRODUCTION

Methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) is a disorder of autosomal recessive inheritance, with an estimated prevalence of 1:50,000. First-tier clinical diagnostic tests often return many false positives [five false positive (FP): one true positive (TP)]. In this work, our goal was to refine a classification model that can minimize the number of false positives, currently an unmet need in the upstream diagnostics of MMA.

METHODS

We developed machine learning multivariable screening models for MMA with utility as a secondary-tier tool for false positives reduction. We utilized mass spectrometry-based features consisting of 11 amino acids and 31 carnitines derived from dried blood samples of neonatal patients, followed by additional ratio feature construction. Feature selection strategies (selection by filter, recursive feature elimination, and learned vector quantization) were used to determine the input set for evaluating the performance of 14 classification models to identify a candidate model set for an ensemble model development.

RESULTS

Our work identified computational models that explore metabolic analytes to reduce the number of false positives without compromising sensitivity. The best results [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 97%, sensitivity of 92%, and specificity of 95%] were obtained utilizing an ensemble of the algorithms random forest, C5.0, sparse linear discriminant analysis, and autoencoder deep neural network stacked with the algorithm stochastic gradient boosting as the supervisor. The model achieved a good performance trade-off for a screening application with 6% false-positive rate (FPR) at 95% sensitivity, 35% FPR at 99% sensitivity, and 39% FPR at 100% sensitivity.

CONCLUSIONS

The classification results and approach of this research can be utilized by clinicians globally, to improve the overall discovery of MMA in pediatric patients. The improved method, when adjusted to 100% precision, can be used to further inform the diagnostic process journey of MMA and help reduce the burden for patients and their families.

Stimuli-responsive peptide hydrogels for biomedical applications

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels can respond to external stimuli with a change in the network structure and thus have potential application in drug release, intelligent sensing, and scaffold construction. Peptides possess robust supramolecular self-assembly ability, enabling spontaneous formation of nanostructures through supramolecular interactions and subsequently hydrogels. Therefore, peptide-based stimuli-responsive hydrogels have been widely explored as smart soft materials for biomedical applications in the last decade. Herein, we present a review article on design strategies and research progress of peptide hydrogels as stimuli-responsive materials in the field of biomedicine. The latest design and development of peptide hydrogels with responsive behaviors to stimuli are first presented. The following part provides a systematic overview of the functions and applications of stimuli-responsive peptide hydrogels in tissue engineering, drug delivery, wound healing, antimicrobial treatment, 3D cell culture, biosensors, etc. Finally, the remaining challenges and future prospects of stimuli-responsive peptide hydrogels are proposed. It is believed that this review will contribute to the rational design and development of stimuli-responsive peptide hydrogels toward biomedical applications.

Decision-making ability limitations and brain neural activity changes in healthcare workers after mild COVID-19

Studies have demonstrated that the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) extensively affects brain function. Although cognitive dysfunction is considered a common manifestation in COVID-19 patients during the recovery period, the potential changes in decision-making ability, are not yet clear. Decision-making functions are essential to the work of healthcare workers. However, there is a lack of a multidimensional assessment of its functioning in COVID-19 cases. Here, we used tests combined with the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) stabilization feature amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) to explore decision-making behavior and brain neural activity changes in healthcare workers after mild COVID-19. Participants were divided into the SARS-CoV-2 infected group (SI, n = 41) and healthy controls (HC, n = 42). All participants underwent a series of neuropsychological tests. They performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Game of Dice Task (GDT), followed by fMRI (n = 20) to assess their decision-making ability under ambiguous and risky conditions and changes in brain neural activity. The SI group performed worse in verbal memory than the HC group. Furthermore, the SI group performed worse in the IGT, whereas no significant difference was observed in the GDT. In addition, rs-fMRI showed enhanced spontaneous neural activity in the postcentral gyrus and inferior parietal lobe in the SI group compared to the HC group.

[Effect of growth hormone supplementation on liver and lung function in patients with hypopituitarism]

To analyze the clinical features of patients with anterior hypopituitarism (HP) complicated with cirrhosis, and to explore the effects of growth hormone supplementation on liver and lung function. A total of 11 patients with HP complicated with cirrhosis admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2016 to December 2022 were included in the study, including 8 males and 3 females, aged [M(Q1, Q3)]31 (20, 37) years. There were 6 patients with pituitary stalk interruption syndrome, 4 patients after craniopharyngioma resection, and 1 patient after germinal cell tumor chemoradiotherapy. Cirrhosis appeared at [M(Q1, Q3)]7 (1, 16) years after the diagnosis of HP. There were 7 cases complicated with hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS). The liver and lung function of 5 patients were improved significantly after the addition of growth hormone, and the arterial partial pressure of oxygen increased from (47±11) mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) to (84±12) mmHg. Timely supplementation of growth hormone can improve the symptoms of fatty liver, cirrhosis and HPS, and postpone or even avoid the transplantation of liver and other organs.

HPFG: semi-supervised medical image segmentation framework based on hybrid pseudo-label and feature-guiding

Semi-supervised learning methods have been attracting much attention in medical image segmentation due to the lack of high-quality annotation. To cope with the noise problem of pseudo-label in semi-supervised medical image segmentation and the limitations of contrastive learning applications, we propose a semi-supervised medical image segmentation framework, HPFG, based on hybrid pseudo-label and feature-guiding, which consists of a hybrid pseudo-label strategy and two different feature-guiding modules. The hybrid pseudo-label strategy uses the CutMix operation and an auxiliary network to enable the labeled images to guide the unlabeled images to generate high-quality pseudo-label and reduce the impact of pseudo-label noise. In addition, a feature-guiding encoder module based on feature-level contrastive learning is designed to guide the encoder to mine useful local and global image features, thus effectively enhancing the feature extraction capability of the model. At the same time, a feature-guiding decoder module based on adaptive class-level contrastive learning is designed to guide the decoder in better extracting class information, achieving intra-class affinity and inter-class separation, and effectively alleviating the class imbalance problem in medical datasets. Extensive experimental results show that the segmentation performance of the HPFG framework proposed in this paper outperforms existing semi-supervised medical image segmentation methods on three public datasets: ACDC, LIDC, and ISIC. Code is available at https://github.com/fakerlove1/HPFG .

Attentional impairment and altered brain activity in healthcare workers after mild COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) is highly transmissible and pathogenic. Patients with mild cases account for the majority of those infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although there is evidence that many patients with COVID-19 have varying degrees of attentional impairment, little is known about how SARS-COV-2 affects attentional function. This study included a high-risk healthcare population divided into groups of healthcare workers (HCWs) with mild COVID-19 (patient group, n = 45) and matched healthy HCWs controls (HC group, n = 42), who completed general neuropsychological background tests and Attention Network Test (ANT), and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) to assess altered brain activity; Selective impairment occurred in orienting and executive control networks, but not in alert network, in the patient group, and widespread cognitive impairment encompassing general attention, memory, and executive dysfunction. Moreover, the patient group had significantly lower ALFF values in the left superior and left middle frontal gyri than the HC group. SARS-COV-2 infection may have led to reduced brain activity in the left superior and left middle frontal gyri, thus impairing attentional orienting and executive control networks, which may explain the development of attentional deficits after COVID-19.

Association between ICW/TBW ratio and cancer prognosis: Subanalysis of a population-based retrospective multicenter study

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Disease burden is known to alter cellular integrity and water balance. Therefore, the intracellular water/total body water (ICW/TBW) ratio is used as an adjunctive indicator to predict disease severity and prognosis. The ICW/TBW ratio of patients with cancer, who typically present with low muscle mass, poor nutritional status, and high inflammatory response, reportedly differs from that of the healthy population. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the effect of the ICW/TBW ratio on the prognosis of different subgroups of patients with cancer.

METHODS

This multicenter cohort study included 2787 patients with malignancies between June 2014 and December 2018. The association between covariates and overall survival (OS) was assessed using restricted cubic spline models. The multivariate Cox regression model included variables demonstrating a statistical significance in the univariate Cox regression analysis (P < 0.05) without multicollinearity. The generated nomogram used the C-index and calibration curves to validate the predictive accuracy of the scoring system.

RESULTS

The optimal cut-off value for the ICW/TBW ratio was 0.61. The ICW/TBW ratio was an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.621; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.537-0.719, P < 0.001). Moreover, the ICW/TBW ratio had a greater impact on the prognosis of patients receiving chemoradiotherapy than on those receiving chemotherapy alone (chemoradiotherapy: HR = 0.495, P = 0.005 vs. chemotherapy: HR = 0.646, P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that sex, age, tumor stage, body mass index, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and ICW/TBW ratio were associated with OS. Subsequently, a nomogram was developed incorporating these variables and yielded a C-index of 0.743.

CONCLUSIONS

The ICW/TBW ratio was associated with muscle mass, nutritional status, and inflammation. A low ICW/TBW ratio is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with cancer, especially when they are female, have advanced cancer stage, have sarcopenia, and are receiving radiotherapy.

Ginkgolide A attenuated apoptosis via inhibition of oxidative stress in mice with traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the main cause of death among young adults and the main cause of mortality and disability for all ages groups worldwide. Ginkgolides terpenoid compounds unique to Ginkgo biloba, which have protective effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The aim of this study is to investigate whether ginkgolide A (GA) can improve TBI in mice and whether it can alleviate cell apoptosis in the brain of TBI mice by reducing oxidative stress. Mice received TBI and GA administration for 7 days. Neurological deficits were monitored and brain tissues were examined for molecular pathological markers. TBI mice had more severer neurobehavioral deficits compared with sham group, which could be improved by administration of GA. GA administration improveed Modified Neurological Severity Scale (mNSS) scores, Grid-Walking test and Rotarod test of TBI mice. The apoptosis increased in TBI mice, and reduced after GA treatment. The biomarkers of oxidative stress 8-OHdG and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the brain of TBI mice increased, while SOD reduced. These changes were reversed after GA administration. These outcomes showed that GA could raise neurobehavioral deficiency of TBI mice. GA treatment could attenuate apoptosis in TBI mice by reducing oxidative stress.

Transcriptome Expression Profiling Reveals the Molecular Response to Salt Stress in Gossypium anomalum Seedlings

Some wild cotton species are remarkably tolerant to salt stress, and hence represent valuable resources for improving salt tolerance of the domesticated allotetraploid species Gossypium hirsutum L. Here, we first detected salt-induced stress changes in physiological and biochemical indexes of G. anomalum, a wild African diploid cotton species. Under 350 mmol/L NaCl treatment, the photosynthetic parameters declined significantly, whereas hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents increased. Catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and peroxidase (POD) activity and proline (PRO) content also significantly increased, reaching peak values at different stages of salt stress. We used RNA-Seq to characterize 15,476 differentially expressed genes in G. anomalum roots after 6, 12, 24, 72, and 144 h of salt stress. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis revealed these genes to be related to sequence-specific DNA and iron ion binding and oxidoreductase, peroxidase, antioxidant, and transferase activity; meanwhile, the top enriched pathways from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database were plant hormone signal transduction, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, fatty acid degradation, carotenoid biosynthesis, zeatin biosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolism, and MAPK signaling. A total of 1231 transcription factors were found to be expressed in response to salt stress, representing ERF, MYB, WRKY, NAC, C2H2, bZIP, and HD-ZIP families. Nine candidate genes were validated by quantitative real-time PCR and their expression patterns were found to be consistent with the RNA-Seq data. These data promise to significantly advance our understanding of the molecular response to salt stress in Gossypium spp., with potential value for breeding applications.

Bioinspired Amino Acid Based Materials in Bionanotechnology: From Minimalistic Building Blocks and Assembly Mechanism to Applications

Inspired by natural hierarchical self-assembly of proteins and peptides, amino acids, as the basic building units, have been shown to self-assemble to form highly ordered structures through supramolecular interactions. The fabrication of functional biomaterials comprised of extremely simple biomolecules has gained increasing interest due to the advantages of biocompatibility, easy functionalization, and structural modularity. In particular, amino acid based assemblies have shown attractive physical characteristics for various bionanotechnology applications. Herein, we propose a review paper to summarize the design strategies as well as research advances of amino acid based supramolecular assemblies as smart functional materials. We first briefly introduce bioinspired reductionist design strategies and assembly mechanism for amino acid based molecular assembly materials through noncovalent interactions in condensed states, including self-assembly, metal ion mediated coordination assembly, and coassembly. In the following part, we provide an overview of the properties and functions of amino acid based materials toward applications in nanotechnology and biomedicine. Finally, we give an overview of the remaining challenges and future perspectives on the fabrication of amino acid based supramolecular biomaterials with desired properties. We believe that this review will promote the prosperous development of innovative bioinspired functional materials formed by minimalistic building blocks.

Highly dispersed Fe7S8 anchored on sp2/sp3 hybridized carbon boosting peroxymonosulfate activation for enhanced EOCs elimination though singlet oxygen-dominated nonradical pathway

The synergistic effect of carbon materials with high sp2/sp3 hybridized carbon ratio and metal materials can enhance the efficiency of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) based advanced oxidation processes. In this study, a composite of highly dispersed Fe7S8 anchored on sp2/sp3 hybridized carbon (Fe7S8@HC) was developed by a facile synthesis for PMS activation. Within 10 min, the removal efficiency of the target pollutant doxycycline (DOX) could reach ca. 96 % in optimal Fe7S8@HC/PMS system through a 1O2-dominated non-radical pathway. Correlation mechanism analysis revealed that thiophene S, sp2/sp3 ratio and Fe(II) were critical factors for elongating of the O-O bond of PMS. Moreover, the Fe7S8@HC/PMS system exhibited favorable adaptability to interference such as common inorganic anions, humic acid and pH changes and could effectively remove various organic pollutants with low ionization potential. Moreover, the system maintained high DOX removal efficiency by running 30 cycles in a continuous flow reactor. Finally, susceptible sites of DOX and four degradation pathways were proposed by density functional theory calculation and LC-MS detection. This work not only offered new insights into the design of high-performance catalysts combining metal and biomass-based carbon materials, but also provided technical support for the remediation of water bodies containing emerging organic contaminants.

Ferrocenylselenoether and its cuprous cluster modified TiO2 as visible-light photocatalyst for the synergistic transformation of N-cyclic organics and Cr(vi)

In this study, fcSe@TiO2 and [Cu2I2(fcSe)2]n@TiO2 nanosystems based on ferrocenylselenoether and its cuprous cluster were developed and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Under optimized conditions, 0.2 g L-1 catalyst, 20 mM H2O2, and initial pH 7, good synergistic visible light photocatalytic tetracycline degradation and Cr(vi) reduction were achieved, with 92.1% of tetracycline and 64.5% of Cr(vi) removal efficiency within 30 minutes. Mechanistic studies revealed that the reactive species ˙OH, ˙O2-, and h+ were produced in both systems through the mutual promotion of Fenton reactions and photogenerated charge separation. The [Cu2I2(fcSe)2]n@TiO2 system additionally produced 1O2 from Cu+ and ˙O2-. The advantages of the developed nanosystems include an acidic surface microenvironment provided by Se⋯H+, resourceful product formation, tolerance of complex environments, and excellent adaptability in refractory N-cyclic organics.

A Universal Strategy for Synthesis of 2D Ternary Transition Metal Phosphorous Chalcogenides

The 2D ternary transition metal phosphorous chalcogenides (TMPCs) have attracted extensive research interest due to their widely tunable band gap, rich electronic properties, inherent magnetic and ferroelectric properties. However, the synthesis of TMPCs via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is still challenging since it is difficult to control reactions among multi-precursors. Here, a subtractive element growth mechanism is proposed to controllably synthesize the TMPCs. Based on the growth mechanism, the TMPCs including FePS3 , FePSe3 , MnPS3 , MnPSe3 , CdPS3 , CdPSe3 , In2 P3 S9 , and SnPS3 are achieved successfully and further confirmed by Raman, second-harmonic generation (SHG), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The typical TMPCs-SnPS3 shows a strong SHG signal at 1064 nm, with an effective nonlinear susceptibility χ(2) of 8.41 × 10-11  m V-1 , which is about 8 times of that in MoS2 . And the photodetector based on CdPSe3 exhibits superior detection performances with responsivity of 582 mA W-1 , high detectivity of 3.19 × 1011  Jones, and fast rise time of 611 µs, which is better than most previously reported TMPCs-based photodetectors. These results demonstrate the high quality of TMPCs and promote the exploration of the optical properties of 2D TMPCs for their applications in optoelectronics.

Accuracy and patient-centered results of marker-based and marker-free registrations for dynamic computer-assisted implant surgery: A randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVES

To compare implant placement accuracy and patient-centered results between the dynamic computer-assisted implant surgeries (d-CAISs) using marker-based and marker-free registration methods.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A double-armed, single-blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted, in which 34 patients requiring single implant placement at the esthetic zone were randomly assigned to the marker-based (n = 17) or marker-free (n = 17) groups. The marker-based registration was performed using a splint containing radiopaque markers, while the marker-free registration used natural teeth. The primary outcome assessed implant positioning accuracy via angular and linear deviations between preoperative and postoperative implant positions in CBCT. Patients were also surveyed about the intraoperative experience and oral health impact profile (OHIP).

RESULTS

The global linear deviations at the implant platform (0.82 ± 0.28 and 0.85 ± 0.41 mm) and apex (1.28 ± 0.34 and 0.85 (IQR: 0.64-1.50) mm) for the marker-based and marker-free groups respectively showed no significant difference. However, the angular deviation of the marker-free group (2.77 ± 0.92° ) was significantly lower than the marker-based group (4.28 ± 1.58° ). There was no significant difference in the mean postoperative OHIP scores between the two groups (p = .758), with scores of 2.74 ± 1.21 for marker-based and 2.93 ± 2.18 for marker-free groups, indicating mild oral health-related impairment in both. Notably, patients in the marker-free group showed significantly higher satisfaction (p = .031) with the treatment procedures.

CONCLUSIONS

D-CAIS with a marker-free registration method for single implantation in the anterior maxilla has advantages in improving implant placement accuracy and patients' satisfaction, without generating a significant increase in clinical time and expenses.

Endochondral Repair of Jawbone Defects Using Periosteal Cell Spheroids

Recapitulation of the natural healing process is receiving increasing recognition as a strategy to induce robust tissue regeneration. Endochondral ossification has been recognized as an essential reparative approach in natural jawbone defect healing. However, such an approach has been overlooked in the recent development of cell-based therapeutics for jawbone repair. Therefore, this study aimed to explore a bioinspired stem cell-based strategy for jawbone repair by mimicking the mesenchymal condensation of progenitor cells during the early endochondral ossification process. For this purpose, passage 3 of jawbone periosteum-derived cells (jb-PDCs) was cultured in our previously reported nonadherent microwells (200 µm in diameter, 148 µm in depth, and 100 µm space in between) and self-assembled into spheroids with a diameter of 96.4 ± 5.8 µm after 48 h. Compared to monolayer culture, the jb-PDC spheroids showed a significant reduction of stemness marker expression evidenced by flow cytometry. Furthermore, a significant upregulation of chondrogenic transcription factor SOX9 in both gene and protein levels was observed in the jb-PDC spheroids after 48 h of chondrogenic induction. RNA sequencing and Western blotting analysis further suggested that the enhanced SOX9-mediated chondrogenic differentiation in jb-PDC spheroids was attributed to the activation of the p38 MAPK pathway. Impressively, inhibition of p38 kinase activity significantly attenuated chondrogenic differentiation jb-PDC spheroids, evidenced by a significant decline of SOX9 in both gene and protein levels. Strikingly, the jb-PDC spheroids implanted in 6- to 8-wk-old male C57BL/6 mice with critical-size jawbone defects (1.8 mm in diameter) showed an evident contribution to cartilaginous callus formation after 1 wk, evidenced by histological analysis. Furthermore, micro-computed tomography analysis showed that the jb-PDC spheroids significantly accelerated bone healing after 2 wk in the absence of exogenous growth factors. In sum, the presented findings represent the successful development of cell-based therapeutics to reengineer the endochondral bone repair process and illustrate the potential application to improve bone repair and regeneration in the craniofacial skeleton.

Study of hispidulin in the treatment of uric acid nephropathy based on NF-κB signaling pathway

Uric acid nephropathy (UAN) is caused by purine metabolism disorders. UAN rat models were established in SD rats. The modeling rats received different doses of hispidulin (10, 20, 50 mg/mL). Febuxostat was applied as the positive drug. Serum creatinine, uric acid (UA), and cystatin-C (cys-C), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α, and IL-6 in rats were detected. HE staining was done to assess kidney injury. UAN rats possessed prominent levels of serum creatinine, UA, cys-C, and NGAL, which all reduced after hispidulin treatment in a dose-dependent manner. HE staining determined the improvement of kidney injury after treatment, which was comparable to the efficacy of febuxostat. Hispidulin inhibited the release of IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α, and IL-6 in UAN rats. Hispidulin enhanced autophagy in UAN rats, presenting as ascending LC3II/I ratio and downregulated P62. The increasing trend of inflammasome-related proteins of NLRP3 and Caspase-1 was changeovered by hispidulin. The activation of NF-kB signaling was intercepted by hispidulin in UAN rats. Hispidulin can effectively improve renal function injury caused by UAN in rats. The mechanism may be related to the inhibition of inflammatory response induced by autophagy and activation of NF-κB pathway.

Isofraxidin inhibits the proliferation and differentiation of the osteoblast MC3T3-E1 subclone 14 cell line

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease associated with joint inflammation and destruction. Current treatment modalities alleviate symptoms; however, they cannot cure the disease and are associated with significant side effects. Thus, we aimed to confirm the inhibitory effect of isofraxidin, a herbal extract, on pathological osteogenesis in ankylosing spondylitis to better treat patients affected by the disease. Mouse preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 subclone 14 cells were used in vitro to establish control and isofraxidin intervention groups. Cell viability was then determined using the MTT assay; the expression of osteogenic factors, including Runx2, OSX, collagen I, and ALP was measured using qRT-PCR and western blotting. Final osteogenic mineralization was performed by alizarin red staining. The results showed that isofraxidin could inhibit osteoblast viability; however, this effect was nullified at concentrations of 0-20 µM after adding 1% serum. Gene and protein expression of the osteogenic factors RUNX2, OSX, Collagen I, and ALP was inhibited, and a similar trend was exhibited at 7, 14, and 21 days after isofraxidin treatment. This trend was further verified by alizarin red staining of the final osteogenic mineralized nodules on days 7, 14, 21, and 35. Isofraxidin inhibits MC3T3-E1 subclone 14 proliferation and differentiation and may be considered a potential drug therapy for treating pathological osteogenesis in ankylosing spondylitis.

Design and evaluation of α-helix-based peptide inhibitors for blocking PD-1/PD-L1 interaction

The current research in tumor immunotherapy indicates that blocking the protein-protein interaction (PPI) between PD-1 and its ligand, PD-L1, may be one of the most effective treatments for cancer patients. The α-helix is a common elements of protein secondary structure and is often involved in protein interaction. Thus, α-helix-based peptides could mimic proteins involved in such interactions and are also capable of modulating PPI in vivo. In this study, starting from a potential α-helix-rich protein, we designed a series of α-helix-based peptide candidates to block PD-1/PD-L1 interaction. These candidates were first screened using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, and then their capacities to inhibit PD-1/PD-L1 interactions and to restore antitumor immune activities were investigated using the HTRF assay, SPR assay, cellular co-culture experiments and animal model experiments. Two peptides exhibited the best anti-tumor effects and the strong ability to restore the immunity of tumor-infiltrating T-cells. Further D-amino acid substitution was employed to improve the serum stability of peptide candidate, making the intravenous administration easier while maintaining the therapeutic efficacy. The resultant peptides showed promise as checkpoint inhibitors for application in tumor immunotherapy. These findings suggested that our strategy for developing peptides starting from an α-helical structure could be used in the design of bioactive inhibitors to potential block protein-protein interactions.

Diagnostic value of albumin/fibrinogen ratio and C-reactive protein/albumin/globulin ratio for periprosthetic joint infection: a retrospective study

Background

The study aims to explore diagnostic value of albumin/fibrinogen ratio (AFR) and C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin (ALB)/globulin (GLO) ratio (CAGR) for periprosthetic joint infection (PJI).

Methods

A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data collected from 190 patients who had joint replacement surgery in Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao), from January 2017 to December 2022. Based on the occurrence of PJI after surgery, patients were divided as an infection group (10 cases) and non-infection group (180 cases). Diagnostic indicators were analyzed, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were further performed to identify factors related to PJI. Sensitivity and specificity of AFR and CAGR, both individually and in combination, were calculated using ROC curves, and their diagnostic performance was compared based on the area under the curve (AUC).

Results

Levels of CRP, ESR, FIB, GLO, and CAGR were significantly higher in the infection group than in non-infection group (P < 0.05). Levels of ALB and AFR were significantly lower in infection group (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis reviewed that CRP (OR = 3.324), ESR (OR = 2.118), FIB (OR = 3.142), ALB (OR = 0.449), GLO (OR = 1.985), AFR (OR = 0.587), and CAGR (OR = 2.469) were factors influencing PJI (P < 0.05). The AUC for AFR and CAGR in diagnosing PJI were 0.739 and 0.780, while AUC for their combined detection was 0.858.

Conclusion

Abnormal levels of AFR and CAGR are associated with PJI, and their combined use has certain diagnostic value for PJI.

Lignan constituents with α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities from the fruits of Viburnum urceolatum

Eleven previously undescribed lignan constituents, including five 8-O-4' type neolignans, viburnurcosides A-E (1-5), three benzofuran type neolignans, viburnurcosides F-H (6-8), and three tetrahydrofuran type lignans, viburnurcosides I-K (9-11), were isolated from the fruits of Viburnum urceolatum. The structures of all isolates were elucidated by an extensive analysis of the NMR and HRESIMS data. The absolute configurations of these compounds were determined by quantum-chemical electronic circular dichroism calculation and comparison. The sugar units of viburnurcosides A-K were identified by acid hydrolysis and HPLC analysis of the chiral derivatives of monosaccharides. The in vitro enzyme inhibition assay exhibited that viburnurcoside J (10) had the most potent inhibitory activity against α-amylase and α-glucosidase with the IC50 values of 19.75 and 9.14 μM, respectively, which were stronger than those of the positive control acarbose (37.31 and 26.75 μM, respectively). The potential binding modes of viburnurcoside J (10) with α-amylase and α-glucosidase were also analyzed by molecular modeling.

Iridoid constituents from the branches of Viburnum chinshanense and their inhibitory effects on α-amylase and α-glucosidase

Ten previously undescribed iridoid constituents, viburnshosins A-E (1-5) and viburnshosides A-E (6-10), together with one known analogue (11), were isolated from the branches of Viburnum chinshanense. Their structures were unambiguously elucidated by a comprehensive analysis of 1D and 2D NMR data, together with HRESIMS spectroscopic data. The absolute configurations of compounds 1-10 were assigned by means of the calculated ECD spectra. Interestingly, compounds 2 and 3 are the first iridoids with an unusual C-3-C-7 oxo bridge. Compounds 4, 5, and 10 displayed remarkable inhibitory effects against α-amylase (IC50: 38.42, 37.65, and 21.64 μM, respectively) and α-glucosidase (IC50: 12.97, 19.34, and 25.71 μM, respectively), comparable to those of the positive control acarbose (IC50: 39.75 and 23.66 μM, respectively). The interaction modes of compounds 4 and 10 with two enzymes were analyzed by molecular modeling.

Lignan and phenolic glycosides from Viburnum betulifolium fruits and their α‑amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities

The phytochemical investigation on the methanol extract of Viburnum betulifolium fruits resulted in the isolation and identification of two new lignan constituents (1 and 2) and seven known phenolic glycosides (3-9). The structures of new isolates, including their absolute configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses (1H and 13C NMR, HSQC, HMBC, HRESIMS, and ECD) and chemical methods. In the in vitro enzyme assays, compounds 1, 2, 6, and 8 showed potential α‑amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Among them, compound 1 exhibited stronger inhibitory effects towards α-amylase and α-glucosidase with the IC50 values of 12.68 and 15.17 μM, respectively, than those of the positive control acarbose (IC50, 29.19 and 18.15 μM, respectively). In addition, the molecular docking analyses of compound 1 with strongest inhibition against the target enzymes were also performed.

MicroRNA-508-3p regulates the proliferation of human lung cancer cells by targeting G1 to S phase transition 1 (GSPT1) protein

PURPOSE

Due to its crucial cancer regulatory role, microRNA-508-3p has been reported as a potential therapeutic anticancer molecular target. The present work encompassed the molecular characterization of microRNA-508-3p in lung cancer emphasizing on understanding the possible mechanism of its regulatory action.

METHODS

qRT-PCR was performed to estimate the relative gene expression of microRNA-508-p in the tissue samples. The proliferation of cancer cells was determined by cell counting kit-8. The colony formation from cancer cells was analyzed by clonogenic assay. Mitotic phase distribution was understood by employing the flow cytometric technique. Edu-Hoechst staining was used for the assessment of cell viability. In silico analysis and dual-luciferase assay were used for target identification of microRNA-508-3p in lung cancer. Immunofluorescence and western blotting studies were carried out for relative protein expression. The rat models were used for performing the in vivo experimental procedures.

RESULTS

The study showed the significant down-regulation of microRNA-508-3p in lung cancer. The lower expression levels of microRNA-508-3p were shown to be associated with poor survival of lung cancer patients. The over-expression of microRNA-508-3p was found to decline the proliferation and viability of cancer cells together with the induction of mitotic cell cycle arrest at G1 by targeting G1 to S phase transition 1 (GSPT1) protein. MicroRNA-508-3p up-regulation inhibited the in vivo tumor growth in rat models.

CONCLUSION

Our study identifies miR-508-3p as a pivotal regulator of lung cancer cell proliferation by targeting the GSPT1 protein. This highlights its potential as a tumor suppressor and a therapeutic target for lung cancer. Our findings offer mechanistic insights into miRNA-mediated cancer progression, prompting further research in this intricate regulatory network.

The relationship between sleep quality and daytime dysfunction among college students in China during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study

Objective

College Students' sleep quality and daytime dysfunction have become worse since the COVID-19 outbreak, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between sleep quality and daytime dysfunction among college students during the COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) period.

Methods

This research adopts the form of cluster random sampling of online questionnaires. From April 5 to 16 in 2022, questionnaires are distributed to college students in various universities in Fujian Province, China and the general information questionnaire and PSQI scale are used for investigation. SPSS26.0 was used to conduct an independent sample t-test and variance analysis on the data, multi-factorial analysis was performed using logistic regression analysis. The main outcome variables are the score of subjective sleep quality and daytime dysfunction.

Results

During the COVID-19 period, the average PSQI score of the tested college students was 6.17 ± 3.263, and the sleep disorder rate was 29.6%, the daytime dysfunction rate was 85%. Being female, study liberal art/science/ engineering, irritable (due to limited outdoor), prolong electronic entertainment time were associated with low sleep quality (p < 0.001), and the occurrence of daytime dysfunction was higher than other groups (p < 0.001). Logistics regression analysis showed that sleep quality and daytime dysfunction were associated with gender, profession, irritable (due to limited outdoor), and prolonged electronic entertainment time (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

During the COVID-19 epidemic, the sleep quality of college students was affected, and different degrees of daytime dysfunction have appeared, both are in worse condition than before the COVID-19 outbreak. Sleep quality may was inversely associated with daytime dysfunction.