An adversarial example attack method based on predicted bounding box adaptive deformation in optical remote sensing images.

Existing global adversarial attacks are not applicable to real-time optical remote sensing object detectors based on the YOLO series of deep neural networks, which makes it difficult to improve the adversarial robustness of single-stage detectors. The existing methods do not work well enough in optical remote sensing images, which may be due to the mechanism of adversarial perturbations is not suitable. Therefore, an adaptive deformation method (ADM) was proposed to fool the detector into generating wrong predicted bounding boxes. Building upon this, we introduce the Adaptive Deformation Method Iterative Fast Gradient Sign Method (ADM-I-FGSM) and Adaptive Deformation Mechanism Projected Gradient Descent (ADM-PGD) against YOLOv4 and YOLOv5. ADM method can obtain the deformation trend values based on the length-to-width ratio of the prediction box, and the adversarial perturbation trend generated based on these trend values has better adversarial effect. Through experiments, we validate that our approach exhibits a higher adversarial success rate compared to the state-of-the-art methods. We anticipate that our unveiled attack scheme will aid in the evaluation of adversarial resilience of these models.

Dispersive Fourier transform based dual-comb ranging.

Laser-based light detection and ranging (LIDAR) offers a powerful tool to real-timely map spatial information with exceptional accuracy and owns various applications ranging from industrial manufacturing, and remote sensing, to airborne and in-vehicle missions. Over the past two decades, the rapid advancements of optical frequency combs have ushered in a new era for LIDAR, promoting measurement precision to quantum noise limited level. For comb LIDAR systems, to further improve the comprehensive performances and reconcile inherent conflicts between speed, accuracy, and ambiguity range, innovative demodulation strategies become crucial. Here we report a dispersive Fourier transform (DFT) based LIDAR method utilizing phase-locked Vernier dual soliton laser combs. We demonstrate that after in-line pulse stretching, the delay of the flying pulses can be identified via the DFT-based spectral interferometry instead of temporal interferometry or pulse reconstruction. This enables absolute distance measurements with precision starting from 262 nm in single shot, to 2.8 nm after averaging 1.5 ms, in a non-ambiguity range over 1.7 km. Furthermore, our DFT-based LIDAR method distinctly demonstrates an ability to completely eliminate dead zones. Such an integration of frequency-resolved ultrafast analysis and dual-comb ranging technology may pave a way for the design of future LIDAR systems.

ABA-mediated regulation of rice grain quality and seed dormancy via the NF-YB1-SLRL2-bHLH144 Module.

Abscisic acid (ABA) plays a crucial role in promoting plant stress resistance and seed dormancy. However, how ABA regulates rice quality remains unclear. This study identifies a key transcription factor SLR1-like2 (SLRL2), which mediates the ABA-regulated amylose content (AC) of rice. Mechanistically, SLRL2 interacts with NF-YB1 to co-regulate Wx, a determinant of AC and rice quality. In contrast to SLR1, SLRL2 is ABA inducible but insensitive to GA. In addition, SLRL2 exhibits DNA-binding activity and directly regulates the expression of Wx, bHLH144 and MFT2. SLRL2 competes with NF-YC12 for interaction with NF-YB1. NF-YB1 also directly represses SLRL2 transcription. Genetic validation supports that SLRL2 functions downstream of NF-YB1 and bHLH144 in regulating rice AC. Thus, an NF-YB1-SLRL2-bHLH144 regulatory module is successfully revealed. Furthermore, SLRL2 regulates rice dormancy by modulating the expression of MFT2. In conclusion, this study revealed an ABA-responsive regulatory cascade that functions in both rice quality and seed dormancy.

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Non-convulsive Electric Shock in the Treatment of Depression: A Meta-analysis.

Background: Depression is an affective mental disorder that seriously endangers the physical and psychological health of human beings. This study attempted to systematically evaluate and compare the clinical efficacy and onset time of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and non-convulsive electroshock in the treatment of Depression through the method of evidence-based medicine. Methods: As of December 2022, we have selectively searched domestic and foreign databases by computer, including English databases PubMed, ScienceDir ETC (Elsevier), Embase, wiley, and Chinese databases HowNet (CNKI), Wanfang (WanFang), VIP (VIP), Chinese Medical Association, CBM (sinomed) Chinese biomedical literature database, etc., collected randomized controlled studies on repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and non-convulsive electric shock in the treatment of Depression, and included 21 documents in total. Two researchers independently screened the literature, comprehensively evaluated the retrieved literature according to the established inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted valid data, and used Review Manager 5.4 software for quantitative statistical analysis. The clinical effective rate and Hamilton depression Rating scale (Hamilton depression scale, HAMD) and onset time were used as outcome indicators for evaluation. Results: A total of 12 literatures were included in this study for Meta-analysis, involving a total of 678 subjects. The results of Meta-analysis showed that the HAMD score of the study group was higher than that of the control group after treatment, MD=2.01, 95%CI (0.59-3.68), P < .05; there was no statistically significant difference in clinical efficacy between the study group and the control group, OR = 0.88, 95%CI (0.31-1.92), Z = 1.16, P = .29; the onset time of the study group was shorter than that of the control group, MD = 2.01, 95%CI (0.59-3.68), Z = 3.31, P = .001. Conclusion: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is superior to non-convulsive electroconvulsive shock in the treatment of Depression. However, further research is needed to verify its long-term efficacy in the treatment of such diseases. Future studies could focus on investigating the sustainability of treatment effects, exploring potential predictors of treatment response, and comparing the cost-effectiveness of rTMS and NCES in clinical practice. Such research would provide valuable insights for optimizing treatment strategies for depression.

Evaluation of flip-chip bonding electrical connectivity for ultra-large array infrared detector.

Flip-chip bonding is a key technology for infrared focal plane array (IRFPA) detectors. Due to the high cost of device preparation, the ultra-large array infrared detector cannot be directly used for the flip-chip bonding experiment, and the connectivity rate cannot be measured. To evaluate the flip-chip bonding process, a test device which has the same interconnecting structure as current IRFPA detectors is proposed. Indium bumps are electrically extracted to test electrodes. Electrical measurements were performed to characterize the connection and adhesion of the indium bumps and to calculate the connectivity rate. The electrical connectivity characteristics of the test devices correspond to the observation results of the indium bump extrusion, effectively detecting the interconnecting anomalies such as disconnection, adhesion, overall misalignment, etc., and verifying the feasibility of the test method. The test device has similar multi-layer components and thermal properties as HgCdTe infrared detector for process evaluation and post-processing experiment. The connectivity rate of the test device is up to 100%, and remains above 99% after thermal recycle experiment. The contact resistance of the interconnecting structure is calculated to be about 31.84 Ω based on the test results.

Systematic prediction method for flip-chip bonding connectivity of ultra-large array infrared detector.

The flip-chip bonding technique utilized in ultra-large array infrared detectors has a substantial impact on connectivity rates. The electrical connectivity of the flip-chip bonding process exhibits randomness due to the difficulties in the surface control of large-scale devices. This restriction hinders the development of ultra-large array devices. In this work, the surface shape matching calculation is performed based on the surface shape distributions measured from infrared detector chips and readout circuits. The multi combinations and multi rotation angles are employed to calculate the distribution of combined surface distances, and the combined PV (peak-to-valley) value is applied to describe the severity of surface mismatch. Test devices with combined PV values ranging from 7.460 µm to 4.265 µm are prepared and tested, and the connectivity rate achieves an improvement from 74.57% to 99.75% between mismatched devices and matching devices. The electrical test results of test devices indicate that disconnections tend to cluster in areas where surface distance is over 5 µm, which is determined by extracting and analyzing the surface distance correlated to electrical test results. A standard based on the combined PV value is established to select matching combinations and ensure a high connectivity rate of 99% or 97% for infrared detectors, while the connectivity rates of randomly selected devices are no higher than 91%. This work presents a systematic method to predict and improve the connectivity rate of flip-chip bonding process for ultra-large array infrared detector.

Water temperature governs organophosphate ester dynamics in the aquatic food chain of Poyang Lake.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are increasingly recognized as pervasive environmental contaminants, primarily from their extensive application in flame retardants and plasticizers. Despite their widespread presence, the intricacies of OPE bioaccumulation within aquatic ecosystems remain poorly understood, particularly the environmental determinants influencing their distribution and the bioaccumulation dynamics across aquatic food chains. Here we show that water temperature plays a crucial role in modulating the dispersion of OPE in the aquatic environment of Poyang Lake. We quantified OPE concentrations across various matrices, uncovering levels ranging from 0.198 to 912.622 ng L-1 in water, 0.013-493.36 ng per g dry weight (dw) in sediment, 0.026-41.92 ng per g wet weight (ww) in plankton, 0.13-2100.72 ng per g dw in benthic invertebrates, and 0.31-3956.49 ng per g dw in wild fish, highlighting a pronounced bioaccumulation gradient. Notably, the intestines emerged as the principal site for OPE absorption, displaying the highest concentrations among the seven tissues examined. Among the various OPEs, tris(chloroethyl) phosphate was distinguished by its significant bioaccumulation potential within the aquatic food web, suggesting a need for heightened scrutiny. The propensity for OPE accumulation was markedly higher in benthic invertebrates than wild fish, indicating a differential vulnerability within aquatic biota. This study lays a foundational basis for the risk assessment of OPEs as emerging contaminants and underscores the imperative to prioritize the examination of bioaccumulation effects, particularly in benthic invertebrates, to inform future environmental safeguarding strategies.

The histologic features, molecular features, detection and management of serrated polyps: a review.

The serrated pathway to colorectal cancers (CRCs) is a significant pathway encompassing five distinct types of lesions, namely hyperplastic polyps (HPs), sessile serrated lesions (SSLs), sessile serrated lesions with dysplasia (SSL-Ds), traditional serrated adenomas (TSAs), and serrated adenoma unclassified. In contrast to the conventional adenoma-carcinoma pathway, the serrated pathway primarily involves two mechanisms: BRAF/KRAS mutations and CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP). HPs are the most prevalent non-malignant lesions, while SSLs play a crucial role as precursors to CRCs, On the other hand, traditional serrated adenomas (TSAs) are the least frequently encountered subtype, also serving as precursors to CRCs. It is crucial to differentiate these lesions based on their unique morphological characteristics observed in histology and colonoscopy, as the identification and management of these serrated lesions significantly impact colorectal cancer screening programs. The management of these lesions necessitates the crucial steps of removing premalignant lesions and implementing regular surveillance. This article provides a comprehensive summary of the epidemiology, histologic features, molecular features, and detection methods for various serrated polyps, along with recommendations for their management and surveillance.

Development of a nomogram to predict 30-day mortality of sepsis patients with gastrointestinal bleeding: An analysis of the MIMIC-IV database.

Background: We aimed to establish and validate a prognostic nomogram model for improving the prediction of 30-day mortality of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) in critically ill patients with severe sepsis. Methods: In this retrospective study, the current retrospective cohort study extracted data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database, then partitioned the cohort randomly into training and validation subsets. The cohort was partitioned into training and validation subsets randomly. Our primary endpoint was 30-day all-cause mortality. To reduce data dimensionality and identify predictive variables, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was employed. A prediction model was constructed by multivariate logistic regression. Model performance was evaluated using the concordance index (C-index), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: The analysis included 1435 total patients, comprising 1005 in the training cohort and 430 in the validation cohort. We found that age, smoking status, glucose, (BUN), lactate, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, mechanical ventilation≥48h (MV), parenteral nutrition (PN), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) independently influenced mortality in sepsis patients with concomitant GIB. The C-indices were 0.746 (0.700-0.792) and 0.716 (0.663-0.769) in the training and validation sets, respectively. Based on the area under the curve (AUC) and DCA, the nomogram exhibited good discrimination for 30-day all-cause mortality in sepsis with GIB. Conclusions: For sepsis patients complicated with GIB, we created a unique nomogram model to predict the 30-day all-cause mortality. This model could be a significant therapeutic tool for clinicians in terms of personalized treatment and prognosis prediction.

Clinical effect of the internal fixation for rib fracture with single utility port complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

BACKGROUNDS: The internal fixation for rib fracture with single-operation-port (two ports) complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a promising surgical approach for treating multiple rib fractures. The study aimed to investigate the minimally invasive surgical procedure's clinical effect in treating multiple rib fractures. METHODS: Seventy-three patients with multiple rib fractures were divided into two groups according to surgical procedure. In the study group, 42 patients were operated on with the internal fixation of rib fracture with single-operation-port complete VATS. In the control group, this study performed the open operative internal fixation for rib fracture with traditional thoracotomy on 31 patients. The surgical-related indexes were retrospectively analyzed. These included the operative time, the intraoperative blood loss, the drainage amount of the chest tube, the placement time of the chest tube, the postoperative hospital stay, the incidence of postoperative complications, the imaging efficacy of rib fixation of rib fractures, and visual analog scale of pain scoring (VAS scoring). RESULTS: There was no difference in the operative time between the study and control groups (P = 0.806). The intraoperative blood loss, the chest tube drainage amount, the chest tube placement time, the postoperative hospital stay, and the incidence of postoperative complications in the study group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the imaging efficacy of rib fixation of rib fractures between the two groups (P = 0.806). VAS scores in the study group on the seventh postoperative day were significantly reduced compared with the control group (P = 0.026). CONCLUSION: The internal fixation for rib fractures with single-operation-port complete VATS is a feasible, safe, simple, and minimally invasive surgical procedure to treat multiple rib fractures, which is worthy of clinical application.

Predicting the acute toxicity of organophosphate esters (OPEs) to aquatic organisms by modelling the structure-toxicity relationships using partial least square regression.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) have been used worldwide as organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) since brominated flame retardants (BFRs) were banned. Due to the toxicity of these OPEs, environmental concerns and ecological risks arose. However, there are still large gaps in the understanding of their toxicity to organisms and the mechanisms of toxicity. After collecting the existing toxicity information and obtaining molecular descriptors of OPEs, a partial least square (PLS) regression model was used in this study to quantify the structure-toxicity relationships of OPEs. Based on the regression results, the acute toxicity of the remaining OPEs lacking acute toxicity data was predicted, and the risk level of total common OPEs was classified. The acute toxicity of 15 chemicals was collected, and >1660 molecular structure descriptors were obtained. The cross-validation results of the partial least square regression indicated that two principal components met the regression requirements with the selected features, and the regression equations of these chemicals were generated with selected molecular descriptors. The influence of physicochemical properties, such as hydrophobicity/molecular weight, in traditional perception of OPE toxicity was not that obvious, and acute toxicity was mainly influenced by the autocorrelation coefficients. However, the regression results indicated that the correlation between autocorrelation coefficients calculated based on different physicochemical properties and toxicity was different. According to the prediction result based on PLS regression, CDP may pose a high risk and halogenated alkyl-substituted OPEs such as TCEP may be less toxic. The results of the present study may help inform the environmental management and risk assessment of emerging chemicals such as OPEs.

Image classification adversarial attack with improved resizing transformation and ensemble models.

Convolutional neural networks have achieved great success in computer vision, but incorrect predictions would be output when applying intended perturbations on original input. These human-indistinguishable replicas are called adversarial examples, which on this feature can be used to evaluate network robustness and security. White-box attack success rate is considerable, when already knowing network structure and parameters. But in a black-box attack, the adversarial examples success rate is relatively low and the transferability remains to be improved. This article refers to model augmentation which is derived from data augmentation in training generalizable neural networks, and proposes resizing invariance method. The proposed method introduces improved resizing transformation to achieve model augmentation. In addition, ensemble models are used to generate more transferable adversarial examples. Extensive experiments verify the better performance of this method in comparison to other baseline methods including the original model augmentation method, and the black-box attack success rate is improved on both the normal models and defense models.

MetaFed: Federated Learning Among Federations With Cyclic Knowledge Distillation for Personalized Healthcare.

Federated learning (FL) has attracted increasing attention to building models without accessing raw user data, especially in healthcare. In real applications, different federations can seldom work together due to possible reasons such as data heterogeneity and distrust/inexistence of the central server. In this article, we propose a novel framework called MetaFed to facilitate trustworthy FL between different federations. obtains a personalized model for each federation without a central server via the proposed cyclic knowledge distillation. Specifically, treats each federation as a meta distribution and aggregates knowledge of each federation in a cyclic manner. The training is split into two parts: common knowledge accumulation and personalization. Comprehensive experiments on seven benchmarks demonstrate that without a server achieves better accuracy compared with state-of-the-art methods e.g., 10 %+ accuracy improvement compared with the baseline for physical activity monitoring dataset (PAMAP2) with fewer communication costs. More importantly, shows remarkable performance in real-healthcare-related applications.

Dynamic large strain measurement under high-temperature environment using a modified FBG sensor and plasma surface treatment.

Large strain measurement under high-temperature environment has been a hot but difficult research issue in the fields of measurement and metrology. However, conventional resistive strain gauges are susceptible to electromagnetic interference at high temperature, and typical fiber sensors will be invalid under high-temperature environment or fall off under large strain conditions. In this paper, aiming to achieve effective and precision measurement of large strain under high-temperature environment, a systematic scheme combining a well-designed encapsulation of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor and a special surface treatment method using plasma is presented. The encapsulation protects the sensor from damage while achieving partial thermal isolation and avoiding shear stress and creep, resulting in higher accuracy. And the plasma surface treatment provides a new bonding solution which can greatly improve the bonding strength and coupling efficiency without damaging the surface structure of the object under test. Suitable adhesive and temperature compensation method are also carefully analyzed. Consequently, large strain measurement up to 1500 µÉ› under high-temperature (1000°C) environment is experimentally achieved in a cost-effective way.

Reassortment and genomic analysis of a G9P[8]-E2 rotavirus isolated in China.

OBJECTIVE: To isolate a prevalent G9P[8] group A rotavirus (RVA) (N4006) in China and investigate its genomic and evolutionary characteristics, with the goal of facilitating the development of a new rotavirus vaccine. METHODS: The RVA G9P[8] genotype from a diarrhea sample was passaged in MA104 cells. The virus was evaluated by TEM, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and indirect immunofluorescence assay. The complete genome of virus was obtained by RT-PCR and sequencing. The genomic and evolutionary characteristics of the virus were evaluated by nucleic acid sequence analysis with MEGA ver. 5.0.5 and DNASTAR software. The neutralizing epitopes of VP7 and VP4 (VP5* and VP8*) were analyzed using BioEdit ver. 7.0.9.0 and PyMOL ver. 2.5.2. RESULTS: The RVA N4006 (G9P[8] genotype) was adapted in MA104 cells with a high titer (105.5 PFU/mL). Whole-genome sequence analysis showed N4006 to be a reassortant rotavirus of Wa-like G9P[8] RVA and the NSP4 gene of DS-1-like G2P[4] RVA, with the genotype constellation G9-P[8]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A1-N1-T1-E2-H1 (G9P[8]-E2). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that N4006 had a common ancestor with Japanese G9P[8]-E2 rotavirus. Neutralizing epitope analysis showed that VP7, VP5*, and VP8* of N4006 had low homology with vaccine viruses of the same genotype and marked differences with vaccine viruses of other genotypes. CONCLUSION: The RVA G9P[8] genotype with the G9-P[8]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A1-N1-T1-E2-H1 (G9P[8]-E2) constellation predominates in China and may originate from reassortment between Japanese G9P[8] with Japanese DS-1-like G2P[4] rotaviruses. The antigenic variation of N4006 with the vaccine virus necessitates an evaluation of the effect of the rotavirus vaccine on G9P[8]-E2 genotype rotavirus.

Distribution and Characterization of Typical Antibiotics in Water Bodies of the Yellow River Estuary and Their Ecological Risks.

A total of 34 antibiotics from five major classes of antibiotics, including macrolides, sulfonamides, quinolones, tetracyclines and chloramphenicol, were considered as contaminants, considering the Yellow River Estuary as the study area. The distribution, sources and ecological risks of typical antibiotics in the Yellow River Estuary were investigated using an optimized solid-phase extraction pre-treatment and an Agilent 6410B tandem triple-quadrupole liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer for antibiotic detection. The results show that antibiotics were widely present in the water bodies of the Yellow River Estuary, with 14 antibiotics detected to varying degrees, including a high detection rate for lincomycin hydrochloride. Farming wastewater and domestic sewage were the primary sources of antibiotics in the Yellow River Estuary. The distribution characteristics of antibiotics in the study area were linked to the development of farming and social activities. The ecological risk evaluation of 14 antibiotics in the Yellow River Estuary watershed showed that clarithromycin and doxycycline hydrochloride were present at medium-risk levels, and lincomycin hydrochloride, sulfamethoxazole, methomyl, oxifloxacin, enrofloxacin, sulfadiazine, roxithromycin, sulfapyridine, sulfadiazine and ciprofloxacin were present at low-risk levels in the samples collected from water bodies of the Yellow River Estuary. This study provides novel, beneficial information for the assessment of the ecological risk presented by antibiotics in the Yellow River Estuary water bodies and provides a scientific basis for future antibiotic pollution control in the Yellow River Basin.

The coverage of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and the willingness to receive the SARS-CoV-2 variant vaccine among employees in China.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2, is a major global health threat. The dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 has changed over time due to continuous evolution. We aimed to evaluate the coverage of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among employees in China, explore their willingness to receive the SARS-CoV-2 variant vaccine and examine the potential factors influencing vaccination coverage and willingness. METHODS: A cross-sectional epidemiological survey was conducted online from January 1, 2022, to January 30, 2022. The information collected in the survey included sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, vaccination coverage, willingness to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 variants and the reasons for vaccination and willingness. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the associations of potential factors with the rate of vaccination and the willingness to be vaccinated. RESULTS: Among 62,395 eligible participants, the coverage of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was 98.9% for at least one dose and 70.1% for a booster. The great majority of vaccinated individuals (94.4%) voluntarily received the vaccine. A total of 60,694 respondents (97.7%) were willing to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 variants, mainly due to confidence in the effectiveness of vaccines (92.8%). A total of 1431 respondents were unwilling to be vaccinated, mainly because of concerns about the adverse effects of vaccines (77.6%). Longer education duration was associated with a higher rate of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and willingness to be vaccinated. General or poor health status and having no history of influenza vaccination were associated with a lower rate of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and willingness to be vaccinated. Additionally, we observed a significant positive association of abuse experience with the willingness to be vaccinated. CONCLUSION: Although the rate of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and the willingness to be vaccinated were relatively high in the study population, there were still some respondents with vaccine hesitancy. Relevant strategies based on significant related factors should be developed and implemented to encourage vaccination.

An oral NoV-rAd5 vaccine with built-in dsRNA adjuvant elicits systemic immune responses in mice.

Norovirus (NoV) is an enteric pathogen notorious for causing epidemics of acute gastroenteritis. An effective vaccine against NoV is therefore urgently needed. A short double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) has been described that acts as a retinoic-acid-inducible gene-I agonist to induce the production of type I interferon; it also exhibits adjuvant activity. Using built-in dsRNA of different lengths (DS1 and DS2), we developed a recombinant adenovirus 5 (rAd5) expressing NoV VP1, and evaluated its immunogenicity following oral administration in a mouse model. An in vitro study demonstrated that the dsRNA adjuvants significantly enhanced VP1 protein expression in infected cells. The oral administration of both rAd5-VP1-DS vaccines elicited high serum levels of VP1-specific IgG and blocking antibodies, as well as strong and long-lasting mucosal immunity. There was no apparent difference in immunostimulatory effects in immunised mice between the two dsRNA adjuvants. This study indicates that an oral NoV-rAd5 vaccine with a built-in dsRNA adjuvant may be developed to prevent NoV infection in humans.

Phillygenin Attenuated Colon Inflammation and Improved Intestinal Mucosal Barrier in DSS-induced Colitis Mice via TLR4/Src Mediated MAPK and NF-κB Signaling Pathways.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, relapsing, and nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Phillygenin (PHI), a natural bioactive ingredient, isolated from Forsythiae Fructus, exhibits anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and hepatoprotective activities. However, few reports provide direct evidence on the efficacy of PHI in improving colitis mice. The present study elucidated that the symptoms of DSS-induced colitis mice were alleviated after PHI administration, including body weight loss, the disease activity index, colon length shortening, colonic pathological damage, splenomegaly, and hepatomegaly. PHI treatment improved the intestinal mucosal barrier by protecting goblet cells, promoting gene expressions of Clca1, Slc26a3, and Aqp8, increasing tight junction proteins (TJs), and reducing epithelial cell apoptosis. In addition, the levels of oxidative stress (MPO, SOD, and MDA) and inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, and IL-10) were reversed by PHI in colitis mice. According to transcriptome and network pharmacology analysis, inflammatory pathway might be an important mechanism for PHI to improve colitis. Western blotting displayed that the PHI inhibited the activation of tyrosine kinase Src mediated by TLR4, and then reduced the phosphorylation of downstream proteins p38, JNK, and NF-κB in colitis mice. In summary, our results suggested that PHI might be an appropriate and effective drug candidate to protect colitis.

[Long-term Succession Patterns and Driving Factors of Water Quality in a Flood-pulse System Lake: A Case Study of Lake Luoma, Jiangsu Province].

Lake Luoma is an important storage lake for the Eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (NSBD), which has many functions including flood control and irrigation, drinking water supply, and ecological maintenance. In order to understand the succession patterns and driving factors of water quality in Lake Luoma, we used monthly monitoring data from 2009 to 2020 in combination with historical data from 1996 to 2008. The long-term succession patterns, seasonal dynamics, and spatial patterns of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), permanganate index, and ammonia nitrogen (NH+4-N) were examined, and the influence of meteorological and hydrological factors on water quality was explored through correlation analyses and generalized additive models. The results showed that it remained in the status of grade Ⅳ-inferior Ⅴ over the past 25 years. The concentration of TN, which was the main pollutant, changed significantly (1.06-3.49 mg·L-1), experiencing three stages of gradual decline (1996-2002), significant interannual fluctuation (2002-2015), and significant increase (2015-2020). Permanganate index decreased significantly (2.97-6.38 mg·L-1), whereas TP and NH+4-N concentration fluctuated slightly, ranging from 0.024-0.076 mg·L-1 and 0.11-0.69 mg·L-1, respectively. The concentration of TN and TP increased abnormally in the summer of 2017-2020, reaching 3.30 mg·L-1 and 0.14 mg·L-1 in August, respectively, which was approximately 1.5 and 2.4 times the annual average. In terms of seasonal dynamics, the seasonal variation in water quality between summer/autumn and winter/spring reversed after 2015, with water quality in summer/autumn being worse than that in winter and spring, indicating the exacerbation of eutrophication. The water quality in the southern area was obviously better than that in the northern area. The input of pollutants from the Yihe River and Middle Canal increased with water quantity since 2015, which drove the water quality deterioration through nutrients. Our results suggested that the water quality of Lake Luoma should be improved by strengthening exogenous pollution reduction, endogenous control, polder dismantling, and ecological restoration.