Polyphyllin B inhibited STAT3/NCOA4 pathway and restored gut microbiota to ameliorate lung tissue injury in cigarette smoke-induced mice.

OBJECTIVE: Smoking was a major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study plan to explore the mechanism of Polyphyllin B in lung injury induced by cigarette smoke (CSE) in COPD. METHODS: Network pharmacology and molecular docking were applied to analyze the potential binding targets for Polyphyllin B and COPD. Commercial unfiltered CSE and LPS were used to construct BEAS-2B cell injury in vitro and COPD mouse models in vivo, respectively, which were treated with Polyphyllin B or fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). CCK8, LDH and calcein-AM were used to detect the cell proliferation, LDH level and labile iron pool. Lung histopathology, Fe3+ deposition and mitochondrial morphology were observed by hematoxylin-eosin, Prussian blue staining and transmission electron microscope, respectively. ELISA was used to measure inflammation and oxidative stress levels in cells and lung tissues. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were applied to analyze the 4-HNE, LC3 and Ferritin expression. RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of FcRn, pIgR, STAT3 and NCOA4. Western blot was used to detect the expression of Ferritin, p-STAT3/STAT3, NCOA4, GPX4, TLR2, TLR4 and P65 proteins. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was applied to detect the gut microbiota. RESULTS: Polyphyllin B had a good binding affinity with STAT3 protein, which as a target gene in COPD. Polyphyllin B inhibited CS-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, mitochondrial damage, and ferritinophagy in COPD mice. 16S rRNA sequencing and FMT confirmed that Akkermansia and Escherichia_Shigella might be the potential microbiota for Polyphyllin B and FMT to improve CSE and LPS-induced COPD, which were exhausted by the antibiotics in C + L and C + L + P mice. CSE and LPS induced the decrease of cell viability and the ferritin and LC3 expression, and the increase of NCOA4 and p-STAT3 expression in BEAS-2B cells, which were inhibited by Polyphyllin B. Polyphyllin B promoted ferritin and LC3II/I expression, and inhibited p-STAT3 and NCOA4 expression in CSE + LPS-induced BEAS-2B cells. CONCLUSION: Polyphyllin B improved gut microbiota disorder and inhibited STAT3/NCOA4 pathway to ameliorate lung tissue injury in CSE and LPS-induced mice.

Coregulation of Li/Li+ Spatial Distribution by Electric Field Gradient with Homogenized Li-Ion Flux for Dendrite-Free Li Metal Anodes.

Lithium (Li) metal batteries are highly sought after for their exceptional energy density. However, their practical implementation is impeded by the formation of dendrites and significant volume fluctuations in Li, which stem from the uneven distribution of Li-ions and uncontrolled deposition of Li on the current collector. Here, an amino-functionalized reduced graphene oxide covered with polyacrylonitrile (PrGN) film with an electric field gradient structure is prepared to deal with such difficulties. This novel current collector serves to stabilize Li-metal anodes by regulating Li-ion flux through vertically aligned channels formed by porous polyacrylonitrile (PAN). Moreover, the amino-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (rGN) acts as a three-dimensional (3D) host, reducing nucleation overpotential and accommodating volume expansion during cycling. The combination of the insulating PAN and conducting rGN creates an electric field gradient that promotes a bottom-up mode of Li electrodeposition and safeguards the anode from interfacial parasitic reactions. Consequently, the electrodes exhibit exceptional cycle life with stable voltage profiles and minimal hysteresis under high current densities and large areal capacities.

Classical swine fever virus NS5A protein activates autophagy via the PP2A-DAPK3-Beclin 1 axis.

IMPORTANCE: Autophagy is a conserved degradation process that maintains cellular homeostasis and regulates native and adaptive immunity. Viruses have evolved diverse strategies to inhibit or activate autophagy for their benefit. The paper reveals that CSFV NS5A mediates the dissociation of PP2A from Beclin 1 and the association of PP2A with DAPK3 by interaction with PPP2R1A and DAPK3, PP2A dephosphorylates DAPK3 to activate its protein kinase activity, and activated DAPK3 phosphorylates Beclin 1 to trigger autophagy, indicating that NS5A activates autophagy via the PP2A-DAPK3-Beclin 1 axis. These data highlight a novel mechanism by which CSFV activates autophagy to favor its replication, thereby contributing to the development of antiviral strategies.

Pseudopyrolysis of Metal-Organic Frameworks: A Synchronous Nucleation Mechanism to Synthesize Ultrafine Metal Compound Nanoparticles.

Metal-Organic frameworks (MOFs) are increasingly being investigated for the synthesis of carbon-supported metal-based ultrafine nanoparticles (UNPs). However, the collapse of the carbon framework and aggregation of metal particles in the pyrolysis process have severely hindered their stability and applications. Here, we report the synchronous nucleation pseudopyrolysis of MOFs to confine Fe/FeOx UNPs in intact porous carbon nanorods (IPCNs), revealed by in situ transmission electron microscopy experiments and ex situ structure analysis. The pseudopyrolysis mechanism enables strong physical and chemical confinement effects between UNPs and carbon by moderate thermal kinetics and abundant oxygen defects. Further, this strong confinement is greatly beneficial for subsequent chemical transformations to obtain different Fe-based UNPs and excellent electrochemical performance. As a proof of concept, the as-prepared FeSe UNPs in IPCNs show superior lithium storage performance with an ultrahigh and stable capacity of 815.1 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g -1 and 379.7 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 for 1000 cycles.

Magnetic biochar with Mg/La modification for highly effective phosphate adsorption and its potential application as an algaecide and fertilizer.

In this study, a highly efficient phosphate adsorbent (MBC/Mg-La) based on magnetic biochar was successfully synthesized through Mg-La modification. The phosphate adsorption capacity of biochar was significantly enhanced after Mg-La modification. The adsorbent exhibited an excellent phosphate adsorption performance, particularly for treating low-concentration phosphate wastewater. Within a wide pH range, the adsorbent maintained a stable phosphate adsorption capacity. Furthermore, it showed a high adsorption selectivity for phosphate. Therefore, given the excellent phosphate adsorption performance, the adsorbent could effectively inhibit algae growth by removing phosphate from water. Furthermore, the adsorbent after phosphate adsorption can be easily recycled through magnetic separation, which can serve as a phosphorus fertilizer to promote the growth of Lolium perenne L.

Self-adaption and texture generation: A hybrid loss function for low-dose CT denoising.

BACKGROUND: Deep learning has been successfully applied to low-dose CT (LDCT) denoising. But the training of the model is very dependent on an appropriate loss function. Existing denoising models often use per-pixel loss, including mean abs error (MAE) and mean square error (MSE). This ignores the difference in denoising difficulty between different regions of the CT images and leads to the loss of large texture information in the generated image. PURPOSE: In this paper, we propose a new hybrid loss function that adapts to the noise in different regions of CT images to balance the denoising difficulty and preserve texture details, thus acquiring CT images with high-quality diagnostic value using LDCT images, providing strong support for condition diagnosis. METHODS: We propose a hybrid loss function consisting of weighted patch loss (WPLoss) and high-frequency information loss (HFLoss). To enhance the model's denoising ability of the local areas which are difficult to denoise, we improve the MAE to obtain WPLoss. After the generated image and the target image are divided into several patches, the loss weight of each patch is adaptively and dynamically adjusted according to its loss ratio. In addition, considering that texture details are contained in the high-frequency information of the image, we use HFLoss to calculate the difference between CT images in the high-frequency information part. RESULTS: Our hybrid loss function improves the denoising performance of several models in the experiment, and obtains a higher peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index (SSIM). Moreover, through visual inspection of the generated results of the comparison experiment, the proposed hybrid function can effectively suppress noise and retain image details. CONCLUSIONS: We propose a hybrid loss function for LDCT image denoising, which has good interpretation properties and can improve the denoising performance of existing models. And the validation results of multiple models using different datasets show that it has good generalization ability. By using this loss function, high-quality CT images with low radiation are achieved, which can avoid the hazards caused by radiation and ensure the disease diagnosis for patients.

Boosting Charge Transfer Via Heterostructure Engineering of Ti2 CTx /Na2 Ti3 O7 Nanobelts Array for Superior Sodium Storage Performance.

The poor conductivity, inert charge transmission efficiency, and irreversible Na+ trapping of Na2 Ti3 O7 result in retardant electrons/ions transportation and deficient sodium-ion storage efficiency, leading to sluggish reaction kinetics. To address these issues, an urchin-like Ti2 CTx /Na2 Ti3 O7 (Ti2 C/NTO) heterostructure sphere consisting of Ti2 C/NTO heterostructure nanobelts array is developed via a facile one-step in situ hydrothermal strategy. The Ti2 C/NTO heterostructure can obviously decrease Na+ diffusion barriers and increase electronic conductivity to improve reaction kinetics due to the built-in electric field effect and high-quantity interface region. In addition, the urchin-like vertically aligned nanobelts can reduce the diffusion distance of electrons and ions, provide favored electrolyte infiltration, adapt large volume expansion, and mitigate the aggregation to maintain structural stability during cycles, further enhancing the reaction kinetics. Furthermore, the Ti2 C/NTO heterostructure can effectively suppress many unwanted side reactions between reactive surface sites of NTO and electrolyte as well as irreversible trapping of Na+ . As a result, systematic electrochemical investigations demonstrate that the Ti2 C/NTO heterostructure as an anode material for record sodium-ion storage delivers the highest reversible capacity, the best cycling stability with 0.0065% decay rate for 4500 cycles at 2.0 A g-1 , and excellent rate capability of 172.1 mAh g-1 at 10.0 A g-1 .

Underdetermined DOA Estimation of Wideband LFM Signals Based on Gridless Sparse Reconstruction in the FRF Domain.

An underdetermined direction of arrival (DOA) estimation method of wideband linear frequency modulated (LFM) signals is proposed without grid mismatch. According to the concentration property of LFM signal in the fractional Fourier (FRF) domain, the received sparse model of wideband signals with time-variant steering vector is firstly derived based on a coprime array. Afterwards, by interpolating virtual sensors, a virtual extended uniform linear array (ULA) is constructed with more degrees of freedom, and its covariance matrix in the FRF domain is recovered by employing sparse matrix reconstruction. Meanwhile, in order to avoid the grid mismatch problem, the modified atomic norm minimization is used to retrieve the covariance matrix with the consecutive basis. Different from the existing methods that approximately assume the frequency and the steering vector of the wideband signals are time-invariant in every narrowband frequency bin, the proposed method not only can directly solve more DOAs of LFM signals than the number of physical sensors with time-variant frequency and steering vector, but also obtain higher resolution and more accurate DOA estimation performance by the gridless sparse reconstruction. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

[Nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease: A retrospective analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical characteristics and drug resistance in patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) pulmonary disease in Changsha Central Hospital of Hunan Province in recent three years.
 Methods: The clinical data of 153 patients with NTM pulmonary disease, who were diagnosed in Changsha Central Hospital of Hunan Province from February 2014 to May 2017, were retrospectively analyzed. According to the concentration of drug sensitivity test, the patients were divided into a low concentration group and a high concentration group. The status of drug sensitivity and drug resistance were examined.
 Results: Among 153 patients, 79 patients (51.63%) were male, 74 patients (48.37%) were female. The mean ages were (60.27±19.46) years. The NTM pulmonary disease mainly occurred in the individuals with bronchiectasis, and the course of disease was long (mean 7.8 years). The clinical symptoms were not specific and mostly misdiagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis (92.81%). Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (56.21%) and mycobacterium chelonae-abscess (20.92%) were the majority. The drug-resistance rate of the first-line and second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs was high. The majority was resistant to more than eight drugs, 38.56% patients in the low concentration group were resistant to total drugs, and 25.49% patients in the high concentration group were resistant to total drugs.
 Conclusion: The NTM pulmonary disease is easily misdiagnosed, and the drug resistance rate is high. Identification of mycobacterium species and detection of drug sensitivity play an important role in clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Variation characteristics of nitrogen concentrations through forest hydrologic subcycles in various forests across mainland China.

Increased anthropogenic nitrogen emissions and more severe environmental issues (e.g. air pollution, soil acidification, and plant nutrient imbalances) are striking forest ecosystems. Data on NH4+ and NO3- concentrations in throughfall and stemflow were collected to estimate variation characteristics of nitrogen concentrations through forest hydrological processes across China. A typical study was carried out in the three forest types in the Jinyun Mountain region of Chongqing, from May to October 2012. Nitrogen concentrations in throughfall and stemflow are higher than those in atmospheric precipitation. DIN concentrations in atmospheric precipitation, throughfall, and stemflow, across China and in the Jinyun Mountain region, were 2.18 and 1.51, 3.19 and 3.88, and 5.14 and 3.92 mg N L(-1), respectively. NH4+ concentration was higher than NO3- concentration, suggesting NH4+ is the dominant nitrogen component in China. Additionally, across China, a linear relationship existed between DIN and NH4+, and between DIN and NO3- in atmospheric precipitation. DIN concentrations in throughfall and stemflow changed with the observed changes in precipitation, and DIN concentrations in precipitation positively correlated with those in throughfall and in stemflow were also observed. Moreover, average DIN concentrations in throughfall and stemflow varied in different forest types, resulting from differences in forest canopy structures and tree species characteristics. In the Jinyun Mountain region, both throughfall and stemflow DIN concentrations were the highest in the mixed broadleaved/coniferous forest, followed by evergreen broadleaved forest, and the lowest in moso bamboo forest. Monthly variations of NH4+ and NO3- concentrations, in throughfall and stemflow, were observed in the Jinyun Mountain region.

Association between dietary anthocyanin intake and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in US adults: A public database survey.

BACKGROUND: Anthocyanins have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Several studies have demonstrated that anthocyanins are associated with many chronic diseases, but few studies have focused on the relationship between anthocyanins and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). OBJECTIVES: This survey aimed to explore the relationship between dietary anthocyanin intake and COPD in US adults over the age of 40. METHODS: A cross-sectional study from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2017-2018 was conducted. We used univariate and multivariate logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) to analyze the relationship between dietary anthocyanins and COPD. Subgroup and interaction analyses were adopted to assess whether there were differences in the relationship between dietary anthocyanin intake and COPD in different groups. RESULTS: A total of 2862 participants aged ≥ 40 years were analyzed, of whom 213 were diagnosed with COPD. The highest tertile of dietary anthocyanin intake was negatively correlated with COPD compared to the lowest after adjusting potential confounders (Model 1, OR = 0.414; 95% CI: (0.245, 0.699), P-trend = 0.002; Model 2, OR = 0.363; 95% CI: (0.210, 0.627), P-trend = 0.002; Model 3, OR = 0.614; 95% CI: (0.383, 0.985), P-trend = 0.040). The RCS curve showed a significant inverse linear relationship between dietary anthocyanin intake and COPD (P non-linear = 0.734). In subgroup analyses, the negative correlation between dietary anthocyanin intake and COPD existed across different subgroups. CONCLUSION: Our study indicated that higher dietary anthocyanins are a protective factor against the presence of COPD in the US aged over 40.

Dietary isoflavone intake is inversely associated with remnant cholesterol in US adults: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown that dietary isoflavones are negatively correlated with total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. However, few studies have investigated the link between dietary isoflavones and remnant cholesterol (RC). OBJECTIVES: We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database to explore the association between dietary isoflavone intake and RC. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 4731 participants aged ≥ 20 years from the 2007-2008, 2009-2010, and 2017-2018 NHANES databases. We adopted univariate and multiple linear regression analysis and restricted cubic spline (RCS) to assess the relationship between dietary isoflavone intake and RC. Moreover, we conducted stratified and interaction analyses to ensure the stability of the results and identify specific populations. RESULTS: The weighted multifactor linear regression model showed a negative correlation between dietary isoflavone intake and remnant cholesterol (Model 2, ß = -0.049, 95% CI: (-0.096, -0.002), P = 0.040). The RCS analysis indicated that there was an L-shaped negative correlation between dietary isoflavone intake and RC (P-value for non-linearity was 0.0464). Stratified analyses showed the inverse relationship between dietary isoflavone intake and RC persisted in most subgroups and there was no interaction except for the recreational activity group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found a non-linear and negative association between dietary isoflavone intake and RC in US adults, so we hypothesized that consuming an isoflavone-rich diet may help reduce blood RC and further reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Comprehensive assessment of refined greenhouse gas emissions from China's livestock sector.

Livestock and poultry products are an essential human food source. However, the rapid development of the livestock sector (LS) has caused it to become a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Consequently, investigating the spatio-temporal characteristics and evolution of GHG emissions is crucial to facilitate the green development of the LS and achieve "peak carbon and carbon neutrality". This study combined life cycle assessment (LCA) with the IPCC Tier II method to construct a novel GHG emissions inventory. The GHG emissions of 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2021 were calculated, and their spatio-temporal characteristics were revealed. Then, the stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) model was used to identify the main driving factors of GHG emissions in six regions of China and explore the emission reduction potential. The results showed that GHG emissions increased and then decreased from 2000 to 2021, following a gradual and steady trend. The peak of 628.55 Mt CO2-eq was reached in 2006. The main GHG-producing segments were enteric fermentation, slaughtering and processing, and manure management, accounting for 45.39 %, 26.34 %, and 23.08 % of total GHG emissions, respectively. Overall, the center of gravity of GHG emissions in China migrated northward, with spatial aggregation observed since 2016. The high emission intensity regions were mainly located west of the "Hu Huanyong line". Economic efficiency and emissions intensity were the main drivers of GHG emissions. Under the baseline scenario, GHG emissions are not projected to peak until 2050. Therefore, urgent action is needed to promote the low-carbon green development of the LS in China. The results can serve as scientific references for the macro-prevention and control of GHG emissions, aiding strategic decision-making. Additionally, they can provide new ideas for GHG accounting in China and other countries around the world.

Exploring the impact of electrocardiographic parameters on the risk of common arrhythmias: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Observational studies have shown that heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), P-wave terminal force, P-wave duration, T-wave amplitude and PR interval are associated with risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF) or bradycardia. Arrhythmias are associated with many causes of hospitalization. However, observational studies are susceptible to confounding factors that have not yet been identified. The objective of this study was to clarify the causal relationships by Mendelian randomization analysis. Methods: We conducted a two-sample and multivariate Mendelian randomization (MVMR) analysis using genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from a European population to assess the total and direct causal effects of HR, three HRV traits, P-wave terminal force, P-wave duration, T-wave top amplitude in five-lead modes, and the PR interval on the risk of AF (N=191,205), bradycardia (N=463,010), and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) (N=463,010). Results: The results of the univariate MR analysis revealed the following significant causal effects: the higher the genetically predicted PR interval, the lower the risk of AF; the higher the HR and T-wave top amplitude (aVR leads and V3 + V4 + aVL leads), the lower the risk of bradycardia; and the higher HR and the lower PR interval, the higher the risk of SVT. The multivariate MR results indicated that the HRV_standard deviation of the normal-to-normal (SDNN) interval had an independent causal effect on the risk of AF [odds ratio (OR): 0.515; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.278-0.954; P=0.03], and the T-wave top amplitude in the aVR leads (OR: 0.998; 95% CI: 0.996-0.999; P<0.001) and the HRV_SDNN (OR: 0.988; 95% CI: 0.976-1.000; P=0.045) had independent causal effects on the risk of bradycardia. Conclusions: The HRV_SDNN had an independent causal effect on AF, while the HRV_SDNN and T-wave top amplitude in the aVR leads had independent causal effects on bradycardia, which suggests that some of the electrocardiographic parameters have preventive effects on the incidence of AF and bradycardia.

Aerobic Fe transformation induced decrease in the adsorption and enhancement in the reduction of Cr(VI) by humic acid-ferric iron coprecipitates.

Humic substance (HS)-ferric iron (Fe(III)) coprecipitates are widespread organo-mineral associations in soils and aquifers and have the capacity to immobilize and detoxify Cr(VI). These coprecipitates undergo transformation owing to their thermodynamic instability; however, the effects of this transformation on their environmental behaviors remain unclear, particularly in aerobic environments. In this study, the aerobic transformation of humic acid (HA)-Fe(III) coprecipitates, a representative of HS-Fe(III) coprecipitates, was simulated. The environmental effect was then evaluated after conducting an adsorption-reduction batch experiment toward Cr(VI). The aerobic transformation characteristics, as well as the adsorption/reduction capacity of HA-Fe(III) coprecipitates, were found to depend strongly on their structures. In ferrihydrite (Fh)-like coprecipitates, amorphous Fh is readily transformed into crystalline hematite and goethite at aerobic environments, leading to a much lower specific surface area and adsorption capacity. However, this increasing degree of crystallization enhanced the inductive reduction ability towards Cr(VI) owing to the more significant shift of electron pairs in the FeOC bond toward the HA direction. In HS-like coprecipitates, Fe(III) always serves as a cation bridge connecting HA molecules, but can be reduced to Fe(II) by the associated HA after aerobic transformation. The produced Fe(II), therefore, drove the reduction of the adsorbed Cr(VI). These findings emphasize the pivotal role of aerobic transformation in enhancing the reduction capacity for Cr(VI), which opens a new avenue for the development of in-situ remediation agents for Cr(VI)-contaminated sites.

[Trade-off and Synergy of Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Its Driving Factors].

Ecosystem services (ESs) and their changes are complex processes driven by multiple factors. Understanding the trade-off and synergy between ESs and their driving factors is essential for achieving effective management of ESs and human well-being. Taking the Yangtze River Economic Belt as the research area, this study analyzed the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of four ESs including water yield, soil conservation, carbon sequestration, and food supply from 2000 to 2020. Correlation analysis and geographically weighted regression were used to identify and quantify the trade-off and synergy between ESs. On this basis, the partial least squares structural equation model was used to explore the impact of natural and human activities on ESs, and then the driving mechanism of ESs relationship change was analyzed via GeoDetector. The results showed that:① During the 20 years, the average annual carbon sequestration increased from 946.14 t·km-2 to 1 202.73 t·km-2, and the average food supply increased from 32.73×104 Yuan·km-2 to 127.22×104 Yuan·km-2. Water yield and soil conservation increased to a lesser degree. ② On the whole, carbon sequestration and soil conservation and food supply and water yield showed synergy, and other ESs were trade-offs. The relationship between ESs varied in different regions. ③ Terrain and climate were important driving factors for ESs and the trade-off and synergy of multiple ESs. Among them, structural equation model results showed that climate had a positive impact on water yield (S=0.73), and terrain had a negative impact on food supply (S=-0.57). GeoDetector results revealed that the main driving factors affecting the spatial relationship between carbon sequestration and water yield were elevation (q=0.38) and precipitation (q=0.19). The results of this study can provide a scientific reference for the sustainable management of ESs in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the realization of the coordinated development of ecological environment protection and social economy in the region.

Impacts of landscape pattern evolution on typical ecosystem services in Ganjiang River Basin, China.

Understanding the response mechanism of ecosystem services (ES) to landscape patterns is important in regional landscape planning and sustainable development. In this study, the landscape index and InVEST model were used to quantitatively analyze the spatio-temporal evolution of landscape patterns and ES in the Ganjiang River Basin of China from 1990 to 2020. Furthermore, the bivariate Moran's I method and spatial error model were used to test the spatial correlation between landscape index and ES. The results showed that (1) cropland decreased and construction land increased, and the overall landscape tended to be fragmented, the patch shape complicated, and landscape diversity increased from 1990 to 2020. Water conservation (WC) and soil conservation (SC) capacity increased by 10.56 mm and 16.24 t hm-2 a-1, respectively, whereas carbon storage (CS) decreased by 1.22 t hm-2 a-1. (2) The responses of different typical ES to landscape patterns were different in the landscape index and response degree. Typical ES negatively responded to Shannon's diversity index and patch density. WC was sensitive to the Splitting Index, whereas SC and CS were more responsive to the average patch area. (3) The overall purpose of territorial spatial planning within a basin should be to reduce the fragmentation and heterogeneity of the landscape. According to four local aggregation patterns of landscape index and ES, corresponding measures can be taken according to local conditions in different regions. These results can provide a quantitative basis for landscape management and ecological construction in the Ganjiang River Basin and scientific guidance for the Yangtze River conservation strategy.

Bi nanoparticles confined in N,S co-doped carbon nanoribbons with excellent rate performance for sodium-ion batteries.

Bismuth (Bi) has emerged as a promising candidate for sodium-ion battery anodes because of its unique layered crystal structure, superior volumetric capacity, and high theoretical gravimetric capacity. However, the large volume expansion and severe aggregation of Bi during the alloying/dealloying reactions are extremely detrimental to cycling stability, which seriously hinders its practical application. To overcome these issues, we propose an effective synthesis of composite materials, encapsulating Bi nanoparticles in N,S co-doped carbon nanoribbons and composites with carbon nanotubes (N,S-C@Bi/CNT), using Bi2S3 nanobelts as templates. The uniform distribution of Bi nanoparticles and the structure of carbon nanoribbons can reduce the diffusion path of ions/electrons, efficiently buffer the large volume change and prevent Bi from aggregating during cycles. As expected, the N,S-C@Bi/CNT electrode shows superior sodium storage performance in half cells, including a high specific capacity (345.3 mA h g-1 at 1.0 A g-1), long cycling stability (1000 cycles), and superior rate capability (336.0 mA h g-1 at 10.0 A g-1).

Classical swine fever virus NS5A protein antagonizes innate immune response by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling.

The NS5A non-structural protein of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is a multifunctional protein involved in viral genomic replication, protein translation, assembly of infectious virus particles, and regulation of cellular signaling pathways. Previous report showed that NS5A inhibited nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling induced by poly(I:C); however, the mechanism involved has not been elucidated. Here, we reported that NS5A directly interacted with NF-κB essential modulator (NEMO), a regulatory subunit of the IκB kinase (IKK) complex, to inhibit the NF-κB signaling pathway. Further investigations showed that the zinc finger domain of NEMO and the aa 126-250 segment of NS5A are essential for the interaction between NEMO and NS5A. Mechanistic analysis revealed that NS5A mediated the proteasomal degradation of NEMO. Ubiquitination assay showed that NS5A induced the K27-linked but not the K48-linked polyubiquitination of NEMO for proteasomal degradation. In addition, NS5A blocked the K63-linked polyubiquitination of NEMO, thus inhibiting IKK phosphorylation, IκBα degradation, and NF-κB activation. These findings revealed a novel mechanism by which CSFV inhibits host innate immunity, which might guide the drug design against CSFV in the future.

A self-supervised classification model for endometrial diseases.

PURPOSE: Ultrasound imaging is the preferred method for the early diagnosis of endometrial diseases because of its non-invasive nature, low cost, and real-time imaging features. However, the accurate evaluation of ultrasound images relies heavily on the experience of radiologist. Therefore, a stable and objective computer-aided diagnostic model is crucial to assist radiologists in diagnosing endometrial lesions. METHODS: Transvaginal ultrasound images were collected from multiple hospitals in Quzhou city, Zhejiang province. The dataset comprised 1875 images from 734 patients, including cases of endometrial polyps, hyperplasia, and cancer. Here, we proposed a based self-supervised endometrial disease classification model (BSEM) that learns a joint unified task (raw and self-supervised tasks) and applies self-distillation techniques and ensemble strategies to aid doctors in diagnosing endometrial diseases. RESULTS: The performance of BSEM was evaluated using fivefold cross-validation. The experimental results indicated that the BSEM model achieved satisfactory performance across indicators, with scores of 75.1%, 87.3%, 76.5%, 73.4%, and 74.1% for accuracy, area under the curve, precision, recall, and F1 score, respectively. Furthermore, compared to the baseline models ResNet, DenseNet, VGGNet, ConvNeXt, VIT, and CMT, the BSEM model enhanced accuracy, area under the curve, precision, recall, and F1 score in 3.3-7.9%, 3.2-7.3%, 3.9-8.5%, 3.1-8.5%, and 3.3-9.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The BSEM model is an auxiliary diagnostic tool for the early detection of endometrial diseases revealed by ultrasound and helps radiologists to be accurate and efficient while screening for precancerous endometrial lesions.