Colony performance of three native bumblebee species from South China and association with their gut microbiome.

Bumblebees play an important ecological economic role as pollinators in nature and agriculture. For reasons of biosecurity, many countries promote the cultivation of native bumblebee species for crop pollination instead of importing "alien" species. In South China, a few bumblebee species are considered useful in this way, particularly, Bombus atripes, Bombus bicoloratus and Bombus breviceps. However, whether they are suitable for artificial rearing and forming healthy colonies for pollination, remains unknown. In this project, queens from the 3 native species of Guizhou Province were collected and colonies were started under standardized conditions. The colonies were scored based on 19 parameters, including the stage of colony development, number and weight of offspring, and diet consumed. The data revealed that B. breviceps had the best performance, produced more workers and consumed the smallest diet. Next, we performed 16S rDNA sequencing of the bacterial communities found in the guts of offspring workers, and then a correlation analysis between colony performance and gut bacteria was conducted. Here, B. breviceps showed the highest diversity in gut bacterial composition, dominated by the bacteria Gilliamella, Snodgrassella, Enterobacter, and Lactobacillus Firm5. The higher the abundance of Snodgrassella, the better the performance of the colony in the foundation stage, and later Lactobacillus Firm5, Apibacter and Bifidobacterium were beneficial during the stages of rapid growth and colony decline. Although we do not understand all of the interactions yet, these correlations explain why B. breviceps demonstrated better colony performance. Our data provide valuable information for breeding local Bombus species and will contribute to developing strong colonies for crop pollination.

Mining co-location patterns of manufacturing firms using Q statistic and additive color mixing.

The agglomeration effect significantly influences firms' site selection. Manufacturing firms often exhibit intricate spatial co-location patterns that are indicative of agglomerations due to their reliance on material input and product output across various subdivisions of manufacture. In this study, we present an analytical approach employing the Q statistic and additive color mixing visualization to assess co-location patterns of manufacturing firms. We identified frequent pairs and triplets of manufacturing divisions, mapping them to reveal distinct categories: labor-intensive clusters, upstream/downstream industrial chains, and technology-spillover clusters. These agglomeration categories concentrate in different regions of the city. Policy implications are proposed to promote the upgrade of labor-intensive divisions, enhance the operational efficiency of upstream/downstream industrial chains, and reinforce the spillover effects of technology-intensive divisions.

[Effects of Experimental Nitrogen Deposition and Litter Manipulation on Soil Organic Components and Enzyme Activity of Latosol in Tropical Rubber Plantations].

It is of great scientific significance in regulating plantation ecosystem restoration to investigate the effects of the nitrogen (N) deposition and litter manipulation on soil organic carbon components and enzyme activities. A micro-plot experiment was conducted with four nitrogen additions[CK (0 kg·hm-2·a-1, calculated by N), LN (50 kg·hm-2·a-1), MN (100 kg·hm-2·a-1), and HN (200 kg·hm-2·a-1)] and two litter treatments[LR (litter removal) and L (litter retained)] for tropical rubber plantations in western Hainan Island. The soil physico-chemical properties, soil organic carbon components, and enzyme activities in 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm depths were analyzed. The results showed that soil pH significantly decreased with elevated N addition and litter removal. The contents of NO3--N and NH4+-N significantly increased with elevated N addition. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between N addition and litter treatment on the contents of NO3--N and NH4+-N (P < 0.05). Compared to that with L, LR reduced SOC and its component contents; particularly, the largest decrease was in LFOC by 29.0%-81.4% in the 0-10 cm depth and 23.5%-58.4% in 10-20 cm, respectively. The contents of SOC and its components presented a trend of increasing first and then decreasing with elevated N addition irrespective of litter treatment, and those contents were significantly higher at LN than those at HN. There was a significant interaction between N addition and litter treatment on SOC, LFOC (0-10 cm), and HFOC contents. Compared with that under L, PPO activity was significantly reduced at LR under CK and LN but was significantly increased at LR under MN and HN, respectively. Variance analysis showed significant interactive effects between N addition and litter treatment on PPO and CBH (0-10 cm) activities, and the soil enzyme activity (BG, PPO, and CBH) responding to N addition was greater than that to the litter treatment. Pearson correlation analysis showed that SOC content was extremely positively correlated with MBC, POC, LFOC, and HFOC contents. To summarize, litter retained combined with low N deposition played an important synergistic role of improving SOC pool and soil enzyme activities for tropical rubber plantation systems.

The Effects of Abdominal Obesity and Sagittal Imbalance on Sacroiliac Joint Pain After Lumbar Fusion.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative sacroiliac joint pain (SIJP) is a common manifestation of failed back surgery syndrome after a posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). However, there is currently no consensus on the risk factors for SIJP after PLIF. OBJECTIVES: We explored the effects of abdominal obesity and sagittal imbalance on SIJP after PLIF. STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective observational cohort study. SETTING: This study occurred at the Department of Spinal Surgery at a hospital affiliated with a medical university. METHODS: A total of 401 patients who underwent PLIF from June 2018 to June 2021 were enrolled in this study. 36 patients experienced postoperative SIJP. In contrast, a matched group comprised 72 non-SIJP patients. We used 1:2 propensity score matching to compare obesity features and sagittal spine parameters in the 2 groups. Inflammatory cytokines and visual analog scale (VAS) scores were measured in the SIJP group. RESULTS: A total of 36 patients (8.98%) experienced SIJP during the follow-up. Compared with the non-SIJP group, patients with postoperative SIJP had a higher body mass index (BMI), greater abdominal obesity, a higher incidence of pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis greater than 10°, and a higher incidence of a sagittal vertical axis greater than 5 cm (P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve for waist circumference was greater than that for BMI (0.762 vs. 0.650, P = 0.049). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the risk factors for SIJP were abdominal obesity, a pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis of greater than 10°, and a sagittal vertical axis greater than 5 cm (P < 0.05). In patients with SIJP, interleukin 6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and VAS scores were higher in the abdominal obesity group than in the non-abdominal obesity group (P < 0.05). LIMITATIONS: There was no uniform diagnosis of SIJP, so the incidence rate of SIJP might not be accurate. CONCLUSIONS: The significant predictors of SIJP were abdominal obesity and sagittal imbalance. Patients with abdominal obesity showed higher levels of inflammatory markers and pain intensity. More attention should be paid to body shape and the angle of correction of lumbar lordosis before lumbar surgery.

Environmental pollutants and phosphoinositide signaling in autoimmunity.

Environmental pollution stands as one of the most critical challenges affecting human health, with an estimated mortality rate linked to pollution-induced non-communicable diseases projected to range from 20% to 25%. These pollutants not only disrupt immune responses but can also trigger immunotoxicity. Phosphoinositide signaling, a pivotal regulator of immune responses, plays a central role in the development of autoimmune diseases and exhibits high sensitivity to environmental stressors. Among these stressors, environmental pollutants have become increasingly prevalent in our society, contributing to the initiation and exacerbation of autoimmune conditions. In this review, we summarize the intricate interplay between phosphoinositide signaling and autoimmune diseases within the context of environmental pollutants and contaminants. We provide an up-to-date overview of stress-induced phosphoinositide signaling, discuss 14 selected examples categorized into three groups of environmental pollutants and their connections to immune diseases, and shed light on the associated phosphoinositide signaling pathways. Through these discussions, this review advances our understanding of how phosphoinositide signaling influences the coordinated immune response to environmental stressors at a biological level. Furthermore, it offers valuable insights into potential research directions and therapeutic targets aimed at mitigating the impact of environmental pollutants on the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. SYNOPSIS: Phosphoinositide signaling at the intersection of environmental pollutants and autoimmunity provides novel insights for managing autoimmune diseases aggravated by pollutants.

[Exploring the location of acupoint Dubi (ST35)].

Acupoint Dubi(ST35), one of the commonly used acupuncture points in clinical practice, has long been equated as the acupoint Waixiyan(EX-LE5) in the academic community. By referring to the location of ST35 elaborated in the relevant literature in the ancient and modern times, we analyze the evolution of its position and expound its clinical significance of the correct positioning in the present paper. We think that under posture of knee flexion, the position of ST35 should be between the lower edge of the patella and the upper tip of the tibia, at the midpoint of the patella ligament.

Comparison of Morphological Characteristics of Antennae and Antennal Sensilla among Four Species of Bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

Bumblebees, as pollinators, play an important role in maintaining natural and agricultural ecosystems. Antennae with sensilla of bumblebees as social insects have essential effects in foraging, nest searching, courting, and mating, and are different in species and sexes. Previous studies on the morphology of antennae and sensilla in bumblebees have been limited to a few species and a single caste. To better understand how bumblebees detect and receive the chemical signal from nectariferous plants and foraging behavior, the morphology of antennae with sensilla, including the antennal length, and type, distribution, and number of antennal sensilla in four species, Bombus atripes, Bombus breviceps, Bombus flavescens, and Bombus terrestris was compared by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) herein. The total antennal length of queens are the longest and workers are the shortest in three castes, and in four species the longest of the total antennal length among three castes all are in B. flavescens, which is significantly longer than other species (p < 0.05) and the length of the scape in queens and workers are both longer than males, significantly different in queens (p < 0.05), and not significantly different in workers (p > 0.05), and the length of flagellums in females are not always shorter than males, of which the length of flagellms in queens of B. flavescens are significantly longer than males (p < 0.05), and the length of pedicel and all flagellomeres varies among species and castes. A total of 13 major types of sensilla in total were observed, including trichodea sensilla (TS A-E), placodea sensilla (PS A-B), basiconica sensilla (BaS), coeloconica sensilla (COS A-B), chaetic sensilla (CS A-B), and Böhm sensilla (BS), of which chaetic sensilla B (CS B), only observed in females of B. atripes, was firstly reported in Apidae. Moreover, the number of all sensilla was the most in males, the least was in workers, the number of sensilla varies within castes and species. Furthermore, the morphological characteristics of antennae and the potential functions of sensilla are discussed.

Efficient Coarse-Grained Superplasticity of a Gigapascal Lightweight Refractory Medium Entropy Alloy.

Superplastic metals that exhibit exceptional ductility (>300%) are appealing for use in high-quality engineering components with complex shapes. However, the wide application of most superplastic alloys has been constrained due to their poor strength, the relatively long superplastic deformation period, and the complex and high-cost grain refinement processes. Here these issues are addressed by the coarse-grained superplasticity of high-strength lightweight medium entropy alloy (Ti43.3 V28 Zr14 Nb14 Mo0.7 , at.%) with a microstructure of ultrafine particles embedded in the body-centered-cubic matrix. The results demonstrate that the alloy reached a high coarse-grained superplasticity greater than ≈440% at a high strain rate of 10-2 s-1 at 1173 K and with a gigapascal residual strength. A consecutively triggered deformation mechanism that sequences of dislocation slip, dynamic recrystallization, and grain boundary sliding in such alloy differs from conventional grain-boundary sliding in fine-grained materials. The present results open a pathway for highly efficient superplastic forming, broaden superplastic materials to the high-strength field, and guide the development of new alloys.

Higher Essential Amino Acid and Crude Protein Contents in Pollen Accelerate the Oviposition and Colony Foundation of Bombus breviceps (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

Pollen is an important source of nutrition for bumblebees to survive, reproduce, and raise their offspring. To explore the nutritional requirements for the egg laying and hatching of queenright Bombus breviceps colonies, camellia pollen, oilseed rape pollen, apricot pollen, and mixtures of two or three types of pollen in equal proportions were used to feed the queens in this study. The results showed that the camellia pollen with a higher essential amino acid content was superior to the pollen with a lower essential amino acid content in the initial egg-laying time (p < 0.05), egg number (p < 0.05), larval ejection (p < 0.01), time of first worker emergence (p < 0.05), and the average weight of workers in the first batch (p < 0.01). It took less time for colonies under the camellia pollen and camellia-oilseed rape-apricot pollen mix treatments, both with a higher crude protein content, to reach ten workers in the colony (p < 0.01). On the contrary, the queens fed apricot pollen never laid an egg, and larvae fed oilseed rape pollen were all ejected-both pollens with a lower essential amino acid content. The results emphasize that the diet should be rationally allocated to meet the nutritional needs of local bumblebees at various stages when guiding them to lay eggs, hatch, and develop a colony.

Results of sacrospinous ligament fixation using conventional instruments for symptomatic stage 2 and 3 apical prolapse over 3 years.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term efficacy and quality of life concerning sacrospinous ligament fixation (SSLF) using conventional instruments for Chinese women with symptomatic stage 2 and 3 apical prolapse. METHODS: This single-arm prospective cohort study was conducted at our hospital between October 2011 and December 2018. Eligible participants were followed up over 3 years after surgery. The primary surgical outcome was composite surgical failure. Secondary outcomes included rate of satisfaction, quality of life (QoL) scores, and long-term complications. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients were enrolled (mean age 57.1 years), of whom 55 (93.22%) completed the 3-year follow up. At year 3, the composite failure rate was 21.34% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.30%-31.79%), and satisfaction rate was 81.40% (95% CI 66.09%-91.08%). Right thigh pain and de novo dyspareunia occurred in 1.8% and 14.6% patients after year 1, respectively, but at year 3 there were no complications. Lower urinary tract symptoms were present in 5.5% of patients. Improvement was found in urinary symptoms and prolapse symptoms, but sexual function showed no significant change. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with results at year 1, complication rates of SSLF decreased at year 3. The composite failure rate was relatively low and satisfaction rate was relatively high at year 3. Prolapse and urinary symptoms improved significantly after surgery.

Prescribed Performance Bipartite Consensus Control for Stochastic Nonlinear Multiagent Systems Under Event-Triggered Strategy.

In this article, the event-triggered bipartite consensus problem for stochastic nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs) with unknown dead-zone input under the prescribed performance is studied. To surmount the influence of the dead-zone input, the dead-zone model is transformed into a linear term and a disturbance term. Meanwhile, the prescribed tracking performance is realized by developing a speed function, which means that all tracking errors of MASs can converge to a predefined set in a given finite time. Moreover, the unknown nonlinear dynamics are approximated by fuzzy-logic systems. By combining the dynamic surface approach and the Lyapunov stability theory, we design an adaptive event-triggered control algorithm, such that the bipartite consensus problem of stochastic nonlinear MASs can be achieved, and all signals are semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded in probability of the closed-loop systems. Finally, simulation examples are proposed to verify the feasibility of the algorithm.

Investigation of the chemical composition of antibacterial Psidium guajava extract and partitions against foodborne pathogens.

P. guajava was partitioned into aqueous and ethyl acetate fractions and studied for its antibacterial chemical constituents. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of the aqueous and ethyl acetate partitions against Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus were found to be 0.75, 0.75, 0.15, 0.5, 0.5, and 0.125%, respectively. Using LC-MS-based chemical fingerprinting, auto MS/MS fragmentation and bioactive molecular networking, 18 compounds of interest were detected. The top 10 bioactive compounds and eight additional non-bioactive compounds known to be found in P. guajava are highlighted. We report five compounds to be identified in P. guajava for the first time. Studies have indicated P. guajava to be a plant source of antibacterial compounds that could be useful in the food industry to prevent foodborne illnesses outbreaks, reduce food spoilage, and satisfy consumer demands for less synthetic chemical usage in the food industry.

Highly Emissive Organic Cage in Single-Molecule and Aggregate States by Anchoring Multiple Aggregation-Caused Quenching Dyes.

It remains a great challenge to design and synthesize organic luminescent molecules with strong emission in both dilute solution and aggregate state. Herein, an organic cage with dodecadansyl groups (D-RCC1) from an easy sulfonation reaction displays strong emissive behavior in dilute organic solution with a quantum yield of 42%. Moreover, D-RCC1 exhibits an ultrahigh quantum yield of 92% in the solid state, which is more than 3 times that of 27% for the model compound D-DEA. The results of the experiment and theoretical calculation show that the three-dimensional symmetrical skeleton of the organic cage anchored evenly by multiple dye molecules effectively satisfies both high local density and a symmetrical distribution of chromophores, which prevents the interaction of dye molecules and ensures that dye molecules have strong emission in both single-molecule and aggregate states.

Polydatin ameliorates hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury by modulating macrophage polarization.

BACKGROUND: Polydatin, a glucoside of resveratrol, has been shown to have protective effects against various diseases. However, little is known about its effect on hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. This study aimed to elucidate whether polydatin protects liver against I/R-induced injury and to explore the underlying mechanism. METHODS: After gavage feeding polydatin once daily for a week, mice underwent a partial hepatic I/R procedure. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST), hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining were used to evaluate liver injury. The severity related to the inflammatory response and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was also investigated. Furthermore, immunofluorescence and Western blotting were used to detect macrophage polarization and the NF-κB signaling pathway in macrophages. RESULTS: Compared with the I/R group, polydatin pretreatment significantly attenuated I/R-induced liver damage and apoptosis. The oxidative stress marker (dihydroethidium fluorescence, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) and I/R related inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1ß, interleukin-10 and tumor necrosis factor-α) were significantly suppressed after polydatin treatment. In addition, the result of immunofluorescence indicated that polydatin reduced the polarization of macrophages toward M1 macrophages both in vivo and in vitro. Western blotting showed that polydatin inhibited the pro-inflammatory function of RAW264.7 via down-regulating the NF-κB signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Polydatin protects the liver from I/R injury by remodeling macrophage polarization via NF-κB signaling.

Bioactive Natural Products Identification Using Automation of Molecular Networking Software.

Secondary metabolites from natural sources are promising starting points for discovering and developing drug prototypes and new drugs, as many current treatments for numerous diseases are directly or indirectly related to such compounds. Recent advances in bioinformatics tools and molecular networking methods have made it possible to identify novel bioactive compounds. In this study, a workflow combining network-based methods for identifying bioactive compounds found in natural products was streamlined by innovating an automated bioinformatics software. The workflow relies on Global Natural Product Social Molecular Networking (GNPS), a web-based mass spectrometry ecosystem that aims to be an open-access knowledge base for community-wide organization and sharing of raw, processed, or annotated fragmentation mass spectrometry data. By combining computational tools including MZmine2, GNPS, and Cytoscape, the integrated dashboard quickly creates bioactive molecular networks with minimal user intervention and reduces the processing time of the original workflow by over 80%. This newly automated workflow quickens the process of discovering bioactive compounds from natural products. This study uses extracts from Psidium guajava leaves to demonstrate the application of our automated software.

Association of Lymphatic Fluid Volume in the Inner Ear of Beagle Dogs with the Susceptibility to Motion Sickness.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to quantify total lymphatic fluid spaces of the inner ears volumetrically in the dog in order to find a correlation between the lymphatic volume of the inner ears and motion sickness susceptibility. METHODS: A total of 16 healthy adult Beagle dogs were used to delineate the lymphatic fluid spaces of inner ears by magnetic resonance imag- ing with a 3-dimensional-constructive interference steady-state sequence. Manual segmentation was applied for 3-dimensional reconstruction and volumetric quantification of total lymphatic space. The susceptibility of Beagle dogs to motion sickness was judged by latency of vomiting during rotatory stimulus. RESULTS: The volume range of total fluid space in the vestibule and cochlea of Beagle dogs is 55.07 ± 6.2 mm3. There is no significant difference in the total lymphatic volume of bilateral inner ears between 2 different motion sickness susceptibility groups (i.e., sensitive group and insensi- tive group), but the difference of lymphatic volume in the cochlea and vestibule between bilateral inner ears in insensitive group is greater than that of sensitive group. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between bilateral inner ear difference in lymphatic volume and vomiting latency. CONCLUSION: Magnetic resonance imaging could be used as a method to evaluate the inner ear lymphatic fluid volume of Beagle dogs with different susceptibilities to motion sickness, through which we found that motion sickness susceptibility is related to the difference in lymphatic volume in the vestibule and cochlea between bilateral inner ears, and the larger the volume difference, the lower the susceptibility.

SIRT1 exerts anti-hypertensive effect via FOXO1 activation in the rostral ventrolateral medulla.

The rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) is a pivotal region in the central regulation of blood pressure (BP). It has been documented that silent information regulator 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1), a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent multifunctional transcription regulatory factor, has many cardiovascular protective effects. However, the role and significance of SIRT1 in the central regulation of cardiovascular activity, especially in RVLM, remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the role and underlying mechanism of SIRT1 in the central regulation of cardiovascular activity in hypertension. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were given resveratrol (RSV) via intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion or injected with SIRT1-overexpressing lentiviral vectors into the RVLM. In vitro experiments, angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced rat pheochromocytoma cell line (PC12 cells) were transfected with forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) small interfering RNA (siRNA) before treatment with RSV. Our results showed that SIRT1 activation with RSV or overexpression in the RVLM significantly decreased BP and sympathetic outflow of SHRs. Furthermore, SIRT1 overexpression in the RVLM significantly decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and facilitated the forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) activation, accompanied by upregulation of the ROS-detoxifying enzyme superoxide dismutases 1 (SOD1) in the RVLM of SHRs. In PC12 cells, it was found that Ang II could induce oxidative stress and downregulate the SIRT1-FOXO1-SOD1 signaling pathway, which indicated that the suppressed expression of SIRT1 in the RVLM of SHRs might relate to the elevated central Ang II level. Furthermore, the enhanced oxidative stress and decreased SIRT1-FOXO1-SOD1 axis induced by Ang II were restored by treatment with RSV. However, these favorable effects mediated by SIRT1 activation were blocked by FOXO1 knockdown. Based on these findings, we concluded that SIRT1 activation or overexpression in the RVLM exerts anti-hypertensive effect through reducing oxidative stress via SIRT1-FOXO1-SOD1 signaling pathway, which providing a new target for the prevention and intervention of hypertension.