Urban landscape sustainability in karst mountainous cities: A landscape resilience perspective.

In the context of the rapid progress of global urbanization, the massive encroachment of social landscapes into ecological and productive landscapes has led to a series of environmental problems. Furthermore, analyzing the landscape resilience could effectively reveal the sustainable development ability of the urban landscape. This study establishes a social-ecological productive landscape resilience (SEPLR) evaluation system and reveals trade-offs and synergies between different landscape types and resilience. Finally, this study provides landscape management zonings based on the spatial and temporal dynamic characteristics of landscape resilience and subsystem resilience. The findings showed that: (1) The CUAG has significant landscape heterogeneity and change drastically, which is mainly manifested by the massive encroachment of social landscape into productive landscape. (2) The SEPLR of CUAG decreased slightly by 0.75 % over the decade, with significant changes of spatial distribution. (3) The comprehensive remediation areas and social development areas are the dominant management zones. The findings could be incorporated into the decision-making of land use trade-off development in CUAG to promote the coordinated development of social-ecological productive systems and improve the sustainability of urban landscape.

A panel of four plasma amino acids is a promising biomarker for newly diagnosed bladder cancer.

BACKGROUND: Metastasis and recurrence are the main causes of death in post-operative bladder cancer (BC), emphasizing the importance of exploring early-stage diagnostic markers. Serum biomarkers constitute a promising diagnostic approach for asymptomatic stage cancer as they are non-invasive, have high accuracy and low cost. AIMS: To correlate concentrations of plasma amino acids with BC progression to assess their utility as an early-stage diagnostic. METHODS: Newly diagnosed BC patients (n = 95) and normal controls (n = 96) were recruited during the period from 1 December 2018 to 30 December 2020. General and food frequency questionnaires established their basic information and dietary intake data. Venous blood samples were collected from fasting subjects and used to detect levels of plasma amino acids by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Verification was performed on the GSE13507 transcriptome gene expression matrix of BC from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. RESULTS: Eleven amino acids have been identified as altered in the plasma of newly diagnosed BC patients compared to controls (P < 0.05). Adjusted by gender, education, smoking and other factors, plasma ornithine level (OR = 0.256, 95% CI: 0.104-0.630) is a protective factor for BC, plasma levels of methionine (OR = 3.460, 95% CI: 1.384-8.651), arginine (OR = 3.851, 95% CI: 1.542-9.616), and glutamate (OR = 3.813, 95% CI: 1.543-9.419) are all risk factors for BC. ROC analysis demonstrated that the combination of plasma ornithine, methionine, arginine and glutamate could accurately diagnose BC (AUC = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.747-0.833). In addition, the mRNA level of arginase 1 was decreased (P < 0.05), while the inducible nitric oxide synthase was increased significantly, which may be linked with the disturbance of arginine metabolism in BC patients. Further analysis of GEO database confirmed the role of arginine metabolism. CONCLUSION: A biomarker panel containing four amino acids may provide a feasible strategy for the early diagnosis of BC. However, further validation is required through prospective studies.

Exploration of circulating metabolic signature of erythrodermic psoriasis based on LC-MS metabolomics.

Erythrodermic psoriasis (EP) is a rare and life-threatening disease, the pathogenesis of which remains to be largely unknown. Metabolomics analysis can provide global information on disease pathophysiology, candidate biomarkers, and potential intervention strategies. To gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of EP and explore the serum metabolic signature of EP, we conducted an untargeted metabolomics analysis from 20 EP patients and 20 healthy controls. Furthermore, targeted metabolomics for focused metabolites were identified in the serum samples of 30 EP patients and 30 psoriasis vulgaris (PsV) patients. In the untargeted analysis, a total of 2992 molecular features were extracted from each sample, and the peak intensity of each feature was obtained. Principal component analysis (PCA), orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) revealed significant difference between groups. After screening, 98 metabolites were found to be significantly dysregulated in EP, including 67 down-regulated and 31 up-regulated. EP patients had lower levels of L-tryptophan, L-isoleucine, retinol, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), and higher levels of betaine and uric acid. KEGG analysis showed differential metabolites were enriched in amino acid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism. The targeted metabolomics showed lower L-tryptophan in EP than PsV with significant difference and L-tryptophan levels were negatively correlated with the PASI scores. The serum metabolic signature of EP was discovered. Amino acid and glycerophospholipid metabolism were dysregulated in EP. The metabolite differences provide clues for pathogenesis of EP and they may provide insights for therapeutic interventions.

Modified Banxiaxiexin decoction benefitted chemotherapy in treating gastric cancer by regulating multiple targets and pathways.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Chemotherapy tolerance weakened efficacy of chemotherapy drugs in the treating gastric cancer (GC). Banxiaxiexin decoction (BXXXD) was widely used in digestive diseases for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In order to better treat GC, three other herbs were added to BXXXD to create a new prescription named Modified Banxiaxiexin decoction (MBXXXD). Although MBXXXD potentially treated GC by improving chemotherapy tolerance, the possible mechanisms were still unknown. AIM OF THE STUDY: To explore the therapeutic effect of MBXXXD on GC patients and explore the possible anti-cancer mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized controlled trial (n = 146) was conducted to evaluate the clinical efficacy between MBXXXD + chemotherapy (n = 73) and placebo + chemotherapy (n = 73) in GC patients by testing overall survival, progression free survival, clinical symptoms, quality of life score, tumor markers, T cell subpopulation, and adverse reactions. Network pharmacology was conducted to discover the potential mechanism of MBXXXD in treating GC. Metabolic activity assay, cell clone colony formation and mitochondrial apoptosis were detected in human GC cell lines including AGS cell, KNM-45 cell and SGC7901 cell treated by MBXXXD. Multiple pathways including P53, AKT, IκB, P65, P38, ERK, JNK p-AKT, p-P65, p-P38, p-ERK and p-JNK in AGS cell, KNM-45 cell and SGC7901 cell treated by MBXXXD and GC patients treated by MBXXXD + chemotherapy were also detected. RESULTS: MBXXXD + chemotherapy promoted overall survival and progression free survival, improved clinical symptoms and quality of life score, increased T4 lymphocyte ratio and T8 lymphocyte ratio as well as T4/T8 lymphocyte ratio, and alleviated adverse reactions in GC patients. Network pharmacology predicted multiple targets and pathways of MBXXXD in treating GC including apoptosis, P53 pathway, AKT pathway, MAPK pathway. MBXXXD inhibited cell viability, decreased cell clone colony formation, and promoted mitochondrial apoptosis by producing reactive oxygen species (ROS), promoting mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) and the cleavage of pro-caspase-3 and pro-caspase-9, and decreasing mito-tracker red Chloromethyl-X-rosamine (CMXRos) in AGS cell, KNM-45 cell and SGC7901 cell. MBXXXD up-regulated the expression of P53 and IκB, and down-regulated the expression of p-AKT, p-P65, p-P38, p-ERK, p-JNK, AKT, P65, P38, ERK and JNK AGS cell, KNM-45 cell and SGC7901 cell treated by MBXXXD and GC patients treated by MBXXXD + chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: MBXXXD benefitted chemotherapy for GC by regulating multiple targets and pathways.

Highly Wavelength-Selective Self-Powered Solar-Blind Ultraviolet Photodetector Based on Colloidal Aluminum Nitride Quantum Dots.

Colloidal quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals endowed with unique optoelectronic properties. A major challenge to the field is the lack of methods for synthesizing quantum dots exhibit strong photo-response in the deep-ultraviolet (DUV) band. Here, a facile solution-processed method is presented for synthesizing ultrawide bandgap aluminium nitride quantum dots (AlN QDs) showing distinguished UV-B photoluminescence. Combined with the strong optical response in solar blind band, a solution-processed, self-powered AlN-QDs/ß-Ga2O3 solar-blind photodetector is demonstrated. The photodetector is characterized with a high responsivity of 1.6 mA W-1 under 0 V bias and specific detectivity 7.60 × 10-11 Jones under 5 V bias voltage with good solar blind selectivity. Given the solution-processed capability of the devices and extraordinary properties of AlN QDs, this study anticipates the utilization of AlN QDs will open up unique opportunities for cost-effective industrial production of high-performance DUV optoelectronics for large-scale applications.

Laparoscopic left hemihepatectomy using augmented reality navigation plus ICG fluorescence imaging for hepatolithiasis: a retrospective single-arm cohort study (with video).

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic left hemihepatectomy (LLH) has been shown to be an effective and safe method for treating hepatolithiasis primarily affecting the left hemiliver. However, this procedure still presents challenges. Due to pathological changes in intrahepatic duct stones, safely dissecting the hilar vessels and determining precise resection boundaries remains difficult, even with fluorescent imaging. Our team proposed a new method of augmented reality navigation (ARN) combined with Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging for LLH in hepatolithiasis cases. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of this combined approach in the procedure. METHODS: Between May 2021 and September 2023, 16 patients with hepatolithiasis who underwent LLH were included. All patients underwent preoperative 3D evaluation and were then guided using ARN and ICG fluorescence imaging during the procedure. Perioperative and short-term postoperative outcomes were assessed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the method. RESULTS: All 16 patients successfully underwent LLH. The mean operation time was 380.31 ± 92.17 min, with a mean estimated blood loss of 116.25 ± 64.49 ml. ARN successfully aided in guiding hilar vessel dissection in all patients. ICG fluorescence imaging successfully identified liver resection boundaries in 11 patients (68.8%). In the remaining 5 patients (31.3%) where fluorescence imaging failed, virtual liver segment projection (VLSP) successfully identified their resection boundaries. No major complications occurred in any patients. Immediate stone residual rate, stone recurrence rate, and stone extraction rate through the T-tube sinus tract were 12.5%, 6.3%, and 6.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The combination of ARN and ICG fluorescence imaging enhances the safety and precision of LLH for hepatolithiasis. Moreover, ARN may serve as a safe and effective tool for identifying precise resection boundaries in cases where ICG fluorescence imaging fails.

Impacts of environmental factors on the aetiological diagnosis and disease severity of community-acquired pneumonia in China: a multicentre, hospital-based, observational study.

Environmental exposures are known to be associated with pathogen transmission and immune impairment, but the association of exposures with aetiology and severity of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are unclear. A retrospective observational study was conducted at nine hospitals in eight provinces in China from 2014 to 2019. CAP patients were recruited according to inclusion criteria, and respiratory samples were screened for 33 respiratory pathogens using molecular test methods. Sociodemographic, environmental and clinical factors were used to analyze the association with pathogen detection and disease severity by logistic regression models combined with distributed lag nonlinear models. A total of 3323 CAP patients were included, with 709 (21.3%) having severe illness. 2064 (62.1%) patients were positive for at least one pathogen. More severe patients were found in positive group. After adjusting for confounders, particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and 8-h ozone (O3-8h) were significant association at specific lag periods with detection of influenza viruses and Klebsiella pneumoniae respectively. PM10 and carbon monoxide (CO) showed cumulative effect with severe CAP. Pollutants exposures, especially PM, O3-8h, and CO should be considered in pathogen detection and severity of CAP to improve the clinical aetiological and disease severity diagnosis.

Unlocking Giant Third-Order Optical Nonlinearity in (MA)2CuX4 through Introducing Jahn-Teller Distortion.

Nonlinear absorption coefficient and modulation depth stand as pivotal properties of nonlinear optical (NLO) materials, while the existing NLO materials exhibit limitations such as low nonlinear absorption coefficients and/or small modulation depths, thereby severely impeding their practical application. Here we unveil that introducing Jahn-Teller distortion in a Mott-Hubbard system, (MA)2CuX4 (MA = methylammonium; X = Cl, Br) affords the simultaneous attainment of a giant nonlinear absorption coefficient and substantial modulation depth. The optimized compound, (MA)2CuCl4, demonstrates a nonlinear absorption coefficient of (1.5 ± 0.08) × 105 cm GW-1, a modulation depth of 60%, and a relatively low optical limiting threshold of 1.22 × 10-5 J cm-2. These outstanding attributes surpass those of most reported NLO materials. Our investigation reveals that a more pronounced distortion of the [CuX6]4- octahedron emerges as a crucial factor in augmenting optical nonlinearity. Mechanism study involving structural and spectral characterization along with theoretical calculations indicates a correlation between the compelling performance and the Mott-Hubbard band structure of the materials, coupled with the Jahn-Teller distortion-induced d-d transition. This study not only introduces a promising category of high-performance NLO materials but also provides novel insights into enhancing the performance of such materials.

Photocurrent Ambipolar Behavior in Phase Junction of a Ga2O3 Porous Nanostructure for Solar-Blind Light Control Logic Devices.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices are the most similar artificial devices to the nervous system, which is expected to solve the problem of complex computer/nervous system interface (solid-liquid interface) and multifunctional integration (photoelectric fusion) required in the post-Moore era. Based on the different photocurrent ambipolar behavior and different deep ultraviolet solar-blind spectral photoresponse characteristics of α-Ga2O3 and ß-Ga2O3, we designed and constructed the Ga2O3 porous nanostructure PEC device with an adjustable photocurrent bipolar behavior through constructing an α/ß phase junction core-shell structure by adjusting the thickness and the surface state of the shell layer. The switching point of the α/ß-Ga2O3 ambipolar photocurrent shifts toward negative values with the increase of ß-Ga2O3 shell layer thicknesses, and adjustable Boolean logic gates are prepared using the voltage as the input source with a high accuracy manipulated by solar-blind deep ultraviolet light. The controllable solar-blind logic gates based on the ambipolar photocurrent behavior of α/ß-Ga2O3 presented in this study offer a new path for the photoelectric device multifunctional integration needed in the post-Moore era, which can be used in the creation of Ga2O3 half adders and full adders, as well as in the construction of four-input OR gates.

Chondroitin sulfate-modified tragacanth gum-gelatin composite nanocapsules loaded with curcumin nanocrystals for the treatment of arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease of yet undetermined etiology that is accompanied by significant oxidative stress, inflammatory responses,  and damage to joint tissues. In this study, we designed chondroitin sulfate (CS)-modified tragacanth gum-gelatin composite nanocapsules (CS-Cur-TGNCs) loaded with curcumin nanocrystals (Cur-NCs), which rely on the ability of CS to target CD44 to accumulate drugs in inflamed joints. Cur was encapsulated in the form of nanocrystals into tragacanth gum-gelatin composite nanocapsules (TGNCs) by using an inborn microcrystallization method, which produced CS-Cur-TGNCs with a particle size of approximately 80 ± 11.54 nm and a drug loading capacity of 54.18 ± 5.17%. In an in vitro drug release assay, CS-Cur-TGNCs showed MMP-2-responsive properties. During the treatment of RA, CS-Cur-TGNCs significantly inhibited oxidative stress, promoted the polarization of M2-type macrophages to M1-type macrophages, and decreased the expression of inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6). In addition, it also exerted excellent anti-inflammatory effects, and significantly alleviated the swelling of joints during the treatment of gouty arthritis (GA). Therefore, CS-Cur-TGNCs, as a novel drug delivery system, could lead to new ideas for clinical therapeutic regimens for RA and GA.

Highly Stable MOF-Type Lead Halide Luminescent Ferroelectrics.

Lead halide molecular ferroelectrics represent an important class of luminescent ferroelectrics, distinguished by their high chemical and structural tunability, excellent processability and distinctive luminescent characteristics. However, their inherent instability, prone to decomposition upon exposure to moisture and light, hinders their broader ferroelectric applications. Herein, for the first time, we present a series of isoreticular metal-organic framework (MOF)-type lead halide luminescent ferroelectrics, demonstrating exceptional robustness under ambient conditions for at least 15 months and even when subjected to aqueous boiling conditions. Unlike conventional metal-oxo secondary building units (SBUs) in MOFs adopting highly centrosymmetric structure with limited structural distortion, our lead halide-based MOFs occupy structurally deformable [Pb2X]+ (X=Cl-/Br-/I-) SBUs that facilitate a c-axis-biased displacement of Pb2+ centers and substantially contribute to thermoinducible structural transformation. Importantly, this class of MOF-type lead halide ferroelectrics undergo ferroelectric-to-paraelectric phase transitions with remarkably high Curie temperature of up to 505 K, superior to most of molecular ferroelectrics. Moreover, the covalent bonding between phosphorescent organic component and the light-harvesting inorganic component achieves efficient spin-orbit coupling and intersystem crossing, resulting in long-lived afterglow emission. The compelling combination of high stability, ferroelectricity and afterglow emission exhibited by lead halide MOFs opens up many potential opportunities in energy-conversion applications.

Surface-Enriched Room-Temperature Liquid Bismuth for Catalytic CO2 Reduction.

Bismuth-based electrocatalysts are effective for carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction to formate. However, at room temperature, these materials are only available in solid state, which inevitably suffers from surface deactivation, declining current densities, and Faradaic efficiencies. Here, the formation of a liquid bismuth catalyst on the liquid gallium surface at ambient conditions is shown as its exceptional performance in the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (i.e., CO2RR). By doping a trace amount of bismuth (740 ppm atomic) in gallium liquid metal, a surface enrichment of bismuth by over 400 times (30 at%) in liquid state is obtained without atomic aggregation, achieving 98% Faradic efficiency for CO2 conversion to formate over 80 h. Ab initio molecular simulations and density functional theory calculations reveal that bismuth atoms in the liquid state are the most energetically favorable sites for the CO2RR intermediates, superior to solid Bi-sites, as well as joint GaBi-sites. This study opens an avenue for fabricating high-performing liquid-state metallic catalysts that cannot be reached by elementary metals under electrocatalytic conditions.

LINC01002 functions as a ceRNA to regulate FRMD8 by sponging miR-4324 for the development of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has developed various strategies to evade the antiviral impact of type I IFN. Non-structural proteins and auxiliary proteins have been extensively researched on their role in immune escape. Nevertheless, the detailed mechanisms of structural protein-induced immune evasion have not been well elucidated. METHODS: Human alveolar basal epithelial carcinoma cell line (A549) was stimulated with polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (PIC) and independently transfected with four structural proteins expression plasmids, including nucleocapsid (N), spike (S), membrane (M) and envelope (E) proteins. By RT-qPCR and ELISA, the structural protein with the most pronounced inhibitory effects on IFN-ß induction was screened. RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) and two differential analysis strategies were used to obtain differentially expressed genes associated with N protein inhibition of IFN-ß induction. Based on DIANA-LncBase and StarBase databases, the interactive competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network for N protein-associated genes was constructed. By combining single-cell sequencing data (GSE158055), lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA axis was further determined. Finally, RT-qPCR was utilized to illustrate the regulatory functions among components of the ceRNA axis. RESULTS: SARS-CoV-2 N protein inhibited IFN-ß induction in human alveolar epithelial cells most significantly compared with other structural proteins. RNA-Seq data analysis revealed genes related to N protein inhibiting IFNs induction. The obtained 858 differentially expressed genes formed the reliable ceRNA network. The function of LINC01002-miR-4324-FRMD8 axis in the IFN-dominated immune evasion was further demonstrated through integrating single-cell sequencing data. Moreover, we validated that N protein could reverse the effect of PIC on LINC01002, FRMD8 and miR-4324 expression, and subsequently on IFN-ß expression level. And LINC01002 could regulate the production of FRMD8 by inhibiting miR-4324. CONCLUSION: SARS-CoV-2 N protein suppressed the induction of IFN-ß by regulating LINC01002 which was as a ceRNA, sponging miR-4324 and participating in the regulation of FRMD8 mRNA. Our discovery provides new insights into early intervention therapy and drug development on SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Evaluation of hematological inflammatory parameters in patients with palmoplantar pustulosis.

BACKGROUND: Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) is a chronic inflammatory disease of ill-defined etiopathology. Recent studies have proposed complete blood count-based hematological parameters, such as neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), as biomarkers to monitor disease status in many inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to analyze for the first time the clinical significance of hematological parameters, including NLR, monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), PLR, mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT), and pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) in PPP patients. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the clinical and laboratory data of 237 patients with PPP and 250 sex-age-matched healthy controls (HCs). Hematological parameters were compared between patients with PPP and HCs. The correlations between these parameters and disease severity, as well as treatment response, were analyzed. RESULTS: NLR, MLR, MPV, PCT, and PIV values were significantly higher in PPP patients than in HCs. But in receiver-operating characteristic analyses, only monocyte count (Youden Index = 0.53), PCT (Youden Index = 0.65), and PIV (Youden Index = 0.52) performed relatively accurate distinguishment between moderate-to-severe cases and mild cases. PCT and PIV values were significantly correlated with disease severity. After treatment, both PIV and PCT values decreased significantly in the responder group but not in the non-responder group. CONCLUSIONS: Hematological parameters altered significantly in PPP patients. PCT and PIV can be used as simple and inexpensive biomarkers for systemic inflammation in PPP patients.

Dietary Flavonoid Quercetin Supplement Promotes Antiviral Innate Responses Against Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Infection by Reshaping the Bacteriome and Host Metabolome in Mice.

SCOPE: Active ingredients in functional foods exhibit broad-spectrum antiviral activity. The objective of this study is to investigate the protective effect of quercetin derived from bee propolis, a natural product with antiviral activity and modulating effects on the gut microbiota, against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection. METHODS AND RESULTS: Through a cellular-based study, this study demonstrates that quercetin can modulate the activity of interferon-regulating factor 3 (IRF3). In vivo, it shows that quercetin protects mice from VSV infection by enhancing interferon production and inhibiting the production of proinflammatory cytokines. The study conducts 16S rRNA-based gut microbiota and nontargets metabolomics analyses to elucidate the mechanisms underlying quercetin-mediated bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and host metabolome during viral infection. Quercetin not only ameliorates VSV-induced dysbiosis of the intestinal flora but also alters serum metabolites related to lipid metabolism. Cross-correlations between the gut bacteriome and the serum metabolome indicate that quercetin can modulate phosphatidylcholine (16:0/0:0) and 5-acetylamino-6-formylamino-3-methyluracil to prevent VSV infection. CONCLUSION: This study systematically elucidates the anti-VSV mechanism of quercetin through gut bacteriome and host metabolome assays, offering new insights into VSV treatment and revealing the mechanisms behind a novel disease management strategy using dietary flavonoid supplements.

Pendant Group Functionalization of Cyclic Olefin for High Temperature and High-Density Energy Storage.

High-temperature flexible polymer dielectrics are critical for high-power-density energy storage and conversion under harsh operating conditions. These types of dielectrics will need to simultaneously possess a high bandgap, dielectric constant and glass transition temperature - a substantial challenge when designing novel dielectric polymers. In this work, by varying halogen substituents of an aromatic pendant hanging off a bicyclic mainchain polymer, a class of high-temperature olefins with adjustable thermal stability are obtained, all with uncompromised large bandgaps. Halogens substitution of the pendant groups at para or ortho position of polyoxanorborneneimides (PONB) imparts it with tunable high glass transition temperature from ∼220 to 245 °C, while with also moderate dielectric constant of ∼ 2.8-3.0 and high breakdown strength of ∼625-800 MV/m. A high energy density of 7.1 J/cc at 200 °C is achieved with p-POClNB, representing the highest reported energy density among all-organic homo-polymer dielectrics. Molecular dynamic simulations and ultrafast infrared spectroscopy were used to probe the free volume element distribution and chain relaxations of the polymers to provide insights to the dielectric thermal properties. An increase in free volume element is observed with the change in the pendant group from fluorine to bromine at the para position; however, a decrease in free volume element is observed as we change the pendant group from fluorine to chlorine at the ortho position because of the steric hindrance. Overall, the dielectric constant and band gap remain stable while the glass transition temperature changes more obviously. Consequently, by proper designing the pendant groups, the thermal stability of PONB can be improved for harsh condition electrification. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Effects of bamboo leaf flavonoids on growth performance, antioxidants, immune function, intestinal morphology, and cecal microbiota in broilers.

BACKGROUND: Bamboo leaf flavonoids (BLF) are the main bioactive ingredients in bamboo leaves. They have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and other effects. In this study, the effects of dietary BLF on growth performance, immune response, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota of broilers were investigated. A total of 288 broilers were divided into three groups with eight replicates and 12 birds in each replicate. Broilers were fed a basic diet or the basic diet supplemented with 1000 or 2000 mg kg-1 BLF for 56 days. RESULTS: The results showed that supplementation of BLF increased body weight (BW) and average daily weight gain (ADG), and reduced average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P < 0.05). The serum immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin M (IgM), and interleukin 10 (IL-10) content of broilers in the BLF1000 group was increased and the interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) content was decreased (P < 0.05). The levels of IgM and IL-10 in jejunum mucosa were found to be enhanced by BLF (P < 0.05). The BLF1000 group exhibited a significant reduction in the concentration of TNF-α (P < 0.05). Serum and jejunum mucosa total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) levels in the BLF1000 group were increased (P < 0.05). The serum catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) effects of the BLF1000 group and serum CAT effects of BLF2000 group were increased (P < 0.05). The CON group demonstrated a lower relative abundance of Christensenellaceae_R-7_group and Oscillibacter than the BLF group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Dietary BLF inclusion enhanced the growth performance, immune, and antioxidant functions, improved the intestinal morphology, and ameliorated the intestinal microflora structure in broiler. Adding 1000 mg kg-1 BLF to the broiler diet can be considered as an effective growth promoter. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Current research insights into the role of CTLA-4 in hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a significant global public health concern, and the clearance of HBV is closely linked to the activity of HBV-specific T cells, which is regulated by various co-suppressor molecules. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is among these co-suppressor molecules which induces T cell exhaustion by competitively inhibiting CD28 and dampening the function of HBV-specific T cells. CTLA-4 also plays a role in the regulation of T helper (Th) cell differentiation and influences cytokine release. In addition, CTLA-4 can impact glucose metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma through its interaction with T regulatory (Treg) cells. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the existing literature related to the role of CTLA-4 in HBV patients across different subsets of T cells. Additionally, we propose a discussion on the possible mechanisms through which CTLA-4 may contribute to HBV infection, as well as the development of HBV-induced cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.