Observation of magnetic amplification using dark spins.

Quantum amplification enables the enhancement of weak signals and is of great importance for precision measurements, such as biomedical science and tests of fundamental symmetries. Here, we observe a previously unexplored magnetic amplification using dark noble-gas nuclear spins in the absence of pump light. Such dark spins exhibit remarkable coherence lasting up to 6 min and the resilience against the perturbations caused by overlapping alkali-metal gas. We demonstrate that the observed phenomenon, referred to as "dark spin amplification," significantly magnifies magnetic field signals by at least three orders of magnitude. As an immediate application, we showcase an ultrasensitive magnetometer capable of measuring subfemtotesla fields in a single 500-s measurement. Our approach is generic and can be applied to a wide range of noble-gas isotopes, and we discuss promising optimizations that could further improve the current signal amplification up to [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text]Ne, [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text]Xe, and [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text]He. This work unlocks opportunities in precision measurements, including searches for ultralight dark matter with sensitivity well beyond the supernova-observation constraints.

Enhancing Quality of Life in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: A Combined Approach of Methotrexate and Pain-specific Nursing Intervention.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disorder affecting joint health and patients' overall well-being. While methotrexate (MTX) is a standard therapeutic intervention, enhancing its efficacy with pain-specific nursing remains underexplored. Objective: This study aims to assess the impact of combining MTX with pain-specific nursing on patients with RA, providing valuable insights for clinical practice and offering an improved therapeutic approach to alleviate pain and enhance the overall quality of life for affected individuals. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study, choosing a cohort of 86 RA patients admitted to our hospital from March 2021 to March 2023. After treatment, we compared the number of swollen and painful joints, duration of morning stiffness, and scores on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Self-rating Anxiety Scale/Self-rating Depression Scale (SAS/SDS) between the two groups. Nursing satisfaction was surveyed upon discharge, and patient quality of life was assessed using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Results: The research group exhibited a notable decrease in the number of swollen and painful joints, significantly shorter morning stiffness duration, and marked reductions in VAS, PSQI, SAS, and SDS scores compared to the control group (P < .05). Additionally, nursing satisfaction and SF-36 scores were higher in the research group (P < .05). Conclusions: The combination of MTX and pain-specific nursing effectively alleviated pain and improved the quality of life and nursing satisfaction among RA patients.

Autophagy receptor ZmNBR1 promotes the autophagic degradation of ZmBRI1a and enhances drought tolerance in maize.

Drought stress is a crucial environmental factor that limits plant growth, development, and productivity. Autophagy of misfolded proteins can help alleviate the damage caused in plants experiencing drought. However, the mechanism of autophagy-mediated drought tolerance in plants remains largely unknown. Here, we cloned the gene for a maize (Zea mays) selective autophagy receptor, NEXT TO BRCA1 GENE 1 (ZmNBR1), and identified its role in the response to drought stress. We observed that drought stress increased the accumulation of autophagosomes. RNA sequencing and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that ZmNBR1 is markedly induced by drought stress. ZmNBR1 overexpression enhanced drought tolerance, while its knockdown reduced drought tolerance in maize. Our results established that ZmNBR1 mediates the increase in autophagosomes and autophagic activity under drought stress. ZmNBR1 also affects the expression of genes related to autophagy under drought stress. Moreover, we determined that BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE 1A (ZmBRI1a), a brassinosteroid receptor of the BRI1-like family, interacts with ZmNBR1. Phenotype analysis showed that ZmBRI1a negatively regulates drought tolerance in maize, and genetic analysis indicated that ZmNBR1 acts upstream of ZmBRI1a in regulating drought tolerance. Furthermore, ZmNBR1 facilitates the autophagic degradation of ZmBRI1a under drought stress. Taken together, our results reveal that ZmNBR1 regulates the expression of autophagy-related genes, thereby increasing autophagic activity and promoting the autophagic degradation of ZmBRI1a under drought stress, thus enhancing drought tolerance in maize. These findings provide new insights into the autophagy degradation of brassinosteroid signaling components by the autophagy receptor NBR1 under drought stress.

First report of Fusarium solani causing wilt disease on Gleditsia sinensis in Tianjin, China.

The Gleditsia sinensis Lam. widely grown in China is a perennial plant with medicinal properties (Zhang et al. 2016). Since 2019, the leaves of G. sinensis have exhibited yellowing and wilting, and the plants have gradually become stunted and dead in Taifeng park of Binhai New Area in Tianjin (39.02° N; 117.65° E). In this park, there are two types of G. sinensis, one is with round branch thorns, the other is with flat branch thorns. The G. sinensis with round branch thorns did not grow well and almost all plants had disease symptoms. The samples were collected on October, 2021 and deposited in Plant Disease Laboratory of Tianjin Agricultural University under accession no. PATAU211018. The disease symptoms consisted of foliage wilt (Figure 1A), plant drying and vascular tissue discoloration (Figure 1B). The stem sections from different plants were surface-disinfested in 0.6% NaClO, wiped with 75% ethanol and rinsed with sterile water. Thirty tissue samples were placed on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium and cultured at 28℃ for 7 days (Uppala et al. 2013). Thirty fungal isolates with the same morphological characteristics were obtained from the samples. Five representative isolates (PATAU211018-05, PATAU211018-07, PATAU211018-10, PATAU211018-12 and PATAU211018-21) were collected and purified using the single-spore method (Li et al. 2022). Colonies of the five isolates on PDA grew in a circular shape and showed abundant white densely fluffy aerial mycelium (Figure 1C). Morphological characteristics included septate and hyaline hyphae, long cylindrical monophialides (Figure 1D), macroconidia (Figure 1E) and microconidia (Figure 1F). Macroconidia were falcate, 2-5-septate, hyaline, 18-40 × 4-6 µm (n = 50). Microconidia were hyaline, oblong, 0-1-septate, 5-14 × 2-6 µm (n = 50). These morphological characteristics were consistent with the description of Fusarium solani. (Chitrampalam et al. 2018). PATAU211018-12 was randomly chosen for molecular analysis as the representative isolate given the similarity of these isolates. For further identification, the genomic DNA of isolate PATAU211018-12 was extracted. The fragments of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1α (EF1α) gene and RNA polymerase II subunit (RPB2) were amplified and sequenced (O'Donnell et al. 2008; Carbone et al. 1999). The sequences of ITS, EF1α, and RPB2 of PATAU211018-12 were deposited in GenBank under the accession no. of OP735578, ON630412 and OP746032, respectively. Phylogenetic trees were constructed in MAGA X (Kumar et al. 2018) using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method based on the concatenated sequences of ITS, EF1α, and RPB2 (Figure 2). The isolate (PATAU211018-12) grouped with F. solani (JS-169) with a bootstrap value of 100 in the phylogenetic tree. The morphology and multi-gene phylogenetic analysis indicated that the new isolate is F. solani. Pathogenicity tests were carried out on one-year-old G. sinensis seedlings with round branch thorns (n=6). The F. solani isolate PATAU211018-12 was cultured in Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB) at 28°C on a shaker at 150 rpm for 5 days. Mycelia were filtered through four layers of sterilized lens paper and the conidia were obtained for pathogenicity tests. G. sinensis was infected by F. solani through root soaking method. The roots were inoculated by dipping in conidial suspension with the concentration of 107 conidia/mL for 30 minutes. Control plants (n=6) were treated with distilled water. Plants were in pots indoors at 25℃. At 20 days after inoculation, the leaves of inoculated plants were chlorotic and wilted (Figure 1G), symptoms similar to those observed in the park. In contrast, the leaves of control plants were symptomless (Figure 1H). The pathogenicity assay was repeated three times. The fungal isolate was re-isolated from the disease tissues and verified as F. solani based on morphology and molecular character (ITS, EF1α and RPB2). F. solani has been reported as pathogens on many plants, such as Eriobotrya japonica (Wu et al. 2021), Fragaria × ananassa (Pastrana et al. 2014), Gastrodia elata (Li et al. 2022) and Hedysarum boreale (Uppala et al. 2013). To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. solani causing disease on G. sinensis in China. Identification of F. solani as a disease agent in G. sinensis will assist in disease management for this important tree crop.

Surveillance of Human Rotaviruses in Wuhan, China (2019-2022): Whole-Genome Analysis of Emerging DS-1-like G8P[8] Rotavirus.

Group A rotaviruses (RVAs) are major etiologic agents of gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide. To study the prevalence and genetic characteristics of RVAs, a hospital-based surveillance study was conducted in Wuhan, China from June 2019 through May 2022. The detection rates of RVAs were 19.40% (142/732) and 3.51% (8/228) in children and adults, respectively. G9P[8] was the predominant genotype, followed by G8P[8] and G3P[8]. G8P[8] emerged and was dominant in the 2021-2022 epidemic season. The genome constellation of six G8P[8] strains was assigned to G8-P[8]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A2-N2-T2-E2-H2. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the VP7, VP4, VP2, VP3, NSP1, NSP2, NSP3, and NSP5 genes of these G8P[8] strains clustered closely with those of the G8P[8] strains in Asia and were distant from those of the P[8] and G2P[4] strains simultaneously detected in Wuhan. In contrast, the VP1, VP6, and NSP4 genes were closely related to the typical G2P[4] rotavirus, including those of G2P[4] strains simultaneously detected in Wuhan. The detection rate of RVAs decreased in the COVID-19 pandemic era. It was deduced that the G8P[8] rotaviruses that emerged in China may be reassortants, carrying the VP6, VP1, and NSP4 genes derived from the G2P[4] rotavirus in the backbone of the neighboring DS-1-like G8P[8] strains represented by CAU17L-103.

Floquet Spin Amplification.

Detection of weak electromagnetic waves and hypothetical particles aided by quantum amplification is important for fundamental physics and applications. However, demonstrations of quantum amplification are still limited; in particular, the physics of quantum amplification is not fully explored in periodically driven (Floquet) systems, which are generally defined by time-periodic Hamiltonians and enable observation of many exotic quantum phenomena such as time crystals. Here we investigate the magnetic-field signal amplification by periodically driven ^{129}Xe spins and observe signal amplification at frequencies of transitions between Floquet spin states. This "Floquet amplification" allows us to simultaneously enhance and measure multiple magnetic fields with at least one order of magnitude improvement, offering the capability of femtotesla-level measurements. Our findings extend the physics of quantum amplification to Floquet spin systems and can be generalized to a wide variety of existing amplifiers, enabling a previously unexplored class of "Floquet spin amplifiers".

Limits on Axions and Axionlike Particles within the Axion Window Using a Spin-Based Amplifier.

Searches for the axion and axionlike particles may hold the key to unlocking some of the deepest puzzles about our Universe, such as dark matter and dark energy. Here, we use the recently demonstrated spin-based amplifier to constrain such hypothetical particles within the well-motivated "axion window" (10 µeV-1 meV) through searching for an exotic dipole-dipole interaction between polarized electron and neutron spins. The key ingredient is the use of hyperpolarized long-lived ^{129}Xe nuclear spins as an amplifier for the pseudomagnetic field generated by the exotic interaction. Using such a spin sensor, we obtain a direct upper bound on the product of coupling constants g_{p}^{e}g_{p}^{n}. The spin-based amplifier technique can be extended to searches for a wide variety of hypothetical particles beyond the standard model.

Discovery of evodiamine derivatives as potent insecticide candidates.

In the search for novel more effective insecticides, natural products could be used as ideal template compounds due to their good environmental compatibility, various bioactivities, unique scaffolds and mode of action. We have found that natural product evodiamine, the main active component from the fruits of Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth, displayed obvious insecticidal activities against lepidoptera pests. To continue our research, a series of evodiamine derivatives 3a-3aa were rationally designed and synthesized. The larvicidal activities results indicated that most of target compounds displayed better efficacy than evodiamine, matrine, and rotenone against Mythimna separata, Plutella xylostella and Helicoverpa armigera, among which 3z exhibited excellent larvicidal activities (65% at 2.5 mg/L against M. separata, 75% at 1.0 mg/L against P. xylostella, and 85% 10 mg/L against H. armigera, respectively), much better than evodiamine (0%), matrine (0%), and rotenone (0%). The preliminary structure activity relationships demonstrated that the fluorine atom at the E ring of evodiamine had a positive influence on the larvicidal activity. The calcium imaging experiment studies indicated that 3z could act on the ryanodine receptor (RyR) of M. separata and was an effective calcium activator for RyR.

In Vivo Anticoagulant and Antithrombic Activity of Depolymerized Glycosaminoglycan from Apostichopus japonicus and Dynamic Effect-Exposure Relationship in Rat Plasma.

Glycosaminoglycan from Apostichopus japonicus (AHG) and its depolymerized fragments (DAHGs) are anticoagulant fucosylated chondroitin sulfate. The aim of this study was to further evaluate the anticoagulant and antithrombic activity of AHG and DAHGs, as well as reveal the dynamic relationship between exposure and effect in vivo. The results demonstrated that AHG100 (Mw~100 kDa), DAHG50 (Mw~50 kDa), and DAHG10 (Mw~10 kDa) exhibited potent anticoagulant activity by inhibiting intrinsic factor Xase complex (FXase) as well as antithrombin-dependent factor IIa (FIIa) and factor Xa (FXa). These glycosaminoglycans markedly prevented thrombosis formation and thrombin-induced platelet aggregation in a dose- and molecular weight-dependent manner in vitro and in vivo. The further bleeding time measurement indicated that DAHG10 exhibited obviously lower hemorrhage risks than native AHG100. Following oral administration, DAHG10 could be absorbed into blood, further dose-dependently prolonging activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time (TT) as well as inhibiting FXa and FIIa partially through FXase. Anticoagulant activity was positively associated with plasma concentration following oral administration of DAHG10. Our study proposed a new point of view to understand the correlation between effects and exposure of fucosylated chondroitin sulfate as an effective and safe oral antithrombotic agent.

Heterologous Expression of Dehydration-Inducible MfbHLH145 of Myrothamnus flabellifoli Enhanced Drought and Salt Tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Myrothamnus flabellifolia is the only woody resurrection plant found in the world. It has a strong tolerance to drought and can survive long-term exposure to desiccated environments. However, few genes related to its drought tolerance have been functionally characterized and the molecular mechanisms underlying the stress tolerance of M. flabellifolia are largely unknown. In this study, we isolated a dehydration-inducible bHLH transcription factor gene MfbHLH145 from M. flabellifolia. Heterologous expression of MfbHLH145 enhanced the drought and salt tolerance of Arabidopsis. It can not only promote root system development under short-term stresses, but also improve growth performance under long-term treatments. Further investigation showed that MfbHLH145 contributes to enhanced leaf water retention capacity through the promotion of stomatal closure, increased osmolyte accumulation, and decreased stress-induced oxidative damage through an increase in antioxidant enzyme activities. These results suggest that MfbHLH145 may be involved in the positive regulation of stress responses in M. flabellifolia. This study provides insight into the molecular mechanism underlying the survival of M. flabellifolia in extreme dehydration conditions.

First Report of Enterobacter cloacae Causing Bulb Decay on Garlic in China.

Enterobacter cloacae is a symbiotic bacterium, which is one of the species in intestinal microbiota in many humans and animals. In some cases, it causes harmful diseases in humans. More and more studies showed that E. cloacae caused disease on plants, such as macadamia, ginger, mulberry, onion, chili pepper and rice. Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of crops with economic importance in the world. It is also widely grown in China. During 2018 to 2020, the naturally infected garlic bulbs from garlic fields in Kaifeng of Henan Province (34.55° N; 114.78° E) showed dry brown discoloration and rot symptoms. The diseased garlic seriously affected its edible value. Voucher specimens collected on June, 2019 were deposited in Plant Disease Laboratory of Tianjin Agricultural University under accession no. PATAU190620. To identify the causal agent of this disease, the bulb tissues of infected garlic were surface-disinfested in 0.6% sodium hypochlorite, dipped in75% ethanol, and then dipped in sterile distilled water. These bulbs were plated on LB medium and incubated at 37℃. A number of white colonies grew on the medium after plating for 16 h. All colonies were round, white, opaque, smooth, and gram-negative, which is a typical characteristic of Enterobacter. To confirm the initial identification of the isolated bacterium, the fragments of 16S rRNA gene and gyrA gene of 6 colonies were amplified, respectively. The PCR products were purified and sequenced. All 16S rRNA and gyrA sequences were identical to each other. The sequences of 16S rRNA gene and gyrA gene were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers MW730711 and MW768876, respectively. BLAST searches were conducted using the sequences of 16S rRNA and gyrA. The results showed 99.72%, and 96.91% identity with the corresponding sequences of E. cloacae strain CBG15936 (CP046116.1), respectively. Phylogenetic trees were performed using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method of MAGA X based on the sequences of 16S rRNA gene and gyrA gene. Phylogenetic tree indicated that isolates are most likely E. cloacae. Pathogenicity tests were performed by puncturing garlic bulbs with a hypodermic needle, followed by dipping in bacterial suspension with the concentration of 2×108 CFU for 5 minutes. As control, the garlic bulbs were treated with sterile water. The inoculated and control were incubated at 30°C. 7 days after inoculation, brown discoloration and rot were developed on all inoculated garlic bulbs. No symptoms were observed in the control group.The symptoms were similar to that observed on the original diseased garlic bulbs. The garlic bulbs in inoculated and control were ten replicates in each independent biological experiments. The pathogenicity tests were conducted three times with similar results. The bacteria were re-isolated from the symptomatic diseased garlics and confirmed as E. cloacae by morphological and sequence analyses as above. The re-isolated bacteria were identified by biochemical and physiological characteristics using API 20E strips. The results of the identification were identical to those of the edible ginger strains and the chili pepper strains. As far as we know, this is the first report of bulb decay on garlic caused by E. cloacae. The results are of great significance not only for the management of garlic bulbs during postharvest handling and storage, but also for the further research of opportunistic human pathogens E. cloacae.

Discovery of a polysubstituted phenyl containing novel N-phenylpyrazole scaffold as potent ryanodine receptor activator.

To develop the novel ryanodine receptors (RyRs) insecticides, encouraged by our previous research work, a series of novel N-phenylpyrazole derivatives containing a polysubstituted phenyl ring scaffold were designed and synthesized. The bioassays results indicated that some title compounds exhibited excellent insecticidal activity. For oriental armyworm (Mythimna separata), compounds 7f, 7g, 7i and 7o at 0.5 mg L-1 displayed 100% larvicidal activity, and even at 0.1 mg L-1, 7o was 30% larvicidal activity, comparable to chlorantraniliprole (30%) and better than cyantraniliprole (10%). Compounds 7f and 7o had the median lethal concentrations (LC50) of 8.83 × 10-2 and 7.12 × 10-2 mg L-1, respectively, close to chlorantraniliprole (6.79 × 10-2 mg L-1). Additionally, for diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), the larvicidal activity of compounds 7f and 7i were 90% and 70% at 0.01 mg L-1, respectively, better than chlorantraniliprole (50%) and cyantraniliprole (40%). More impressively, the LC50 value of 7f was 4.2 × 10-3 mg L-1, slightly lower than that of chlorantraniliprole (5.0 × 10-3 mg L-1). The molecular docking between compound 7f and RyRs of diamondback moth validated our molecular designation. Furthermore, the calcium imaging experiment explored the influence of compound 7o on the calcium homeostasis in the central neurons of the third larvae of oriental armyworm. The results of this study indicated that 7o is a potent novel lead targeting at RyRs.

Synthesis and activity of a coumarin-based fluorescent probe for hydroxyl radical detection.

As a type of reactive oxygen species (ROS), hydroxyl radical (·OH) is closely associated with many kinds of diseases. The present study aimed to develo p a novel OH fluorescent probe based on coumarin, a new compound that has not been previously reported. This probe exhibited good linear range and selectivity for ·OHl, and is able to avoid interference from some metal ions and other kinds of ROS (H2 O2 , O2 .- , 1 O2 , and HClO). Meanwhile, this probe has been used to evaluate the ·OH-scavenging efficiency of different compounds, such as isopropyl alcohol, cytosine, uracil, Tempo, Glutathione (GSH), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Therefore, the present study shows that this probe not only can effectively measure the level of ·OH, but also can assess the ·OH-scavenging efficiency of different compounds. Furthermore this current study suggested that following further optimization, this probe may be potentially applied in the diagnosis of oxidative stress in human body.

Hepatitis E virus infection in Wuhan, Central China.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emergent virus of global importance. Previous studies of HEV infection in China mainly focused on the rural areas. This work aims to study the epidemiology of HEV in a large urban environment. With a registered population of 10 million, the dense city of Wuhan presents itself as a prime opportunity to better understand this emergent virus. The epidemiological data from 2011 to 2016 were analyzed. A cross-sectional study on the seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG was conducted among the general population (age range 0-59) in 2013. Serum and fecal samples of hepatitis E patients were collected over a period of two years: serum samples were tested for anti-HEV IgM and IgG, and fecal samples were tested for HEV-RNA. The overall seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG was 35% in Wuhan. Among 415 hepatitis E patients, 286 cases (68.9%) were positive for HEV-IgM, 108 cases (26%) were positive for HEV-IgG alone, and 21 cases (5.1%) were negative for both IgM and IgG. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the detected genotype of HEV was genotype 4. Reported cases occurred sporadically throughout the year with the peak value appearing in the first quarter and a large proportion of male cases (2.1:1). The incidence increased with age for persons under 60 years, reaching its peak level after 60 years of age. Wuhan is endemic for HEV with its currently detected genotype being genotype 4. It is estimated that 68.9% hepatitis E cases were due to primary infection between 2012 and 2013 in Wuhan.

Synthesis, insecticidal evaluation and mode of action of novel anthranilic diamide derivatives containing sulfur moiety as potential ryanodine receptor activators.

Anthranilic diamide insecticide could control lepidopteran pests by selectively binding and activating insect ryanodine receptors (RyRs), and the unique mode of action is different from other conventional insecticides. In order to discover new anthranilic diamide insecticide as ryanodine receptors activators, a series of 11 novel anthranilic diamides derivatives (Ia-k) were synthesized and confirmed by melting point, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and elemental analyses. The preliminary bioactivity revealed that most title compounds showed moderate to remarkable activities against oriental armyworm (Mythimna separata) and diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella). Especially, compounds Ia and If, which exhibited 100% larvicidal activity against oriental armyworm at 1.0 mg L-1, and comparable to that of chlorantraniliprole (100% at 1 mg L-1). If displayed 60% insecticidal activity against diamondback moth at 0.01 mg L-1, better than chlorantraniliprole (45% at 0.01 mg L-1). The preliminary structure activity relationships were discussed. In addition, the calcium imaging experiment indicated that the insect ryanodine receptor is the potential target of If.

MiR-155 targets PTCH1 to mediate endothelial progenitor cell dysfunction caused by high glucose.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are involved in diabetes-associated complications, including diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Recent reports showed that miR-155 downregulation promotes wound healing in diabetic rats and ameliorates endothelial injury induced by high glucose, but its role in DFU is unknown. We found that miR-155 was overexpressed in EPCs from patients with DFU and in high glucose-induced EPCs from healthy people. Reductions in cell viability, migration, tube formation and nitric oxide production, as well as increases in lactated hydrogenase, cell apoptosis, and reactive oxygen species induced by high glucose, were enhanced by miR-155 overexpression and restrained by miR-155 inhibition. Additionally, dual-luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that miR-155 directly targeted the 3' untranslated region of patched-1 (PTCH1), a receptor of the sonic hedgehog signaling pathway, and downregulated the mRNA and protein expression of PTCH1. qRT-PCR and Western blot results revealed that the PTCH1 was downregulated in EPCs treated with high glucose. Silencing PTCH1 by PTCH1 siRNA alleviated the protective effect of anti-miR-155 on high glucose-induced EPC dysfunction. Our results indicate that miR-155 worsened high glucose-induced EPC function by downregulating PTCH1. These findings suggest that miR-155 may be a potential therapeutic target for DFU.

Glycosaminoglycan from Apostichopus japonicus Improves Glucose Metabolism in the Liver of Insulin Resistant Mice.

Holothurian glycosaminoglycan isolated from Apostichopus japonicus (named AHG) can suppress hepatic glucose production in insulin resistant hepatocytes, but its effects on glucose metabolism in vivo are unknown. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of AHG on hyperglycemia in the liver of insulin resistant mice induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks. The results demonstrated that AHG supplementation apparently reduced body weight, blood glucose level, and serum insulin content in a dose-dependent manner in HFD-fed mice. The protein levels and gene expression of gluconeogenesis rate-limiting enzymes G6Pase and PEPCK were remarkedly suppressed in the insulin resistant liver. In addition, although the total expression of IRS1, Akt, and AMPK in the insulin resistant liver was not affected by AHG supplementation, the phosphorylation of IRS1, Akt, and AMPK were clearly elevated by AHG treatment. These results suggest that AHG could be a promising natural marine product for the development of an antihyperglycemic agent.

Anthranilic diamides derivatives as potential ryanodine receptor modulators: Synthesis, biological evaluation and structure activity relationship.

A series of novel anthranilic diamides derivatives (7a-s) containing halogen, trifluoromethyl group and cyano group were designed, synthesized, and characterized by melting point, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and elemental analyses. The bioactivity revealed that most of them showed moderate to excellent activities against oriental armyworm (Mythimna separata) and diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella). Above all, the larvicidal activity of 7o against oriental armyworm was 100% and 40% at 0.25 and 0.1 mg L-1, comparable to that of the standard chlorantraniliprole (100%, 0.25 mg L-1 and 20%, 0.1 mg L-1). What is more, 7o against diamondback moth displayed 90% insecticidal activity at 0.01 mg L-1, superior to chlorantraniliprole (45%, 0.01 mg L-1). The experiments 7o on the American cockroach (Periplaneta Americana) heart beating rates (Dorsal vessel) and contractile force were compared with chlorantraniliprole. In addition, 7o could affect the calcium homeostasis in the central neurons of the third larvae of oriental armyworm, which revealed that the ryanodine receptor is the potential target of 7o. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation results revealed the amide bridge, the benzene ring of anthraniloyl moiety and pyrazole ring might play an important role in the insecticidal activity through hydrophobic interactions and π-π conjugations.

Achieving MnO2 Nanosheets through Surface Redox Reaction on Nickel Nanochains for Catalysis and Energy Storage.

The redox reaction between KMnO4 and Ni was carried out on a chain-like Ni surface under hydrothermal conditions and γ-MnO2 nanosheets were produced through this facile route. The original Ni nanochains, as cores, dominated the final morphology of the composites with MnO2 nanosheets loaded on their surface. The uniform assemblies of MnO2 , with large amounts of exposed sites, allowed them to be good candidates for application in various fields. The reduction of 4-nitrophenol by NaBH4 was selected as model reaction to test the catalytic activity of the samples and the samples could also be made into electrodes for supercapacitor measurement. Both the results revealed the advantages of the γ-MnO2 assembled on the Ni chain surfaces. Furthermore, the magnetic cores facilitated the recycling of the sample and increased the stability upon charge-discharge cycles.

Enhancing the Catalytic Activity of Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8-Derived N-Doped Carbon with Incorporated CeO2 Nanoparticles in the Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Incorporation of CeO2 nanoparticles into the cavity of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) was followed by high-temperature pyrolysis to generate CeO2 @N-doped carbon materials. Introduction of the CeO2 nanoparticles greatly enhanced the catalytic activity of the ZIF-8-derived carbon materials in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) owing to the presence of Ce3+ and oxygen vacancies with high content of chemisorbed oxygen in CeO2 and the well-maintained skeleton of the original ZIF-8 with uniform mesoporous structure. The material treated at 900 °C (CeO2 @N-C-900) showed excellent ORR catalytic activity in both acidic and alkaline electrolyte. The ORR onset and half-wave potentials of CeO2 @N-C-900 were 1.003 and 0.908 V versus RHE, respectively, in 0.1 m KOH aqueous solution, which are comparable to those of Pt/C catalysts. Furthermore, it exhibited much better stability and methanol crossover tolerance than Pt/C, indicative of its good potential for applications in energy conversion.