Cascade Dual Sites Modulate Local CO Coverage and Hydrogen-Binding Strength to Boost CO2 Electroreduction to Ethylene.

Rationally modulating the binding strength of reaction intermediates on surface sites of copper-based catalysts could facilitate C-C coupling to generate multicarbon products in an electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction. Herein, theoretical calculations reveal that cascade Ag-Cu dual sites could synergistically increase local CO coverage and lower the kinetic barrier for CO protonation, leading to enhanced asymmetric C-C coupling to generate C2H4. As a proof of concept, the Cu3N-Ag nanocubes (NCs) with Ag located in partial Cu sites and a Cu3N unit center are successfully synthesized. The Faraday efficiency and partial current density of C2H4 over Cu3N-Ag NCs are 7.8 and 9.0 times those of Cu3N NCs, respectively. In situ spectroscopies combined with theoretical calculations confirm that Ag sites produce CO and Cu sites promote asymmetric C-C coupling to *COCHO, significantly enhancing the generation of C2H4. Our work provides new insights into the cascade catalysis strategy at the atomic scale for boosting CO2 to multicarbon products.

High-Branched Natural Polysaccharide Flaxseed Gum Binder for Silicon-Based Lithium-Ion Batteries with High Capacity.

Silicon-based anodes heavily depend on the binder to preserve the unbroken electrode structure. In the present work, natural flaxseed gum (FG) is used as a binder of silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) anode for the first time. Owing to a large number of polar groups and a rich branched structure, this material not only anchors tightly to the surface of SiNPs through bonding interactions but also formed a hydrogen bonding network structure among molecules. As a result, the FG binder can endow the silicon electrode with stable interfacial adhesion and outstanding mechanical properties. In addition, FG with a high viscosity facilitates the homogeneous dispersion of the electrode components. When FG is used as a binder, the cycling performance of the Si anode is greatly improved. After one hundred cycles at an applied current density of 1 A g-1, the electrode continues to display remarkable electrochemical properties with a significant cyclic capacity (2213 mA h g-1) and initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 89.7%.

Morphological and phylogenetic analyses reveal a new species of Anthracophyllum (Omphalotaceae, Agaricales) in Zhejiang Province, China.

During the investigations of macrofungi resources in Zhejiang Province, China, an interesting wood rot fungus was collected. Based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies, it is described as a new species, Anthracophyllum sinense. A. sinense is characterized by its sessile, charcoal black and pleurotoid pileus, sparse lamellae occasionally branching, clavate basidia with long sterigmata [(3-)6-7(-8) µm], and non-heteromorphous cystidia. A. sinense establishes a separate lineage close to A. archeri and A. lateritium in the phylogenetic tree.

Associations of body mass index, waist circumference and the weight-adjusted waist index with daily living ability impairment in older Chinese people: A cross-sectional study of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey.

AIM: To investigate the associations of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and the weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) with the impairment of activities of daily living (ADL) in older Chinese people. METHODS: A total of 13 260 participants aged 65 years and older from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey were included in this cross-sectional study. BMI, WC and the WWI were calculated from measurements of height, weight and WC. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Non-linear correlations were investigated using restricted cubic spline curves. RESULTS: In multivariate logistic regression fully adjusted for confounding variables, our analyses revealed significant associations between WC and WWI and ADL impairment, with adjusted ORs (95% CI) of 1.01 (1.00, 1.01) and 1.08 (1.03, 1.12), respectively. Meanwhile, participants with a high WWI had a higher risk of ADL impairment compared with those with a low WWI, with an adjusted OR (95% CI) of 1.12 (1.02, 1.23). Subgroup analyses showed that only the association between WWI and ADL impairment did not differ in any of the different populations. In addition, we found that BMI, WC and WWI were non-linearly associated with ADL impairment. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant associations between WC and WWI and ADL impairment in older Chinese people. The findings show the ability of the WWI to serve as a comprehensive and effective indicator of obesity in older Chinese people and emphasize the importance of assessing WWI in screening and preventing ADL impairment in older people.

Rash caused by lurasidone in old chinese patient with bipolar disorder: case-based review.

BACKGROUND: Rash is one of common adverse drug reaction and which have been reported in typical and atypical antipsychotics. Reports of lurasidone induced skin reactions are sparse. In this study, we report a case of rash caused by lurasidone. CASE PRESENTATION: A 63-year-old man with bipolar disorder (BD) who is treated by lurasidone. However, the patient presents a rash all over after lurasidone dose increasing from 40 mg/day to 60 mg/day. With the diagnosis of drug induced rash, lurasidone was discontinued, and the rash complete disappears within 2 weeks. In addition, all case reports about antipsychotics associated rash were reviewed by searching English and Chinese database including Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI and Wanfang database. A total of 139 articles contained 172 patients were included in our study. The literature review and our case suggest that the cutaneous adverse events caused by antipsychotic drugs should not be ignored, particularly for the patient who was first use or at dose increasing of antipsychotic. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we report a case of lurasidone related rash and review rash caused by antipsychotics. Psychiatrists should be alert to the possibility of the rash caused by antipsychotics, especially the patient was first use of antipsychotics or the antipsychotic dose was increasing.

Disruption of cholangiocyte-B cell crosstalk by blocking the CXCL12-CXCR4 axis alleviates liver fibrosis.

B cells can promote liver fibrosis, but the mechanism of B cell infiltration and therapy against culprit B cells are lacking. We postulated that the disruption of cholangiocyte-B-cell crosstalk could attenuate liver fibrosis by blocking the CXCL12-CXCR4 axis via a cyclooxygenase-2-independent effect of celecoxib. In wild-type mice subjected to thioacetamide, celecoxib ameliorated lymphocytic infiltration and liver fibrosis. By single-cell RNA sequencing and flow cytometry, CXCR4 was established as a marker for profibrotic and liver-homing phenotype of B cells. Celecoxib reduced liver-homing B cells without suppressing CXCR4. Cholangiocytes expressed CXCL12, attracting B cells to fibrotic areas in human and mouse. The proliferation and CXCL12 expression of cholangiocytes were suppressed by celecoxib. In CXCL12-deficient mice, liver fibrosis was also attenuated with less B-cell infiltration. In the intrahepatic biliary epithelial cell line HIBEpiC, bulk RNA sequencing indicated that both celecoxib and 2,5-dimethyl-celecoxib (an analog of celecoxib that does not show a COX-2-dependent effect) regulated the TGF-ß signaling pathway and cell cycle. Moreover, celecoxib and 2,5-dimethyl-celecoxib decreased the proliferation, and expression of collagen I and CXCL12 in HIBEpiC cells stimulated by TGF-ß or EGF. Taken together, liver fibrosis can be ameliorated by disrupting cholangiocyte-B cell crosstalk by blocking the CXCL12-CXCR4 axis with a COX-2-independent effect of celecoxib.

RCEAU-Net: Cascade Multi-Scale Convolution and Attention-Mechanism-Based Network for Laser Beam Target Image Segmentation with Complex Background in Coal Mine.

Accurate and reliable pose estimation of boom-type roadheaders is the key to the forming quality of the tunneling face in coal mines, which is of great importance to improve tunneling efficiency and ensure the safety of coal mine production. The multi-laser-beam target-based visual localization method is an effective way to realize accurate and reliable pose estimation of a roadheader body. However, the complex background interference in coal mines brings great challenges to the stable and accurate segmentation and extraction of laser beam features, which has become the main problem faced by the long-distance visual positioning method of underground equipment. In this paper, a semantic segmentation network for underground laser beams in coal mines, RCEAU-Net, is proposed based on U-Net. The network introduces residual connections in the convolution of the encoder and decoder parts, which effectively fuses the underlying feature information and improves the gradient circulation performance of the network. At the same time, by introducing cascade multi-scale convolution in the skipping connection section, which compensates for the lack of contextual semantic information in U-Net and improves the segmentation effect of the network model on tiny laser beams at long distance. Finally, the introduction of an efficient multi-scale attention module with cross-spatial learning in the encoder enhances the feature extraction capability of the network. Furthermore, the laser beam target dataset (LBTD) is constructed based on laser beam target images collected from several coal mines, and the proposed RCEAU-Net model is then tested and verified. The experimental results show that, compared with the original U-Net, RCEAU-Net can ensure the real-time performance of laser beam segmentation while increasing the Accuracy by 0.19%, Precision by 2.53%, Recall by 22.01%, and Intersection and Union Ratio by 8.48%, which can meet the requirements of multi-laser-beam feature segmentation and extraction under complex backgrounds in coal mines, so as to further ensure the accuracy and stability of long-distance visual positioning for boom-type roadheaders and ensure the safe production in the working face.

Alterations of gut microbiota are associated with blood pressure: a cross-sectional clinical trial in Northwestern China.

BACKGROUND: The human gut microbiota (GM) is involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension (HTN), and could be affected by various factors, including sex and geography. However, available data directly linking GM to HTN based on sex differences are limited. METHODS: This study investigated the GM characteristics in HTN subjects in Northwestern China, and evaluate the associations of GM with blood pressure levels based on sex differences. A total of 87 HTN subjects and 45 controls were recruited with demographic and clinical characteristics documented. Fecal samples were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomic sequencing. RESULTS: GM diversity was observed higher in females compared to males, and principal coordinate analysis showed an obvious segregation of females and males. Four predominant phyla of fecal GM included Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. LEfSe analysis indicated that phylum unidentified_Bacteria was enriched in HTN females, while Leuconostocaceae, Weissella and Weissella_cibaria were enriched in control females (P < 0.05). Functionally, ROC analysis revealed that Cellular Processes (0.796, 95% CI 0.620 ~ 0.916), Human Diseases (0.773, 95% CI 0.595 ~ 0.900), Signal transduction (0.806, 95% CI 0.631 ~ 0.922) and Two-component system (0.806, 95% CI 0.631 ~ 0.922) could differentiate HTN females as effective functional classifiers, which were also positively correlated with systolic blood pressure levels. CONCLUSIONS: This work provides evidence of fecal GM characteristics in HTN females and males in a northwestern Chinese population, further supporting the notion that GM dysbiosis may participate in the pathogenesis of HTN, and the role of sex differences should be considered. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800019191. Registered 30 October 2018 - Retrospectively registered, http://www.chictr.org.cn/ .

Cardiac proteomic profiling suggests that hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy share a common pathogenetic pathway of the calcium signalling pathway.

OBJECTIVE: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) are classified as different diseases but have many similar pathogenic genes and clinical symptoms. Previous research has focused on mutated genes. This study was conducted to identify key molecular mechanisms and explore effective therapeutic targets. METHODS: Myocardial tissue was harvested from patients with HCM (n = 3) or DCM (n = 4) during surgery. Hearts donated by healthy traffic accident victims were treated as controls (n = 4). Total proteins were extracted for liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were annotated via GO and KEGG analyses. Selected distinguishing protein abundance was confirmed by western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, there were 121 and 76 DEPs in the HCM and DCM groups, respectively. GO terms for these two comparisons are associated with contraction-related components and actin binding. Additionally, the most significantly upregulated and downregulated proteins were periostin and tropomyosin alpha-3 chain in both comparisons. Moreover, when comparing the HCM and DCM groups, we found 60 significant DEPs, and the GO and KEGG terms are related to the calcium signalling pathway. Expression of the calcium regulation-related protein peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (FKBP1A) was significantly upregulated in multiple samples. CONCLUSION: HCM and DCM have many mutual pathogenetic pathways. Calcium ion-related processes are among the most significant factors affecting disease development. For HCM and DCM, research on regulating linchpin protein expression or interfering with key calcium-related pathways may be more beneficial than genetic research.

Development and performance evaluations of an HER-2 kit.

Objective To develop a kit for detecting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) in the human body. Methods The HER-2 kit was evaluated based on an automated magnetic particle chemiluminescence platform. The kit was developed using the double antibody sandwich-complexation method. Results The kit showed a linear range of 0.01-800 ng/mL, with a linear R2 of >0.999. The limit of the blank was 0.0039 ng/mL, and the precision at 1.00 ng/mL was 9.4%. The recovery rate at 10.00 ng/mL was 97.81-101.81%. The negative serum reference range was 0-8.23 ng/mL. Conclusions The kit had a wide linear range, high accuracy, good precision, and high sensitivity, indicating that it has good application prospects.

The value of endoscopically-placed metal clips for transcatheter arterial embolization in the treatment of recurrent acute non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

OBJECTIVE: Acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (ANVUGIB) is a common clinical emergency. Transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) is usually used to locate the bleeding site and provide interventional embolization. During TAE, there is a low positive rate of angiography, and localization of the culprit vessel is difficult. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the role of preplaced metal clips in TAE for ANVUGIB patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with ANVUGIB in whom bleeding sites were identified endoscopically and treated with TAE from January 1st, 2005 to July 1st, 2021 were retrospectively included. According to the presence or absence of preplaced metal clips, they were divided into two groups. The main outcome measurements included the clinical success rate and rebleeding rate. Secondary outcome measurements included the mortality rate and the need for surgery. Predictors of the clinical success rate were assessed with univariate analysis and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 102 patients were included in this study, and all of them had undergone arterial embolization. There were 73 cases in the group with metal clips and 29 cases in the group without metal clips with consistent baseline information. The group with metal clips had a higher clinical success rate (82.2% vs. 45.0%, P < 0.001), lower rebleeding rate (8.2% vs 27.6%, P = 0.039) and additional surgery rate (11.0% vs 20.7%, P < 0.001) than the group without metal clips. In univariate analysis, ROCKALL score and preplaced metal clip marking were shown to affect clinical success rate. In multivariate analysis, metal clip marking was found to facilitate clinical success (OR = 3.750, 95CI = 1.456-9.659, P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: In ANVUGIB patients, preplaced metal clips could improve the clinical success rate of TAE and reduce the mortality rate and the risk of rebleeding.

Prognostic and therapeutic significance of XPO1 in T-cell lymphoma.

T-cell lymphoma (TCL) is a highly heterogeneous group of invasive non-Hodgkin lymphoma with adverse prognosis and limited treatment options. The relationship between TCL and Exportin-1 (XPO1), a major nuclear export receptor, has not been established yet. We here investigated the prognostic role and therapeutic implication of XPO1 in TCL. We analyzed XPO1 expression in a cohort of 69 TCL tumors and found that XPO1 was over-expressed in 76.8% of TCL and correlated with decreased progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In vitro treatment of TCL cell lines with KPT-8602, the second-generation selective inhibitor of nuclear export (SINE), inhibited XPO1 expression and showed significant anti-proliferative, cell-cycle arrest and pro-apoptotic efficacy. In mechanism, KPT-8602 restored the localization of cytoplasmic FOXO3A, p27, p21, IκBα and PP2A into the nucleus, leading to AKT and NF-κB deactivation. Our data demonstrate for the first time that XPO1 could be an unfavorable prognostic factor for TCL, and provide a rationale for further investigation of the efficacy of KPT-8602 in TCL patients.

NOx emission deterioration in modern heavy-duty diesel vehicles based on long-term real driving measurements.

NOx emissions from diesel vehicles generally deteriorate with increased durability mileage owing to the wear and deterioration of engines and after-treatment systems. Three China-VI heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDDVs) were selected for four-phase long-term real driving emission (RDE) tests using the portable emission measurement system (PEMS). After 200,000 km of on-road driving, the maximum NOx emission factor of the test vehicles (387.06 mg/kWh) was found to be significantly lower than the NOx limit of 690 mg/kWh. Under all driving conditions, the NOx conversion efficiency of selected catalytic reduction (SCR) decreased almost linearly as the durability mileage increased. Importantly, the deterioration rate of the NOx conversion efficiency in low-temperature intervals was discernibly higher than that in high-temperature intervals. The NOx conversion efficiency at 200 °C dropped by 16.67-19.82% with higher durability mileage; however, the highest values at 275-400 °C only decreased by 4.11%. Interestingly, the SCR catalyst at 250 °C showed strong NOx conversion efficiency and durability (maximum decline of 2.11%). Overall, the poor de-NOx performance of SCR catalysts at low temperatures significantly challenges the long-term effective control of NOx emissions from HDDVs. Thus, improving the NOx conversion efficiency and durability at low-temperature intervals is the top priority for SCR catalyst optimization; NOx emissions from HDDVs at low velocities and loads should also be monitored by environmental authorities. The linear fitting coefficient for the NOx emission factors of the four-phase RDE tests was 0.90-0.92, indicating that NOx emissions deteriorated linearly with an increase in mileage. Based on the linear fitting results, the NOx emission control of the test vehicles during 700,000 km of on-road driving was highly likely to be qualified. These results can be used by environmental authorities to supervise the NOx emission conformity of in-use HDDVs after validation using other types of vehicles.

Relationship between ambulatory arterial stiffness index and the severity of angiographic atherosclerosis in patients with H-type hypertension and coronary artery disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate coronary artery disease (CAD) and its correlation with the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) in patients with H-type hypertension (essential hypertension combined with hyper-homocysteinemia) and coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS: Patients with essential hypertension and CHD who were undergoing coronary angiography were enrolled. The general clinical data, biochemical indicators, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring results and coronary angiography results of the selected patients were collected, and the AASI and Gensini scores were calculated. According to homocysteine (Hcy) levels, the patients were divided into two groups: a study group and a control group. The differences in general clinical data, biochemical indexes, AASI scores and degree of coronary artery lesions between the two groups were compared. The correlation between the AASI and the Gensini score and the relationship between the AASI and the Gensini score of CAD and various factors were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the Hcy level in the study group was significantly increased (8.16 ± 2.33 vs 19.20 ± 2.36, P = .001). The 24-h diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in the study group was significantly lower than that in the control group (76.38 ± 9.33 vs 79.91 ± 9.25, P = .002), and the AASI was significantly higher than in the control group (0.62 ± 0.81 vs 0.420 ± 0.70, P = .001). The number of patients having coronary stenoses with a Gensini score of ≤ 38 was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group (21.3% vs 49.4%, P < .001). The number of patients with a Gensini score of ≥ 51 in the study group was significantly higher than in the control group (22.0% vs 18.8%, P < .001). There was a significant positive correlation between the AASI and the Gensini score in the study group (R = 0.732, P < .001). Hypertension duration (ß = 0.168), diabetes history (ß = 0.236), 24-h SBP (ß = 0.122), 24-h DBP (ß = -0.131), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ß = 0.134) and Hcy (ß = 0.233) were the influencing factors for AASI (P < .05). Both Hcy * AASI (ß = 0.356) and Hcy × 24-h HR (ß = 0.331) had a synergistic effect on the Gensini score (P = .017), with Hcy * AASI having a more significant effect on the Gensini score (P < .001). CONCLUSION: The AASI was significantly increased in patients with H-type hypertension and CHD, which was associated with the severity of CAD. Therefore, Hcy levels and the AASI have a synergistic effect when evaluating the severity of CAD in patients with hypertensive CHD.

An all-37 °C thawing method improves the clinical outcomes of vitrified frozen-thawed embryo transfer: a retrospective study using a case-control matching analysis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of different temperatures and incubation times on the clinical outcomes of FET cycles during the thawing procedure and to select a better thawing method to improve clinical outcomes. METHODS: This retrospective study included 1734 FET cycles from January 1, 2020, to January 30, 2022. Embryos vitrified using a KITAZATO Vitrification Kit were thawed at 37 °C in all steps (the case group, denoted the "all-37 °C" group) or at 37 °C and then at room temperature (RT; the control group, denoted the "37 °C-RT" group), according to the kit instructions. The groups were matched 1:1 to avoid confounding. RESULTS: After case-control matching, 366 all-37 °C cycles and 366 37 °C-RT cycles were included. The baseline characteristics were similar (all P > 0.05) between the two groups after matching. FET of the all-37 °C group yielded a higher clinical pregnancy rate (CPR; P = 0.009) and implantation rate (IR; P = 0.019) than FET of the 37 °C-RT group. For blastocyst transfers, the CPR (P = 0.019) and IR (P = 0.025) were significantly higher in the all-37 °C group than in the 37 °C-RT group. For D3-embryo transfers, the CPR and IR were non-significantly higher in the all-37 °C group than in the 37 °C-RT group (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Thawing vitrified embryos at 37 °C in all steps with shortening wash time can enhance CPR and IR in FET cycles. Well-designed prospective studies are warranted to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of the all-37 °C thawing method.

The Gut-Organ-Axis Concept: Advances the Application of Gut-on-Chip Technology.

The intestine is considered to be a vital digestive organ to absorb nutrients and is the largest immune organ, while numerous microorganisms coexist with the host. It is well known that the complex interactions between the gut microbiota and the host's immune system inevitably affect the function of other organs, creating an "axis" between them. During the past few years, a new technique based mainly on microfluidics and cell biology has been developed to emulate the structure, function, and microenvironment of the human gut, called the "gut-on-chip". This microfluidic chip provides insight into key aspects of gut function in health and disease, such as the gut-brain axis, gut-liver axis, gut-kidney axis, and gut-lung axis. In this review, we first describe the basic theory of the gut axis and the various composition and parameter monitoring of the gut microarray systems, as well as summarize the development and emerging advances in the gut-organ-on-chip, with a focus on the host-gut flora and nutrient metabolism, and highlight their role in pathophysiological studies. In addition, this paper discusses the challenges and prospects for the current development and further use of the gut-organ-on-chip platform.

Protective Effect of Astragaloside IV against Cadmium-Induced Damage on Mouse Renal Podocytes (MPC5).

In this study, we investigated the protective effect of Astragaloside IV (Ast) on mouse podocytes and its possible mechanism of action by constructing a cadmium-induced mouse renal podocytes model. We investigated the effects of cadmium (Cd) toxicity on cell number, morphology, the mitochondrial status of subcellular organelles, protein and gene levels, and the protective effects of Ast by constructing a model of Cd-induced damage to mouse renal podocytes (MPC5) and giving Ast protection at the same time. The results showed that exposure of MPC5 cells to CdCl2 culture medium containing 6.25 µM concentration acted with low cell mortality, but the mortality of MPC5 cells increased with the prolongation of cadmium exposure time. Given Ast, the death rate in the low dose group (12.5 µM) was significantly reduced, while the death rate in the medium dose group (25 µM) was extremely significantly reduced. In comparison to the control group, the Cd-exposed group exhibited a significant increase of 166.7% in malondialdehyde (MDA) content and a significant decrease of 17.1% in SOD activity. The mitochondrial membrane potential was also reduced to varying degrees. However, in the Ast-protected group compared to the Cd-exposed group, the MDA content significantly decreased by 20.8%, the SOD activity decreased by 7.14%, and the mitochondrial membrane potential showed a significant increase. Fluorescence staining of mitochondrial membrane potential indicated that Cd exposure caused mitochondrial apoptosis. In the 12-h cadmium-exposed group, the protein expression of Nephrin in mice significantly decreased by 33.4%. However, the expression of the Desmin protein significantly increased by 67.8%, and the expression of the autophagy protein LC3-II significantly increased by 55.5%. Meanwhile, the expression of PINK1, a mitochondrial autophagy pathway protein, was significantly increased in the 12 h and 24 h cadmium exposure groups. The mRNA level of PINK1 was significantly increased, and that of Parkin was decreased in the 48 h cadmium exposure group. Compared to the Cd-exposed group, the Ast group showed more significant improvements in the expression of podocyte structure, functional proteins, and mitochondrial autophagy pathway proteins. The immunological assay of mitochondrial autophagic pathway proteins further indicated that Cd-induced damage to MPC5 cells might be associated with the dysregulation of mitochondrial autophagy.

Recent advances in quality preservation of postharvest golden needle mushroom (Flammulina velutiper).

The golden needle mushroom (Flammulina velutiper) is one of the most productive mushrooms in the world. However, F. velutiper experiences continuous quality degradation in terms of changes in color and textural characteristics, loss of moisture, nutrition and flavor, and increased microbial populations due to its high respiratory activity during the postharvest phase. Postharvest preservation techniques, including physical, chemical and biological methods, play a vital role in maintaining postharvest quality and extending the shelf life of mushrooms. Therefore, in this study, the decay process of F. velutiper and the factors affecting its quality were comprehensively reviewed. Additionally, the preservation methods (e.g., low-temperature storage, packaging, plasma treatment, antimicrobial cleaning and 1-methylcyclopropene treatment) for F. velutiper used for the last 5 years were compared to provide an outlook on future research directions. Overall, this review aims to provide a reference for developing novel, green and safe preservation techniques for F. velutiper. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

A validated method for the determination of quetiapine fumarate tablets in human plasma by UPLC-MS/MS and its application to a pharmacokinetic study in healthy Chinese subjects.

A rapid, highly specific and sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for the determination of Quetiapine Fumarate, a therapeutic drug for various psychiatric disorders, in human plasma. The samples were pretreated using a protein precipitation method, followed by chromatographic separation using a column (Kinetex C18, 2.6µm 50*2.1mm) equipped with an ESI source and MRM mode mass spectrometer. In the validation results of the method, the analyte quetiapine showed a peak at approximately 1.0 minute and exhibited good linearity within the concentration from 2.5 to 2000ng/mL. The intra- and inter-batch precision CV% were within the range of -1.3% to 7.7% and precision of intra- and inter-batch were below 15.0%. Furthermore, this method demonstrated low matrix effects and high recovery rates. The quetiapine plasma sample solution remained stable at room temperature for 25 hours and following 4 freeze-thaw cycles. The prepared samples remained stable in the autosampler (The temperature control of the autosampler was 5oC) for 185 hours and after four freeze-thaw cycles at -20oC and -70oC for 40 days. The present work effectively employed this approach to investigate the pharmacokinetics of orally administered quetiapine fumarate tablets in a cohort of healthy Chinese individuals, both in a fasting state and after a meal.

Genomic and resistome analysis of Alcaligenes faecalis strain PGB1 by Nanopore MinION and Illumina Technologies.

BACKGROUND: Drug-resistant bacteria are important carriers of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs). This fact is crucial for the development of precise clinical drug treatment strategies. Long-read sequencing platforms such as the Oxford Nanopore sequencer can improve genome assembly efficiency particularly when they are combined with short-read sequencing data. RESULTS: Alcaligenes faecalis PGB1 was isolated and identified with resistance to penicillin and three other antibiotics. After being sequenced by Nanopore MinION and Illumina sequencer, its entire genome was hybrid-assembled. One chromosome and one plasmid was assembled and annotated with 4,433 genes (including 91 RNA genes). Function annotation and comparison between strains were performed. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that it was closest to A. faecalis ZD02. Resistome related sequences was explored, including ARGs, Insert sequence, phage. Two plasmid aminoglycoside genes were determined to be acquired ARGs. The main ARG category was antibiotic efflux resistance and ß-lactamase (EC 3.5.2.6) of PGB1 was assigned to Class A, Subclass A1b, and Cluster LSBL3. CONCLUSIONS: The present study identified the newly isolated bacterium A. faecalis PGB1 and systematically annotated its genome sequence and ARGs.