The Neurotranscriptome of Monochamus alternatus.

The Japanese pine sawyer Monochamus alternatus serves as the primary vector for pine wilt disease, a devastating pine disease that poses a significant threat to the sustainable development of forestry in the Eurasian region. Currently, trap devices based on informational compounds have played a crucial role in monitoring and controlling the M. alternatus population. However, the specific proteins within M. alternatus involved in recognizing the aforementioned informational compounds remain largely unclear. To elucidate the spatiotemporal distribution of M. alternatus chemosensory-related genes, this study conducted neural transcriptome analyses to investigate gene expression patterns in different body parts during the feeding and mating stages of both male and female beetles. The results revealed that 15 genes in the gustatory receptor (GR) gene family exhibited high expression in the mouthparts, most genes in the odorant binding protein (OBP) gene family exhibited high expression across all body parts, 22 genes in the odorant receptor (OR) gene family exhibited high expression in the antennae, a significant number of genes in the chemosensory protein (CSP) and sensory neuron membrane protein (SNMP) gene families exhibited high expression in both the mouthparts and antennae, and 30 genes in the ionotropic receptors (IR) gene family were expressed in the antennae. Through co-expression analyses, it was observed that 34 genes in the IR gene family were co-expressed across the four developmental stages. The Antenna IR subfamily and IR8a/Ir25a subfamily exhibited relatively high expression levels in the antennae, while the Kainate subfamily, NMDA subfamily, and Divergent subfamily exhibited predominantly high expression in the facial region. MalIR33 is expressed only during the feeding stage of M. alternatus, the MalIR37 gene exhibits specific expression in male beetles, the MalIR34 gene exhibits specific expression during the feeding stage in male beetles, the MalIR8 and MalIR39 genes exhibit specific expression during the feeding stage in female beetles, and MalIR8 is expressed only during two developmental stages in male beetles and during the mating stage in female beetles. The IR gene family exhibits gene-specific expression in different spatiotemporal contexts, laying the foundation for the subsequent selection of functional genes and facilitating the full utilization of host plant volatiles and insect sex pheromones, thereby enabling the development of more efficient attractants.

Discovery and Characterization of MaK: A Novel Knottin Antimicrobial Peptide from Monochamus alternatus.

Knottin-type antimicrobial peptides possess exceptional attributes, such as high efficacy, low vulnerability to drug resistance, minimal toxicity, and precise targeting of drug sites. These peptides play a crucial role in the innate immunity of insects, offering protection against bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Knottins have garnered considerable interest as promising contenders for drug development due to their ability to bridge the gap between small molecules and protein-based biopharmaceuticals, effectively addressing the therapeutic limitations of both modalities. This work presents the isolation and identification of a novel antimicrobial peptide derived from Monochamus alternatus. The cDNA encodes a 56-amino acid knottin propeptide, while the mature peptide comprises only 34 amino acids. We have labeled this knottin peptide as MaK. Using chemically synthesized MaK, we evaluated its hemolytic activity, thermal stability, antibacterial properties, and efficacy against nematodes. The results of this study indicate that MaK is an exceptionally effective knottin-type peptide. It demonstrates low toxicity, superior stability, potent antibacterial activity, and the ability to suppress pine wood nematodes. Consequently, these findings suggest that MaK has potential use in developing innovative therapeutic agents to prevent and manage pine wilt disease.

Retarding performance of the vadose zone for nitrogen pollutants derived from municipal solid waste landfills in the red bed zone.

Nitrogen pollutants such as ammonia and nitrates cause soil and groundwater contamination at municipal solid waste landfill (MSWL) sites due to leachate leakage. Here, the migration of nitrogen pollutants in the vadose zone of the red bed (VZRB) at a MSWL site was studied by static adsorption batch experiments and one-dimensional simulated migration experiments. The results indicated that the soil in the red bed did not adsorb nitrates. Chemical adsorption and monolayer adsorption of the soil played dominant roles during ammonia adsorption in the VZRB, which was best fitted by the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation ( [Formula: see text] = 0.99) and the Langmuir model. The ammonia adsorption capacity of the soil was the highest (Qm = 2.041 mg·g-1) at 318 K. It was due to the endothermic and non-spontaneous chemical adsorption of ammonia, whose enthalpy change (ΔH) reached 20.995 kJ·mol-1 and Gibbs free energy ranged from 8.469 to 8.706 kJ·mol-1. Chloride penetration tests indicated that the diffusion coefficient and migration speed reached 0.0515 cm2·h-1 and 0.0833 cm·h-1, respectively, in the clay layer under the MSWL sites. The average hysteresis diffusion coefficients of ammonia in the simulated soil columns leached by ammonium chloride solution (SSCAC) and by the leachate from MSWL (SSCL) were 1.129 and 1.400, respectively. After the leaching experiments, the clay pore structure was saturated, and the specific surface area decreased. The absorption peak intensities of clay functional groups, including carboxyl, alkyne, and hydroxyl groups, were reduced. The ammonia content in the soil of SSCAC decreased from the top (14.51 mg·kg-1) to the bottom (3.14 mg·kg-1) and in the SSCL from 24.96 mg·kg-1 to 5.05 mg·kg-1, respectively. Thus, the impermeable clay layer and VZRB helped in retardation of ammonia leakage from MSWL sites. This was due to the blockage of seepage, ammonia mechanical filtration, ammonia monolayer chemical adsorption, and the reaction between the functional groups and ammonia in the VZRB underneath the MSWL sites.

Neuroprotective and Therapeutic Effects of Tocovid and Twendee-X on Aß Oligomer-Induced Damage in the SH-SY5Y Cell Line.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of dementia among the elderly. The accumulation of amyloid beta (Aß) and its downstream pathological events such as oxidative stress play central roles in AD. Recent studies revealed that Aß oligomer (AßO)-induced strong neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells via the induction of oxidative stress. OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we investigated the effect of two antioxidants, Tocovid and Twendee-X, on AßO-induced SH-SY5Y cell damage. METHODS: AßOs (2.5 µM) were applied to induce cellular damage in the SH-SY5Y cell line. Cell viability following AßO toxicity, Tau protein phosphorylation, cell morphology, and intracellular reactive oxygen species were assayed with or without different concentrations of Tocovid or Twendee-X. RESULTS: Tocovid (60 µg/mL) and Twendee-X (150 µg/mL) significantly recovered cell viability from AßO toxicity (**p < 0.01, vs. control), attenuated Tau protein phosphorylation (**p < 0.01, vs. AßOs), improved cell morphology (**p < 0.01, vs. AßOs), and suppressed intracellular ROS (**p < 0.01, vs. AßOs) in SH-SY5Y cells. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the neuroprotective and therapeutic potential of Tocovid and Twendee-X for AD treatment.

Identification of nitrogen-sources in an aquifer beneath a municipal solid waste landfill in the vicinity of multiple pollutant sources.

Nitrogen contamination of groundwater has become a global issue and has aroused considerable concern among authorities. However, it is difficult to trace nitrogen sources in settings where a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill site co-exists with intensive agriculture and other human activities. Therefore, a field investigation that combined a statistical analysis (factor analysis: FA) and hydrochemical analysis was designed and undertaken to identify nitrogen-pollutant sources in the shallow groundwater beneath an MSW landfill near to an agricultural area and human settlement. The results of the case study showed that nitrate was the specific pollutant produced by agricultural non-point-sources (Pbi = 15.5) and domestic pollution sources (Pbi = 41.0). The total phosphorus (Pbi = 37.2) and organic matter (Pbi = 16.6) were the specific pollutants released by the aquaculture and animal husbandry point-sources, and chloride (Pbi = 75.4) and organic matter (Pbi = 16.1) were the specific pollutants produced by the landfill. In the investigated area, the domestic pollution sources and agricultural non-point-sources were the most likely sources of nitrate contamination in the shallow aquifer. However, the landfill source and the aquaculture and animal husbandry point sources were the most likely sources of ammonium contamination. The combined method used in this study could successfully identify the nitrogen pollution sources in the shallow groundwater beneath an MSW landfill located in the vicinity of multiple pollutant sources. The method could be used to improve the control of nitrogen contamination and the management of groundwater quality.

The Psychiatry Major: A Curricular Innovation to Improve Undergraduate Psychiatry Education in China.

OBJECTIVE: In China, a psychiatry major curriculum (PMC) has been implemented in select medical schools to improve the quality of undergraduate psychiatry education (UPE). Our aim was to describe this PMC and compare it with UPE in the standard Chinese clinical medicine curriculum (CMC). We also benchmarked PMC to UPE programs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China and the United States of America (USA) to determine how well it met standards of well-established programs and to highlight areas for improvement. METHODS: Based on archival information, relevant literature, and communication with key informants, we described PMC and CMC in a Chinese school with both curriculums. We then compared PMC to UPE curriculums in Hong Kong and the USA. RESULTS: PMC provides substantially more comprehensive exposure to psychiatry than CMC, with more preclinical experiences and psychiatry clerkship course hours, greater diversity of clinical sites, and exploration of subspecialties. PMC employs a variety of teaching methods and offers mentoring for students. PMC has similar UPE preclinical content and course hours as programs in Hong Kong and the USA. PMC also provides more clinical exposure than programs in Hong Kong or the USA, although there is less variety in clinical settings. CONCLUSION: We recommend implementation of concrete measures to improve UPE in Chinese medical schools, using the PMC curriculum as a model that has been successfully implemented in China. We also recommend improvements to PMC based on comparisons with existing programs outside Mainland China.

Gene expression profiles in febrile children with defined viral and bacterial infection.

Viral infections are common causes of fever without an apparent source in young children. Despite absence of bacterial infection, many febrile children are treated with antibiotics. Virus and bacteria interact with different pattern recognition receptors in circulating blood leukocytes, triggering specific host transcriptional programs mediating immune response. Therefore, unique transcriptional signatures may be defined that discriminate viral from bacterial causes of fever without an apparent source. Gene expression microarray analyses were conducted on blood samples from 30 febrile children positive for adenovirus, human herpesvirus 6, or enterovirus infection or with acute bacterial infection and 22 afebrile controls. Blood leukocyte transcriptional profiles clearly distinguished virus-positive febrile children from both virus-negative afebrile controls and afebrile children with the same viruses present in the febrile children. Virus-specific gene expression profiles could be defined. The IFN signaling pathway was uniquely activated in febrile children with viral infection, whereas the integrin signaling pathway was uniquely activated in children with bacterial infection. Transcriptional profiles classified febrile children with viral or bacterial infection with better accuracy than white blood cell count in the blood. Similarly accurate classification was shown with data from an independent study using different microarray platforms. Our results support the paradigm of using host response to define the etiology of childhood infections. This approach could be an important supplement to highly sensitive tests that detect the presence of a possible pathogen but do not address its pathogenic role in the patient being evaluated.

A Low Cost Compact Measurement System Constructed Using a Smart Electrochemical Sensor for the Real-Time Discrimination of Fruit Ripening.

Ethylene as an indicator for evaluating fruit ripening can be measured by very sensitive electrochemical gas sensors based on a high-resolution current produced by a bias potential applied to the electrodes. For this purpose, a measurement system for monitoring ethylene gas concentrations to evaluate fruit ripening by using the electrochemical ethylene sensor was successfully developed. Before the electrochemical ethylene sensor was used to measure the ethylene gas concentrations released from fruits, a calibration curve was established by the standard ethylene gases at concentrations of 2.99 ppm, 4.99 ppm, 8.01 ppm and 10 ppm, respectively, with a flow rate of 0.4 L·min(-1). From the calibration curve, the linear relationship between the responses and concentrations of ethylene gas was obtained in the range of 0-10 ppm with the correlation coefficient R² of 0.9976. The micropump and a novel signal conditioning circuit were implemented in this measurement, resulting in a rapid response in detecting ethylene concentrations down to 0.1 ppm in air and in under 50 s. In this experiment, three kinds of fruits-apples, pears and kiwifruits-were studied at a low concentration (under 0.8 ppm) of trace ethylene content in the air exhaled by fruits. The experimental results showed that a low cost, compact measurement system constructed by using an electrochemical ethylene sensor has a high sensitivity of 0.3907 V·ppm(-1) with a theoretical detection limit of 0.413 ppm, and is non-invasive and highly portable.

Soil Inoculum Production, Survival, and Infectivity of the Boxwood Blight Pathogen, Calonectria pseudonaviculata.

Boxwood blight caused by Calonectria pseudonaviculata is typically expressed as a foliage disease with aboveground symptoms including defoliation, dieback and formation of dark narrow stem cankers. Whether this pathogen behaves like other Calonectria spp. and has a significant soil phase in the epidemiology of boxwood blight is not known. In this study we observed experimentally that (1) the boxwood blight pathogen consistently forms microsclerotia in artificially inoculated leaves and roots of Buxus spp., (2) soil artificially inoculated with conidia and microsclerotia of this pathogen can cause foliar blight, (3) conidia and microsclerotia can remain viable in soil for up to 3 and at least 40 weeks, respectively (4) and the pathogen can cause crown and root rot to plants only when roots and crowns are directly exposed to relatively high inoculum levels. Our results suggest that C. pseudonaviculata is primarily a foliar pathogen with a potentially epidemiologically significant soil phase.

Considerations on Circuit Design and Data Acquisition of a Portable Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensing System.

The aim of this study was to develop a circuit for an inexpensive portable biosensing system based on surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. This portable biosensing system designed for field use is characterized by a special structure which consists of a microfluidic cell incorporating a right angle prism functionalized with a biomolecular identification membrane, a laser line generator and a data acquisition circuit board. The data structure, data memory capacity and a line charge-coupled device (CCD) array with a driving circuit for collecting the photoelectric signals are intensively focused on and the high performance analog-to-digital (A/D) converter is comprehensively evaluated. The interface circuit and the photoelectric signal amplifier circuit are first studied to obtain the weak signals from the line CCD array in this experiment. Quantitative measurements for validating the sensitivity of the biosensing system were implemented using ethanol solutions of various concentrations indicated by volume fractions of 5%, 8%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%, respectively, without a biomembrane immobilized on the surface of the SPR sensor. The experiments demonstrated that it is possible to detect a change in the refractive index of an ethanol solution with a sensitivity of 4.99838 × 10(5) ΔRU/RI in terms of the changes in delta response unit with refractive index using this SPR biosensing system, whereby the theoretical limit of detection of 3.3537 × 10(-5) refractive index unit (RIU) and a high linearity at the correlation coefficient of 0.98065. The results obtained from a series of tests confirmed the practicality of this cost-effective portable SPR biosensing system.

Insight into the intrinsic activity of various transition metal sulfides for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction.

The electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an efficient approach to convert sustainable energy sources into clean energy carriers, H2. Although various transition metal sulfides (TMSs) have been reported as promising alternatives to precious metal-based catalysts, the top catalyst among TMSs remains unclear as there is a dearth of high-quality studies that provide a 'fair' comparison of the performance of these TMSs synthesized and tested under the same conditions. In this work, layered transition metal sulfides (MS2: MoS2, WS2, VS2) and non-layered transition metal sulfides (MxSy: FeS2, CoSx, NiS) were obtained by a straightforward hydrothermal method, and thus a comprehensive platform was established for the comparison of the intrinsic activity of these materials in the HER. Experimental results demonstrate that layered MS2 exhibits better performance than non-layered MxSy in acidic electrolytes, while CoSx and NiS can catalyze hydrogen evolution more effectively under alkaline conditions due to structural reconfiguration. MoS2 shows the best HER performance in both acidic and alkaline electrolytes, particularly in 1 M KOH solution. This work provides guidance for the optimal design of transition metal electrocatalysts, and structural engineering strategies can be used to further enhance their catalytic activity.

Fine-tuning nanoflower-like Fe/Co hybrids with high content oxyhydroxide accelerating oxygen evolution kinetics.

Iron hydroxide (FeOOH) is a potential active component in iron-based electrocatalysts for water electrolysis. However, its catalytic performance is constrained by its slow oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics. Herein, we synthesized a nanoflower-like FeCo-hydro(oxy)oxides composite with tunable Fe/Co ratios (Fex-Coy) on nickel foam (NF) via a one-step electrodeposition technique. This method allows for precise control over the morphology and composition of the hybrid nanoflowers. The optimized Fe9-Co1 discloses favorable OER performance with a low overpotential of 222 mV at 50 mA cm-2 and demonstrates good stability exceeding 60 h at 10 mA cm-2. Further, an assembled Fe9-Co1(+)||Pt/C(-) dual-electrode configuration achieves a low cell voltage of 1.73 V at the current density of 100 mA cm-2 for water splitting, with long-term stability for 70 h and minimal degradation. Studies indicate that the distinctive nanoflower morphology of Fe9-Co1 enhances active site exposure, while both FeOOH and reconstructed CoOOH serve as catalytic centers, contributing to the observed OER performance. This work introduces a facile approach for synthesizing OER electrocatalysts, underscoring the role of the high-valence state of Fe/Co as active sites in the OER process.

Synergistic vacancy engineering of Co/MnO@NC catalyst for superior oxygen reduction reaction in liquid/solid zinc-air batteries.

The pursuit of efficient and economically viable catalysts for liquid/solid-state zinc-air batteries (ZABs) is of paramount importance yet presents formidable challenge. Herein, we synthesized a vacancy-rich cobalt/manganese oxide catalyst (Co/MnO@NC) stabilized on a nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (NC) nanosphere matrix by leveraging hydrothermal and high-temperature pyrolysis strategy. The optimized Co/MnO@NC demonstrates fast reaction kinetics and large limiting current densities comparable to commercial Pt/C in alkaline electrolyte for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Moreover, the Co/MnO@NC serves as an incredible cathode material for both liquid and flexible solid-state ZABs, delivering impressive peak power densities of 217.7 and 63.3 mW cm-2 and robust long-term stability (459 h), outperforming the state-of-the-art Pt/C and majority of the currently reported catalysts. Research indicates that the superior performance of the Co/MnO@NC catalyst primarily stems from the synergy between the heightened electrical conductivity of metallic Co and the regulatory capacity of MnO on adsorbed oxygen intermediates. In addition, the abundance of vacancies regulates the electronic configuration, and superhydrophilicity facilitates efficient electrolyte diffusion, thereby effectively ensuring optimal contact between the active site and reactants. Besides, the coexisting NC layer avoids the shedding of active sites, resulting in high stability. This work provides a viable approach for designing and advancing high-performance liquid/solid-state ZABs, highlighting the great potential of energy storage technology.

Neuroprotective effect of, a flavonoid, sudachitin in mice stroke model.

A flavonoid, sudachitin, has been reported to show some beneficial health effects, including as an anti-inflammatory in LPS-stimulated macrophages, as well as improving glucose and lipid metabolism in mice fed a high-fat diet. In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective effect of sudachitin in the transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) mouse model. After daily pre-treatment of vehicle or sudachitin (5 or 50 mg/kg) for 14 days, mice (n = 76) were subjected to a sham operation or tMCAO for 45 min, and on the following days, they were treated daily with vehicle or sudachitin. The administration of sudachitin significantly reduced (p < 0.05) cerebral infarct volume and attenuated apoptosis, 5 days after tMCAO. Neurological impairment improved, the expression of an oxidative stress marker, 4-HNE, decreased, and the Sirt1/PGC-1α pathway was activated 5 days after tMCAO in the sudachitin-treated group. This is the first report to demonstrate the neuroprotective effect of sudachitin in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury mice model, probably by activating the Sirt1/PGC-1α axis. Sudachitin may be a promising supplement or therapeutic agent for reducing injury caused by ischemic strokes.

The construction and evaluation of secretory expression engineering bacteria for the trans-Cry3Aa-T-HasA fusion protein against the Monochamus alternatus vector.

Pine wood nematode disease is currently the most deadly forest disease in China, and the Monochamus alternatus is its primary vector. Controlling the M. alternatus is crucial for managing pine wood nematode disease. This study, based on the selected HasA (pGHKW4) secretory expression vector, used electroporation to combine the genetically modified high-toxicity toxin Cry3Aa-T with the entomopathogenic bacterium Yersinia entomophaga isolated from the gut of the M. alternatus. The SDS-PAGE and Western blotting techniques were employed to confirm the toxin protein's secretion capability. The engineered bacteria's genetic stability and effectiveness in controlling M. alternatus were assessed for their insecticidal activity. The results of the SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analyses indicate that the HasA system effectively expresses toxin protein secretion, demonstrates certain genetic stability, and exhibits high insecticidal activity against M. alternatus. This study constructed a highly toxic entomopathogenic engineered bacterial strain against M. alternatus larvae, which holds significant implications for controlling M. alternatus, laying the foundation for subsequent research and application of this strain.

Protective effect of scallop-derived plasmalogen against vascular dysfunction, via the pSTAT3/PIM1/NFATc1 axis, in a novel mouse model of Alzheimer's disease with cerebral hypoperfusion.

A strong relationship between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dysfunction has been the focus of increasing attention in aging societies. In the present study, we examined the long-term effect of scallop-derived plasmalogen (sPlas) on vascular remodeling-related proteins in the brain of an AD with cerebral hypoperfusion (HP) mouse model. We demonstrated, for the first time, that cerebral HP activated the axis of the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE)/phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (pSTAT3)/provirus integration site for Moloney murine leukemia virus 1 (PIM1)/nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFATc1), accounting for such cerebral vascular remodeling. Moreover, we also found that cerebral HP accelerated pSTAT3-mediated astrogliosis and activation of the nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, probably leading to cognitive decline. On the other hand, sPlas treatment attenuated the activation of the pSTAT3/PIM1/NFATc1 axis independent of RAGE and significantly suppressed NLRP3 inflammasome activation, demonstrating the beneficial effect on AD.

The Effect of Emotional Neglect on Cyberbullying among Rural Chinese Left-behind Adolescents-Mediating Role of Social Anxiety.

BACKGROUND: Cyberbullying is a globally shared youth problem-a problem of the interpersonal conflicts and contradictions that emerge during the socialization of adolescents. In particular, the issue of cyberbullying among rural left-behind adolescents needs to be given high priority. However, previous studies have paid little attention to how emotional neglect and social anxiety affect the cyberbullying behavior of rural left-behind adolescents. Therefore, this study was based on cognitive-behavioral theory to investigate the relationship between emotional neglect, cyberbullying, and social anxiety. METHODS: This study used the Emotional Neglect Scale, the Cyberbullying Scale, and the Social Anxiety Scale to conduct an anonymous online survey of 1429 rural left-behind adolescents in China. RESULTS: (1) Emotional neglect, social anxiety, and cyberbullying showed a two-way positive correlation. (2) The direct effect of emotional neglect on rural left-behind youth cyberbullying was significant (ß = 0.14, p < 0.00). (3) Social anxiety showed a partial mediating effect in the process of emotional neglect affecting rural left-behind youth cyberbullying, with a mediating effect of 26.32%. CONCLUSIONS: The results have positive implications for improving relevant policies and constructing mechanisms for protecting the rights and interests of rural left-behind adolescents.

Edaravone Confers Neuroprotective, Anti-inflammatory, and Antioxidant Effects on the Fetal Brain of a Placental-ischemia Mouse Model.

Reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) is a well-established model which mimics many clinical features of preeclampsia (PE). Edaravone is a free radical scavenger with neuroprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects against different models of cerebral ischemia. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the different potential mechanisms through which PE affects fetal brain development using our previously established RUPP-placental ischemia mouse model. In addition, we investigated the neuroprotective effect of edaravone against the RUPP-induced fetal brain development alterations. On gestation day (GD) 13, pregnant mice were divided into four groups; sham (SV), edaravone (SE), RUPP (RV), and RUPP+edaravone (RE). SV and SE groups underwent sham surgeries, however, RV and RE groups were subjected to RUPP surgery via bilateral uterine ligation. Edaravone (3mg/kg) was injected via tail i.v. injection from GD 14-18. The fetal brains from different groups were collected on GD 18 and subjected to further investigations. The results showed that RUPP altered the structure of fetal brain cortex, induced neurodegeneration, increased the expression of the investigated pro-inflammatory markers; TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß, and MMP-9. RUPP resulted in microglial and astrocyte activation in the fetal brains, in addition to upregulation of Hif-1α and iNOS. Edaravone conferred a neuroprotective effect via alleviating the inflammatory response, restoring the neuronal structure and decreasing oxidative stress in the developing fetal brain. In conclusion, RUPP-placental ischemia mouse model could be a useful tool to further understand the underlying mechanisms of PE-induced child neuronal alterations. Edaravone could be a potential adjuvant therapy during PE to protect the developing fetal brain. The current study investigated the effects of a placenta-induced ischemia mouse model using reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) surgery on the fetal brain development and the potential neuroprotective effects of the drug edaravone. The study found that the RUPP model caused neurodegeneration and a pro-inflammatory response in the developing fetal brain, as well as hypoxia and oxidative stress. However, maternal injection of edaravone showed a strong ability to protect against these detrimental effects and target multiple pathways associated with neuronal damage. The current study suggests that the RUPP model could be useful for further study of the impact of preeclampsia on fetal brain development and that edaravone may have potential as a therapy for protecting against this damage.

[Analysis and Simulation of the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Habitat Quality and Carbon Storage in the Weibei Dry Plateau Region of Shaanxi].

Exploring the spatial and temporal pattern evolution of habitat quality and carbon storage has a positive feedback effect on establishing an ecological security barrier and optimizing the spatial pattern of national land in the WeiBei Arid Plateau Region of Shaanxi. This study took the Weibei Plateau Region as a case study, simulated the spatial pattern of land use for different development scenarios of 2035 based on the PLUS model, and used the InVEST model to analyze the characteristics of habitat quality and carbon storage distribution in the study area from 1980 to 2020 and under multi-scenarios in the future. The results showed that:①the area of the low-grade habitat quality area in the study area expanded by 462.55 km2, and the carbon stock decreased by 7.85×106 t over the past 40 years, both of which showed an overall decreasing trend yearly. ②During the study period, the degraded habitat quality areas were concentrated in the northeastern part of the study area within Yan'an City, and the upgraded areas were distributed in strips near water sources or at higher elevations. The high carbon stock areas were concentrated in the complex terrain and sparsely populated areas in the study area, and the decreasing carbon stocked areas were scattered throughout the study area in a dotted pattern without obvious aggregation. ③In 2035, carbon stock decreased to different degrees in all states except for the natural development scenario. In the economic priority development scenario, the habitat quality low grade area covered 20787.41 km2, which was the simulated scenario of the fastest growth rate of low-grade area and the largest reduction of high-grade area compared with the early stage of the simulation. The results of this study can provide decision references and data support for low carbon green development and ecological restoration in the study area.

FoxO1 regulates adipose transdifferentiation and iron influx by mediating Tgfß1 signaling pathway.

Adipose plasticity is critical for metabolic homeostasis. Adipocyte transdifferentiation plays an important role in adipose plasticity, but the molecular mechanism of transdifferentiation remains incompletely understood. Here we show that the transcription factor FoxO1 regulates adipose transdifferentiation by mediating Tgfß1 signaling pathway. Tgfß1 treatment induced whitening phenotype in beige adipocytes, reducing UCP1 and mitochondrial capacity and enlarging lipid droplets. Deletion of adipose FoxO1 (adO1KO) dampened Tgfß1 signaling by downregulating Tgfbr2 and Smad3 and induced browning of adipose tissue in mice, increasing UCP1 and mitochondrial content and activating metabolic pathways. Silencing FoxO1 also abolished the whitening effect of Tgfß1 on beige adipocytes. The adO1KO mice exhibited a significantly higher energy expenditure, lower fat mass, and smaller adipocytes than the control mice. The browning phenotype in adO1KO mice was associated with an increased iron content in adipose tissue, concurrent with upregulation of proteins that facilitate iron uptake (DMT1 and TfR1) and iron import into mitochondria (Mfrn1). Analysis of hepatic and serum iron along with hepatic iron-regulatory proteins (ferritin and ferroportin) in the adO1KO mice revealed an adipose tissue-liver crosstalk that meets the increased iron requirement for adipose browning. The FoxO1-Tgfß1 signaling cascade also underlay adipose browning induced by ß3-AR agonist CL316243. Our study provides the first evidence of a FoxO1-Tgfß1 axis in the regulation of adipose browning-whitening transdifferentiation and iron influx, which sheds light on the compromised adipose plasticity in conditions of dysregulated FoxO1 and Tgfß1 signaling.