Safety and immunogenicity of a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine (SYS6006) in minks, cats, blue foxes, and raccoon dogs.

Minks, cats, and some other species of carnivores are susceptible of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and have a high risk of transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to humans. The development of animal vaccines can be an effective measure to protect animals against SARS-CoV-2 and reduce the potential risk of human infection. We previously developed a messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine SYS6006 that has been proven to be an efficient coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine widely used in humans. Here, we further evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of SYS6006 as an animal COVID-19 vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2 susceptible animals or wild animals. SYS6006 was safe and immunogenic in mice and completely protected mice against mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 infection in the upper and lower respiratory tracts. SYS6006 was able to induce neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 wild-type, Delta, and Omicron BA.2 strain on day 7 after prime immunization, and two doses of immunization could enhance the neutralizing antibody responses and produce long-lasting potent antibodies for more than 8 months in minks and cats, blue foxes, and raccoon dogs, while all immunized animals had no abnormal clinical signs during immunization. These results provided here warrant further development of this safe and efficacious mRNA vaccine platform against animal COVID-19.

Molecular analysis of Anaplasma ovis, Theileria ovis and Brucella abortus in adult Ornithodoros lahorensis soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae) isolated from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

Introduction: Ticks are obligate blood-feeding arthropods that cause significant economic losses in domestic animal husbandry and threaten public health. However, information about soft ticks (Acari: Argasidae) and tick-borne pathogens in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China is scarce. Material and Methods: In this study, PCR assays and gene sequencing were used to detect and analyse the epidemiological features of Anaplasma ovis, Theileria ovis and Brucella abortus parasitic infections in 366 Ornithodoros lahorensis soft ticks collected from five sampling sites in the XUAR from October 2019 to March 2022. The ticks were identified by morphological and molecular methods as O. lahorensis. The PCR was conducted using primers complementary to the major surface protein 4 (Msp4) gene of A. ovis, the 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) of T. ovis and the outer membrane protein 22 (Omp22) gene of B. abortus. Results: The overall infection rate was 91/366 (24.9%) for A. ovis, 127/366 (34.7%) for T. ovis and 94/366 (25.6%) for B. abortus. Sequencing analysis indicated that A. ovis Msp4, T. ovis 18S rRNA and B. abortus Omp22 genes from XUAR isolates showed 99.58-100% identity with documented isolates from other countries. Conclusion: This study provides fundamental evidence for the occurrence of A. ovis, T. ovis and B. abortus in O. lahorensis. Therefore, the potential threat of soft ticks to livestock and humans should not be ignored. This study expands the understanding of the existence of tick-borne pathogens in O. lahorensis and is expected to improve the strategies for prevention and control of ticks and tick-borne diseases in China.

Full-Incision Double-Eyelid Blepharoplasty with Selective Sensory Nerve Preservation.

BACKGROUND: Full-incision double-eyelid blepharoplasty can result in upper eyelid skin numbness postoperatively. However, few studies have examined sensory loss after eyelid surgery. We propose a novel surgical approach with selective sensory nerve preservation to prevent postoperative upper eyelid numbness. METHODS: We enrolled 90 patients who underwent full-incision double-eyelid blepharoplasty with selective sensory nerve preservation from March 2021 to February 2022. Major longitudinal nerves that spread vertically to the palpebral margin under the orbicularis oculi muscle in the medial portion of the upper eyelid were dissected and carefully preserved. Eyelid sensation was measured using a Cochet-Bonnet filament-type esthesiometer at four predetermined anatomical locations in the upper eyelid. The mean esthesiometry reading was calculated at the preoperative and 2-week and final postoperative visits. RESULTS: The follow-up duration was 2-4 months (mean, 3 months). The mean esthesiometry readings at the inferonasal location were 5.22 cm (n=170, SD=0.28) preoperatively, 5.21 cm (n=170, SD=0.31) at 2 weeks postoperatively, and 5.22 cm (n=170, SD=0.29) at the final postoperative visits. Sensation was not significantly different between the second visit and the baseline (P=0.014) or between the final visit and the baseline (P=0.158). None of the patients reported a reduction in their subjective eyelid sensation. CONCLUSIONS: Full-incision double-eyelid blepharoplasty with selective sensory nerve preservation can prevent postoperative upper eyelid numbness while producing reliable and dynamic palpebral creases. The vital nerve branches of the upper eyelid can be preserved, thereby retaining skin sensation near the margin of the eyelid. We propose a novel full-incision double-eyelid blepharoplasty technique that incorporates selective sensory nerve preservation to prevent postoperative upper eyelid numbness. Full-incision double-eyelid blepharoplasty with selective sensory nerve preservation can prevent postoperative upper eyelid numbness while producing reliable and dynamic palpebral creases. The vital nerve branches of the upper eyelid can be preserved, thereby retaining skin sensation near the margin of the eyelid. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Accurate measurement of Soret coefficients in binary hydrocarbons mixtures based on composite methods.

The Soret effect is a significant factor in various scenarios, with thermodiffusion in binary systems serving as a common method for the study. Most research focuses rarely on the distribution characteristics of components in diffusion systems; and Soret coefficients in the porous media could not be obtained by typical methods based on the thermodiffusion column, which are particularly important in the field of oil and gas development. Moreover, experiments on ground conditions have struggled to determine the Soret coefficient accurately due to the convective effect caused by gravity differentiation. The thermodiffusion behavior of n-pentane (C5) and n-heptane (C7) binary mixtures in both bulk and porous media conditions have been investigated, aiming to provide corrected coefficients that mitigate the influence of gravity using theoretical derivation. A new method was proposed to calculate the Soret coefficients in this work by establishing a model based on gas chromatography technology. Dynamic variation of component concentration along the path was studied, and the corresponding Soret coefficients were calculated and analyzed in parallel. The results indicate that the concentration and temperature exhibit a logarithmic relationship with the distance from the heat source. The Soret coefficient values obtained from measurements in porous media are closer to the theoretically corrected values, which do not account for gravity effects. Additionally, as the permeability decreases, the counteracting effect of porous media on convection becomes more pronounced. Therefore, it presents a novel method for accurately measuring the Soret coefficient that ignores convection to some extent.

An immunoassay based on bioluminescent sensors for rapid detection of African swine fever virus antibodies.

Serological assays for antibody detection have contributed significantly to the diagnosis and control of infectious diseases. African swine fever is the most devastating infectious disease of domestic pigs and wild boars, severely threatening the global pig industry in recent years. Here, we developed a rapid, simple, and sensitive immunoassay based on the split-luciferase system to detect IgG antibodies against African swine fever virus (ASFV). In this assay, the p30 protein of ASFV was genetically coupled to the LgBiT and SmBiT subunits of nanoluciferase, which were used as fusion probes for specific antibodies. Target engagement of the probes results in the reconstitution of a functional nanoluciferase, which further catalyzes bioluminescent reactions. Different orientations of the LgBiT and SmBiT-p30 fusion sensors were designed and investigated, and N-LgBiT/p30 and N-SmBiT/p30 were identified as a promising sensor pair for reforming active nanoluciferase in the presence of specific antibodies. After optimization, this split-luciferase complementation assay showed high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of ASFV antibodies. The analytical sensitivity of the assay was 16 times greater than that of the blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) by the detection of serial dilutions of serum, and no cross-reaction was observed with other swine pathogens. As demonstrated in clinical samples, its performance is highly consistent with that of a commercial ELISA kit, with a concordance rate of 98.19%. This assay is simple and easy to perform, providing a more flexible and efficient approach for the measurement of ASFV antibodies in clinical applications. IMPORTANCE: The study is about a homogeneous split-luciferase assay for antibody detection. Split nanoluciferase biosensors for the detection of ASFV antibodies were designed. This sensor platform enables the sensitive and specific detection of antibodies. The split-luciferase assay is simple, rapid, and easy to use.

Comparative genome-wide identification and characterization of SET domain-containing and JmjC domain-containing proteins in piroplasms.

BACKGROUND: SET domain-containing histone lysine methyltransferases (HKMTs) and JmjC domain-containing histone demethylases (JHDMs) are essential for maintaining dynamic changes in histone methylation across parasite development and infection. However, information on the HKMTs and JHDMs in human pathogenic piroplasms, such as Babesia duncani and Babesia microti, and in veterinary important pathogens, including Babesia bigemina, Babesia bovis, Theileria annulata and Theileria parva, is limited. RESULTS: A total of 38 putative KMTs and eight JHDMs were identified using a comparative genomics approach. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the putative KMTs can be divided into eight subgroups, while the JHDMs belong to the JARID subfamily, except for BdJmjC1 (BdWA1_000016) and TpJmjC1 (Tp Muguga_02g00471) which cluster with JmjC domain only subfamily members. The motifs of SET and JmjC domains are highly conserved among piroplasm species. Interspecies collinearity analysis provided insight into the evolutionary duplication events of some SET domain and JmjC domain gene families. Moreover, relative gene expression analysis by RT‒qPCR demonstrated that the putative KMT and JHDM gene families were differentially expressed in different intraerythrocytic developmental stages of B. duncani, suggesting their role in Apicomplexa parasite development. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides a theoretical foundation and guidance for understanding the basic characteristics of several important piroplasm KMT and JHDM families and their biological roles in parasite differentiation.

Clinical predictive value of pre-pregnancy tests for unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion: a retrospective study.

Introduction: Early prediction and intervention are crucial for the prognosis of unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (uRSA). The main purpose of this study is to establish a risk prediction model for uRSA based on routine pre-pregnancy tests, in order to provide clinical physicians with indications of whether the patients are at high risk. Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at the Prenatal Diagnosis Center of Henan Provincial People's Hospital between January 2019 and December 2022. Twelve routine pre-pregnancy tests and four basic personal information characteristics were collected. Pre-pregnancy tests include thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine thyroid (FT4), thyroxine (TT4), total triiodothyronine (TT3), peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab), thyroid globulin antibody (TG-Ab), 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25-(OH) D], ferritin (Ferr), Homocysteine (Hcy), vitamin B12 (VitB12), folic acid (FA). Basic personal information characteristics include age, body mass index (BMI), smoking history and drinking history. Logistic regression analysis was used to establish a risk prediction model, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and decision curve analysis (DCA) were employed to evaluate the performance of prediction model. Results: A total of 140 patients in uRSA group and 152 women in the control group were randomly split into a training set (n = 186) and a testing set (n = 106). Chi-square test results for each single characteristic indicated that, FT3 (p = 0.018), FT4 (p = 0.048), 25-(OH) D (p = 0.013) and FA (p = 0.044) were closely related to RSA. TG-Ab and TPO-Ab were also important characteristics according to clinical experience, so we established a risk prediction model for RSA based on the above six characteristics using logistic regression analysis. The prediction accuracy of the model on the testing set was 74.53%, and the area under ROC curve was 0.710. DCA curve indicated that the model had good clinical value. Conclusion: Pre-pregnancy tests such as FT3, FT4, TG-Ab, 25-(OH)D and FA were closely related to uRSA. This study successfully established a risk prediction model for RSA based on routine pre-pregnancy tests.

Selenomethionine supplementation mitigates fluoride-induced liver apoptosis and inflammatory reactions by blocking Parkin-mediated mitophagy in mice.

As an environmental pollutant, fluoride-induced liver damage is directly linked to mitochondrial alteration and oxidative stress. Selenium's antioxidant capacity has been shown to alleviate liver damage. Emerging research proves that E3 ubiquitin ligase Park2 (Parkin)-mediated mitophagy may be a therapeutic target for fluorosis. The current study explored the effect of diverse selenium sources on fluoride-caused liver injury and the role of Parkin-mediated mitophagy in this intervention process. Therefore, this study established a fluoride-different selenium sources co-intervention wild-type (WT) mouse model and a fluoride-optimum selenium sources co-intervention Parkin gene knockout (Parkin-/-) mouse model. Our results show that selenomethionine (SeMet) is the optimum selenium supplementation form for mice suffering from fluorosis when compared to sodium selenite and chitosan nano­selenium because mice from the F-SeMet group showed more closely normal growth and development levels of liver function, antioxidant capacity, and anti-inflammatory ability. Explicitly, SeMet ameliorated liver inflammation and cell apoptosis in fluoride-toxic mice, accomplished through downregulating the mRNA and protein expression levels associated with mitochondrial fusion and fission, mitophagy, apoptosis, inflammatory signalling pathway of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), reducing the protein expression levels of PARKIN, PTEN-induced putative kinase1 (PINK1), SQSTM1/p62 (P62), microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3), cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 3 (CASPAS3), as well as restraining the content of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). The Parkin-/- showed comparable positive effects to the SeMet in the liver of fluorosis mice. The structure of the mitochondria, mRNA, protein expression levels, and the content of proinflammatory factors in mice from the FParkin-/- and F + SeMetParkin-/- groups closely resembled those in the F + SeMetWT group. Overall, the above results indicated that SeMet could alleviate fluoride-triggered inflammation and apoptosis in mice liver via blocking Parkin-mediated mitophagy.

A novel and low-cost cross-priming amplification assay for rapid detection of Babesia duncani infection.

Babesia duncani, responsible for human babesiosis, is one of the most important tick-borne intraerythrocytic pathogens. Traditionally, babesiosis is definitively diagnosed by detecting parasite DNA in blood samples and examining Babesia parasites in Giemsa-stained peripheral blood smears. Although these techniques are valuable for determining Babesia duncani, they are often time-consuming and laborious. Therefore, developing rapid and reliable B. duncani identification assays is essential for subsequent epidemiological investigations and prevention and control. In this study, a cross-priming amplification (CPA) assay was developed, combined with a vertical flow visualization strip, to rapidly and accurately detect B. duncani infection. The detection limit of this method was as low as 0.98 pg/µl of genomic DNA from B. duncani merozoites per reaction at 59 °C for 60 min. There were no cross-reactions between B. duncani and other piroplasms infective to humans and mammals. A total of 592 blood samples from patients bitten by ticks and experimental infected hamsters were accurately assessed using CPA assay. The average cost of the CPA assay is as low as approximately $ 0.2 per person. These findings indicate that the CPA assay may therefore be a rapid screening tool for detection B. duncani infection, based on its accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness, particularly in resource-limited regions with a high prevalence of human babesiosis.

A novel CAF-cancer cell crosstalk-related gene prognostic index based on machine learning: prognostic significance and prediction of therapeutic response in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF)-cancer cell crosstalk (CCCT) plays an important role in tumor microenvironment shaping and immunotherapy response. Current prognostic indexes are insufficient to accurately assess immunotherapy response in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This study aimed to develop a CCCT-related gene prognostic index (CCRGPI) for assessing the prognosis and response to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy of HNSCC patients. METHODS: Two cellular models, the fibroblast-cancer cell indirect coculture (FCICC) model, and the fibroblast-cancer cell organoid (FC-organoid) model, were constructed to visualize the crosstalk between fibroblasts and cancer cells. Based on a HNSCC scRNA-seq dataset, the R package CellChat was used to perform cell communication analysis to identify gene pairs involved in CCCT. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was then applied to further refine the selection of these gene pairs. The selected gene pairs were subsequently subjected to stepwise regression to develop CCRGPI. We further performed a comprehensive analysis to determine the molecular and immune characteristics, and prognosis associated with ICI therapy in different CCRGPI subgroups. Finally, the connectivity map (CMap) analysis and molecular docking were used to screen potential therapeutic drugs. RESULTS: FCICC and FC-organoid models showed that cancer cells promoted the activation of fibroblasts into CAFs, that CAFs enhanced the invasion of cancer cells, and that CCCT was somewhat heterogeneous. The CCRGPI was developed based on 4 gene pairs: IGF1-IGF1R, LGALS9-CD44, SEMA5A-PLXNA1, and TNXB-SDC1. Furthermore, a high CCRGPI score was identified as an adverse prognostic factor for overall survival (OS). Additionally, a high CCRGPI was positively correlated with the activation of the P53 pathway, a high TP53 mutation rate, and decreased benefit from ICI therapy but was inversely associated with the abundance of various immune cells, such as CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and B cells. Moreover, Ganetespib was identified as a potential drug for HNSCC combination therapy. CONCLUSIONS: The CCRGPI is reliable for predicting the prognosis and immunotherapy response of HSNCC patients and may be useful for guiding the individualized treatment of HNSCC patients.

Deep reinforcement learning task scheduling method based on server real-time performance.

Server load levels affect the performance of cloud task execution, which is rooted in the impact of server performance on cloud task execution. Traditional cloud task scheduling methods usually only consider server load without fully considering the server's real-time load-performance mapping relationship, resulting in the inability to evaluate the server's real-time processing capability accurately. This deficiency directly affects the efficiency, performance, and user experience of cloud task scheduling. Firstly, we construct a performance platform model to monitor server real-time load and performance status information in response to the above problems. In addition, we propose a new deep reinforcement learning task scheduling method based on server real-time performance (SRP-DRL). This method introduces a real-time performance-aware strategy and adds status information about the real-time impact of task load on server performance on top of considering server load. It enhances the perception capability of the deep reinforcement learning (DRL) model in cloud scheduling environments and improves the server's load-balancing ability under latency constraints. Experimental results indicate that the SRP-DRL method has better overall performance regarding task average response time, success rate, and server average load variance compared to Random, Round-Robin, Earliest Idle Time First (EITF), and Best Fit (BEST-FIT) task scheduling methods. In particular, the SRP-DRL is highly effective in reducing server average load variance when numerous tasks arrive within a unit of time, ultimately optimizing the performance of the cloud system.

Zeb1-controlled metabolic plasticity enables remodeling of chromatin accessibility in the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer.

Cell plasticity has been found to play a critical role in tumor progression and therapy resistance. However, our understanding of the characteristics and markers of plastic cellular states during cancer cell lineage transition remains limited. In this study, multi-omics analyses show that prostate cancer cells undergo an intermediate state marked by Zeb1 expression with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), stemness, and neuroendocrine features during the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). Organoid-formation assays and in vivo lineage tracing experiments demonstrate that Zeb1+ epithelioid cells are putative cells of origin for NEPC. Mechanistically, Zeb1 transcriptionally regulates the expression of several key glycolytic enzymes, thereby predisposing tumor cells to utilize glycolysis for energy metabolism. During this process, lactate accumulation-mediated histone lactylation enhances chromatin accessibility and cellular plasticity including induction of neuro-gene expression, which promotes NEPC development. Collectively, Zeb1-driven metabolic rewiring enables the epigenetic reprogramming of prostate cancer cells to license the adeno-to-neuroendocrine lineage transition.

Parametric analysis of craniocerebral injury mechanism in pedestrian traffic accidents based on finite element methods.

PURPOSE: The toughest challenge in pedestrian traffic accident identification lies in ascertaining injury manners. This study aimed to systematically simulate and parameterize 3 types of craniocerebral injury including impact injury, fall injury, and run-over injury, to compare the injury response outcomes of different injury manners. METHODS: Based on the total human model for safety (THUMS) and its enhanced human model THUMS-hollow structures, a total of 84 simulations with 3 injury manners, different loading directions, and loading velocities were conducted. Von Mises stress, intracranial pressure, maximum principal strain, cumulative strain damage measure, shear stress, and cranial strain were employed to analyze the injury response of all areas of the brain. To examine the association between injury conditions and injury consequences, correlation analysis, principal component analysis, linear regression, and stepwise linear regression were utilized. RESULTS: There is a significant correlation observed between each criterion of skull and brain injury (p < 0.01 in all Pearson correlation analysis results). A 2-phase increase of cranio-cerebral stress and strain as impact speed increases. In high-speed impact (> 40 km/h), the Von Mises stress on the skull was with a high possibility exceed the threshold for skull fracture (100 MPa). When falling and making temporal and occipital contact with the ground, the opposite side of the impacted area experiences higher frequency stress concentration than contact at other conditions. Run-over injuries tend to have a more comprehensive craniocerebral injury, with greater overall deformation due to more adequate kinetic energy conduction. The mean value of maximum principal strain of brain and Von Mises stress of cranium at run-over condition are 1.39 and 403.8 MPa, while they were 1.31, 94.11 MPa and 0.64, 120.5 MPa for the impact and fall conditions, respectively. The impact velocity also plays a significant role in craniocerebral injury in impact and fall loading conditions (the p of all F-test < 0.05). A regression equation of the craniocerebral injury manners in pedestrian accidents was established. CONCLUSION: The study distinguished the craniocerebral injuries caused in different manners, elucidated the biomechanical mechanisms of craniocerebral injury, and provided a biomechanical foundation for the identification of craniocerebral injury in legal contexts.

Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Framework Supporting Atomic Bi-N2O2 Sites for High-Efficiency Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

Single atomic catalysts (SACs) offer a superior platform for studying the structure-activity relationships during electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Yet challenges still exist to obtain well-defined and novel site configuration owing to the uncertainty of functional framework-derived SACs through calcination. Herein, a novel Bi-N2O2 site supported on the (1 1 0) plane of hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HOF) is reported directly for CO2RR. In flow cell, the target catalyst Bi1-HOF maintains a faradaic efficiency (FE) HCOOH of over 90 % at a wide potential window of 1.4 V. The corresponding partial current density ranges from 113.3 to 747.0 mA cm-2. And, Bi1-HOF exhibits a long-term stability of over 30 h under a successive potential-step test with a current density of 100-400 mA cm-2. Density function theory (DFT) calculations illustrate that the novel Bi-N2O2 site supported on the (1 1 0) plane of HOF effectively induces the oriented electron transfer from Bi center to CO2 molecule, reaching an enhanced CO2 activation and reduction. Besides, this study offers a versatile method to reach series of M-N2O2 sites with regulable metal centers via the same intercalation mechanism, broadening the platform for studying the structure-activity relationships during CO2RR.

Regulating d-Orbital Hybridization of Subgroup-IVB Single Atoms for Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Highly active single-atom electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction are crucial for improving the energy conversion efficiency, but they suffer from a limited choice of metal centers and unsatisfactory stabilities. Here, this work reports that optimization of the binding energies for reaction intermediates by tuning the d-orbital hybridization with axial groups converts inactive subgroup-IVB (Ti, Zr, Hf) moieties (MN4) into active motifs (MN4O), as confirmed with theoretical calculations. The competition between metal-ligand covalency and metal-intermediate covalency affects the d-p orbital hybridization between the metal site and the intermediates, converting the metal centers into active sites. Subsequently, dispersed single-atom M sites coordinated by nitrogen/oxygen groups have been prepared on graphene (s-M-N/O-C) catalysts on a large-scale with high-energy milling and pyrolysis. Impressively, the s-Hf-N/O-C catalyst with 5.08 wt% Hf exhibits a half-wave potential of 0.920 V and encouraging performance in a zinc-air battery with an extraordinary cycling life of over 1600 h and a large peak power-density of 256.9 mW cm-2. This work provides promising single-atom electrocatalysts and principles for preparing other catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction.

A review of "plant gold" Eucommia ulmoides Oliv.: A medicinal and food homologous plant with economic value and prospect.

Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. is an ancient and precious plant that has been used as medicine in China for more than 2000 years. Because its bark, leaves, seeds, and male flowers can be used in medicine, it plays an important role in medicine, food, chemical industry, and other fields, so it is also called "plant gold". 246 compounds have been isolated from E. ulmoides, which endow E. ulmoides with many unique pharmacological effects and make it wide to study in the fields of osteoporosis, hypertension, liver protection, and so on. Besides, E. ulmoides also has significant medicinal effects on anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulation, and neuroprotection, and is often used in clinical compound medicines of traditional Chinese medicine. In addition to updating its ethnobotany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology information, the economic botany of leaves, seeds, and male flowers was also introduced. It hopes hoping to fully understand this economically important Chinese medicine and provide a scientific basis for further development and utilization of E. ulmoides.

Calcium supplementation attenuates fluoride-induced bone injury via PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy and mitochondrial apoptosis in mice.

Excessive consumption of fluoride can cause skeletal fluorosis. Mitophagy has been identified as a novel target for bone disorders. Meanwhile, calcium supplementation has shown great potential for mitigating fluoride-related bone damage. Hence, this study aimed to elucidate the association between mitophagy and skeletal fluorosis and the precise mechanisms through which calcium alleviates these injuries. A 100 mg/L sodium fluoride (NaF) exposure model in Parkin knockout (Parkin-/-) mice and a 100 mg/L NaF exposure mouse model with 1% calcium carbonate (CaCO3) intervention were established in the current study. Fluoride exposure caused the impairment of mitochondria and activation of PTEN-induced putative kinase1 (PINK1)/E3 ubiquitin ligase Park2 (Parkin)-mediated mitophagy and mitochondrial apoptosis in the bones, which were restored after blocking Parkin. Additionally, the intervention model showed fluoride-exposed mice exhibited abnormal bone trabecula and mechanical properties. Still, these bone injuries could be effectively attenuated by adding 1% calcium to their diet, which reversed fluoride-activated mitophagy and apoptosis. To summarize, fluoride can activate bone mitophagy through the PINK1/Parkin pathway and mitochondrial apoptosis. Parkin-/- and 1% calcium provide protection against fluoride-induced bone damage. Notably, this study provides theoretical bases for the prevention and therapy of animal and human health and safety caused by environmental fluoride contamination.

Probiotic Bacillus licheniformis ZW3 Alleviates DSS-Induced Colitis and Enhances Gut Homeostasis.

Despite Bacillus species having been extensively utilized in the food industry and biocontrol as part of probiotic preparations, limited knowledge exists regarding their impact on intestinal disorders. In this study, we investigated the effect of Bacillus licheniformis ZW3 (ZW3), a potential probiotic isolated from camel feces, on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. The results showed ZW3 partially mitigated body weight loss, disease activity index (DAI), colon shortening, and suppressed immune response in colitis mice, as evidenced by the reduction in the levels of the inflammatory markers IL-1ß, TNF-α, and IL-6 (p < 0.05). ZW3 was found to ameliorate DSS-induced dysfunction of the colonic barrier by enhancing mucin 2 (MUC2), zonula occluden-1 (ZO-1), and occludin. Furthermore, enriched beneficial bacteria Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group and decreased harmful bacteria Escherichia-Shigella revealed that ZW3 improved the imbalanced gut microbiota. Abnormally elevated uric acid levels in colitis were further normalized upon ZW3 supplementation. Overall, this study emphasized the protective effects of ZW3 in colitis mice as well as some potential applications in the management of inflammation-related diseases.

A Sodiophilic Amyloid Fibril Modified Separator for Dendrite-Free Sodium-Metal Batteries.

Sodium (Na) batteries are being considered as prospective candidates for the next generation of secondary batteries in contrast to lithium-based batteries, due to their high raw-material abundance, low cost, and sustainability. However, the unfavorable growth of Na-metal deposition and severe interfacial reactions have prevented their large-scale applications. Here, a vacuum filtration strategy, through amyloid-fibril-modified glass-fiber separators, is proposed to address these issues. The modified symmetric cell can be cycled for 1800 h, surpassing the performance of previously reported Na-based electrodes under an ester-based electrolyte. Moreover, the Na/Na3 V2 (PO4 )3 full cell with a sodiophilic amyloid-fibril-modified separator exhibits a capacity retention of 87.13% even after 1000 cycles. Both the experimental and the theoretical results show that the sodiophilic amyloid fibril homogenizes the electric field and Na-ion concentration, fundamentally inhibiting dendrite formation. Simultaneously, the glutamine amino acids in the amyloid fibril have the highest adsorption energy for Na, resulting in the formation of a stable Na3 N- and NaNx Oy -rich solid-electrolyte-interface film on the anode during cycling. This work provides not only a possible pathway to solve the dendrite problem in metal batteries using environmentally friendly biomacromolecular materials, but also a new direction for expanding biomaterial applications.