Panax notoginseng stems and leaves affect microbial community and function in cecum of duzang pigs.

Panax notoginseng is a Chinese medicine with a long history in which stems and leaves are the wastes of processing Panax notoginseng and have not been effectively utilized. The effects of diets containing Panax notoginseng stems and leaves on the cecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration and microbiome of independent pigs were studied. Diets containing Panax notoginseng stems and leaves did not affect the concentration of SCFA in the cecal contents of Duzang pigs but affected the microbial composition and diversity. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes dominate in the cecal of Duzang pigs. Feeding Duzang pigs with a 10% Panax notoginseng stems and leaves diet increases the abundance of Lactobacillus, Christensenellaceae R-7 group, and Akkermansia in the cecal. We found 14 genera positively associated with acetate, and they were Lactobacillus, Ruminococcaceae UCG 005, Ruminiclostridium 6; Escherichia Shigella and Family XIII AD3011 group showed negative correlations. Solobacterium, Desulfovibrio, and Erysipelatoclostridium were positively associated with propionate. Campylobacter, Clostridium sensu stricto 11, and Angelakisella were positively associated with butyrate. In conclusion, Panax notoginseng stems and leaves could affect the cecal microbial community and functional composition of Duzang pigs. Panax notoginseng stems and leaves reduce the enrichment of lipopolysaccharide biosynthetic pathway of the cecal microbiome, which may have a positive effect on intestinal health. The higher abundance of GH25 family in Duzang pig's cecal microbiome of fed Panax notoginseng stems and leaves diet. This increase may be the reason for the microbial diversity decrease.

THAP9-AS1 promotes nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression through targeted regulation of the miR-185-5p/SOX13 axis.

Background: It has been reported that long non-coding RNA THAP9-AS1 exerts carcinogenic role by mediating miRNAs and target genes in various human cancers. However, whether THAP9-AS1 influences the progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unknown. Methods: The transcriptional levels of THAP9-AS1 and miR-185-5p were estimated via quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay. The protein level of SOX13 was detected with western blotting assay. Additionally, methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay as well as colony formation assay were utilized to measure cell growth. The apoptotic cells were observed by employing Terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl Transferase Mediated Nick End Labeling (TUNEL) staining analysis, and transwell assay was introduced to test cell migration in addition to invasion. Moreover, the relationship between miR-185-5p and THAP9-AS1 or SOX13 was estimated through dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Results: THAP9-AS1 was overexpressed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tissues and NPC cells. Besides, silencing of THAP9-AS1 depressed the life processes of NPC cells including cell growth, migration as well as invasion but facilitated cell apoptosis. Further investigation proved that miR-185-5p was the direct target of THAP9-AS1. Besides, the knockdown of THAP9-AS1 notably reduced the transcriptional level of miR-185-5p. Furthermore, THAP9-AS1 served as a sponge of miR-185-5p to modulate the expression of SOX13, which regulated the development of NPC cells. Conclusion: This work verified that THAP9-AS1 promoted NPC cell progression at least partly by mediating the miR-185-5p/SOX13 axis.

Comparison of the gut microbiota and metabolites between Diannan small ear pigs and Diqing Tibetan pigs.

Objective: Host genetics and environment participate in the shaping of gut microbiota. Diannan small ear pigs and Diqing Tibetan pigs are excellent native pig breeds in China and live in different environments. However, the gut microbiota of Diannan small ear pigs and Diqing Tibetan pigs were still rarely understood. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the composition characteristics of gut microbiota and metabolites in Diannan small ear pigs and Diqing Tibetan pigs. Methods: Fresh feces of 6 pigs were randomly collected from 20 4-month-old Diannan small ear pigs (DA group) and 20 4-month-old Diqing Tibetan pigs (TA group) for high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) non-targeted metabolome analysis. Results: The results revealed that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla in the two groups. Chao1 and ACE indices differed substantially between DA and TA groups. Compared with the DA group, the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae, and Ruminococcus was significantly enriched in the TA group, while the relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae, Actinomyces, and Butyricicoccus was significantly reduced. Cholecalciferol, 5-dehydroepisterol, stigmasterol, adrenic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid were significantly enriched in DA group, which was involved in the steroid biosynthesis and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids. 3-phenylpropanoic acid, L-tyrosine, phedrine, rhizoctin B, and rhizoctin D were significantly enriched in TA group, which was involved in the phenylalanine metabolism and phosphonate and phosphinate metabolism. Conclusion: We found that significant differences in gut microbiota composition and metabolite between Diannan small ear pigs and Diqing Tibetan pigs, which provide a theoretical basis for exploring the relationship between gut microbiota and pig breeds.

Identification of Critical miRNAs as Novel Diagnostic Markers for Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

The prognosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) patients remains poor, and early diagnosis can distinctly improve the long-term survival of LSCC patients. MicroRNAs (miRs) are a group of endogenous, noncoding, 18-24 nucleotide length single-strand RNAs and have been demonstrated to regulate the expression of many genes, thus modulating various cellular biological processes. In this study, we aimed to identify critical diagnostic miRNAs based on two machine learning algorithms. The GSE133632 dataset was acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets, comprising LSCC tissular samples (57 specimens) and matched neighboring healthy mucosa tissular samples (57 specimens). Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were screened between 57 LSCC specimens and 57 normal specimens. The LASSO regression model and SVM-RFE analysis were carried out for the identification of critical miRNAs. ROC assays were applied to evaluate discriminatory ability. We identified 32 DEMs between LSCC specimens and normal specimens. Two machine learning algorithms confirmed that hsa-miR-615-3p, hsa-miR-4652-5p, hsa-miR-450a-5p, hsa-miR-196a-5p, hsa-miR-21-3p, hsa-miR-139-5p, and hsa-miR-424-5p were critical diagnostic factors. According to the ROC assays, seven miRNAs had an AUC value of >0.85 for LSCC. Taken together, our findings identified seven critical miRNAs in LSCC patients which can be used to diagnose LSCC patients with high sensitivity and specificity. These results must be verified by large-scale prospective studies.

Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Metabolites in Diannan Small Ear Sows at Diestrus and Metestrus.

The physiological state of the host affects the gut microbes. The estrus cycle is critical to the reproductive cycle of sows. However, the association between gut microbes and animal estrus is poorly understood. Here, high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) non-targeted metabolome technology were used to study the estrous cycles in Diannan small ear pigs. Significantly different gut microbiota and metabolites of sows at estrous and diestrus were screened out and the correlation was analyzed. We found that the intestinal microbial composition and microbial metabolism of Diannan small ear sows were significantly different at diestrus and metestrus. The abundances of Spirochaetes, Spirochaetia, Spirochaetales, Spirochaetaceae, Deltaproteobacteria, unidentified_Alphaproteobacteria, Ruminococcus_sp_YE281, and Treponema_berlinense in intestinal microorganisms of Diannan small ear sows at metestrus are significantly higher than that at diestrus. Propionic acid, benzyl butyrate, sucrose, piperidine, and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR) were significantly enriched at metestrus compared with diestrus, which were involved in the energy metabolism-related pathways and activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway. At diestrus and metestrus, differential microbiota of unidentified_Alphaproteobacteria, Intestinimonas, Peptococcus, Terrisporobacter, and differential metabolites of piperidine, propionic acid, and benzyl butyrate, sucrose, 4-methyl catechol, and AICAR exist a certain degree of correlation. Therefore, unidentified_Alphaproteobacteria, Ruminococcus_sp_YE281, and Treponema_berlinense may have a potential role at metestrus of the Diannan small ear sows. AICAR may be apotential marker of estrus Diannan small ear sows feces, but further studies about the specific mechanism are needed. These findings provide a new perspective for sows production management and improving sows reproductive performance.

Biological mechanisms of growth performance and meat quality in porcine muscle tissue.

Growth performance and meat quality are important traits for pig production. The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying growth performance and meat quality, and to identify novel target molecules for predicting the growth performance and meat quality. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in Diannan small ears pigs (DSP) and Landrace pigs (LP) were assessed by RNA-sequencing analyzing technology. A total of 339 DEGs were obtained between DSP and LP. 146 DEGs were upregulated in LP compared with DSP and 193 DEGs were upregulated in DSP compared with LP. The DEGs were significantly enriched in 26 GO and 3 KEGG pathways. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network with 201 nodes and 382 edges was constructed and 5 modules were extracted from the entire network. The identified upregulated expression of genes involved in glycolysis and myogenesis as well as extracellular matrix may be associated with fast body and muscle deposition rates in LP. Increased expression of genes involved in PPAR signaling pathway and fatty acid metabolism as well as oxidative phosphate processes could be related to the intramuscular fat deposition and meat quality in DSP. The present study may provide an improved understanding of the growth performance and meat quality.

Effects of CD133 expression on chemotherapy and drug sensitivity of adenoid cystic carcinoma.

The cellular resistance of tumors is a major obstacle for successful tumor therapy. Cluster of differentiation (CD)133 plays an important role in the regulation of drug resistance in gastric and colon cancers. However, its effect on chemotherapeutic sensitivity in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) has not been fully explored. The present study discussed the specific role of CD133 in ACC drug­resistant sensitive cells. KOA­1 cells were treated with 5­fluorouracil (5­FU) and pingyangmycin (PYM) to form drug­resistant cell lines. A Cell Counting Kit­8 assay was used to detect the cell survival rate. Cell invasion was measured using a Transwell assay. The expression levels of CD133 were detected by reverse transcription­quantitative (RT­q) PCR. The expression levels of drug­resistant mRNAs and proteins were detected by RT­qPCR and immunofluorescence analyses, respectively. The CD133 were inhibited by small interfering RNA technology. The survival rate and invasive ability of KOA­1 cells were increased following the induction of drug resistance. The expression levels of CD133, multidrug resistance protein (MDR)1 and multidrug resistance­associated protein (MRP)1 were significantly increased in drug­resistant cell lines. Knockdown of CD133 expression in the resistant cell lines, KOA­1/5­FU and KOA­1/PYM, decreased the survival rate and invasive ability. The expression levels of MDR1 and MRP1 were also significantly decreased. Knockdown of CD133 expression in ACC drug­resistant cells could inhibit the viability and invasion of tumors and enhance the sensitivity of drug­resistant cells to chemotherapeutic drugs.

The association of hepatitis C virus infection and thyroid disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Previous studies have reported that hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may increase the risk of thyroid disease (TD) even thyroid cancer (TC), but quantitative assessments of risk were rare and the results were not consistent. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of HCV infection on TD and TC, and provide clues to explore the relationship between HCV infection and TD and TC. The literature retrieval was performed up to August 20th, 2021 in the database of PubMed, Cochrane library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wang Fang. The risk of HCV for TD or TC was expressed with odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Subgroup analysis was used to explore the source of heterogeneity. Six articles (three studies published as article and three studies published as abstract) were included in this meta-analysis, with a total of 5398 controls and 1925 cases of hepatitis C. The results of meta-analysis found that HCV infection were significantly associated with an increased risk of TD (sum OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.54-2.10, P < 0.001, I2 = 74.3%) and TC (sum OR = 16.36, 95% CI = 4.65-57.62, P < 0.001, I2 = 0%). HCV infection may increase the risk of TD and TC. More work is needed in the future to establish a causal role, however an awareness of the possibility of increased risk of TD and TC may lead to earlier diagnosis and better outcomes in patients with hepatitis C.

High on-off ratio improvement of ZnO-based forming-free memristor by surface hydrogen annealing.

In this work, a high-performance, forming-free memristor based on Au/ZnO nanorods/AZO (Al-doped ZnO conductive glass) sandwich structure has been developed by rapid hydrogen annealing treatment. The Ron/Roff rate is dramatically increased from ∼10 to ∼10(4) after the surface treatment. Such an enhanced performance is attributed to the introduced oxygen vacancies layer at the top of ZnO nanorods. The device also exhibits excellent switching and retention stability. In addition, the carrier migration behavior can be well interpreted by classical trap-controlled space charge limited conduction, which verifies the forming of conductive filamentary in low resistive state. On this basis, Arrhenius activation theory is adopted to explain the drifting of oxygen vacancies, which is further confirmed by the time pertinence of resistive switching behavior under different sweep speed. This fabrication approach offers a useful approach to enhance the switching properties for next-generation memory applications.

Gold nanoparticles coated zinc oxide nanorods as the matrix for enhanced L-lactate sensing.

In this study, an enzymatic electrochemical biosensor for L-lactate detection was proposed. The device was developed based on gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) modified zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs). The sensing performance of the device was examined by cyclic voltammetry and amperometry. Compared with pristine ZnO based biosensor, Au/ZnO based sensor exhibited higher sensitivity of 24.56 µA cm(-2) mM(-1), smaller K(M)(app) of 1.58 mM, lower detection limit of 6 µM and wider linear range of 10 µM-0.6 mM for L-lactate detection. The introduction of Au NPs enhances electro-catalytic ability and electron migration, which contributes to the improvement of the sensing performance. Hence, the results confirm the essential character of Au NPs in such semiconductor based electrochemical biosensing system.

Experimental study on filtration and continuous regeneration of a particulate filter system for heavy-duty diesel engines.

This study investigated the filtration and continuous regeneration of a particulate filter system on an engine test bench, consisting of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and a catalyzed diesel particulate filter (CDPF). Both the DOC and the CDPF led to a high conversion of NO to NO2 for continuous regeneration. The filtration efficiency on solid particle number (SPN) was close to 100%. The post-CDPF particles were mainly in accumulation mode. The downstream SPN was sensitively influenced by the variation of the soot loading. This phenomenon provides a method for determining the balance point temperature by measuring the trend of SPN concentration.

Asymmetric behavior in flexible piezoelectric strain sensors made of single ZnO nanowires.

Piezoelectric strain sensors were fabricated using single ZnO nanowires on flexible polystyrene substrates and the asymmetric behavior in this kind of piezoelectric strain sensor made of single nanowire was firstly introduced. The I~V curves of the sensors under a serious of tensile and compressive strains were measured and agreed with the thermionic emission-diffusion theory. The Schottky barrier heights were obtained. The change in Schottky barrier heights of the sensors under compressive strain is much slower than that under tensile strain and the asymmetric elastic response of the sensors is caused by the bending of the ZnO nanowires under compressive strains when the applied strain is larger than a critical strain εcr. And the conclusion that the critical strain εcr only relates to the geometry parameters of the nanowire is drawn. The reduction of the axial compressive strain in compression was calculated. This asymmetric behavior in strain sensors is firstly introduced and is important for the design and fabrication of this type of strain sensors.

Self-powered UV photosensor based on PEDOT:PSS/ZnO micro/nanowire with strain-modulated photoresponse.

Developing tailored micro/nanostructure interfaces is an effective way to make novel optoelectronic devices or enhance their performances. Here we report the fabrication of a PEDOT:PSS/ZnO micro/nanowire-based self-powered UV photosensor. The generation of photocurrent at zero bias is attributed to the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs within the built-in electric field at the PEDOT:PSS/ZnO interface upon UV light illumination. Furthermore, the piezotronic effect on the UV photoresponsivity under different strains is investigated, which is due to the modification of energy band diagram at the p-n heterojunction by strain-induced piezoelectric polarization. This study demonstrates a prospective approach to engineering the performance of a photodetector through straining and may offer theoretical supporting in future optoelectronic device fabrication and modification.

A highly sensitive electrochemical biosensor based on zinc oxide nanotetrapods for L-lactic acid detection.

An amperometric biosensor based on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanotetrapods was designed to detect L-lactic acid. The lactate oxidase was immobilized on the surface of ZnO nanotetrapods by electrostatic adsorption. Unlike traditional detectors, the special four-leg individual ZnO nanostructure, as an adsorption layer, provides multiterminal charge transfer channels. Furthermore, a large amount of ZnO tetrapods are randomly stacked to form a three-dimensional network naturally that facilitates the exchange of electrons and ions in the phosphate buffer solution. Utilizing amperometric response measurements, the prepared ZnO nanotetrapod L-lactic acid biosensor displayed a detection limit of 1.2 µM, a low apparent Michaelis-Menten constant of 0.58 mM, a high sensitivity of 28.0 µA cm(-2) mM(-1) and a good linear relationship in the range of 3.6 µM-0.6 mM for the L-lactic acid detection. This study shows that the biosensor based on ZnO tetrapod nanostructures is highly sensitive and able to respond rapidly in detecting lactic acid.