Study on Sensor Fault-Tolerant Control for Central Air-Conditioning Systems Using Bayesian Inference with Data Increments.

A lack of available information on heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems can affect the performance of data-driven fault-tolerant control (FTC) models. This study proposed an in situ selective incremental calibration (ISIC) strategy. Faults were introduced into the indoor air (Ttz1) thermostat and supply air temperature (Tsa) and chilled water supply air temperature (Tchws) sensors of a central air-conditioning system. The changes in the system performance after FTC were evaluated. Then, we considered the effects of the data quality, data volume, and variable number on the FTC results. For the Ttz1 thermostat and Tsa sensor, the system energy consumption was reduced by 2.98% and 3.72% with ISIC, respectively, and the predicted percentage dissatisfaction was reduced by 0.67% and 0.63%, respectively. Better FTC results were obtained using ISIC when the Ttz1 thermostat had low noise, a 7-day data volume, or sufficient variables and when the Tsa and Tchws sensors had low noise, a 14-day data volume, or limited variables.

Novel strategy to the characterization and enhance the glycemic control properties of walnut-derived peptides via zinc chelation.

This study aimed to utilize zinc coordination to promote the hypoglycemic and antioxidant properties of walnut-derived peptides, such as walnut protein hydrolysate (WPH) and Leu-Pro-Leu-Leu-Arg (LPLLR, LP5), of which LP5 was previously identified from WPH. The optimal conditions for the chelation were a peptide-to-zinc ratio of 6:1, pH of 9, duration of 50 min, and temperature of 50 °C. The WPH-Zn and LP5-Zn complexes increased the α-glucosidase inhibition, α-amylase inhibition, and antioxidant activity more than WPH and LP5 (p < 0.05). In particular, the antioxidant activity of WPH-Zn was superior to LP5-Zn. This is attributable to the WPH containing more aromatic amino acids, carboxylate groups and the imidazole groups, which implies its capacity to potentially coordinate with Zn2+ to form the WPH-Zn complex. Moreover, particle size, zeta potential, and scanning electron microscope indicated that the chelation of Zn2+ by peptides led to intramolecular and intermolecular folding and aggregation.

Food-Derived Peptides: Beneficial CNS Effects and Cross-BBB Transmission Strategies.

Food-derived peptides, as dietary supplements, have significant effects on promoting brain health and relieving central nervous system (CNS) diseases. However, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) greatly limits their in-brain bioavailability. Thus, overcoming the BBB to target the CNS is a major challenge for bioactive peptides in the prevention and treatment of CNS diseases. This review discusses improvement in the neuroprotective function of food-derived active peptides in CNS diseases, as well as the source of BBB penetrating peptides (BBB-shuttles) and the mechanism of transmembrane transport. Notably, this review also discusses various peptide modification methods to overcome the low permeability and stability of the BBB. Lipification, glycosylation, introduction of disulfide bonds, and cyclization are effective strategies for improving the penetration efficiency of peptides through the BBB. This review provides a new prospective for improving their neuroprotective function and developing treatments to delay or even prevent CNS diseases.

Case Study: Impacts of Air-Conditioner Air Supply Strategy on Thermal Environment and Energy Consumption in Offices Using BES-CFD Co-Simulation.

Due to energy constraints and people's increasing requirements for indoor thermal comfort, improving energy efficiency while ensuring thermal comfort has become the focus of research in the design and operation of HVAC systems. This study took office rooms with few people occupying them in Wuhan as the research object. The EnergyPlus-Fluent co-simulation method was used to study the impact of 12 forms of air distribution on the thermal environment and air-conditioner energy consumption. The results indicate that 3 m/s supply air velocity and 45° supply air angle are more suitable for the case model in this study. The EnergyPlus-Fluent co-simulation method used in this paper provides a reference for the study of indoor environments in offices with few people occupying them.

Edge-oriented phosphatizing engineering of 2D Ni-MOFs with a tailored d-band center for boosting catalytic activity.

Metal-organic framework (MOF)-based heterostructures have aroused widespread interest owing to their extensive compositional tunability and interesting catalytic properties. However, the precise edge-oriented growth of transition metal compounds at the edges of 2D MOFs to construct edge mode heterostructures remains a great challenge due to their inherent thermodynamic instability. Here, edge-oriented growth of Ni2P at the edges of a 2D Ni-MOF was achieved for the first time by precisely tuning the phosphorus source content and phosphating temperature. Owing to the formation of the edge mode Ni-MOF/Ni2P heterostructure, the as-prepared heterostructure showed upregulated d-band center, more robust 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) adsorption capacity, lowered energy barrier of the rate-determining step (RDS), and higher specific surface area, resulting in the best performance of the hydrogenation reduction of 4-NP to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of non-precious metal catalysts.

Interactive multi-model fault diagnosis method of switched reluctance motor based on low delay anti-interference.

Given fault false alarm and fault control failure caused by the decrease of fault identification accuracy and fault delay of Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) power converter in complex working conditions, a method based on the Interactive Multi-Model (IMM) algorithm was proposed in this paper. Besides, the corresponding equivalent circuit models were established according to the different working states of the SRM power converter. The Kalman filter was employed to estimate the state of the model, and the fault detection and location were realized depending on the residual signal. Additionally, a transition probability correction function of the IMM was constructed using the difference of the n-th order to suppress the influence of external disturbance on the fault diagnosis accuracy. Concurrently, a model jump threshold was introduced to reduce delay when the matched model was switched, so as to realize the rapid separation of faults and effective fault control. The simulation and experiment results demonstrate that the IMM algorithm based on low delay anti-interference can effectively reduce the influence of complex working conditions, improve the anti-interference ability of SRM power converter fault diagnosis, and identify fault information accurately and quickly.

Improved Stability and In Vitro Anti-Arthritis Bioactivity of Curcumin-Casein Nanoparticles by Ultrasound-Driven Encapsulation.

Curcumin possesses beneficial biological functions, namely anti-inflammation and anti-diabetic functions. However, due to its low solubility and crystallinity, its applications are limited. In this work, curcumin was encapsulated in casein micelles in order to form curcumin-casein nanoparticles by ultrasound treatment (5 min). The ultrasound treatment induced the entry of the hydrophobic groups to the inner micelles and the polar sulfydryl groups to the surface of the micelles in order to form compact curcumin-casein nanoparticles of an appropriate size (100-120 nm) for cellular endocytosis. The product exhibited excellent stability during 8 months of cold storage, 6 days at room temperature, and 2 days at body temperature. Advanced in vitro experiments demonstrated that curcumin-casein nanoparticles displayed significantly greater inhibitory activity against the proliferation and proinflammatory cytokines of human fibroblast-like synoviocyte-osteo arthritis (HFLS-OA) cells and HFLS-rheumatoid (RA) cells than native curcumin due to better cellular uptake as a result of the low crystallinity and the appropriate nano-size of the nano-form. The results provide a reference for the use of ultrasound treatment to encapsulate other drug molecules and curcumin-casein nanoparticles as potential treatment for arthritis.

The ultrathin palladium nanosheets for sensitive and visual Hg2+ detection in the food chain.

The detection of mercury, one of the ten most dangerous chemicals, is significant to provide helpful information for assessing mercury toxicity and health risks. However, it is a challenge to explore simple, sensitive, accurate, and cheap Hg2+ detection methods. Noble metal nanomaterials are used for Hg2+ detection by the colorimetric method widely. Still, the pure noble metal materials' detection limit of Hg2+ is high, and sensitivity enhancement usually requires further complex modification. Here, we use a facile one-step route to synthesize ultra-thin two-dimensional palladium nanosheets (PdNS), which have high selectivity and sensitivity for Hg2+ detection by colorimetric method with a low detection limit (0.55 ppb). The detection of Hg2+ by PdNS involves multiple mechanisms, including the formation of amalgam and PdO to improve the peroxidase-mimic activity of PdNS and PdNS motor function to increase its collision probability with the detection reactant. The PdNS can be used to detect Hg2+ in various actual samples. The detection results are highly consistent with the data obtained by the atomic fluorescence spectrometer (AFS). Then, we developed a Hg2+ detection kit, which can realize simple, sensitive, and accurate Hg2+ detection by naked eye or cellphone at a meager cost (0.3 dollars each sample).

Nanozyme with Robust Catalase Activity by Multiple Mechanisms and Its Application for Hypoxic Tumor Treatment.

Utilizing catalase-mimicking nanozymes to produce O2 is an effective method to overcome tumor hypoxia. However, it is challenging to fabricate nanozymes with ultrahigh catalytic activity. Palladium nanosheet (Pd NS), a photothermal agent for photothermal therapy (PTT), has superior catalase-mimicking activity. Here, titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) is used to modify Pd NS (denoted Pd@TiO2 ) by a simple one-step method to improve its catalytic activity about 8 times. The enhancement mechanism's fundamental insights are discussed through experiments and density functional theory calculations. Next, zinc phthalocyanine is loaded on Pd@TiO2 to form a nanomotor (denoted PTZCs) with the synergistic activities of photodynamic therapy and PTT. PTZCs inherit the catalase activity of Pd@TiO2 to facilitate the decomposition of endogenous H2 O2 to O2 , which can relieve tumor hypoxia and propel PTZC migration to expand the reach of PTZCs, further enhancing its synergistic treatment outcome both in vitro and in vivo. It is proposed that this work can provide a simple and effective strategy for catalytic activity enhancement and bring a critical new perspective to studying and guiding the nanozyme design.

Effects of insoluble dietary fiber and ferulic acid on the quality of steamed bread and gluten aggregation properties.

The effects of insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) and ferulic acid (FA) on steamed bread quality and gluten aggregation properties were investigated. IDF and FA increased the hardness and decreased the specific volume of steamed bread, except for 0.3 g of FA. Compared to the control sample, the hardness of steamed bread with 0.3 g of FA decreased by 36%, and the specific volume increased by 10.91%. FA promoted gluten aggregation through a cross-linking reaction because the sodium dodecyl sulfate extractable protein (SDSEP) of gluten with 1.8 g of FA decreased by 61.32% compared to the control sample under non-reducing condition. The ζ-potential of gluten during the proofing and steaming stages decreased by 46.64% and 68.10% with the increase in IDF, which showed that IDF promoted gluten aggregation by reducing the electrostatic repulsion. Gluten aggregation caused by IDF and FA could be the main reason for steamed bread deterioration.

Gankyrin activates the hedgehog signalling to drive metastasis in osteosarcoma.

Gankyrin is a regulatory subunit of the 26-kD proteasome complex and promotes the occurrence and progression of many malignancies. However, the role of gankyrin in osteosarcoma (OS) metastasis remains unclear. Hedgehog signalling has been shown to regulate stem cell homeostasis and cancer metastasis, but the mechanisms that activate this pathway in OS are still poorly understood. Here, a series of in vitro and in vivo assays were carried out to explore the function and mechanism of gankyrin regulating Hedgehog signalling in OS. We demonstrated that gankyrin promotes migration, invasion and regulates the expression of some stemness factors by up-regulating Gli1 in OS. Importantly, our data showed an interaction between gankyrin and Gli1. Moreover, gankyrin suppresses the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of Gli1 protein in OS. Gankyrin also significantly promotes the lung metastasis of OS in vivo. Our findings suggest that gankyrin drives metastasis and regulates the expression of some stemness factors in osteosarcoma by activating Hedgehog signalling, indicating that drug screening for compounds targeting gankyrin may contribute to the development of novel and effective therapies for OS.

MIRLET7BHG promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by activating hepatic stellate cells through exosomal SMO to trigger Hedgehog pathway.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), commonly caused by liver fibrosis, is a global challenge with high morbidity. Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) contributes to hepatic fibrosis. Exosomes are small vesicles that play a significant role in cell-to-cell communication. Smoothened (SMO) is the key signal transducer for Hedgehog pathway. This study was designed to study the function and underlying mechanism of SMO in HSC activation. Functional assays including 5-Ethynyl-2´-deoxyuridine, colony formation, wound healing, transwell, and sphere formation assays disclosed the function of SMO. Western blot analysis of exosome biomarkers, immunofluorescence staining assay, electron microscope, and flow cytometry revealed the existence of exosomes. Bioinformatics analyses and mechanistic assays uncovered the interplays between RNAs. Nude mice xenograft model was established to evaluate HCC tumor growth. We uncovered that SMO was an oncogene in HCC cells and was low-expressed in quiescent HSCs. Then, SMO was upregulated in HSCs cultured with HCC cells-conditioned medium. Next, it was revealed that HCC cells-derived exosomes activated HSCs by transmitting SMO to HSCs. Subsequently, we recognized that microRNA let-7b host gene (MIRLET7BHG) served as the competing endogenous RNA against miR-330-5p to upregulate SMO. In turn, SMO induced hedgehog pathway to promote GLI family zinc finger 1 (Gli1), leading to transcriptional activation of MIRLET7BHG in activated HSCs. In summary, this study demonstrated that Gli1-induced MIRLET7BHG facilitated HCC by activating HSCs through exosomal SMO to stimulate hedgehog pathway, providing a new road for HCC treatment.

A 2-pyridone modified zinc phthalocyanine with three-in-one multiple functions for photodynamic therapy.

A 2-pyridone modified zinc phthalocyanine (denoted ZnPc-PYR) achieves a one stone for three birds outcome in the photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment of cancer. ZnPc-PYR can be excited by both 665 and 808 nm light to treat superficial and deep tumors, store and slowly release singlet oxygen (1O2) to improve its utilization and downregulate the HIF-1 (hypoxia-inducible factor 1) expression level to enhance the tumor cell's sensitivity to PDT treatment under hypoxic conditions.

Age-related compositional changes and correlations of gut microbiome, serum metabolome, and immune factor in rats.

Aging is a complex physiological process associated with degenerative disorder of metabolism and immune function, which contributes to the occurrence of senile diseases. The gut microbiota affects systemic inflammation in aging processes probably through metabolism, but their relationship is still unclear. In this study, 16S-rRNA-sequencing technology, gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS)-based metabolic profiling, and immune factor analysis combined with advanced differential and association analysis were employed to investigate the correlation between the microbiome, metabolome, and immune factors in male Wistar rats across lifespan. Our findings showed significant changes in the ileum microbiome and serum metabolome compositions across aging process. A two-level strategy was applied to demonstrate that key metabolites associated with age such as 4-hydroxyproline, proline, and lysine were clustered together and positively correlated with beneficial microbes including Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Akkermansia. Function analysis explored association between serum metabolite class and specific gut bacteria's metabolism pathways. Further correlation analysis on all the alteration patterns provided an interaction network of main immune factors such as IL-10, IgA, IgM, and IgG with key gut bacteria and serum metabolites. This study offers new insights into the relationship between immune factors, serum metabolome, and the gut microbiome.

Dynamic distribution of gut microbiota in meat rabbits at different growth stages and relationship with average daily gain (ADG).

BACKGROUND: The mammalian intestinal tract harbors diverse and dynamic microbial communities that play pivotal roles in host health, metabolism, immunity, and development. Average daily gain (ADG) is an important growth trait in meat rabbit industry. The effects of gut microbiota on ADG in meat rabbits are still unknown. RESULTS: In this study, we investigated the dynamic distribution of gut microbiota in commercial Ira rabbits from weaning to finishing and uncover the relationship between the microbiota and average daily gain (ADG) via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results indicated that the richness and diversity of gut microbiota significantly increased with age. Gut microbial structure was less variable among finishing rabbits than among weaning rabbits. The relative abundances of the dominant phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia and Cyanobacteria, and the 15 predominant genera significantly varied with age. Metagenomic prediction analysis showed that both KOs and KEGG pathways related to the metabolism of monosaccharides and vitamins were enriched in the weaning rabbits, while those related to the metabolism of amino acids and polysaccharides were more abundant in the finishing rabbits. We identified 34 OTUs, 125 KOs, and 25 KEGG pathways that were significantly associated with ADG. OTUs annotation suggested that butyrate producing bacteria belong to the family Ruminococcaceae and Bacteroidales_S24-7_group were positively associated with ADG. Conversely, Eubacterium_coprostanoligenes_group, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, and opportunistic pathogens were negatively associated with ADG. Both KOs and KEGG pathways correlated with the metabolism of vitamins, basic amino acids, and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) showed positive correlations with ADG, while those correlated with aromatic amino acids metabolism and immune response exhibited negative correlations with ADG. In addition, our results suggested that 10.42% of the variation in weaning weight could be explained by the gut microbiome. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings give a glimpse into the dynamic shifts in gut microbiota of meat rabbits and provide a theoretical basis for gut microbiota modulation to improve ADG in the meat rabbit industry.

Gli1 interacts with YAP1 to promote tumorigenesis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the predominant esophageal cancer type in China. The aberrant activation of glioma-associated oncogene homolog1 (Gli1), a key factor in Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, has been found in esophageal carcinoma. Moreover, Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1), the major mediator of Hippo signaling pathway, has been linked to esophageal carcinoma progression. However, the precise roles and the underlying mechanism of both Gli1 and YAP1 in ESCC are unclear. Here, we found that Gli1 and YAP1 are overexpressed in ESCC and are associated with poor prognosis. In addition, we confirmed that knockdown of Gli1 or YAP1 suppresses ESCC cell growth, migration, and invasion in ESCC TE1 and EC109 cells. Significantly, Gli1 interacts with YAP1 in ESCC cells. Both Gli1 and YAP1 proteins are closely correlated with each other in human ESCC samples. Mechanistically, Gli1 upregulates YAP1 in a LATS1-independent manner. Conversely, YAP1 induces Gli1 by regulating phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway. Most importantly, we demonstrated that the interaction between Gli1 and YAP1 promotes ESCC tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Our findings established a novel signaling mechanism by which the interaction between Gli1 and YAP1 promotes ESCC cell growth. This signaling regulation of the tumorigenesis provides a new therapeutic strategy for highly lethal ESCC.

MicroRNA-26b inhibits oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation by targeting adrenomedullin in spinal cord injury.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) serve as a reservoir of newborn oligodendrocytes (OLs) in pathological and homeostatic conditions. After spinal cord injury (SCI), OPCs are activated to generate myelinating OLs, contributing to remyelination and functional recovery; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, microRNA-26b (miR-26b) expression in the spinal cord tissues of SCI rats was examined by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. The influences of miR-26b on locomotor recovery following SCI were assessed utilizing Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scores. The effects of miR-26b on OPC differentiation were explored using immunofluorescence and western blot analyses in vitro and in vivo. The potential targets that are modulated by miR-26b were identified by bioinformatics, luciferase reporter assays, and western blot analyses. The effects of adrenomedullin (ADM) on OPC differentiation were explored in vitro using immunofluorescence and western blot analyses. We demonstrated that miR-26b was significantly downregulated after SCI. BBB scores showed that miR-26b exacerbated the locomotor function deficits induced by SCI. In vitro, miR-26b inhibited the differentiation of primary rat OPCs. In vivo, miR-26b suppressed OPC differentiation in SCI rats. Bioinformatics analyses and experimental detection revealed that miR-26b directly targeted ADM in OPCs. In addition, knockdown of ADM suppressed the differentiation of primary rat OPCs. Our study provides evidence that ADM may mediate miR-26b-inhibited OPC differentiation in SCI.

Faecal microbiota and functional capacity associated with weaning weight in meat rabbits.

Weaning weight is an important economic trait in the meat rabbit industry. Evidence has linked the gut microbiota to health and production performance in rabbits. However, the effect of gut microbiota on meat rabbit weaning weight remains unclear. In this study, we performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis of 135 faecal samples from commercial Ira rabbits. We detected 50 OTUs significantly associated with weaning weight. OTUs that showed positive associations with weaning weight were mostly members of the family Ruminococcaceae which are important in degrading dietary fibres and producing butyrate. On the contrary, OTUs annotated to genera Blautia, Lachnoclostridium and Butyricicoccus correlated with fat deposition were negatively associated with weaning weight. Predicted functional capacity analysis revealed that 91 KOs and 26 KEGG pathways exhibited potential correlations with weaning weight. We found that gut microbiota involved in the metabolism of amino acids, butanoate, energy and monosaccharides affected weaning weight. Additionally, cross-validation analysis indicated that 16.16% of the variation in weaning weight was explained by the gut microbiome. Our findings provide important information to improve weaning weight of meat rabbits by modulating their gut microbiome.

FABP4 silencing ameliorates hypoxia reoxygenation injury through the attenuation of endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis by activating PI3K/Akt pathway.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and subsequent apoptosis play a vital role in myocardial ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury. Fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) may induce ER stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism and effect of FABP4 on IR injury in vitro. Rat H9c2 cells were exposed to hypoxia reoxygenation (HR) to create an IR model in vitro. FABP4 was overexpressed in HR-injured H9c2 cells. Transfection with FABP4 siRNA increased cell viability and decreased LDH upon HR stimulation. FABP4 cessation also suppressed apoptotic cells and caspase-3 activity after HR. Downregulation of FABP4 significantly inhibited ER stress by decreasing the protein expression of p-PERK, GRP78, and ATF6. FABP4 silencing also restrained the ER stress-mediated apoptotic pathway, as indicated by decreased pro-apoptotic proteins p-JNK, CHOP, Bax, and caspase-12, as well as upregulation of Bcl-2 during HR. Furthermore, FABP4 silencing activated the PI3K/Akt pathway. Blocking this pathway by the specific PI3K inhibitor-LY294002 restored HR-induced ER stress and subsequently reversed the protective effect of FABP4 silencing on HR injury. Taken together, our findings revealed that FABP4 silencing exerts protective effects against HR injury in H9c2 cells through inhibiting ER stress-induced cell apoptosis via activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway.

Valosin-containing protein is associated with maintenance of meiotic arrest in mouse oocytes†.

Valosin-containing protein (VCP) is a member of the highly conserved AAA (ATPase associated with a variety of cellular activities) superfamily. A previous study has shown that targeted deletion of Vcp in mice results in early embryonic lethality. The aim of the present study was to analyze the expression and localization of VCP and its function in meiotic arrest of mouse oocytes. Vcp mRNA and protein were expressed in multiple mouse tissues. In the ovary, VCP protein was mainly expressed in oocytes and granulosa cells. After ovulation and fertilization, Vcp mRNA and protein were detected in oocytes and preimplantation embryos. Furthermore, VCP protein was localized in both the cytoplasm and nucleus of germinal vesicle (GV)-stage oocytes and preimplantation embryos. Moreover, knockdown of Vcp in GV-stage oocytes led to a significantly increased rate of germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD). In addition, inhibition of VCP protein improved the GVBD rate in mouse GV-stage oocytes. When VCP inhibition was reversed, the final GVBD rate returned to normal. These results provide the first evidence for a novel function of VCP in meiotic arrest of mouse oocytes.