Erianin promotes endogenous neurogenesis in traumatic brain injury rats.

The objective of this study was to explore the positive influence and potential mechanism of Erianin on the recovery of brain cells following a traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI rat models were prepared and treated with Erianin injection via tail vein. The assessment included evaluating the rats' levels of oxidative stress, inflammation, neuronal damage, mitochondrial damage, neuronal regeneration, transformation of pro-inflammatory microglial cells, activation status of the ERK signal pathway, and the functionality of their learning and memory. After administering Erianin, there was a suppression of oxidative stress, inflammation, nerve cell damage, and mitochondrial damage in the TBI rats. Additionally, there was an increase in neuronal regeneration in the cortex and hippocampus, inhibition of pro-inflammatory microglial cell transformation in the cortex, improvement in learning and memory function in TBI rats, and simultaneous inhibition of the activation of the ERK1/c-Jun signal pathway. The findings suggest that Erianin has the potential to reduce oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction in rats with TBI, safeguard nerve cells against apoptosis, stimulate the growth of new neural cells, ultimately enhancing the cognitive abilities and memory function of the rats. The inhibition of the ERK signaling pathway could be closely associated with these effects.

N-Acetylglucosamine mitigates lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin.

Lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis contribute to morbidity and mortality, and, in particular, are characterized as leading cause on confirmed COVID-19 death. To date, efficient therapeutic approach for such lung diseases is lacking. N-Acetylglucosamine (NAG), an acetylated derivative of glucosamine, has been proposed as a potential protector of lung function in several types of lung diseases. The mechanism by which NAG protects against lung injury, however, remains unclear. Here, we show that NAG treatment improves pulmonary function in bleomycin (BLM)-induced lung injury model measured by flexiVent system. At early phase of lung injury, NAG treatment results in silenced immune response by targeting ARG1+ macrophages activation, and, consequently, blocks KRT8+ transitional stem cell in the alveolar region to stimulate PDGF Rß+ fibroblasts hyperproliferation, thereby attenuating the pulmonary fibrosis. This combinational depression of immune response and extracellular matrix deposition within the lung mitigates lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis induced by BLM. Our findings provide novel insight into the protective role of NAG in lung injury.

Chitosan oligosaccharide attenuates acute kidney injury and renal interstitial fibrosis induced by ischemia-reperfusion.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) and renal interstitial fibrosis are global clinical syndromes associated with high morbidity and mortality. Renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, which commonly occurs during surgery, is one of the major causes of AKI. Nevertheless, an efficient therapeutic approach for AKI and the development of renal interstitial fibrosis is still lacking due to its elusive pathogenetic mechanism. Here, we showed that chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), a natural oligomer polysaccharide degraded from chitosan, significantly attenuates I/R-induced AKI and maintains glomerular filtration function by inhibiting oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, and excessive endoplasmic reticulum stress both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, long-term administration of COS can also attenuate the proliferation of myofibroblasts, mitigate extra cellular matrix deposition, and thus inhibit the transition of AKI to chronic kidney disease through participating in metabolic and redox biological processes. Our findings provide novel insights into the protective role of COS against acute kidney injury.

Compound non-starch polysaccharide enzymes improve growth performance, slaughter performance, immune function, and apparent utilization rate of nutrients in broiler chickens fed a low-metabolizable energy diet.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of compound non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) enzymes on growth performance, slaughter performance, immune function, and apparent utilization of nutrients in broiler chickens fed a low-metabolizable energy diet. A total of 240 healthy 1-day-old AA broilers (Arbor Acres, 47.2 ± 0.31 g) were randomly divided into four treatment groups, each with six replicate groups and 10 broilers per replicate. The control group was fed a basal diet; the EL-H group was fed the basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg compound NSP enzyme, including ß-mannanase 5,000 IU/g, ß-glucanase 2000 IU/g, xylanase 10,000 IU/g, and cellulase 500 IU/g. The EL-M group was fed the basal diet with 50 kcal/kg metabolizable energy removed, supplemented with 200 mg/kg compound NSP enzyme. Finally, the EL-L group was fed the basal diet with 100 kcal/kg metabolizable energy removed, supplemented with 200 mg/kg compound NSP enzyme. The results showed that feeding with a low-metabolizable energy diet supplemented with compound NSP enzymes did not significantly affect the growth performance of broilers (p > 0.05). Compared with the control group, the abdominal fat rate of broilers in the EL-L group was significantly reduced, and that of broilers in the EL-M group was significantly increased (p < 0.05). Apparent utilization of dry matter, crude protein, and energy in the diet was lower in the control group than in the EL-L group, but significantly higher in the control group than in the EL-H group (p < 0.05). In addition, apparent utilization of crude fiber was significantly increased in the EL-H, EL-M, and EL-L groups compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this experiment showed that the addition of 200 mg/kg compound NSP enzyme enabled maintenance of the normal growth and development of broiler chickens fed a low-metabolizable energy diet (replacing 50-100 kcal/kg metabolizable energy). This study provides a theoretical basis for the application of the compound NSP enzyme in broiler chickens.

A comparative evaluation on the energetic values and digestibility of fatty acids in rice bran oil and palm oil for broilers.

The objective of this study was to compare the digestibility of energy and fatty acids (FA) in rice bran oil (RBO) and palm oil (PO) fed to growing Arbor Acre (AA) broilers. A corn-soybean meal basal diet and the basal diet supplemented with 8% RBO or PO were evaluated. A total of 72 AA male broilers (initial BW = 1,173 ± 6 g; age = 22 d) were randomly divided to 3 dietary treatments with 6 replicates of 4 broilers in each. The growth performance and the ME and FA digestibility in oils were compared with a balance experiment of broilers from d 22 to 28. The ME of the RBO diet was greater (P < 0.05) than PO diet and basal diet, and the ME of the PO diet was greater (P < 0.05) than basal diet. However, no statistical difference was observed in the ME intake of broilers fed basal, RBO, and PO diets. To maintain daily ME intake, broilers ingested more basal diet relative to other diets, resulting in increased CP intake (P < 0.01) and retention (P < 0.01) than broilers fed diets supplemented with RBO and PO. This finding resulted in greater (P < 0.01) BWG and ADG from d 22 to 28 for broilers fed the basal diet relative to other diets, but there was no difference for BWG and ADG across oil sources. However, broilers fed RBO had numerically greater BWD and ADG than those fed PO, likely because the RBO provided greater AME, AMEn, AME/GE, AMEn/GE (P < 0.01) as well as ether extract (EE) digestibility (P = 0.0536) relative to PO. The digestibility of palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1), and linoleic (C18:2) were greater (P < 0.01) in RBO than PO, which positively influenced the energy values for RBO. These results indicate RBO has greater ME and digestibility of EE and FA, which positively influenced the growth performance of AA broilers. Therefore, RBO can be used to replace PO in broiler diets.

Reconstruction of three-dimensional objects in layered composite structures from multimode orbital angular momentum.

Because of helical phase wavefront distribution, vortex electromagnetic waves are considered to carry more information and additional degrees of freedom than traditional spherical waves. Therefore, a vortex wave carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) can improve inversion and imaging accuracy. In this work, we revisit the reconstruction of three-dimensional objects in layered composite structures extended with OAM. In forward modeling, the concentric uniform circle array is used to generate electromagnetic vortex beams. To analyze the difference of vortex beams, the electric field radiation pattern and phase pattern distribution of OAM waves with different modes are calculated. Then, the scattered field of layered media illuminated by different OAM beams is determined by the dyadic Green's function and the stabilized biconjugate gradient technique with a fast Fourier transform algorithm. In the inversion, the variational Born iterative method is used to reconstruct targets in layered composite structures, and multiple OAM modes are used to improve the reconstruction results. The numerical results prove that the permittivity of the target can be better reconstructed by using the multiple OAM modes rather than the traditional spherical wave. With the increase of OAM mode number, the reconstructed target parameters are closer to the true value. We expect that our results will provide a better understanding of the OAM and pave the way for the improvement of inversion and optical imaging technology using vortex waves.

Cervical cancer cell proliferation inhibition by vanillin oxime through HIF­1α expression inhibition, ERK1/2 and Akt protein down-regulation.

Cervical cancer is a frequently reported cancer of reproductive tract in females and is worldwide 4th most common malignant tumor. The present study investigated the effect of vanillin oxime on proliferation of cervical cancer cells. Vanillin oxime treatment led to suppression of Caski cell proliferation but could not affect proliferation of (HCvEpC) cells at the tested (2 to 10 µM) concentrations. In vanillin oxime treated Caski cells ROS level showed an increase with enhancement in concentration from 2 to 10 µM. Vanillin oxime treatment significantly (P<0.0487) lowered the count of colonies and inhibited invasive abilities of Caski cells. Treatment with vanillin oxime caused a significant (P<0.0487) suppression in HIF­1α expression in Caski cells. Caski cell apoptotic count reached to 8.76% and 48.65%, on incubation with 2 and 10 µM concentrations of vanillin oxime respectively. After treatment with vanillin oxime a prominent reduction in MMP-2 and -9 levels was observed in Caski cells. A prominent reduction in p-ERK1/2 and p-Akt levels was observed in Caski cells after treatment with vanillin oxime. Vanillin oxime inhibits cervical cancer proliferation, invasive abilities, induces apoptotic signalling, and elevates ROS production. Therefore, vanillin oxime may be developed as an effective therapeutic agent for treatment of cervical cancer.

Probability risk assessment of soil PAH contamination premised on industrial brownfield development: a case from China.

The harm of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to human health and the natural environment has become an indisputable fact. Compared with other pollutants, PAHs are more toxic at low environmental concentrations, especially in industrialized environments. This study investigated the concentration distribution of soil PAHs at a well-known industrial production site in China and applied the Monte Carlo simulation method to assess the risk of cancer caused by the excessive accidental intake of PAHs in brownfield development environments. The results showed that the PAH content of the soil at the study site exceeded the local soil quality background value to varying degrees, and the excess rate ranged from 0.72 to 22.3%. There are serious health risks of BaP at the site, which has a 95th health risk percentile value of 1.12E-04. Those for BbF, InP, and DBA range from 1.0×10-6 to 1.0×10-4, and potential health risks occur. Moreover, the exposure duration and average carcinogenic time were the most influential parameters. The study has revealed that exposure to brownfield soil contaminated with PAHs increases the health risks. This is a representative study on the occurrence and concentration of PAHs in industrial brownfields in China, which can be adopted as a basis and evidence for pollution risk assessment of brownfield development.

Contaminated site-induced health risk using Monte Carlo simulation: evaluation from the brownfield in Beijing, China.

The occurrence of contaminated sites has caused serious public health problems, and there are significant health risks. This paper applies Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the impact of pollutants on human health at a contaminated site in Beijing, China. In this study, a total of 429 soil samples were collected. The exposure routes considered were oral ingestion and skin contact. The log-normal distribution or triangular distribution was adopted to convert exposure parameters into statistical parameters, and the final risk probability was estimated through Monte Carlo simulations. The results show that the 95th percentile risk indexes of As, Ni, Zn, and Hg are 1.22E-1, 5.05E-3, 5.10E-4, and 1.69E-1, respectively, which are all within acceptable levels. The maximum values of As and Hg are 2.15E+0 and 1.04E+0, respectively, with a 5% and 4% probability, respectively, of exceeding the acceptable health risk level. In theory, it is believed that they do not pose a potential threat to human health. Nevertheless, As and Hg in soil are still major pollution sources. The results also show that C (pollutant concentration), AT (mean action time), and ED (exposure duration) are the three parameters with the highest sensitivity to the health risk value. The results of this study can help to improve soil risk control measures and remediation decisions for contaminated sites to reduce the environmental risk in contaminated areas.

Is lymph node dissection mandatory among early stage endometrial cancer patients? A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Whether routine lymph node dissection for early endometrial cancer is beneficial to survival is still controversial. However, surgeons usually perform lymph node dissection on all patients with early endometrial cancer. This study aimed to prove that the risk of lymph node metastasis, as defined by our standard, is very low in such patients and may change the current surgical practice. METHODS: 36 consecutive patients who had staged surgery for endometrial cancer were collected. All eligible patients meet the following very low risk criteria for lymph node metastasis, including: (1) preoperative diagnosis of endometrial cancer (preoperative pathological diagnosis), (2) tumors confined to the uterine cavity and not beyond the uterine body, (3) PET-MRI lymph node metastasis test is negative. PET-MRI and pathological examination were used to assess the extent and size of the tumor, the degree of muscular invasion, and lymph node metastasis. RESULTS: The median age at diagnosis was 52 years (range 35-72 years). The median tumor size on PET-MRI was 2.82 cm (range 0.66-6.37 cm). Six patients underwent robotic surgery, 20 underwent laparoscopic surgery, 8 underwent Laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy, and 2 underwent vaginal hysterectomy. 23% (63.9%) patients had high-grade (i.e. 2 and 3) tumors. Among the 36 patients who underwent lymph node sampling, the median number of lymph nodes retrieved was 32 (range 9-57 nodules). No patient (0%) was diagnosed with lymph node metastasis. According to the policy of each institution, 8 patients (22.2%) received adjuvant therapy, and half of them also received chemotherapy (4 patients; 50%). CONCLUSIONS: None of the patients who met the criteria had a pathological assessment of lymph node metastasis. Omitting lymph node dissection may be reasonable for patients who meet our criteria.

Global characteristics and trends of research on construction dust: based on bibliometric and visualized analysis.

The booming construction industry has led to many environmental and occupational health and safety problems. Construction dust caused irreversible damage to the health of frontline workers and polluted the surrounding air environment, which has attracted the attention of researchers and practitioners. In this study, to systematically sort and analyze the distribution of construction dust (CD) research, its hot areas, and the evolution of its fronts, papers with "construction dust" as the subject term in the Web of Science Core Collection Database since 2010 are visually analyzed using CiteSpace. The characteristics of these papers, including the quantity trend, quality, author group, affiliated institution type, and journal type, are summarized, and keyword co-appearance and paper co-citation knowledge maps are produced. The results show that (1) China is the backbone of CD research, and the research results account for a considerable proportion of the total. (2) Respiratory dust and atmospheric aerosols, marble dust, PM2.5, and other hot issues have always attracted international attention. And exposure assessment and spatial distribution were the main focuses in the study of CD. (3) The direction of CD research will explore in a more subtle and intelligent direction in the future, for example, monitoring and control equipment under the technical support of big data technology and machine learning and face recognition. By combining bibliometrics with a systematic review, we aim to analyze the research foci and future development direction deeply, providing scholars with a comprehensive view of the field.

Negative Pressure Waves Based High Resolution Leakage Localization Method Using Piezoceramic Transducers and Multiple Temporal Convolutions.

The negative pressure wave (NPW) signals generated by a pipeline leakage often have a long signal duration. When these signals are utilized to compute the leakage position, the long signal duration will result in a large area being considered as leakage area. The localization resolution is low. A novel high-resolution localization algorithm is developed for pipeline leakage detection using piezoceramic transducers in this paper. The proposed algorithm utilizes multiple temporal convolutions to decrease the localization functional values at the points close to the leakage, in order to reduce the range of the leakage area revealed by the proposed algorithm. As a result, the localization resolution is improved. A measured experiment was conducted to study the proposed algorithm. In the experiment, the proposed algorithm was used to monitor a 55.8 m pressurized pipeline with two controllable valves and two Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) sensors. With the aid of the piezoceramic sensor, the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm results in a resolution which is better than that of the traditional method.

Genetic structure of rice black-streaked dwarf virus populations in China.

Rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV) is a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus belonging to the genus Fijivirus in the family Reoviridae. The genome of RBSDV consists of ten dsRNA segments. Although RBSDV has caused significant economic losses to rice and maize production in the past few years in China, its molecular diversity and evolution remain largely unknown. To elucidate the factor(s) underlying the evolution of RBSDV, we determined segment 8 (S8; carrying ORF8 encoding the minor core capsid protein) sequences of 101 samples and segment 10 (S10; carrying ORF10 encoding the major capsid protein) sequences of 103 samples. The results show that both ORF8 and ORF10 are under negative selection. The S8 of three isolates and S10 of two isolates are recombinants. The RBSDV population in China can be classified into three groups according to S8 sequences or into two groups according to S10 sequences, irrespective of host or geographical origin. Of the RBSDV isolates with both S8 and S10 sequences available, 17 are between-group reassortants and 30 are between-subgroup reassortants. The RBSDV subpopulations from different geographical regions and hosts show frequent gene flow within or between subpopulations. The RBSDV population from maize is in a state of expansion. In this study, no new emergent population was detected. Taken together, the results indicate that, in addition to recombination and negative selection, reassortment and gene flow are important factors that drive evolution of RBSDV in China.

Characteristics of the toxin extracted from liquid culture of Colletotrichum capsici f. nicotianae.

Colletotrichum capsici f. nicotianae is an important plant pathogen in tobacco-grown area of Weifang region of Shangdong Province, China. In this study, the toxicity of liquid culture media from different isolates was characterized, and some properties of the toxic ingredient were identified. The results indicated that the optimal toxin-producing conditions for C. capsici f. nicotianae were in potato dextrose broth under pH 6.0, at 25~30 °C for 13 days. The liquid culture media from all isolates were toxic to tobacco plants and induced the wilting symptoms. The toxin from the liquid culture media has thermal, acid-base stability and a broad spectrum of toxicity to the plants. Furthermore, the direct bioassay for two components of the liquid filtrates precipitated by ethanol showed that the active ingredient of the toxin is a kind of nonprotein substance, which was further supported by the papain hydrolysis test.

Expression of the insulin-like growth factor system in skeletal muscle during embryonic and postnatal development in the first filial generation pigs from Erhualian and Yorkshire reciprocal crosses.

In this study, we detected the expression of IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF-IR, IGF-IIR, and IGFBP-3 mRNA at 50 (E50), 70 (E70), and 90 (E90) days of gestation, and 1 (D1), 20 (D20), 70 (D70), 120 (D120), and 180 (D180) days of age in the longissimus dorsi (LD) and the semitendinosus (ST) of pigs from a Yorkshire boar×Erhualian sow (YE) cross as well as a Erhualian boar×Yorkshire sow (EY) cross. We found that the expression of IGF-I and IGF-II mRNA in skeletal muscle tissues differed based on developmental age and reciprocal cross type (P<0.05). The expression of IGF-I mRNA exhibited a fluctuant ascending trend. In contrast, IGF-II showed a fluctuant descending trend after birth. The levels of IGF-IR mRNA were higher before birth compared with after birth except for the ST of EY pigs at D120 (P<0.05). The expression of IGF-IIR and IGFBP-3 mRNA remarkably changed with age and reciprocal cross type (P<0.05). IGF-I, IGF-II, and IGFBP-3 mRNA were positively correlated with IGF-IR from 50E to 180D. These data suggest that the expression of IGF-system genes exhibits specific developmental patterns in the skeletal muscle tissues of pigs from reciprocal crosses at different developmental stages and may show linked expression during certain periods of development. Our results may provide a valuable resource for the molecular breeding of pigs.

Molecular variability of Tobacco vein banding mosaic virus populations.

The incidence of Tobacco vein banding mosaic virus (TVBMV) on tobacco increases dramatically in China recently and it has caused great economic losses. To gain insights into the evolutionary mechanisms of TVBMV, a total of 40 TVBMV isolates were collected from different tobacco production regions in China and their genomic regions encoding helper component-proteinase (HC-Pro), the third protein (P3), the first 6K protein (6K1) and coat protein (CP) were sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that TVBMV isolates can be divided into two evolutionary divergent groups based on P3, the frame-shifting pipo and 6K1 genes, and three groups on HC-Pro and CP genes. The populations from most parts of mainland China (MC) showed frequent gene flow; those from Yunnan province in south western China always formed a separate group (YN) and also had frequent within-group gene flow. However, the gene flow between groups MC and YN was uncommon. Our results revealed that all the tested TVBMV genes were under negative selection and the HC-Pro gene was under the strongest constraints. Recombination events were identified in 13 of the 42 analyzed isolates. This study suggested that negative selection, gene flow and recombination were important evolutionary factors driving the genetic diversification of TVBMV.

Central corneal thickness in adult Chinese.

The central corneal thickness (CCT) in age 48 years or less of Chinese was characterized and its relationship with gender, age, refraction and intraocular pressure (IOP) was investigated. Right eyes of 1669 participants were included in this study (880 men, 52.7% and 789 women, 47.3%). Mean age of the samples was 23.8 +/- 5.9 years. After the examination of corneal topography and refraction, Goldman applanation tonometry was carried out by one physician. Tonometric values were the mean of three consecutive readings. Subsequently, another physician carried out ultrasonic pachymetry with the DGH 2000 AP ultrasonic pachymeter. Six measurements were made at the center of the cornea of each eye. The mean value was used for analysis. The results showed that mean CCT of male participants was 551.33 +/- 34.62 microm, 5.79 microm more than that of female participants. Linear regression analyses revealed that CCT was negatively related with age only in female and no association was found between refractive status and CCT. IOP was positively related to CCT, and there was a difference in IOP of 1.5 mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa) per 100 microm difference in CCT. Ocular hypertension group was prone to have thicker cornea than average. The results indicated that in adult Chinese CCT tended to decrease with aging in female only. IOP measured by Goldmann tonometry was positively related with CCT so that CCT should be measured along with IOP.

The atypical resistance gene, RPW8, recruits components of basal defence for powdery mildew resistance in Arabidopsis.

Genetic studies have identified a number of components of signal transduction pathways leading to plant disease resistance and the accompanying hypersensitive response (HR) following detection of pathogens by plant resistance (R) genes. In Arabidopsis, the majority of R proteins so far characterized belong to a plant superfamily that have a central nucleotide-binding site and C-terminal leucine-rich-repeats (NB-LRRs). Another much less prevalent class comprises RPW8.1 and RPW8.2, two related proteins that possess a putative N-terminal transmembrane domain and a coiled-coil motif, and confer broad-spectrum resistance to powdery mildew. Here we investigated whether RPW8.1 and RPW8.2 engage known pathway(s) for defence signalling. We show that RPW8.1 and RPW8.2 recruit, in addition to salicylic acid and EDS1, the other NB-LRR gene-signalling components PAD4, EDS5, NPR1 and SGT1b for activation of powdery mildew resistance and HR. In contrast, NDR1, RAR1 and PBS3 that are required for function of certain NB-LRR R genes, and COI1 and EIN2 that operate, respectively, in the jasmonic acid and ethylene signalling pathways, do not contribute to RPW8.1 and RPW8.2-mediated resistance. We further demonstrate that EDR1, a gene encoding a conserved MAPKK kinase, exerts negative regulation on HR cell death and powdery mildew resistance by limiting the transcriptional amplification of RPW8.1 and RPW8.2. Our results suggest that RPW8.1 and RPW8.2 stimulate a conserved basal defence pathway that is negatively regulated by EDR1.