IEPAPI: a method for immune epitope prediction by incorporating antigen presentation and immunogenicity.

CD8+ T cells can recognize peptides presented by class I human leukocyte antigen (HLA-I) of nucleated cells. Exploring this immune mechanism is essential for identifying T-cell vaccine targets in cancer immunotherapy. Over the past decade, the wealth of data generated by experiments has spawned many computational approaches for predicting HLA-I binding, antigen presentation and T-cell immune responses. Nevertheless, existing HLA-I binding and antigen presentation prediction approaches suffer from low precision due to the absence of T-cell receptor (TCR) recognition. Direct modeling of T-cell immune responses is less effective as TCR recognition's mechanism still remains underexplored. Therefore, directly applying these existing methods to screen cancer neoantigens is still challenging. Here, we propose a novel immune epitope prediction method termed IEPAPI by effectively incorporating antigen presentation and immunogenicity. First, IEPAPI employs a transformer-based feature extraction block to acquire representations of peptides and HLA-I proteins. Second, IEPAPI integrates the prediction of antigen presentation prediction into the input of immunogenicity prediction branch to simulate the connection between the biological processes in the T-cell immune response. Quantitative comparison results on an independent antigen presentation test dataset exhibit that IEPAPI outperformed the current state-of-the-art approaches NetMHCpan4.1 and mhcflurry2.0 on 100 (25/25) and 76% (19/25) of the HLA subtypes, respectively. Furthermore, IEPAPI demonstrates the best precision on two independent neoantigen datasets when compared with existing approaches, suggesting that IEPAPI provides a vital tool for T-cell vaccine design.

Isolation and characterization of glutathione S-transferase genes and their transcripts in Saccharina japonica (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) during development and under abiotic stress.

BACKGROUND: Glutathione S-transferase (GST) is a crucial enzyme for metabolism, detoxification, and stress resistance in organisms. Many GSTs have been identified in seaweeds, but the isolation and functional analysis of GSTs in Saccharina japonica have not been completed. RESULT: In this study, a total of 32 SjGST genes, localized on 10 scaffolds and 6 contigs, were identified and categorized into three groups. Most of these SjGSTs were presumed to be distributed in the cytoplasm. Tandem duplication had a significant influence on the expansion of the SjGST gene family. Functional analysis of cis-acting elements in the promoter regions demonstrated that SjGSTs enhance the stress resistance of the kelp. Quantitative real-time PCR tests confirmed that SjGSTs positively influence S. japonica sporophytes under stress from low salinity, drought, and high temperature. Recombinant yeast tests further affirmed the role of SjGSTs in stress resistance; SjGSTs improved the growth rate of recombinant yeast under 1.5 M NaCl or 8 mM H2O2. Analysis of biochemical parameters indicated that the optimum temperatures for SjGST20 and SjGST22 were 20 °C, and the optimum pH values were 7.0 and 8.0 for SjGST20 and SjGST22, respectively. The Km values for the substrate 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) were 2.706 mM and 0.674 mM and were 6.146 mM and 3.559 mM for the substrate glutathione (GSH) for SjGST20 and SjGST22, respectively. CONCLUSION: SjGSTs are important stress resistant genes in S. japonica. This research results will enhance our understanding the function of GSTs in brown seaweeds, and explained its functional roles in stress resistance in marine environments.

Low thyroid function is associated with an increased risk of advanced fibrosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.

AIMS: Observational studies showed that low thyroid function may perturb liver function. We aimed to evaluate the association of low thyroid function with both metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and advanced hepatic fibrosis. METHODS: Participants who underwent abdominal ultrasonography and thyroid function test in a Chinese hospital from 2015 to 2021were enrolled. Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) > 2.67 and/or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score (NFS) > 0.676 were used to define advanced fibrosis. Descriptive analyses were performed to characterize the epidemiology of MAFLD according to levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). The logistic regression model was applied to estimate the association of low thyroid function with MAFLD and advanced fibrosis. RESULTS: A total of 19,946 participants (52.78% males, mean age: 47.31 years, 27.55% MAFLD) were included, among which 14,789 were strict-normal thyroid function, 4,328 were low-normal thyroid function, 829 were subclinical hypothyroidism. TSH levels were significantly higher in MAFLD patients with a FIB-4 > 2.67 and /or NFS > 0.676 than their counterparts. The logistic regression model adjusted for age and sex showed that low-normal thyroid function increased the risk of MAFLD (odds ratio [OR] = 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.18). Multivariable regression model adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension showed low-normal thyroid function increased the risk of advanced fibrosis in patients with MAFLD (FIB-4 > 2.67: OR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.02-1.93; NFS > 0.676: OR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.08-2.72). CONCLUSION: Elevated TSH concentrations are associated with advanced hepatic fibrosis, even in the euthyroid state.

The global dynamic of DNA methylation in response to heat stress revealed epigenetic mechanism of heat acclimation in Saccharina japonica.

Saccharina japonica is an ecologically and economically important kelp in cold-temperate regions. When it is cultivated on a large scale in the temperate and even subtropical zones, heat stress is a frequent abiotic stress. This study is the first attempt to reveal the regulatory mechanism of the response to heat stress from the perspective of DNA methylation in S. japonica. We firstly obtained the characteristics of variation in the methylome under heat stress, and observed that heat stress caused a slight increase in the overall methylation level and methylation rate, especially in the non-coding regions of the genome. Secondly, we noted that methylation was probably one of factors affecting the expression of genes, and that methylation within the gene body was positively correlated with the gene expression (rho = 0.0784). Moreover, it was found that among the differentially expressed genes regulated by methylation, many genes were related to heat stress response, such as HSP gene family, genes of antioxidant enzymes, genes related to proteasome-ubiquitination pathway, and plant cell signaling pathways. This study demonstrated that DNA methylation is involved in regulating the response to heat stress, laying a foundation for studying the acclimation and adaptation of S. japonica to heat stress from an epigenetic perspective.

Interaction Network Construction and Functional Analysis of the Plasma Membrane H+-ATPase in Bangia fuscopurpurea (Rhodophyta).

Salinity is a serious threat to most land plants. Although seaweeds adapt to salty environments, intertidal species experience wide fluctuations in external salinities, including hyper- and hypo-saline stress. Bangia fuscopurpurea is an economic intertidal seaweed with a strong tolerance to hypo-salinity. Until now, the salt stress tolerance mechanism has remained elusive. Our previous study showed that the expression of B. fuscopurpurea plasma membrane H+-ATPase (BfPMHA) genes were the most upregulated under hypo-salinity. In this study, we obtained the complete sequence of BfPMHA, traced the relative expression of this BfPMHA gene in B. fuscopurpurea under hypo-salinity, and analyzed the protein structure and properties based on the gene's sequence. The result showed that the expression of BfPMHA in B. fuscopurpurea increased significantly with varying hypo-salinity treatments, and the higher the degree of low salinity stress, the higher the expression level. This BfPMHA had typical PMHA structures with a Cation-N domain, an E1-E2 ATPase domain, a Hydrolase domain, and seven transmembrane domains. In addition, through the membrane system yeast two-hybrid library, three candidate proteins interacting with BfPMHA during hypo-saline stress were screened, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase (BfFBA), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (NADP+) (phosphorylating) (BfGAPDH), and manganese superoxide dismutase (BfMnSOD). The three candidates and BfPMHA genes were successfully transferred and overexpressed in a BY4741 yeast strain. All of them significantly enhanced the yeast tolerance to NaCl stress, verifying the function of BfPMHA in salt stress response. This is the first study to report the structure and topological features of PMHA in B. fuscopurpurea and its candidate interaction proteins in response to salt stress.

Effect of prolonged expressive writing on health outcomes in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: This study aims to evaluate the effects of prolonged expressive writing on health outcomes in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy to help understand how the dosage of an expressive writing intervention might moderate its effects. METHODS: A total of 112 breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy were randomly allocated to the expressive writing group (n = 56) or the prolonged expressive writing group (n = 56). The expressive writing group received the standard expressive writing intervention based on Pennebaker's prompt to write for at least 20 min over four consecutive days (4 sessions). The prolonged expressive writing group used a modified prompt: write for at least 20 min 3 times a week over a 4-week period (12 sessions); patients could choose whether to write on consecutive days or not. All participants were required to write about their stressor-related upsetting or traumatic feelings about breast cancer. Outcomes were assessed and compared at baseline, as well as 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months postintervention. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the patients' quality of life, or physical and psychological wellbeing between the expressive writing group and the prolonged expressive writing group at any time point (all p > .05). The quality of life of breast cancer patients significantly decreased in the two groups over time (F = 40.64, p < .001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the writing dosage does not moderate the effects of expressive writing on breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR1800016278.

Genome-wide analysis of the Saccharina japonica sulfotransferase genes and their transcriptional profiles during whole developmental periods and under abiotic stresses.

BACKGROUND: As a unique sulfated polysaccharide, fucoidan is an important component of cell wall in brown seaweeds. Its biochemical properties are determined by the positions and quantity of sulfate groups. Sulfotransferases (STs) catalyze the sulfation process, which transfer the sulfuryl groups to carbohydrate backbones and are crucial for fucoidan biosynthesis. Nevertheless, the structures and functions of STs in brown seaweeds are rarely investigated. RESULTS: There are a total of 44 ST genes identified from our genome and transcriptome analysis of Saccharina japonica, which were located in the 17 scaffolds and 11 contigs. The S. japonica ST genes have abundant introns and alternative splicing sites, and five tandem duplicated gene clusters were identified. Generally, the ST genes could be classified into five groups (Group I ~ V) based on phylogenetic analysis. Accordingly, the ST proteins, which were encoded by genes within the same group, contained similar conserved motifs. Members of the S. japonica ST gene family show various expression patterns in different tissues and developmental stages. Transcriptional profiles indicate that the transcriptional levels of more than half of the ST genes are higher in kelp basal blades than in distal blades. Except for ST5 and ST28, most ST genes are down-regulated with the kelp development stages. The expression levels of nine ST genes were detected by real-time quantitative PCR, which demonstrates that they responded to low salinity and drought stresses. CONCLUSIONS: Various characteristics of the STs allow the feasibilities of S. japonica to synthesize fucoidans with different sulfate groups. This enables the kelp the potential to adapt to the costal environments and meet the needs of S. japonica growth.

Transcriptome sequencing of Saccharina japonica sporophytes during whole developmental periods reveals regulatory networks underlying alginate and mannitol biosynthesis.

BACKGROUND: Alginate is an important cell wall component and mannitol is a soluble storage carbon substance in the brown seaweed Saccharina japonica. Their contents vary with kelp developmental periods and harvesting time. Alginate and mannitol regulatory networks and molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. RESULTS: With WGCNA and trend analysis of 20,940 known genes and 4264 new genes produced from transcriptome sequencing of 30 kelp samples from different stages and tissues, we deduced that ribosomal proteins, light harvesting complex proteins and "imm upregulated 3" gene family are closely associated with the meristematic growth and kelp maturity. Moreover, 134 and 6 genes directly involved in the alginate and mannitol metabolism were identified, respectively. Mannose-6-phosphate isomerase (MPI2), phosphomannomutase (PMM1), GDP-mannose 6-dehydrogenase (GMD3) and mannuronate C5-epimerase (MC5E70 and MC5E122) are closely related with the high content of alginate in the distal blade. Mannitol accumulation in the basal blade might be ascribed to high expression of mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (M1PDH1) and mannitol-1-phosphatase (M1Pase) (in biosynthesis direction) and low expression of mannitol-2-dehydrogenase (M2DH) and Fructokinase (FK) (in degradation direction). Oxidative phosphorylation and photosynthesis provide ATP and NADH for mannitol metabolism whereas glycosylated cycle and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle produce GTP for alginate biosynthesis. RNA/protein synthesis and transportation might affect alginate complex polymerization and secretion processes. Cryptochrome (CRY-DASH), xanthophyll cycle, photosynthesis and carbon fixation influence the production of intermediate metabolite of fructose-6-phosphate, contributing to high content of mannitol in the basal blade. CONCLUSIONS: The network of co-responsive DNA synthesis, repair and proteolysis are presumed to be involved in alginate polymerization and secretion, while upstream light-responsive reactions are important for mannitol accumulation in meristem of kelp. Our transcriptome analysis provides new insights into the transcriptional regulatory networks underlying the biosynthesis of alginate and mannitol during S. japonica developments.

High-throughput sequencing revealed differences of microbial community structure and diversity between healthy and diseased Caulerpa lentillifera.

BACKGROUND: Caulerpa lentillifera is one of the most important economic green macroalgae in the world. Increasing demand for consumption has led to the commercial cultivation of C. lentillifera in Japan and Vietnam in recent decades. Concomitant with the increase of C. lentillifera cultivation is a rise in disease. We hypothesise that epiphytes or other microorganisms outbreak at the C. lentillifera farm may be an important factor contributing to disease in C. lentillifera. The main aims are obtaining differences in the microbial community structure and diversity between healthy and diseased C. lentillifera and key epiphytes and other microorganisms affecting the differences through the results of high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis in the present study. RESULTS: A total of 14,050, 2479, and 941 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from all samples using 16S rDNA, 18S rDNA, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) high-throughput sequencing, respectively. 16S rDNA sequencing and 18S rDNA sequencing showed that microbial community diversity was higher in diseased C. lentillifera than in healthy C. lentillifera. Both PCoA results and UPGMA results indicated that the healthy and diseased algae samples have characteristically different microbial communities. The predominant prokaryotic phyla were Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Acidobacteria, Acidobacteria and Parcubacteria in all sequences. Chlorophyta was the most abundant eukaryotic phylum followed by Bacillariophyta based on 18S rDNA sequencing. Ascomycota was the dominant fungal phylum detected in healthy C. lentillifera based on ITS sequencing, whereas fungi was rare in diseased C. lentillifera, suggesting that Ascomycota was probably fungal endosymbiont in healthy C. lentillifera. There was a significantly higher abundance of Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Bacillariophyta, Ulvales and Tetraselmis in diseased C. lentillifera than in healthy C. lentillifera. Disease outbreaks significantly change carbohydrate metabolism, environmental information processing and genetic information processing of prokaryotic communities in C. lentillifera through predicted functional analyses using the Tax4Fun tool. CONCLUSIONS: Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Bacillariophyta, Ulvales and Tetraselmis outbreak at the C. lentillifera farm sites was an important factor contributing to disease in C. lentillifera.

Revealing Environmental Inequality Hidden in China's Inter-regional Trade.

Trade among regions or countries not only allows the exchange of goods and services but also leads to the transfer of pollution. The unequal exchange of goods and services and associated value added and pollution may be subject to environmental inequality in China given that Chinese provinces are in different development stages. By using the latest multiregional input-output tables and the sectoral air pollutant emission inventory in 2012, we traced emissions and value added along China's domestic supply chains. Here, we show that 62%-76% of the consumption-based air-pollutant emissions of richer regions (Beijing-Tianjin, East Coast and South Coast) were outsourced to other regions; however, approximately 70% of the value added triggered by these region's final consumption was retained within the region. Some provinces in western China, such as Guizhou, Ningxia, and Yunnan, not only incurred net pollution inflows but also suffered a negative balance of value added when trading with rich provinces. Addressing such inequalities could provide not only a basis for determining each province's responsibility for pollution control but also a model for other emerging economies.

Comparative characterization of two GDP-mannose dehydrogenase genes from Saccharina japonica (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae).

BACKGROUND: Saccharina japonica is an important commercial brown seaweed, its main product is alginate, which is used in food, textile and by the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. GDP-mannose dehydrogenase (GMD) is the key enzyme involved in the synthesis of alginate. However, little is known about GMD in S. japonica. Here we report comparative biochemical analysis of two GMD genes in S. japonica. RESULTS: Two GMD genes from S. japonica (Sjgmd1, Sjgmd2) were cloned. The open reading frame lengths of Sjgmd1, Sjgmd2 are 963 bp and 948 bp, respectively. Alignment analysis showed that the two SjGMD sequences shared 79.38 % identity. Both proteins possess the GGxCLPKDV and GxGxVG sequence motifs characteristic of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily. The optimum temperatures for SjGMDs were 30 °C (SjGMD1) and 20 °C (SjGMD2), and the optimum pH values were 8.0 (SjGMD1) and 8.25 (SjGMD2). Kinetic analysis demonstrated the Km values for the substrate GDP-mannose were 289 µM (SjGMD1) and 177 µM (SjGMD2), and the Km values for the cofactor NAD(+) were 139 µM (SjGMD1) and 195 µM (SjGMD2). The metal iron Zn(2+) is a potent inhibitor of SjGMD1 and SjGMD2. Real-time PCR analysis showed that heat and desiccation treatments resulted in a significant increase in Sjgmd1 and Sjgmd2 transcript abundance, suggesting that the SjGMDs are directly involved in the acclimitisation of S. japonica to abiotic stresses. CONCLUSION: Our work identified two novel genes encoding GMD in S. japonica, comparatively characterized their structural characteristics and enzyme kinetics, and revealed the function of GMD in the stress adaptability of S. japonica. The knowledge obtained here enriched our understanding of the alginate synthesis mechanism in S. japonica, and may promote further research on functional differences between GMD genes.

Adaptive Collaborative Gaussian Mixture Probability Hypothesis Density Filter for Multi-Target Tracking.

In this paper, an adaptive collaborative Gaussian Mixture Probability Hypothesis Density (ACo-GMPHD) filter is proposed for multi-target tracking with automatic track extraction. Based on the evolutionary difference between the persistent targets and the birth targets, the measurements are adaptively partitioned into two parts, persistent and birth measurement sets, for updating the persistent and birth target Probability Hypothesis Density, respectively. Furthermore, the collaboration mechanism of multiple probability hypothesis density (PHDs) is established, where tracks can be automatically extracted. Simulation results reveal that the proposed filter yields considerable computational savings in processing requirements and significant improvement in tracking accuracy.

Characterization of human skin under tension using terahertz time domain spectroscopy.

This paper introduces a spectral analysis method for monitoring the human skin in vivo based on a combination of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). The method can quantitatively measure the refractive index, thickness and transmission coefficient of epidermis, and the refractive index of dermis in natural, as well as the tension condition of the skin. An optically reflective model for the multilayer structure of the skin is first established. The initial thickness of the epidermis is then measured by OCT as a known quantity for the established model. By fitting the established model to the experimentally obtained THz-TDS signals, the above parameters of the skin can be calibrated. Furthermore, the dependence of these skin parameters on the tension status are investigated. This study provides a means for terahertz technology to measure the skin in vivo.

Habitual coffee and tea consumption and risk of cataract: A prospective cohort study from the UK Biobank.

BACKGROUND: To study the association of habitual coffee and tea consumption with the risk of cataract. METHODS: This prospective cohort study enrolled UK Biobank participants between 2006 and 2010, and prospectively followed them up for cataract diagnosis. We examined the associations of self-reported intake of tea and coffee and the calculated combined caffeine intake, with the risk of incident cataract. Cox proportional hazards models were analyzed after adjusting for age, sex, race, diabetes, Townsend Index, income, education, smoking and alcohol status. RESULTS: A total of 444,787 UK Biobank participants aged from 37 to 73 years old who had no cataract at baseline were included. Coffee intake of 2-3 cups/day (HR 0.973, 95% CI 0.949-0.998) or tea intake of 4-6 cups/day (HR 0.962, 95% CI 0.934-0.990) or combination caffeine intake of 160.0-235.0 mg/day (HR 0.950, 95% CI 0.925-0.976) were linked with the lowest risk of incident cataract. Cox models with restricted cubic splines showed J-shaped associations of coffee, tea, and combined caffeine intake with the risk of cataract (all p for nonlinear <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Moderate habitual consumption of coffee and tea is associated with a lower risk of cataract. To maximize the protective effect against cataract, it is advisable to control total caffeine intake from coffee and tea within a range of 160.0-235.0 mg/day.

Dynamic analysis of soil erosion in the affected area of the lower Yellow River based on RUSLE model.

With the accelerated development of urbanization, the exploration and usage of land resources is becoming more and more frequent, which leads to the decline of soil quality, resulting in a series of soil ecological issues, such as soil nutrient loss, soil quality degradation and destruction. At present, the contradiction between soil erosion and sustainable development of human society has become one of the hot issues studied by scholars. The Yellow River Basin is an important experimental area for high-quality development in China, constructing the Yellow River Ecological Economic Belt play an important role in China's regional coordinated development. Although most of the affected area of the Lower Yellow River (AALYR) is in the plain, they have a large population density and are in the historical farming area. In latest years, because of the development and transformation of modern society, their ecological environment has become more fragile and soil erosion problems has become increasingly serious. Studying and analyzing soil erosion is of vital meaning for ecological protection and can provide scientific support for soil conservation work. Depending on the data of precipitation, soil properties, land use, population, etc., this paper studies and analyzes the soil erosion in AALYR from 2000 to 2020 through the RUSLE. We found that during the 20 years the proportion of very slight and slight grade area increased, and the distribution of moderate and above erosion grade was less, mainly in Zibo, Jinan, Anyang, Zhengzhou, and Tai 'an. Nearly three quarters of the regional soil erosion grade didn't change, apart from the increase of slight grade area, the other erosion grades area showed a downward trend. We take the city, county and town zoning analysis find that as the scale decreases, the area of serious erosion grades increases, and the distribution is gradually detailed. Land use is the main influencing factor of erosion except DEM. Forestland and grassland are larger of the soil erosion in various types of land use. Through these conclusions in this paper, it is promising to provide theoretical references for the ecological environment governance and high-quality and sustainable development of great river basins of the world and similar regions.

Iron-Catalyzed C-H Arylphosphorylation of Quinoxalines.

A one-pot strategy for iron-catalyzed C2,3-H arylphosphorylation of electron-deficient quinoxalines with phosphines and aryl compounds is reported. The proposed method features the use of non-noble metal catalysts, the capacity of utilizing multiple aryl compounds as substrates, the simultaneous formation of C-P and C-C bonds in one pot, the simplicity of its operation, the mildness of the reaction conditions, and its compatibility with a wide range of substrates. Moreover, it offers a practical route for direct access to 2-aryl-3-phosphino N-heteroarenes, a class of potential cyclometalated C^N and N^P bidentate ligands that are difficult to prepare with existing C(sp2)-H functionalization methods.

Multiple scenario land use simulation based on a coupled MOGA-PLUS model: a case of the Yellow River Basin.

Land use changes have profoundly influenced global environmental dynamics. The Yellow River (YR), as the world's fifth-longest river, significantly contributes to regional social and economic growth due to its extensive drainage area, making it a key global player. To ensure ecological stability and coordinate land use demand, modeling the future land allocation patterns of the Yellow River Basin (YRB) will assist in striking a balance between land use functions and the optimization of its spatial design, particularly in water and sand management. In this research, we used a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) with the PLUS model to simulate several different futures for the YRB's land use between 1990 and 2020 and predict its spatial pattern in 2030. An analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution of land use changes in the YRB indicated that construction land expansion is the primary driver of landscape pattern and structure changes and ecological degradation, with climate change also contributing to the expansion of the watershed area. On the other hand, the multi-scenario simulation, constrained by specific targets, revealed that economic development was mainly reflected in land expansion for construction. At the same time, grassland and woodland were essential pillars to support the region's ecological health, and increasing the development of unused land emerged as a potential pathway towards sustainable development in the region. This study could be used as a template for the long-term growth of other large river basins by elucidating the impacts of human activities on land use and rationalizing land resource allocation under various policy constraints.

Healthy lifestyles are associated with alleviating the single-nucleotide polymorphism-based genetic risks of ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage and myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Both genetic and lifestyle factors contribute to myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke, including ischaemic stroke (IS) and intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH). We explored how and the extent to which a healthy lifestyle, by considering a comprehensive list, could counteract the genetic risk of those diseases, respectively. METHODS: 315 044 participants free of stroke and MI at baseline were identified from the UK Biobank. Genetic risk scores (GRS) for those diseases were constructed separately and categorised as low, intermediate and high by tertile. Lifestyle risk scores (LRS) were constructed separately using smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, dietary patterns and sleep patterns. Similarly, participants were categorised into low, intermediate and high LRS. The data were analysed using Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 12.8 years, 4642, 1046 and 9485 participants developed IS, ICH and MI, respectively. Compared with participants with low levels of GRS and LRS, the HRs of those with high levels of GRS and LRS were 3.45 (95% CI 2.71 to 4.41), 2.32 (95% CI 1.40 to 3.85) and 4.89 (95% CI 4.16 to 5.75) for IS, ICH and MI, respectively. Moreover, among participants with high GRS, the standardised 14-year rates of IS events were 4.40% (95% CI 3.45% to 5.36%) among those with high LRS. In contrast, it is only 1.78% (95% CI 1.63% to 1.94%) among those with low LRS. Similarly for MI, the high LRS group had standardised rates of 8.60% (95% CI 7.38% to 9.81%), compared with 3.34% (95% CI 3.12% to 3.56%) in low LRS. Among the high genetic risk group of ICH, the rate is reduced by about half compared low LRS to high LRS, although the rate was low for both (0.36% (95% CI 0.31% to 0.42%) and 0.71% (95% CI 0.36% to 1.05%), respectively). CONCLUSION: Healthy lifestyles were substantially associated with a reduction in the risk of IS, ICH and MI and attenuated the genetic risk of IS, ICH and MI by at least half, respectively.

Effects of temperature and nitrogen sources on physiological performance of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi.

Both temperature and nutrient levels are rising in worldwide ocean ecosystems, and they strongly influence biological responses of phytoplankton. However, few studies have addressed the interactive effects of temperature and nitrogen sources on physiological performance of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. In this study, we evaluated algal growth, photosynthesis and respiration, elemental composition, enzyme activity, and calcification under a matrix of two temperatures gradients (ambient temperature 20 °C and high temperature 24 °C) and two nitrogen sources (nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+)). When the algae was cultured with NO3- medium, high temperature reduced algal photosynthesis and nitrate reductase activity, but it did not change other indicators significantly relative to ambient temperature. In addition, E. huxleyi preferred NO3- as the growth medium, whereas NH4+ had negative effects on physiological parameters. In the NH4+ medium, the growth rate, photosynthesis and photosynthetic rate, nitrate reductase activity, and particulate organic carbon and particulate organic nitrogen production rate of the algae decreased as temperature increased. Conversely, high temperature increased cellular particulate organic carbon, cellular particulate organic nitrogen, and particulate inorganic carbon levels. In summary, our findings indicate that the distribution and abundance of microalgae could be greatly affected under warming ocean temperature and different nutrient conditions.

Single extracellular vesicle surface protein-based blood assay identifies potential biomarkers for detection and screening of five cancers.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) and EV proteins are promising biomarkers for cancer liquid biopsy. Herein, we designed a case-control study involving 100 controls and 100 patients with esophageal, stomach, colorectal, liver, or lung cancer to identify common and type-specific biomarkers of plasma-derived EV surface proteins for the five cancers. EV surface proteins were profiled using a sequencing-based proximity barcoding assay. In this study, five differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) and eight differentially expressed protein combinations (DEPCs) showed promising performance (area under curve, AUC > 0.900) in pan-cancer identification [e.g., TENM2 (AUC = 0.982), CD36 (AUC = 0.974), and CD36-ITGA1 (AUC = 0.971)]. Our classification model could properly discriminate between cancer patients and controls using DEPs (AUC = 0.981) or DEPCs (AUC = 0.965). When distinguishing one cancer from the other four, the accuracy of the classification model using DEPCs (85-92%) was higher than that using DEPs (78-84%). We validated the performance in an additional 14 cancer patients and 14 controls, and achieved an AUC value of 0.786 for DEPs and 0.622 for DEPCs, highlighting the necessity to recruit a larger cohort for further validation. When clustering EVs into subpopulations, we detected cluster-specific proteins highly expressed in immune-related tissues. In the context of colorectal cancer, we identified heterogeneous EV clusters enriched in cancer patients, correlating with tumor initiation and progression. These findings provide epidemiological and molecular evidence for the clinical application of EV proteins in cancer prediction, while also illuminating their functional roles in cancer physiopathology.