Growing evidence suggests that tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) promote cancer progression and therapeutic resistance by enhancing angiogenesis, matrix-remodeling, and immunosuppression. In this ...study, prostate cancer under androgen blockade therapy (ABT) was investigated, demonstrating that TAMs contribute to prostate cancer disease recurrence through paracrine signaling processes. ABT induced the tumor cells to express macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 (M-CSF1 or CSF1) and other cytokines that recruit and modulate macrophages, causing a significant increase in TAM infiltration. Inhibitors of CSF1 signaling through its receptor, CSF1R, were tested in combination with ABT, demonstrating that blockade of TAM influx in this setting disrupts tumor promotion and sustains a more durable therapeutic response compared with ABT alone.
Rosa setate x Rosa rugosa is widely used in the essential oil industry and generates large amounts of waste annually. The purpose of this research is the recycling of bioactive flavonoids from rose ...waste biomass to develop high-value products. Resin screening and adsorption/desorption dynamic analysis showed that HP20 resin was suitable to purify the flavonoids from R. setate x R. rugosa waste extracts. Under the optimal enrichment process, the product had a 10.7-fold higher purity of flavonoids with a satisfactory recovery of 82.02%. In total, 14 flavonoids were identified in the sample after purification by UHPLC-QTOF-MS. Moreover, the DPPH and ABTS assays revealed that the flavonoids-purified extracts exhibited higher antioxidant activities than the crude extracts. Meanwhile, the purified extracts presented stronger antiproliferative activity against HepG2, Caco-2, MCF-7 and A549 cell lines. The bacteriostatic effects of the purified extracts against four bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa)) and yeast (Candida albicans (C. albicans)) were stronger compared with the crude extracts. It was concluded that flavonoids-enriched extracts from R. setate x R. rugosa waste had the potential to be applied in functional food and pharmaceutical industries.
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•Two sampling methods were used to study VOCs emission in actual coal-fired flue gas.•The effects of the existing APCDs on VOC reduction were investigated.•The chemical reactivity of ...individual VOCs was discussed.
On-site measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in different streams of flue gas were carried out on a real coal-fired power plant using sampling bags and SUMMA canisters to collect gas samples, filters to collect particle samples. Gas chromatography-flame ionization detector/mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was the offline analysis method. We found that the total mass concentration of the tested 102 VOC species at the outlet of wet flue gas desulfuration device was (13456 ± 47) µg·m−3, which contained aliphatic hydrocarbons (57.9%), aromatic hydrocarbons (26.8%), halogen-containing species (14.5%), and a small amount of oxygen-containing and nitrogen-containing species. The most abundant species were 1-hexene, n-hexane and 2-methylpentane. The top ten species in terms of mass fraction (with a total mass fraction of 75.3%) were mainly hydrocarbons with a carbon number of 6 or higher and halogenated hydrocarbons with a lower carbon number. The mass concentration of VOC species in the particle phase was significantly lower than that in the gas phase. The change of VOC mass concentrations along the air pollution control devices indicates that conventional pollutant control equipment had a limited effect on VOC reduction. Ozone formation potential calculations showed that aromatic hydrocarbons contributed the highest ozone formation (46.4%) due to their relatively high mass concentrations and MIR (maximum increment reactivity) values.
The fusion of “innovation theory” and “ecology” gave birth to a large number of studies on “innovation ecology”, which mainly studies how to build an industrial ecological chain at the regional ...level, focusing on self-evolution, achieving ecological balance, and enabling the regional economy to take the path of sustainable innovation. This type of research borrows a lot of concepts from ecology and very vividly describes the competition and cooperation relationships formed by various agents in the innovation system, laying a good foundation for qualitative analysis of the inherent dynamics of innovation development. However, many studies focus on the analogous description of ecosystems and economic systems, lacking scientifically and rigorously quantitative empirical research as support. This paper uses network-based indicators such as degree, cluster coefficient, and betweenness centrality to measure the function and position of high-tech enterprises in the Z-Park of a business environment. In this way, we clarify the socioeconomic meaning of the topological structure of the regional innovation system. On this basis, it provides theoretical references for regional innovation development and sustainable development policy formulation.
Natural brown cotton has favorable antibacterial and antioxidant properties. In this study, we explored the effect of gauze made from natural brown cotton after scouring and bleaching on wound ...healing in rats. In this work, a control experiment was adopted. The control group used absorbent cotton gauze, and the experimental group utilized natural brown cotton bleached gauze. The materials were applied to rat models to explore the effects of the two dressings on wound healing. By analyzing the wound healing state of rats, calculating the healing rate, and combining the pathological HE staining, Masson staining, and CD31 immunohistochemical staining, the results showed that both gauzes have positive effects on the wound healing of the rats. Moreover, compared with the control group, the wound healing rate of rats in the experimental group increased by 14.81%, the number of inflammatory cells decreased by 12.93%, the number of new blood vessels increased by 6.88%, the growth rate of the granulation tissue area was 10.76%, the step-up rate of the area occupied by collagen was 33.71%, and the increase rate of optical density value was 10.00%. This study found that natural brown cotton bleached gauze has a better effect on wound healing than ordinary absorbent cotton gauze, and can be used as medical dressings.
To study the biological functions and applications of human amniotic epithelial cell-derived extracellular vesicles (hAEC-EVs), the cargos of hAEC-EVs were analyzed using miRNA sequencing and ...proteomics analysis. The hAECs and hAEC-EVs in this study had specific characteristics. Multi-omics analyses showed that extracellular matrix (ECM) reorganization, inhibition of excessive myofibroblasts, and promotion of target cell adhesion to the ECM were their primary functions. We evaluated the application of hAEC-EVs for corneal alkali burn healing in rabbits and elucidated the fundamental mechanisms. Slit-lamp images revealed that corneal alkali burns induced central epithelial loss, stromal haze, iris, and pupil obscurity in rabbits. Slit-lamp examination and histological findings indicated that hAEC-EVs facilitated re-epithelialization of the cornea after alkali burns, reduced scar formation and promoted the restoration of corneal tissue transparency. Significantly fewer α-SMA-positive myofibroblasts were observed in the hAEC-EV-treated group than the PBS group. HAEC-EVs effectively promoted the proliferation and migration of hCECs and hCSCs in vitro and activated the focal adhesion signaling pathway. We demonstrated that hAEC-EVs were excellent cell-free candidates for the treatment of ECM lesion-based diseases, including corneal alkali burns. HAEC-EVs promoted ECM reorganization and cell adhesion of target tissues or cells via orderly activation of the focal adhesion signaling pathway.
The potent neurotoxin methylmercury (MeHg) is a major concern due to its negative effects on wildlife and human health. Boreal wetlands play a crucial role in Hg cycling on a global scale, and ...therefore, it is crucial to understand the biogeochemical processes involved in MeHg formation in this landscape element. By combining high-throughput
hgcA
amplicon sequencing with molecular barcoding, we reveal diverse clades of potential Hg
II
methylators in a wide range of wetland soils. Among Bacteria, Desulfuromonadota (14% of total reads), Desulfurobacterota_A, and Desulfurobacterota (up to 6% of total reads), previously classified as Deltaproteobacteria, were important members of the
hgcA+
microbial community in the studied wetlands. We also identified Actinobacteriota (9.4% of total reads), Bacteroidota (2% of total reads), and Firmicutes (1.2% of total reads) as members of the
hgcA+
microbial community. Within Archaea, Methanosarcinales represented up to 2.5% of the total reads. However, up to half of the
hgcA+
community could not be resolved beyond domain
Bacteria
. Our survey also shows that local physicochemical conditions, such as pH, nutrient concentrations, water content, and prevailing redox states, are important for shaping the
hgcA+
microbial community structure across the four studied wetlands. Furthermore, we observed a significant correlation between Hg
II
methylation rate constants and the structure of the
hgcA+
microbial community. Our findings expand the current knowledge on the
hgcA+
microbial community composition in wetlands and the physicochemical factors underpinning spatial heterogeneity in such communities.
Centrifugal spinning has demonstrated to be one of the effective techniques for the preparation of micro-/nanofibers. It is utilizing centrifugal force to extrude polymer solution/melt out of the ...nozzle and form a serious of stretching jets. Then, the micro-/nanofibers were formed after the evaporation of the solvent or drop down of jet temperature during jets stretching process. In the process, the structure of spinneret and the flow field of gas outside of spinneret has a great influence on fiber formation and quality. Therefore, the motion mechanism of spinning fluid in spinnerets and nozzles with different structures is studied in this paper. Based on the experimental analysis of fiber spinnability, the motion equation and wave equation of polymer jet in space Cartesian coordinate system are derived, and the two-dimensional flow field of polymer solution is analyzed. Through the simulation of the motion mechanism of the solution in different nozzles and the gas flow field outside different spinnerets, the optimal structure of the spinnerets and nozzles is determined. In addition, the effects of solution properties, rotation speed and nozzle diameter on the fiber morphology are analyzed. Results showed that spinneret of nozzle-free expressed more uniform flow field and were suitable for the preparation of highly oriented micro-/nanofibers. The spinneret with nozzles presented a more turbulent flow field, while fibers with smaller diameters and more uniform distribution could be obtained. The structure of nozzle had a greatly influence on fiber diameters, distribution of fiber diameters, and fiber morphology.
This study aimed to examine whether nuclear receptor 4a1 (NR4A1) is involved in inhibiting hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and liver fibrosis through the epithelial–mesenchymal transition ...(EMT). HSC-T6 cells were divided into the control group, the acetaldehyde (200 μM, an EMT activator) group, and the NR4A1 activation group (Cytosporone B; 1 μM). The expression levels of the epithelial marker E-cadherin, the mesenchymal markers fibronectin (FN), vimentin, smooth muscle alpha-actin (α-SMA), and fibroblast-specific protein 1 (FSP-1), and the components of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β pathway were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Compared with the control group, E-cadherin in the acetaldehyde group was downregulated, whereas FN, FSP-1, vimentin, α-SMA, and COL1A1/COL1A2 were upregulated (
< 0.05). Compared with the acetaldehyde group, NR4A1 agonist upregulated E-cadherin and downregulated FN, FSP-1, vimentin, α-SMA, and COL1A1/COL1A2 (
< 0.05). After acetaldehyde stimulation, TGF-β, Smad2/3/4, and zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox (ZEB) were upregulated, while Smad7 mRNA levels were downregulated (all
< 0.05). Compared with acetaldehyde alone, NR4A1 agonist increased Smad7 mRNA levels and reduced TGF-β, Smad2/3/4, and ZEB mRNA levels (all
< 0.05). NR4A1 activation suppresses acetaldehyde-induced EMT, as shown by epithelial and mesenchymal marker expression. The inhibition of the TGF-β–Smad2/3/4–ZEB signaling during HSC activation might be involved.
In order to improve the heat insulation effect, a multi-shell mold structure can be applied in directional solidification. As this kind of mold is gradually immersed into water, higher temperature ...gradient will be formed between the upper and the bottom of a casting, which promoted the directional solidification of the casting. This process was simulated, in which the convection and radiation heat transfers inside the multi-shell structure was considered. The insulation effect of the multi-shell structure was obtained with comparison with dense mold and single layer shell mold. The uprising scheme of the water level was discussed to achieve stable and minimum height difference between the water level and the solidification front and almost flat solidification front can be realized. The simulation results were verified by casting experiment.
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