•A. montana is likely an Al accumulator with strong Al tolerance.•A. montana can adapt to Al toxicity by changing elements contents in organs.•The effect of Al on hydroponic seedlings was greater ...than that of potted seedlings.
Aluminum toxicity is common in subtropical acidic soils, and the effect of Al stress on Aleurites montana is unknown. This study determined the growth and Al and macronutrient contents (C, N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) in leaves and roots of 1-year-old A. montana seedings to reveal the effects of Al stress on growth and elements of A. montana seedings and the difference of growth and content of elements in potted seedlings and hydroponic seedlings under Al addition. The content of Al in the leaves of potted A. montana seedlings was greater than 1000 mg kg−1 under Al stress, so it can be judged that A. montana is likely an Al accumulator and has a high Al tolerance in potted soil. The changes of macronutrient contents in the seedlings varied with Al concentration. For potted seedlings, Al stress had a significant effect on Mg and K contents in roots and Mg and C contents in leaves, but it had no effect on other macronutrients, such as N, P and Ca. For hydroponic seedlings, Al content in roots and N, P, and K contents in roots and leaves increased significantly, and C and Ca contents in roots decreased significantly when the Al concentration exceeded 0.290 mmol L−1. The Al stress affected the distribution and transportation of macronutrients between roots and leaves. The Al and K contents in the roots were higher than those in leaves in both cultivation methods, while the C, N, and Ca contents were smaller than those in leaves. The transportation of N, P and Ca from root to leaf in potted seedlings changed with the increase of Al concentration. There were major differences in the growth and the absorption and transportation of elements between potted and hydroponic seedlings under Al stress. In this study, Al promoted or had no significant effect on the growth of potted seedlings, while the growth of hydroponic seedlings was significantly inhibited when the Al concentration was relatively high. Moreover, the effect of Al concentration on Al and macronutrients of potted seedlings was less than that of hydroponic seedlings. Therefore, the effects of the primary environment should be considered in future stress experiments. This study revealed the effect of Al concentration on A. montana seedlings from the perspective of growth and nutrition, which are crucial in ecological restoration function of mixed tree species in acid rain area. Comparison of the effects of Al concentration on A. montana seedlings under two cultivation methods provides new perspectives for future stress test research.
Cigarette smoking promotes body weight reduction in humans while paradoxically also promoting insulin resistance (IR) and hyperinsulinemia. However, the mechanisms behind these effects are unclear. ...Here we show that nicotine, a major constituent of cigarette smoke, selectively activates AMP-activated protein kinase alpha 2 (AMPK alpha 2) in adipocytes, which in turn phosphorylates MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP1) at serine 334, initiating its proteasome-dependent degradation. The nicotine-dependent reduction of MKP1 induces the aberrant activation of both p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and c-Jun N-terminal kinase, leading to increased phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) at serine 307. Phosphorylation of IRS1 leads to its degradation, protein kinase B inhibition, and the loss of insulin-mediated inhibition of lipolysis. Consequently, nicotine increases lipolysis, which results in body weight reduction, but this increase also elevates the levels of circulating free fatty acids and thus causes IR in insulin-sensitive tissues. These results establish AMPK alpha 2 as an essential mediator of nicotine-induced whole-body IR in spite of reductions in adiposity.
Upregulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) is involved in the development and progression of numerous neurological disorders. Recent reports have challenged the ...concept that TNF-α exhibits only deleterious effects of pro-inflammatory destruction, and have raised the awareness that it may play a beneficial role in neuronal growth and function in particular conditions, which prompts us to further investigate the role of this cytokine. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a cytokine possessing powerful neuroprotective effects in promoting neuronal survival, neuronal differentiation, neurite elongation, and neurite regeneration. The association of IGF-1 with TNF-α and the biological effects, produced by interaction of IGF-1 and TNF-α, on neuronal outgrowth status of primary sensory neurons are still to be clarified. In the present study, using an in vitro model of primary cultured rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, we demonstrated that TNF-α challenge at different concentrations elicited diverse biological effects. Higher concentration of TNF-α (10 ng/mL) dampened neurite outgrowth, induced activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) expression, reduced growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43) expression, and promoted GAP-43 and ATF3 coexpression, which could be reversed by IGF-1 treatment; while lower concentration of TNF-α (1 ng/mL) promoted neurite sprouting, decreased ATF3 expression, increased GAP-43 expression, and inhibited GAP-43 and ATF3 coexpression, which could be potentiated by IGF-1 supplement. Moreover, IGF-1 administration restored the activation of Akt and p70 S6 kinase (S6K) suppressed by higher concentration of TNF-α (10 ng/mL) challenge. In contrast, lower concentration of TNF-α (1 ng/mL) had no significant effect on Akt or S6K activation, and IGF-1 administration activated these two kinases. The effects of IGF-1 were abrogated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002. These data imply that IGF-1 counteracts the toxic effect of higher concentration of TNF-α, while potentiates the growth-promoting effect of lower concentration of TNF-α, with the node for TNF-α and IGF-1 interaction being the PI3K/Akt/S6K signaling pathway. This study is helpful for interpretation of the association of IGF-1 with TNF-α and the neurobiological effects elicited by interaction of IGF-1 and TNF-α in neurological disorders.
The mortality of type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is extremely high. The effect of postoperative hyperglycemia (PHG) on the prognosis of TAAD surgery is unclear. This study aims to investigate the ...prognosis of patients with PHG after TAAD surgery and construct prediction model for PHG.
Patients underwent TAAD surgery from January 2016 to December 2020 in Xiangya Hospital were collected. A total of 203 patients were included and patients were divided into non PHG group and PHG group. The occurrence of postoperative delirium, cardiac complications, spinal cord complication, cerebral complications, acute kidney injury (AKI), hepatic dysfunction, hypoxemia, and in-hospital mortality were compared between two groups. Data from MIMIC-IV database were further applied to validate the relationship between PHG and clinical outcomes. The prediction model for PHG was then constructed using Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) analysis. The predictive value of selected features was further validated using patient data from MIMIC-IV database. Finally, the 28-days survival rate of patient with PHG was analyzed using data from MIMIC-IV database.
There were 86 patients developed PHG. The incidences of postoperative AKI, hepatic dysfunction, and in-hospital mortality were significant higher in PHG group. The ventilation time after surgery was significant longer in PHG group. Data from MIMIC-IV database validated these results. Neutrophil, platelet, lactic acid, weight, and lymphocyte were selected as features for prediction model. The values of AUC in training and testing set were 0.8697 and 0.8286 respectively. Then, five features were applied to construct another prediction model using data from MIMIC-IV database and the value of AUC in the new model was 0.8185. Finally, 28-days survival rate of patients with PHG was significantly lower and PHG was an independent risk factor for 28-days mortality after TAAD surgery.
PHG was significantly associated with the occurrence of AKI, hepatic dysfunction, increased ventilation time, and in-hospital mortality after TAAD surgery. The feature combination of neutrophil, platelet, lactic acid, weight, and lymphocyte could effectively predict PHG. The 28-days survival rate of patients with PHG was significantly lower. Moreover, PHG was an independent risk factor for 28-days mortality after TAAD surgery.
Oryza longistaminata
is an African wild rice species that possesses special traits for breeding applications. Self-incompatibility is the main cause of sterility in
O. longistaminata
, but here we ...demonstrated that its pollen vitality are normal. Lipid and carbohydrate metabolism were active throughout pollen development. In this study, we used I
2
-KI staining and TTC staining to investigate pollen viability. Aniline-blue-stained semithin sections were used to investigate important stages of pollen development. Tandem mass tags (TMT)-based quantitative analysis was used to investigate the profiles of proteins related to lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in 4-, 6-, and 8.5-mm
O. longistaminata
spikelets before flowering. Pollen was found to germinate normally
in vitro
and
in vivo
. We documented cytological changes throughout important stages of anther development, including changes in reproductive cells as they formed mature pollen grains through meiosis and mitosis. A total of 31,987 RNA transcripts and 8,753 proteins were identified, and 6,842 of the proteins could be quantified. RNA-seq and proteome association analysis indicated that fatty acids were converted to sucrose after the 6-mm spikelet stage, based on the abundance of most key enzymes of the glyoxylate cycle and gluconeogenesis. The abundance of proteins involved in pollen energy metabolism was further confirmed by combining quantitative real-time PCR with parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) analyses. In conclusion, our study provides novel insights into the pollen viability of
O. longistaminata
at the proteome level, which can be used to improve the efficiency of male parent pollination in hybrid rice breeding applications.
Background CD133 is considered a marker for cancer stem cells (CSCs) in several types of tumours, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Chimeric antigen receptor-specific T (CAR-T) cells ...targeting CD133-positive CSCs have emerged as a tool for the clinical treatment of HCC, but immunogenicity, the high cost of clinical-grade recombinant viral vectors and potential insertional mutagenesis limit their clinical application. Methods CD133-specific CAR-T cells secreting PD-1 blocking scFv (CD133 CAR-T and PD-1 s cells) were constructed using a sleeping beauty transposon system from minicircle technology, and the antitumour efficacy of CD133 CAR-T and PD-1 s cells was analysed in vitro and in vivo. Results A univariate analysis showed that CD133 expression in male patients at the late stage (II and III) was significantly associated with worse progression-free survival (PFS) (P = 0.0057) and overall survival (OS) (P = 0.015), and a multivariate analysis showed a trend toward worse OS (P = 0.041). Male patients with advanced HCC exhibited an approximately 20-fold higher PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS) compared with those with HCC at an early stage. We successfully generated CD133 CAR-T and PD-1 s cells that could secrete PD-1 blocking scFv based on a sleeping beauty system involving minicircle vectors. CD133 CAR-T and PD-1 s cells exhibited significant antitumour activity against HCC in vitro and in xenograft mouse models. Thus, CD133 CAR-T and PD-1 s cells may be a therapeutically tractable strategy for targeting CD133-positive CSCs in male patients with advanced HCC. Conclusions Our study provides a nonviral strategy for constructing CAR-T cells that could also secrete checkpoint blockade inhibitors based on a Sleeping Beauty system from minicircle vectors and revealed a potential benefit of this strategy for male patients with advanced HCC and high CD133 expression (median immunohistochemistry score > 2.284). Keywords: Sleeping Beauty system, Minicircle, CAR-T, CD133, PD-1, Hepatocellular carcinoma
Ultraviolet (UV) communication is a cutting‐edge technology in communication battlefields, and self‐powered photodetectors as their optical receivers hold great potential. However, suboptimal charge ...utilization has largely limited the further performance enhancement of self‐powered photodetectors for high‐throughput communication application. Herein, a self‐powered Ti3C2Tx‐hybrid poly(3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene):poly‐styrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS)/ZnO (TPZ) photodetector is designed, which aims to boost charge utilization for desirable applications. The device takes advantage of photothermal effect to intensify pyro‐photoelectric effect as well as the increased conductivity of the PEDOT:PSS, which significantly facilitated charge separation, accelerated charge transport, and suppressed interface charge recombination. Consequently, the self‐powered TPZ photodetector exhibits superior comprehensive performance with high responsivity of 12.3 mA W−1 and fast response time of 62.2 µs, together with outstanding reversible and stable cyclic operation. Furthermore, the TPZ photodetector has been successfully applied in an integrated UV communication system as the self‐powered optical receiver capable of real‐time high‐throughput information transmission with ASCII code under 9600 baud rate. This work provides the design insight of highly performing self‐powered photodetectors to achieve high‐efficiency optical communication in the future.
The photothermal effect intensifies the pyro‐photoelectric effect as well as the optimized carrier transport rate is applied to promote charge separation, transfer and suppress charge recombination to boost charge utilization in the self‐powered photodetector. Thereafter, the UV communication system based on the self‐powered photodetector presents real‐time high‐throughput information transmission under 9600 baud rate.
The chitin‐based peritrophic matrix (PM) is a structure critical for both gut immunity and digestion in invertebrates. PM was traditionally considered lost in all vertebrates, but a PM‐like chitinous ...membrane (CM) has recently been discovered in fishes, which may increase the knowledge on vertebrate gut physiology and structural evolution. Here, we show that in zebrafish, the CM affects ingestion behavior, microbial homeostasis, epithelial renewal, digestion, growth, and longevity. Young mutant fish without CM appear healthy and are able to complete their life cycle normally, but with increasing age they develop gut inflammation, resulting in gut atrophy. Unlike mammals, zebrafish have no visible gel‐forming mucin layers to protect their gut epithelia, but at least in young fish, the CM is not a prerequisite for the antibacterial gut immunity. These findings provide new insights into the role of the CM in fish prosperity and its eventual loss in tetrapods. These findings may also help to improve fish health and conservation, as well as to advance the understanding of vertebrate gut physiology and human intestinal diseases.
Synopsis
The chitinous membrane (CM) is an essential gut structure in invertebrates that was considered lost in vertebrates, but was recently discovered in fish. This study shows that it has differential roles in zebrafish digestion and gut immunity.
The presence of the CM affects ingestive behavior, gut homeostasis, microbiota, digestion, growth, and longevity.
The CM is not a prerequisite for fish survival, reproduction, and gut immunity against bacteria.
CM absence results in age‐dependent gut inflammation and atrophy.
The CM has an important role in fish health, conservation, prosperity, and diversity.
The chitinous membrane (CM) is an essential gut structure in invertebrates that was considered lost in vertebrates, but was recently discovered in fish. This study shows that it has differential roles in zebrafish digestion and gut immunity.
Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites have become one of the most promising thin-film solar cell materials owing to their remarkable photovoltaic properties. However, nonradiative recombination of ...carriers usually leads to inferior performance of perovskite (PVK) devices. Interface modification is one of the effective ways to improve separation of charges for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, a small organic molecule of tetrafluorophthalonitrile (TFPN) is used to enhance the extraction and transportation of carriers at the PVK/hole transport layer (HTL) interface. The electron-rich C–F group effectively reduces the trap state density in the perovskite through chemical combination with the empty orbital of Pb2+ or other electron traps on the PVK surface, resulting in enhanced interface contact between the PVK and HTL. Meanwhile, the CN group in TFPN also inactivates the defects caused by Pb2+. The Fermi level of the perovskite shifts by 0.15 eV to its valence band due to the strong electron acceptor nature of the F atom, indicating that positive dipoles and p-type doping emerge, which validly suppress the recombination of carriers for the PVK film. Therefore, the optimized PSC shows the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22.82% compared to 19.40% for the control one. The champion FF reaches up to 81.2% (PCE 21.44%) due to the effectively enhanced carrier separation. In addition, the unencapsulated device shows enhanced stability under air conditions.
Accurate forecasting of ocean waves is of great importance to the safety of marine transportation. Despite wave forecasts having been improved, the current level of prediction skill is still far from ...satisfactory. Here, the authors propose a new physically informed deep learning model, named Double-stage ConvLSTM (D-ConvLSTM), to improve wave forecasts in the Atlantic Ocean. The waves in the next three consecutive days are predicted by feeding the deep learning model with the observed wave conditions in the preceding two days and the simultaneous ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) wind forcing during the forecast period. The prediction skill of the d-ConvLSTM model was compared with that of two other forecasting methods—namely, the wave persistence forecast and the original ConvLSTM model. The results showed an increasing prediction error with the forecast lead time when the forecasts were evaluated using ERA5 reanalysis data. The d-ConvLSTM model outperformed the other two models in terms of wave prediction accuracy, with a root-mean-square error of lower than 0.4 m and an anomaly correlation coefficient skill of ∼0.80 at lead times of up to three days. In addition, a similar prediction was generated when the wind forcing was replaced by the IFS forecasted wind, suggesting that the d-ConvLSTM model is comparable to the Wave Model of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF-WAM), but more economical and time-saving.
摘要
海浪预报对海上运输安全至关重要. 本研究提出了一种涵盖物理信息的深度学习模型Double-stage ConvLSTM (D-ConvLSTM) 以改进大西洋的海浪预报. 将D-ConvLSTM模型与海浪持续性预测和原始ConvLSTM模型的预测技巧进行对比. 结果表明, 预测误差随着预测时长的增加而增加. D-ConvLSTM模型在预测准确度方面优于前二者, 且第三天预测的均方根误差低于0.4 m, 距平相关系数约在0.8. 此外, 当使用IFS预测风替代再分析风时, 能够产生相似的预测效果. 这表明D-ConvLSTM模型的预测能力能够与ECMWF-WAM模式相当, 且更节省计算资源和时间.
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