Plant plasma membranes (PMs) play an important role in maintaining the stability of the intracellular environment and exchanging information with the external environment. Therefore, deciphering ...dynamics of PM proteome provides crucial information for elucidating cellular regulation in response to diverse stimuli. In the study, we developed a simplified method for enriching PM proteins in leaf and root tissues of a tropical forage
by combining differential centrifugation and Brij-58 treatment. Both immunoblot analysis and mass spectrometry demonstrated that the representation and abundance of PM proteins were increased in the enrichment fraction, and the contamination of other organellar proteins was decreased. A total of 426 and 388 proteins were predicted to be PM proteins in leaves and roots, respectively. Functional analysis classified these PM proteins into six major categories (transporter, enzyme, receptor, membrane structure protein, vesicular trafficking and chaperone), and orthologs of many PM proteins regulating the responses to abiotic and biotic stresses have been detected. In addition, the sequence analysis, subcellular localization and gene expression analyses of a newly identified receptor-like kinase, SgRKL1, has been performed. Together, these results show that the simplified PM enrichment method can be successfully applied to different plant tissue types and to study the dynamics of PM proteome of
in response to multiple stresses.
Bufadienolide, an essential member of the C-24 steroid family, is characterized by an α-pyrone positioned at C-17. As the predominantly active constituent in traditional Chinese medicine of Chansu, ...bufadienolide has been prescribed in the treatment of numerous ailments. It is a specifically potent inhibitor of Na
+
/K
+
ATPase with excellent anti-inflammatory activity. However, the severe side effects triggered by unbiased inhibition of the whole-body cells distributed α1-subtype of Na
+
/K
+
ATPase, restrict its future applicability. Thus, researchers have paved the road for the structural alteration of desirable bufadienolide derivatives with minimal adverse effects
via
biotransformation. In this review, we give priority to the present evidence for structural diversity, MS fragmentation principles, anti-inflammatory efficacy, and structure modification of bufadienolides derived from toads to offer a scientific foundation for future in-depth investigations and views.
Background
The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a marker of inflammation that can be obtained quickly, conveniently, and cheaply from blood samples. However, there is no research to explore ...the effects of sex and age on the relationship between the NLR and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in community-dwelling older adults.
Methods
A total of 3,169 individuals aged over 60 years in Shanghai were recruited for face-to-face interviews, and blood samples were collected. MCI was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale, and neutrophil count and lymphocyte counts were measured in fasting blood samples. The NLR was calculated by dividing the absolute neutrophil count by the absolute lymphocyte count.
Results
In females, the NLR in the MCI group was significantly higher than that in the cognitively normal group (2.13 ± 0.94 vs. 1.85 ± 0.83,
p
< 0.001) but not in men. Logistic regression showed that a higher NLR was an independent risk factor for MCI in women odds ratio (OR) = 1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09–1.49. In addition, the elevated NLR quartile was associated with an increased risk of MCI, especially in women older than 70 years (p-value for trend = 0.011).
Conclusion
Compared with males, female MCI patients had a significantly higher NLR than cognitively normal controls. In addition, elevated NLR was found to be significantly associated with MCI risk in women older than 70 years. Therefore, elderly Chinese women with a higher NLR value may be the target population for effective prevention of MCI.
Freeze-thawing (F/T) is an effective method of sludge dewatering preconditioning and has been studied in many studies. However, previous studies have taken landfill sludge from different regions, ...filled for different length of time or at different depth, resulting in large differences in initial water content and different treatment effects. Therefore, the effect of initial water content on the dewatering characteristics of F/T preconditioned landfill sludge has been investigated. The sludge with different initial water contents was firstly preconditioned by one F/T cycle. Then the F/T sludge was vacuum filtered and compared with the dewatering performance of FeCl3 preconditioned sludge with the same water content. Finally, the mechanism of the initial water content on the effect of F/T preconditioning was analyzed by the change of sludge internal composition. The results show that the higher the initial water content of the sludge, the greater the improvement of its dewatering performance after F/T preconditioning. The specific resistance and water content after filtration of sludge after F/T conditioning decreased greatly with the increase of the initial water content, reaching their respective minimum values of 13.3 × 1012 m/kg and 58.3% at 85% and 87.5%. These values are lower than the optimal values observed for the sludge conditioned by FeCl3. With the rise in initial water content, the driving force at the ice-water interface gains strength. Small particles aggregate into larger flocs, forming stable drainage channels that enhance the dewatering performance of sludge. Once the initial water content surpasses 85%, the squeezing force exerted by ice crystals amplifies the degree of cracking in sludge particles, releasing bound water and further decreasing the water content of sludge.
•Initial water content (IWC) impacts freeze-thaw (F/T) preconditioning mechanisms.•The higher the IWC, the lower the water content of the F/T sludge after filtration.•As IWC rises, ice-water force aggregates particles into larger flocs.•F/T method releases bound water effectively after IWC exceeds 85%.•F/T preconditioning is more effective than FeCl3 for sludge with IWC above 80%.
Sludge incineration is the main strategy for sludge reduction in China. The combined conditioning of lime and chemical agents has been proven to achieve sludge dewatering by disrupting the ...extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of sludge and reducing its compressibility. However, when incineration is the intended disposal purpose, this method poses challenges such as incomplete combustion, equipment corrosion, secondary pollution, and decreased calorific value of sludge cake. In contrast, freeze-thaw conditioning, coupled with sawdust as a high-calorific-value bio-waste, emerges as an efficient and clean alternative. The research investigates the synergistic effects of freeze-thaw and sawdust co-conditioning on various sludge properties, including dewaterability, compressibility, consolidation, permeability, microscopicity, and calorific value. The study reveals that the combined conditioning significantly reduces water content and compressibility while increasing void ratio, consolidation, permeability, and enhancing the calorific value of the sludge cake. Specifically, sludge cake conditioned with 60% dried solids (DS) sawdust and freeze-thaw achieved a water content (Wc) of 49.07% and a calorific value of 1422.3 kcal/kg, meeting standards for self-sustained incineration. With heat recovery, the combined conditioning generates an economic revenue of 25.1 $/t DS after deducting costs, thereby reducing the overall cost of sludge reduction treatment. This research offers a clean and practical solution for sludge incineration and reduction, demonstrating great economic value and application potential.
Display omitted
•Proposing a clean and efficient method for sludge incineration and reduction.•Freeze-thaw and sawdust reduce sludge compressibility and improve permeability.•Vacuum filtration characteristics of sludge at different sawdust doses were studied.•Effectively reduce Wc and elevate calorific value for self-sustaining incineration.•Combined conditioning significantly boosts economic gains in sludge treatment.
•A bioinformatic workflow is developed to generate ALMN to fuel the antioxidation active molecules profile of Ginger.•Fragmentation tree promotes the structure annotation with high confidence.•48 ...molecules were prioritized as antioxidation active molecules from 11,720 metabolites of Ginger in a systematical way.
Ginger has been used as consumed food spice and folk medicine in daily life for thousands of years in various regions of the world. Considerable antioxidation is one of the major activities for Ginger to exhibit health-promoting effects. In this study, a bioinformatic workflow was developed to generate activity labelled molecular networking (ALMN) to fuel the antioxidation active molecules profile of Ginger. In ALMN, antioxidation activity data, which was defined as correlation (r and p value) between the relative abundance of a molecule in fractions and the activity level of each fraction, was labelled to feature-based molecular network to profile out antioxidation active molecules visually. Fragmentation tree was further computed as a complementary way to conduct high confidence structure annotations of antioxidation active molecules. Consequently, 48 molecules were prioritized as antioxidation active molecules from 11,720 metabolite molecules of Ginger in a systematical way.
Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), which causes cognitive, functional and emotional decline, is related to stroke events, and it is a major cause of Alzheimer's disease. In the social context of ...an aging population, the incidence of CSVD is on the rise yearly, and the exact pathogenesis is still controversial and remains unclear. Exploring the pathological mechanism of CSVD on the histological level using animal models is important for the investigation of new clinical diagnostic methods and treatment options. The existing surgical CSVD model preparation methods are difficult to operate and cannot control the injury location or degree. This study used ultrasound combined with microbubbles (MBs) to induce an easy-to-operate and non-invasive animal model of CSVD with controllable location and degree. The rat model was evaluated from the perspective of histology, ethology, and imageology, respectively. In addition, we utilized super-resolution ultrasound imaging (SR-US) technology to directly observe the microvessels of the model. The histological results showed that the modeling was successful in the preset position, and neurology deficits were observed in 62.5% of 8 rats. The SR-US results of one rat showed that compared with the non-sonication region, the number of cerebral small blood vessels discovered in the sonication area was reduced (43 vs 11), the blood flow speed decreased significantly (p 0.001), and blood flow volume decreased (144.7 vs 11.7 μL/s) because of vasoconstriction. This study provides a new modeling method with controllable damage location and degree for the study of CSVD, and SR-US is found to be an effective evaluation method, which can directly assess the hemodynamic changes of CSVD in vivo.
•The operation of this CSVD model using ultrasound combined with microbubbles is easy and non-invasive.•The location of brain injury can be specified and the degree is controllable.•This model was validated in terms of histology, ethology and imaging technology.•SR-US imaging has the advantage of quantitatively analyzing the structural and hemodynamic changes of microvessels in vivo.
Abstract
Context
Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a group of molecules formed through nonenzymatic reactions. These compounds are associated with several age-related diseases, including ...sarcopenia and osteoporosis.
Objective
This work aimed to investigate the relationships between AGEs, osteoporosis, and sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults.
Methods
This cross-sectional study included 1991 older adults aged 72.37 ± 5.90 years from China. AGE levels were measured by the AGE Reader device. Bone mineral density was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and osteoporosis was diagnosed based on a T score of less than −2.5. Sarcopenia was defined as loss of muscle mass plus loss of muscle strength and/or reduced physical performance. Presarcopenia was defined as low muscle mass with normal muscle strength and normal physical performance.
Results
The prevalence of sarcopenia was 18.5%, and that of osteoporosis was 40.5%. Compared to the lowest AGE quartile, the highest AGE quartile showed a significant association with sarcopenia (odds ratio OR 2.42; 95% CI, 1.60-3.66) (P for trend <.001), but not with presarcopenia. Per-SD increase in AGE was associated with higher odds of sarcopenia (OR 1.44; 95% CI, 1.26-1.66). Additionally, in the mediation analysis, when AGEs were treated as a continuous variable (the mediation effect is denoted by Za*Zb = 18.81; 95% CI, 8.07-32.32—the 95% CI does not contain zero, representing a significant mediating effect) or a categorical variable (the mediating effect is expressed as Zmediation = 3.01 > 1.96, which represents a significant mediating effect), osteoporosis played a partial mediating role in the association between AGEs and sarcopenia.
Conclusion
Elevated AGEs are associated with sarcopenia but not with presarcopenia. This association was partially mediated by osteoporosis.
Aerial images have complex backgrounds, small targets, and overlapping targets, resulting in low accuracy of intelligent detection of overhead line insulators. This paper proposes an improved ...algorithm for insulator breakage detection based on YOLOv5: The ECA-Net (Efficient Channel Attention Network) attention mechanism is integrated into its backbone feature extraction layer, and the effective distinction between background and target is achieved by increasing the weight of important channels. A bidirectional feature pyramid network is added to the feature fusion layer, and large-scale images with more original information are combined to effectively retain small target features. Incorporating a flexible detection frame selection algorithm Soft-NMS (Soft Non-Maximum Suppression) into the prediction layer to re-screen the target frame, thereby reducing the probability of mistaken deletion of overlapping targets. The effectiveness of the improved YOLOv5 algorithm is verified in the actual aerial image dataset, and the results show that the mean Average Precision (mAP) of the improved algorithm is 95.02% and the detection speed FPS (Frames Per Second) can reach 49.4 frames/s, which meets the real-time and accuracy requirements of engineering applications.
