Adolescent binge drinking leads to long-lasting disorders of the adult central nervous system,particularly aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis.In this study,we applied in vivo fluorescent tracing using NestinCreERT2::Ro...Adolescent binge drinking leads to long-lasting disorders of the adult central nervous system,particularly aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis.In this study,we applied in vivo fluorescent tracing using NestinCreERT2::Rosa26-tdTomato mice and analyzed the endogenous neurogenesis lineage progression of neural stem cells(NSCs)and dendritic spine formation of newborn neurons in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus.We found abnormal orientation of tamoxifen-induced tdTomato+(tdTom^(+))NSCs in adult mice 2 months after treatment with EtOH(5.0 g/kg,i.p.)for 7 consecutive days.EtOH markedly inhibited tdTom^(+)NSCs activation and hippocampal neurogenesis in mouse dentate gyrus from adolescence to adulthood.EtOH(100 mM)also significantly inhibited the proliferation to 39.2%and differentiation of primary NSCs in vitro.Adult mice exposed to EtOH also exhibited marked inhibitions in dendritic spine growth and newborn neuron maturation in the dentate gyrus,which was partially reversed by voluntary running or inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycinenhancer of zeste homolog 2 pathway.In vivo tracing revealed that EtOH induced abnormal orientation of tdTom+NSCs and spatial misposition defects of newborn neurons,thus causing the disturbance of hippocampal neurogenesis and dendritic spine remodeling in mice.展开更多
3-Epi-betulinic acid 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(eBAG)is a pentacyclic triterpene mainly distributed in food and medicinal plants,which exhibits various pharmacological properties.However,whether these functions are attr...3-Epi-betulinic acid 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(eBAG)is a pentacyclic triterpene mainly distributed in food and medicinal plants,which exhibits various pharmacological properties.However,whether these functions are attributed to eBAG or additional components in these plants remain unknown.Herein,we report that eBAG exerted an inhibitory activity against hepatocellular carcinoma and esophageal cancer cells.EBAG induced non-apoptotic cell death in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.The eBAG-induced cell death was inhibited by knock-down of autophagy related gene(ATG)5 and ATG7,by administration of 3-methyladenine,a selective autophagy inhibitor that suppresses phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K),and by chloroquine,a classic autophagy flux inhibitor.We demonstrated that eBAG induced an autophagy-mediated cell death.Application of eBAG mimicked cellular bioenergetics depletion leading to the reduction of intracellular ATP,activation of AMP-activated protein kinase(AMPK),and inhibition of mTOR.Co-treatment with compound C,an AMPK inhibitor,abrogated cell death induced by eBAG.We further validated the anti-tumor effect of eBAG in the murine xenograft model of hepatocellular carcinoma and found that eBAG treatment promoted the induction of autophagy and reduction of tumor growth in mice.As a functional food ingredient,eBAG is a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and esophageal cancer.展开更多
Silicon carbide(SiC) is a promising platform for fabricating high-voltage, high-frequency and high-temperature electronic devices such as metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors in which many junctions or i...Silicon carbide(SiC) is a promising platform for fabricating high-voltage, high-frequency and high-temperature electronic devices such as metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors in which many junctions or interfaces are involved. The work function(WF) plays an essential role in these devices. However, studies of the effect of conductive type and polar surfaces on the WF of SiC are limited. Here, we report the measurement of WFs of Si-and C-terminated polar surfaces for both p-type and n-type conductive 4H-SiC single crystals by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy(SKPFM). The results show that p-type SiC exhibits a higher WF than n-type SiC.The WF of a C-terminated polar surface is higher than that of a Si-terminated polar surface, which is further confirmed by first-principles calculations. By revealing this long-standing knowledge gap, our work facilitates the fabrication and development of SiC-based electronic devices, which have tremendous potential applications in electric vehicles, photovoltaics, and so on. This work also shows that SKPFM is a good method for identifying polar surfaces of SiC and other polar materials nondestructively, quickly and conveniently.展开更多
Three-dimensional honeycomb-structured magnesium (Mg) scaffolds with interconnected pores of accurately controlled pore size and porosity were fabricated by laser perforation technique. Biodegradable and bioactive β-...Three-dimensional honeycomb-structured magnesium (Mg) scaffolds with interconnected pores of accurately controlled pore size and porosity were fabricated by laser perforation technique. Biodegradable and bioactive β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) coatings were prepared on the porous Mg to further improve its biocompatibility, and the biodegradation mechanism was simply evaluated in vitro. It was found that the mechanical properties of this type of porous Mg significantly depended on its porosity. Elastic modulus and compressive strength similar to human bones could be obtained for the porous Mg with porosity of 42.6%-51%. It was observed that the human osteosarcoma cells (UMR106) were well adhered and proliferated on the surface of the β-TCP coated porous Mg, which indicates that the β-TCP coated porous Mg is promising to be a bone tissue engineering scaffold material.展开更多
An improved genetic algorithm(IGA) based on a novel selection strategy to handle nonlinear programming problems is proposed.Each individual in selection process is represented as a three-dimensional feature vector whi...An improved genetic algorithm(IGA) based on a novel selection strategy to handle nonlinear programming problems is proposed.Each individual in selection process is represented as a three-dimensional feature vector which is composed of objective function value,the degree of constraints violations and the number of constraints violations.It is easy to distinguish excellent individuals from general individuals by using an individuals' feature vector.Additionally,a local search(LS) process is incorporated into selection operation so as to find feasible solutions located in the neighboring areas of some infeasible solutions.The combination of IGA and LS should offer the advantage of both the quality of solutions and diversity of solutions.Experimental results over a set of benchmark problems demonstrate that IGA has better performance than other algorithms.展开更多
The indicator system is the foundation and emphasis in the effectiveness evaluation of system of systems(SoS). In the past, indicator systems were founded based on qualitative methods, and every indicator was mainly d...The indicator system is the foundation and emphasis in the effectiveness evaluation of system of systems(SoS). In the past, indicator systems were founded based on qualitative methods, and every indicator was mainly determined by the expert with experience. This paper proposed a brand-new method to construct indicator systems based on the repeated simulation of the scenario space, and calculated by quantitative data. Firstly, the selection of key indicators using the Gini indicator importance measure(IIM)is calculated by random forests(RFs). Then, principal component analysis(PCA) is applied when we use the selected indicators to construct the composite indicator system of SoS. Furthermore,a set of rulesare is developed to verify the practicability of the indicator system such as correlation, robustness, accuracy and convergence. Experiment shows that the algorithm achieves good results for the construction of composite indicators of So S.展开更多
Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is the most important natural textile fiber crop in the world.The ideal plant architecture of cotton is suitable for mechanical harvesting and productivity in modern agricultural production.How...Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is the most important natural textile fiber crop in the world.The ideal plant architecture of cotton is suitable for mechanical harvesting and productivity in modern agricultural production.However,cotton genes regulating plant development and architecture have not been fully identified.We identified a basic helix-loop-helix (b HLH) transcription factor,GhPAS1 (PAGODA1 SUPPRESSOR1) in G.hirsutum (Upland cotton).GhPAS1 was located in the nucleus and showed a strong transcription activation effect.Tissue-specific expression patterns showed that GhPAS1 was highly expressed in floral organs,followed by high expression in early stages of ovule development and rapid fiber elongation.GhPAS1 overexpression in Arabidopsis and BRZ (brassinazole,BR biosynthesis inhibitor) treatment indicated that GhPAS1 positively regulates and responds to the BR (brassinosteroid) signaling pathway and promotes cell elongation.GhPAS1 overexpression in Arabidopsis mediated plant development in addition to increasing plant biomass.Virus-induced gene silencing of GhPAS1 indicated that down-regulation of GhPAS1 inhibited cotton growth and development,as plant height,fruit branch length,and boll size of silenced plants were lower than in control plants.Fiber length and seed yield were also lower in silenced plants.We conclude that GhPAS1,a b HLH transcription factor,regulates plant development and architecture in cotton.These findings may help breeders and researchers develop cotton cultivars with desirable agronomic characteristics.展开更多
In many real-world applications of evolutionary algorithms,the fitness of an individual requires a quantitative measure.This paper proposes a self-adaptive linear evolutionary algorithm (ALEA) in which we introduce a ...In many real-world applications of evolutionary algorithms,the fitness of an individual requires a quantitative measure.This paper proposes a self-adaptive linear evolutionary algorithm (ALEA) in which we introduce a novel strategy for evaluating individual's relative strengths and weaknesses.Based on this strategy,searching space of constrained optimization problems with high dimensions for design variables is compressed into two-dimensional performance space in which it is possible to quickly identify 'good' individuals of the performance for a multiobjective optimization application,regardless of original space complexity.This is considered as our main contribution.In addition,the proposed new evolutionary algorithm combines two basic operators with modification in reproduction phase,namely,crossover and mutation.Simulation results over a comprehensive set of benchmark functions show that the proposed strategy is feasible and effective,and provides good performance in terms of uniformity and diversity of solutions.展开更多
Background:This study investigated the effect of melatonin(MT)on cell cycle(G1/S/G2/M)of parthenogenetic zygotes developed from vitrified-warmed mouse metaphase II(MII)oocytes and elucidated the potential mechanism of...Background:This study investigated the effect of melatonin(MT)on cell cycle(G1/S/G2/M)of parthenogenetic zygotes developed from vitrified-warmed mouse metaphase II(MII)oocytes and elucidated the potential mechanism of MT action in the first cleavage of embryos.Results:After vitrification and warming,oocytes were parthenogenetically activated(PA)and in vitro cultured(IVC).Then the spindle morphology and chromosome segregation in oocytes,the maternal mRNA levels of genes including Miss,Doc1r,Setd2 and Ythdf2 in activated oocytes,pronuclear formation,the S phase duration in zygotes,mitochondrial function at G1 phase,reactive oxygen species(ROS)level at S phase,DNA damage at G2 phase,early apoptosis in 2-cell embryos,cleavage and blastocyst formation rates were evaluated.The results indicated that the vitrification/warming procedures led to following perturbations 1)spindle abnormalities and chromosome misalignment,alteration of maternal mRNAs and delay in pronucleus formation,2)decreased mitochondrial membrane potential(MMP)and lower adenosine triphosphate(ATP)levels,increased ROS production and DNA damage,G1/S and S/G2 phase transition delay,and delayed first cleavage,and 3)increased early apoptosis and lower levels of cleavage and blastocyst formation.Our results further revealed that such negative impacts of oocyte cryopreservation could be alleviated by supplementation of warming,recovery,PA and IVC media with 10^(−9) mol/L MT before the embryos moved into the 2-cell stage of development.Conclusions:MT might promote cell cycle progression via regulation of MMP,ATP,ROS and maternal mRNA levels,potentially increasing the first cleavage of parthenogenetic zygotes developed from vitrified-warmed mouse oocytes and their subsequent development.展开更多
Hydrogen production through solar energy is one of the most important pathways to meet the growing demand of renewable energy,and photocatalyst participation in solar hydrolytic hydrogen production has received great ...Hydrogen production through solar energy is one of the most important pathways to meet the growing demand of renewable energy,and photocatalyst participation in solar hydrolytic hydrogen production has received great attention in recent years in terms of low cost,high efficiency,and flexible design.Particularly,g-C_(3)N_(4)(Graphitic-like carbon nitride material),as a unique material,can catalyze the hydrogen production process by completing the separation and transmission of charge.The easily adjustable pore structure/surface area,dimension,band-gap modulation and defect have shown great potential for hydrogen production from water cracking.In this review,the most recent advance of g-C_(3)N_(4) including the doping of metal and non-metal elements,and the formation of semiconductor heterojunction is highlighted.The main modification strategies and approaches for the design of g-C_(3)N_(4) for hydrogen production,as well as the influence of various materials on hydrogen evolution regarding the photocatalysis mechanism and advantages brought by theoretical calculations are specially and briefly illu-strated.Potential design pathways and strategies of g-C_(3)N_(4) are discussed.In addition,current challenges of hydrogen production from g-C_(3)N_(4) water splitting are summarized and can be expected.展开更多
With the increase of global proportion of soil pollution and the number of areas at risk,researchers have sought to develop various pathways to repair or relieve the pollutants in soil.Among them,biochar represents on...With the increase of global proportion of soil pollution and the number of areas at risk,researchers have sought to develop various pathways to repair or relieve the pollutants in soil.Among them,biochar represents one multi-dimensional soil amendment which has got great deal of attention on its physicochemical properties towards the removal or mitigation of contaminants in soil.A variety of agricultural wastes like straw and manure prepared from different torrefaction process have been employed as feedstock for the production of biochar,which can be applied to the contaminated soil to facilitate the growing environment for crops,and to improve soil fertility and microbial environment.In addition,the utilization of biochar for soil remediation is also considered as a pro-cess of carbon sequestration.The purpose of this review is to summarize the latest research progress in torrefac-tion processes and mechanism of agricultural waste,the effects of different torrefaction methods on the formation and properties of biochar were explained,coupled with the effects of process parameters.Especially,the conver-sion and mechanisms of biochar prepared from agricultural wastes composed mainly with lignocellulosic material were discussed,and the characteristics of biochar prepared for improving soil physical and chemical character-istics,microbial community characteristics,nutrients,and the stability and relief of soil pollutants,especially heavy metals,are compared.Finally,this work discussed the application and future technical challenges of soil remediation based on agricultural waste derived biochar.展开更多
Ginkgo biloba L.leaf(GBL)has been reported to protect against ischemic stroke(IS),one of the leading causes of death and longterm disability worldwide,while there is a lack of systematic study on the exact mechanism.H...Ginkgo biloba L.leaf(GBL)has been reported to protect against ischemic stroke(IS),one of the leading causes of death and longterm disability worldwide,while there is a lack of systematic study on the exact mechanism.Here,network pharmacology and bioinformatics were used to predict the active components,important targets,and potential mechanisms of GBL in the treatment of IS.Active compounds of GBL were screened based on drug-like index and oral bioavailability,key target genes were screened based on network pharmacology and gene chip,downstream pathways for the regulation of key target genes were predicted based on gene set enrichment analysis,and the interaction between key targets and active compounds was verified based on molecular docking.The results showed that GBL played a protective role in cerebral ischemia with mainly 14 active compounds,such as isoquercitrin,luteolin-4’-glucoside,beta-sitosterol,campesterol,diosmetin,ginkgolide B,ginkgolide C,ginkgolide J,ginkgolide M,isogoycyrol,laricitrin,luteolin,sesamin,and stigmasterol.Further studies revealed that GBL played important role in immunomodulation and inflammation inhibition after cerebral ischemia by acting on its peripheral targets ARG1 and MMP9 to regulate Toll-like receptor,Chemokine and Notch signaling pathway.Meanwhile,GBL played important role in reducing neuroinflammation and blood-brain barrier damage after cerebral ischemia by acting on its central targets,CCL2,PTGS2,IL6,IL1B and MMP9 to regulate the Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction,Jak-STAT,and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway.Additionally,molecular docking verified that the active compounds mentioned above could bind to ARG1,MMP9,CCL2,PTGS2,IL6,and IL1B.The present study shows the multicomponent,multitarget and multichannel pharmacological effects of GBL on cerebral ischemia and provides a new strategy for the treatment of IS.展开更多
Acrylamide(AA)is ubiquitous in packaging materials,paints,cosmetics,food and drinking water.However,AA has obvious neurotoxicity,reproductive toxicity and carcinogenicity,which seriously endangers human health.As one ...Acrylamide(AA)is ubiquitous in packaging materials,paints,cosmetics,food and drinking water.However,AA has obvious neurotoxicity,reproductive toxicity and carcinogenicity,which seriously endangers human health.As one of precious traditional Chinese medicines,Gastrodia elata Bl.has been mainly used to lower blood pressure and resist myocardial ischemia.However,the antioxidant activity of Gastrodia elata Bl.on AA-induced DNA damage has not been reported.We found that AA(25,30 and 50 mg/kg)could cause DNA damage and the damage was time/dose dependent.After AA administration,Tail moment,micronuclei formation rate,8-OHdG and MDA level were significantly increased and SOD activity was decreased.Gastrodia elata Bl.decoction,gastrodin and vitamin C could reduce AA-induced DNA damage by decreasing AA-induced increment of tail moment and micronuclei formation rate.What’s more,Gastrodia elata Bl.decoction,gastrodin and vitamin C could lower 8-OHdG and MDA level and improve SOD activity.In conclusion,our research showed that Gastrodia elata Bl.decoction and gastrodin had protective effects on AA-induced DNA damage,and the potential protective mechanism might be related to anti-oxidative stress.展开更多
For years,a great deal of work has been carried out on proanthocyanidins extracted from various kinds of plants,of which grape seed proanthocyanidins(GSPs)attract most attention due to their benefi cial roles in human...For years,a great deal of work has been carried out on proanthocyanidins extracted from various kinds of plants,of which grape seed proanthocyanidins(GSPs)attract most attention due to their benefi cial roles in human health.Indeed,GSPs have demonstrated substantial health benefi ts for a variety of disorders such as cancer,atherosclerosis,and cardiovascular diseases,to just name a few.In particular,GSPs inhibit cell proliferation,migration and invasion,and induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in various human cancers,including head and neck carcinoma,gastrointestinal tumors,lung cancer,skin tumors,and reproductive tumors,which points them to be promising chemo-preventive and/or chemotherapeutic agents.In this setting,we summarized the eff ects of GSPs against various types of cancer with a focus on the detailed molecular mechanisms involving various signaling pathways of tumor cells,which may serve as a basis for development of improved chemo-preventive or therapeutic strategies for cancer.展开更多
Cognitive impairment caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion(CCH)is associated with white matter injury(WMI),possibly through the alteration of autophagy.Here,the autophagy—lysosomal pathway(ALP)dysfunction in white...Cognitive impairment caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion(CCH)is associated with white matter injury(WMI),possibly through the alteration of autophagy.Here,the autophagy—lysosomal pathway(ALP)dysfunction in white matter(WM)and its relationship with cognitive impairment were investigated in rats subjected to two vessel occlusion(2VO).The results showed that cognitive impairment occurred by the 28th day after 2VO.Injury and autophagy activation of mature oligodendrocytes and neuronal axons sequentially occurred in WM by the 3rd day.By the 14th day,abnormal accumulation of autophagy substrate,lysosomal dysfunction,and the activation of mechanistic target of rapamycin(MTOR)pathway were observed in WM,paralleled with mature oligodendrocyte death.This indicates autophagy activation was followed by ALP dysfunction caused by autophagy inhibition or lysosomal dysfunction.To target the ALP dysfunction,enhanced autophagy by systemic rapamycin treatment or overexpression of Beclin1(BECN1)in oligodendrocytes reduced mature oligodendrocyte death,and subsequently alleviated the WMI and cognitive impairment after CCH.These results reveal that early autophagy activation was followed by ALP dysfunction in WM after 2VO,which was associated with the aggravation of WMI and cognitive impairment.This study highlights that alleviating ALP dysfunction by enhancing oligodendrocyte autophagy has benefits for cognitive recovery after CCH.展开更多
Members of the ADP-ribosylation factor family,which are GTP-binding proteins, are involved in metabolite transport, cell division, and expansion.Although there has been a significant amount of research on small GTP-bi...Members of the ADP-ribosylation factor family,which are GTP-binding proteins, are involved in metabolite transport, cell division, and expansion.Although there has been a significant amount of research on small GTP-binding proteins, their roles and functions in regulating maize kernel size remain elusive. Here, we identified Zm Arf2 as a maize ADPribosylation factor-like family member that is highly conserved during evolution. Maize zmarf2 mutants showed a characteristic smaller kernel size. Conversely, ZmArf2 overexpression increased maize kernel size. Furthermore, heterologous expression of Zm Arf2 dramatically elevated Arabidopsis and yeast growth by promoting cell division. Using expression quantitative trait loci(e QTL) analysis, we determined that Zm Arf2 expression levels in various lines were mainly associated with variation at the gene locus. The promoters of Zm Arf2 genes could be divided into two types, p S and p L, that were significantly associated with both Zm Arf2 expression levels and kernel size. In yeast-one-hybrid screening, maize Auxin Response Factor 24(ARF24) is directly bound to the Zm Arf2 promoter region and negatively regulated Zm Arf2 expression.Notably, the p S and p L promoter types each contained an ARF24 binding element: an auxin response element(AuxRE) in p S and an auxin response region(Aux RR) in p L, respectively. ARF24binding affinity to Aux RR was much higher compared with Aux RE. Overall, our results establish that the small G-protein Zm Arf2 positively regulates maize kernel size and reveals the mechanism of its expression regulation.展开更多
Existing multi-person reconstruction methods require the human bodies in the input image to occupy a considerable portion of the picture.However,low-resolution human objects are ubiquitous due to trade-offbetween the ...Existing multi-person reconstruction methods require the human bodies in the input image to occupy a considerable portion of the picture.However,low-resolution human objects are ubiquitous due to trade-offbetween the field of view and target distance given a limited camera resolution.In this paper,we propose an end-to-end multi-task framework for multi-person inference from a low-resolution image(MILI).To perceive more information from a low-resolution image,we use pair-wise images at high resolution and low resolution for training,and design a restoration network with a simple loss for better feature extraction from the low-resolution image.To address the occlusion problem in multi-person scenes,we propose an occlusion-aware mask prediction network to estimate the mask of each person during 3D mesh regression.Experimental results on both small-scale scenes and large-scale scenes demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods both quantitatively and qualitatively.The code is available at http://cic.tju.edu.cn/faculty/likun/projects/MILI.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,Nos.31601175(to YL),81803508(to KZ),82074056(to JY)the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province of China,No.20180550335(to YL)the Scientific Research Project of Educational Commission of Liaoning Province of China,No.201610163L22(to YL)。
文摘Adolescent binge drinking leads to long-lasting disorders of the adult central nervous system,particularly aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis.In this study,we applied in vivo fluorescent tracing using NestinCreERT2::Rosa26-tdTomato mice and analyzed the endogenous neurogenesis lineage progression of neural stem cells(NSCs)and dendritic spine formation of newborn neurons in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus.We found abnormal orientation of tamoxifen-induced tdTomato+(tdTom^(+))NSCs in adult mice 2 months after treatment with EtOH(5.0 g/kg,i.p.)for 7 consecutive days.EtOH markedly inhibited tdTom^(+)NSCs activation and hippocampal neurogenesis in mouse dentate gyrus from adolescence to adulthood.EtOH(100 mM)also significantly inhibited the proliferation to 39.2%and differentiation of primary NSCs in vitro.Adult mice exposed to EtOH also exhibited marked inhibitions in dendritic spine growth and newborn neuron maturation in the dentate gyrus,which was partially reversed by voluntary running or inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycinenhancer of zeste homolog 2 pathway.In vivo tracing revealed that EtOH induced abnormal orientation of tdTom+NSCs and spatial misposition defects of newborn neurons,thus causing the disturbance of hippocampal neurogenesis and dendritic spine remodeling in mice.
基金supported by Henan Provincial Science and Technology Research Project (212102310355)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82020108024 and 32161143021)。
文摘3-Epi-betulinic acid 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(eBAG)is a pentacyclic triterpene mainly distributed in food and medicinal plants,which exhibits various pharmacological properties.However,whether these functions are attributed to eBAG or additional components in these plants remain unknown.Herein,we report that eBAG exerted an inhibitory activity against hepatocellular carcinoma and esophageal cancer cells.EBAG induced non-apoptotic cell death in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.The eBAG-induced cell death was inhibited by knock-down of autophagy related gene(ATG)5 and ATG7,by administration of 3-methyladenine,a selective autophagy inhibitor that suppresses phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K),and by chloroquine,a classic autophagy flux inhibitor.We demonstrated that eBAG induced an autophagy-mediated cell death.Application of eBAG mimicked cellular bioenergetics depletion leading to the reduction of intracellular ATP,activation of AMP-activated protein kinase(AMPK),and inhibition of mTOR.Co-treatment with compound C,an AMPK inhibitor,abrogated cell death induced by eBAG.We further validated the anti-tumor effect of eBAG in the murine xenograft model of hepatocellular carcinoma and found that eBAG treatment promoted the induction of autophagy and reduction of tumor growth in mice.As a functional food ingredient,eBAG is a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and esophageal cancer.
基金financially supported by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Project (Grant No. Z231100006023015)the Major Scientific and Technological Research and Development of Shunyi District of Beijingthe Chinese Academy of Sciences。
文摘Silicon carbide(SiC) is a promising platform for fabricating high-voltage, high-frequency and high-temperature electronic devices such as metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors in which many junctions or interfaces are involved. The work function(WF) plays an essential role in these devices. However, studies of the effect of conductive type and polar surfaces on the WF of SiC are limited. Here, we report the measurement of WFs of Si-and C-terminated polar surfaces for both p-type and n-type conductive 4H-SiC single crystals by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy(SKPFM). The results show that p-type SiC exhibits a higher WF than n-type SiC.The WF of a C-terminated polar surface is higher than that of a Si-terminated polar surface, which is further confirmed by first-principles calculations. By revealing this long-standing knowledge gap, our work facilitates the fabrication and development of SiC-based electronic devices, which have tremendous potential applications in electric vehicles, photovoltaics, and so on. This work also shows that SKPFM is a good method for identifying polar surfaces of SiC and other polar materials nondestructively, quickly and conveniently.
基金supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences (The Applied Research of Bioactive Bone Implantation Materials, No. KGCX2-YW-207)
文摘Three-dimensional honeycomb-structured magnesium (Mg) scaffolds with interconnected pores of accurately controlled pore size and porosity were fabricated by laser perforation technique. Biodegradable and bioactive β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) coatings were prepared on the porous Mg to further improve its biocompatibility, and the biodegradation mechanism was simply evaluated in vitro. It was found that the mechanical properties of this type of porous Mg significantly depended on its porosity. Elastic modulus and compressive strength similar to human bones could be obtained for the porous Mg with porosity of 42.6%-51%. It was observed that the human osteosarcoma cells (UMR106) were well adhered and proliferated on the surface of the β-TCP coated porous Mg, which indicates that the β-TCP coated porous Mg is promising to be a bone tissue engineering scaffold material.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (60632050)National Basic Research Program of Jiangsu Province University (08KJB520003)
文摘An improved genetic algorithm(IGA) based on a novel selection strategy to handle nonlinear programming problems is proposed.Each individual in selection process is represented as a three-dimensional feature vector which is composed of objective function value,the degree of constraints violations and the number of constraints violations.It is easy to distinguish excellent individuals from general individuals by using an individuals' feature vector.Additionally,a local search(LS) process is incorporated into selection operation so as to find feasible solutions located in the neighboring areas of some infeasible solutions.The combination of IGA and LS should offer the advantage of both the quality of solutions and diversity of solutions.Experimental results over a set of benchmark problems demonstrate that IGA has better performance than other algorithms.
基金supported by the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U1435218)National Natural Science Foundation of China(6140340171401168)
文摘The indicator system is the foundation and emphasis in the effectiveness evaluation of system of systems(SoS). In the past, indicator systems were founded based on qualitative methods, and every indicator was mainly determined by the expert with experience. This paper proposed a brand-new method to construct indicator systems based on the repeated simulation of the scenario space, and calculated by quantitative data. Firstly, the selection of key indicators using the Gini indicator importance measure(IIM)is calculated by random forests(RFs). Then, principal component analysis(PCA) is applied when we use the selected indicators to construct the composite indicator system of SoS. Furthermore,a set of rulesare is developed to verify the practicability of the indicator system such as correlation, robustness, accuracy and convergence. Experiment shows that the algorithm achieves good results for the construction of composite indicators of So S.
基金supported by the Funds for Creative Research Groups of China (31621005)the National Transgenic Major Project of China (2018ZX0800921B)。
文摘Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is the most important natural textile fiber crop in the world.The ideal plant architecture of cotton is suitable for mechanical harvesting and productivity in modern agricultural production.However,cotton genes regulating plant development and architecture have not been fully identified.We identified a basic helix-loop-helix (b HLH) transcription factor,GhPAS1 (PAGODA1 SUPPRESSOR1) in G.hirsutum (Upland cotton).GhPAS1 was located in the nucleus and showed a strong transcription activation effect.Tissue-specific expression patterns showed that GhPAS1 was highly expressed in floral organs,followed by high expression in early stages of ovule development and rapid fiber elongation.GhPAS1 overexpression in Arabidopsis and BRZ (brassinazole,BR biosynthesis inhibitor) treatment indicated that GhPAS1 positively regulates and responds to the BR (brassinosteroid) signaling pathway and promotes cell elongation.GhPAS1 overexpression in Arabidopsis mediated plant development in addition to increasing plant biomass.Virus-induced gene silencing of GhPAS1 indicated that down-regulation of GhPAS1 inhibited cotton growth and development,as plant height,fruit branch length,and boll size of silenced plants were lower than in control plants.Fiber length and seed yield were also lower in silenced plants.We conclude that GhPAS1,a b HLH transcription factor,regulates plant development and architecture in cotton.These findings may help breeders and researchers develop cotton cultivars with desirable agronomic characteristics.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.60803049,60472060)
文摘In many real-world applications of evolutionary algorithms,the fitness of an individual requires a quantitative measure.This paper proposes a self-adaptive linear evolutionary algorithm (ALEA) in which we introduce a novel strategy for evaluating individual's relative strengths and weaknesses.Based on this strategy,searching space of constrained optimization problems with high dimensions for design variables is compressed into two-dimensional performance space in which it is possible to quickly identify 'good' individuals of the performance for a multiobjective optimization application,regardless of original space complexity.This is considered as our main contribution.In addition,the proposed new evolutionary algorithm combines two basic operators with modification in reproduction phase,namely,crossover and mutation.Simulation results over a comprehensive set of benchmark functions show that the proposed strategy is feasible and effective,and provides good performance in terms of uniformity and diversity of solutions.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant no.32072735,31572398)the Natural Science Fund of Qinghai Province(2020-ZJ-902)by the China Agriculture Research System(grant no.CARS-36).
文摘Background:This study investigated the effect of melatonin(MT)on cell cycle(G1/S/G2/M)of parthenogenetic zygotes developed from vitrified-warmed mouse metaphase II(MII)oocytes and elucidated the potential mechanism of MT action in the first cleavage of embryos.Results:After vitrification and warming,oocytes were parthenogenetically activated(PA)and in vitro cultured(IVC).Then the spindle morphology and chromosome segregation in oocytes,the maternal mRNA levels of genes including Miss,Doc1r,Setd2 and Ythdf2 in activated oocytes,pronuclear formation,the S phase duration in zygotes,mitochondrial function at G1 phase,reactive oxygen species(ROS)level at S phase,DNA damage at G2 phase,early apoptosis in 2-cell embryos,cleavage and blastocyst formation rates were evaluated.The results indicated that the vitrification/warming procedures led to following perturbations 1)spindle abnormalities and chromosome misalignment,alteration of maternal mRNAs and delay in pronucleus formation,2)decreased mitochondrial membrane potential(MMP)and lower adenosine triphosphate(ATP)levels,increased ROS production and DNA damage,G1/S and S/G2 phase transition delay,and delayed first cleavage,and 3)increased early apoptosis and lower levels of cleavage and blastocyst formation.Our results further revealed that such negative impacts of oocyte cryopreservation could be alleviated by supplementation of warming,recovery,PA and IVC media with 10^(−9) mol/L MT before the embryos moved into the 2-cell stage of development.Conclusions:MT might promote cell cycle progression via regulation of MMP,ATP,ROS and maternal mRNA levels,potentially increasing the first cleavage of parthenogenetic zygotes developed from vitrified-warmed mouse oocytes and their subsequent development.
基金This work was supported by Sichuan Science and Technology Program(2021YFS0284,2018SZDZX0026,2021YFS0289)the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment(South China Normal University),Ministry of Education(20200103)+1 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Southwest Jiaotong University(210824)the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Southwest Jiaotong University(ZD2021210001).
文摘Hydrogen production through solar energy is one of the most important pathways to meet the growing demand of renewable energy,and photocatalyst participation in solar hydrolytic hydrogen production has received great attention in recent years in terms of low cost,high efficiency,and flexible design.Particularly,g-C_(3)N_(4)(Graphitic-like carbon nitride material),as a unique material,can catalyze the hydrogen production process by completing the separation and transmission of charge.The easily adjustable pore structure/surface area,dimension,band-gap modulation and defect have shown great potential for hydrogen production from water cracking.In this review,the most recent advance of g-C_(3)N_(4) including the doping of metal and non-metal elements,and the formation of semiconductor heterojunction is highlighted.The main modification strategies and approaches for the design of g-C_(3)N_(4) for hydrogen production,as well as the influence of various materials on hydrogen evolution regarding the photocatalysis mechanism and advantages brought by theoretical calculations are specially and briefly illu-strated.Potential design pathways and strategies of g-C_(3)N_(4) are discussed.In addition,current challenges of hydrogen production from g-C_(3)N_(4) water splitting are summarized and can be expected.
基金This study is supported by Sichuan Science and Technology Program(2021YFS0284,2018SZDZX0026,2021YFS0289)the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment(South China Normal University),Ministry of Education(20200103).
文摘With the increase of global proportion of soil pollution and the number of areas at risk,researchers have sought to develop various pathways to repair or relieve the pollutants in soil.Among them,biochar represents one multi-dimensional soil amendment which has got great deal of attention on its physicochemical properties towards the removal or mitigation of contaminants in soil.A variety of agricultural wastes like straw and manure prepared from different torrefaction process have been employed as feedstock for the production of biochar,which can be applied to the contaminated soil to facilitate the growing environment for crops,and to improve soil fertility and microbial environment.In addition,the utilization of biochar for soil remediation is also considered as a pro-cess of carbon sequestration.The purpose of this review is to summarize the latest research progress in torrefac-tion processes and mechanism of agricultural waste,the effects of different torrefaction methods on the formation and properties of biochar were explained,coupled with the effects of process parameters.Especially,the conver-sion and mechanisms of biochar prepared from agricultural wastes composed mainly with lignocellulosic material were discussed,and the characteristics of biochar prepared for improving soil physical and chemical character-istics,microbial community characteristics,nutrients,and the stability and relief of soil pollutants,especially heavy metals,are compared.Finally,this work discussed the application and future technical challenges of soil remediation based on agricultural waste derived biochar.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82074056).
文摘Ginkgo biloba L.leaf(GBL)has been reported to protect against ischemic stroke(IS),one of the leading causes of death and longterm disability worldwide,while there is a lack of systematic study on the exact mechanism.Here,network pharmacology and bioinformatics were used to predict the active components,important targets,and potential mechanisms of GBL in the treatment of IS.Active compounds of GBL were screened based on drug-like index and oral bioavailability,key target genes were screened based on network pharmacology and gene chip,downstream pathways for the regulation of key target genes were predicted based on gene set enrichment analysis,and the interaction between key targets and active compounds was verified based on molecular docking.The results showed that GBL played a protective role in cerebral ischemia with mainly 14 active compounds,such as isoquercitrin,luteolin-4’-glucoside,beta-sitosterol,campesterol,diosmetin,ginkgolide B,ginkgolide C,ginkgolide J,ginkgolide M,isogoycyrol,laricitrin,luteolin,sesamin,and stigmasterol.Further studies revealed that GBL played important role in immunomodulation and inflammation inhibition after cerebral ischemia by acting on its peripheral targets ARG1 and MMP9 to regulate Toll-like receptor,Chemokine and Notch signaling pathway.Meanwhile,GBL played important role in reducing neuroinflammation and blood-brain barrier damage after cerebral ischemia by acting on its central targets,CCL2,PTGS2,IL6,IL1B and MMP9 to regulate the Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction,Jak-STAT,and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway.Additionally,molecular docking verified that the active compounds mentioned above could bind to ARG1,MMP9,CCL2,PTGS2,IL6,and IL1B.The present study shows the multicomponent,multitarget and multichannel pharmacological effects of GBL on cerebral ischemia and provides a new strategy for the treatment of IS.
文摘Acrylamide(AA)is ubiquitous in packaging materials,paints,cosmetics,food and drinking water.However,AA has obvious neurotoxicity,reproductive toxicity and carcinogenicity,which seriously endangers human health.As one of precious traditional Chinese medicines,Gastrodia elata Bl.has been mainly used to lower blood pressure and resist myocardial ischemia.However,the antioxidant activity of Gastrodia elata Bl.on AA-induced DNA damage has not been reported.We found that AA(25,30 and 50 mg/kg)could cause DNA damage and the damage was time/dose dependent.After AA administration,Tail moment,micronuclei formation rate,8-OHdG and MDA level were significantly increased and SOD activity was decreased.Gastrodia elata Bl.decoction,gastrodin and vitamin C could reduce AA-induced DNA damage by decreasing AA-induced increment of tail moment and micronuclei formation rate.What’s more,Gastrodia elata Bl.decoction,gastrodin and vitamin C could lower 8-OHdG and MDA level and improve SOD activity.In conclusion,our research showed that Gastrodia elata Bl.decoction and gastrodin had protective effects on AA-induced DNA damage,and the potential protective mechanism might be related to anti-oxidative stress.
文摘For years,a great deal of work has been carried out on proanthocyanidins extracted from various kinds of plants,of which grape seed proanthocyanidins(GSPs)attract most attention due to their benefi cial roles in human health.Indeed,GSPs have demonstrated substantial health benefi ts for a variety of disorders such as cancer,atherosclerosis,and cardiovascular diseases,to just name a few.In particular,GSPs inhibit cell proliferation,migration and invasion,and induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in various human cancers,including head and neck carcinoma,gastrointestinal tumors,lung cancer,skin tumors,and reproductive tumors,which points them to be promising chemo-preventive and/or chemotherapeutic agents.In this setting,we summarized the eff ects of GSPs against various types of cancer with a focus on the detailed molecular mechanisms involving various signaling pathways of tumor cells,which may serve as a basis for development of improved chemo-preventive or therapeutic strategies for cancer.
基金the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province(LJKQZ2021031,2022-MS-246,China)to Yueyang Liu。
文摘Cognitive impairment caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion(CCH)is associated with white matter injury(WMI),possibly through the alteration of autophagy.Here,the autophagy—lysosomal pathway(ALP)dysfunction in white matter(WM)and its relationship with cognitive impairment were investigated in rats subjected to two vessel occlusion(2VO).The results showed that cognitive impairment occurred by the 28th day after 2VO.Injury and autophagy activation of mature oligodendrocytes and neuronal axons sequentially occurred in WM by the 3rd day.By the 14th day,abnormal accumulation of autophagy substrate,lysosomal dysfunction,and the activation of mechanistic target of rapamycin(MTOR)pathway were observed in WM,paralleled with mature oligodendrocyte death.This indicates autophagy activation was followed by ALP dysfunction caused by autophagy inhibition or lysosomal dysfunction.To target the ALP dysfunction,enhanced autophagy by systemic rapamycin treatment or overexpression of Beclin1(BECN1)in oligodendrocytes reduced mature oligodendrocyte death,and subsequently alleviated the WMI and cognitive impairment after CCH.These results reveal that early autophagy activation was followed by ALP dysfunction in WM after 2VO,which was associated with the aggravation of WMI and cognitive impairment.This study highlights that alleviating ALP dysfunction by enhancing oligodendrocyte autophagy has benefits for cognitive recovery after CCH.
基金supported by Zhongyuan Scholars in Henan Province (22400510003 to YL)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771812, 31971962, and 32272129 to YL)+1 种基金the Major Public Welfare Projects of Henan Province (201300111100 to YL)Technical System of Maize Industry in Henan Province (HARS-22-02-S to YL)。
文摘Members of the ADP-ribosylation factor family,which are GTP-binding proteins, are involved in metabolite transport, cell division, and expansion.Although there has been a significant amount of research on small GTP-binding proteins, their roles and functions in regulating maize kernel size remain elusive. Here, we identified Zm Arf2 as a maize ADPribosylation factor-like family member that is highly conserved during evolution. Maize zmarf2 mutants showed a characteristic smaller kernel size. Conversely, ZmArf2 overexpression increased maize kernel size. Furthermore, heterologous expression of Zm Arf2 dramatically elevated Arabidopsis and yeast growth by promoting cell division. Using expression quantitative trait loci(e QTL) analysis, we determined that Zm Arf2 expression levels in various lines were mainly associated with variation at the gene locus. The promoters of Zm Arf2 genes could be divided into two types, p S and p L, that were significantly associated with both Zm Arf2 expression levels and kernel size. In yeast-one-hybrid screening, maize Auxin Response Factor 24(ARF24) is directly bound to the Zm Arf2 promoter region and negatively regulated Zm Arf2 expression.Notably, the p S and p L promoter types each contained an ARF24 binding element: an auxin response element(AuxRE) in p S and an auxin response region(Aux RR) in p L, respectively. ARF24binding affinity to Aux RR was much higher compared with Aux RE. Overall, our results establish that the small G-protein Zm Arf2 positively regulates maize kernel size and reveals the mechanism of its expression regulation.
基金partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62122058,62171317,and 62231018).
文摘Existing multi-person reconstruction methods require the human bodies in the input image to occupy a considerable portion of the picture.However,low-resolution human objects are ubiquitous due to trade-offbetween the field of view and target distance given a limited camera resolution.In this paper,we propose an end-to-end multi-task framework for multi-person inference from a low-resolution image(MILI).To perceive more information from a low-resolution image,we use pair-wise images at high resolution and low resolution for training,and design a restoration network with a simple loss for better feature extraction from the low-resolution image.To address the occlusion problem in multi-person scenes,we propose an occlusion-aware mask prediction network to estimate the mask of each person during 3D mesh regression.Experimental results on both small-scale scenes and large-scale scenes demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods both quantitatively and qualitatively.The code is available at http://cic.tju.edu.cn/faculty/likun/projects/MILI.
基金the financial supports provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21601108 and U1764258)Young Scholars Program of Shandong University (2017WLJH15)+1 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds of Shandong University (2016JC033 and 2016GN010)the Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Province (ts201511004)
