Crystal structure of the alternative complex III from the phototrophic bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus.

Alternative complex III (ACIII) is a multi-subunit quinol:electron acceptor oxidoreductase that couples quinol oxidation with transmembrane proton translocation in bacterial respiratory and photosynthetic electron transport chains. Four ACIII cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures are known. However, the effects of cryo-EM versus X-ray crystallography structure determination on ACIII structure are unclear.

Bold rats (Niviventer confucianus) are more effective in seed dispersal: evidence both under enclosure conditions and in the field.

Rodents are important seed dispersers of plants because they move seeds far away from the parent trees and hoard seeds in the soil, benefiting seed dispersal and regeneration. Traits of plant seeds and animals are associated with rodent-mediated seed dispersal, but animal personality, the consistent individual behavioral differences in time and environments, has not been fully considered. Here, we first measured the personality of 26 Niviventer confucianus in the laboratory, and 10 individuals in the field of one population, and then tested their behavior of seed consumption and hoarding both in semi-natural enclosures and the field.

Extracellular Vesicle Preparation and Analysis: A State-of-the-Art Review.

In recent decades, research on Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) has gained prominence in the life sciences due to their critical roles in both health and disease states, offering promising applications in disease diagnosis, drug delivery, and therapy. However, their inherent heterogeneity and complex origins pose significant challenges to their preparation, analysis, and subsequent clinical application. This review is structured to provide an overview of the biogenesis, composition, and various sources of EVs, thereby laying the groundwork for a detailed discussion of contemporary techniques for their preparation and analysis.

Distinguishing high-metastasis-potential circulating tumor cells through fluidic shear stress in a bloodstream-like microfluidic circulatory system.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) play a critical role as initiators in tumor metastasis, which unlocks an irreversible process of cancer progression. Regarding the fluid environment of intravascular CTCs, a comprehensive understanding of the impact of hemodynamic shear stress on CTCs is of profound significance but remains vague. Here, we report a microfluidic circulatory system that can emulate the CTC microenvironment to research the responses of typical liver cancer cells to varying levels of fluid shear stress (FSS).

Polar Solvent-Induced Spontaneous Nanofoaming for Synthesizing Ultra-High-Performance Polyamide Nanofiltration Membranes.

Nanofiltration membranes with both high water permeance and selectivity are perpetually studied because of their applications in water purification. However, these two critical attributes are considered to be mutually exclusive. Here, we introduce a polar solvent, dichloromethane, in place of the apolar hexane used for decades as the organic phase for membrane interfacial polymerization synthesis to solve this dilemma.

Enrichment of C17:0-rich saturated fatty acids from sheep tail fat for adjuvant therapy of non-small-cell lung cancer.

Unlabelled: Heptadecanoic acid (C17:0), an odd-chain saturated fatty acid (OCSFA) in ruminant lipid, has been demonstrated to be potential for treating cancers. Our results also showed that sheep tail fat (STF) with higher level of C17:0-containing saturated fatty acids (SFAs) whereas lower level of oleic acid (C18:1), performed remarkable inhibition against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. To enrich the content of C17:0, a C17:0-rich SFA concentrate (HRSC) was prepared from STF by solvent crystallization and urea complexation methods (hexane/STF = 3.

Portable and Flexible Hydrogel Sensor for On-Site Atrazine Assay on Agricultural Products.

There is growing attention focused toward the problems of ecological sustainability and food safety raised from the abuse of herbicides, which underscores the need for the development of a portable and reliable sensor for simple, rapid, and user-friendly on-site analysis of herbicide residues. Herein, a novel multifunctional hydrogel composite is explored to serve as a portable and flexible sensor for the facile and efficient analysis of atrazine (ATZ) residues. The hydrogel electrode is fabricated by doping graphite-phase carbon nitride (g-CN) into the aramid nanofiber reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel via a simple solution-casting procedure.

Cellulose Nanofibrils of High Immunoaffinity for Efficient Enrichment of Small Extracellular Vesicles.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), crucial in facilitating the transport of diverse molecular cargoes for intercellular communication, have shown great potential in diagnostics, therapeutics, and drug delivery. The challenge of developing effective preparation methods for EVs is heightened by their intrinsic heterogeneity and complexity. Here, a novel strategy for high EV enrichment is developed by utilizing EV-affinitive-modified cellulose nanofibrils.

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in patients with monoclonal gammopathy and renal damage in central China: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Renal involvement is common in monoclonal gammopathy (MG); however, the same patient may have both MG and non-paraprotein-associated renal damage. Accordingly, distinguishing the cause of renal damage is necessary because of the different clinical characteristics and associated treatments. In this multicenter retrospective cohort study, we described the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of 703 patients with MG and renal damage in central China.

Masting promotes transformation from predation to mutualism in an oak-weevil-rodent system.

The significance of ecological non-monotonicity (a function whose first derivative changes signs) in shaping the structure and functions of the ecosystem has recently been recognized, but such studies involving high-order interactions are rare. Here, we have proposed a three-trophic conceptual diagram on interactions among trees, rodents, and insects in mast and non-mast years and tested the hypothesis that oak (Quercus wutaishanica) masting could result in increased mutualism and less predation in an oak-weevil-rodent system in a warm temperate forest of China. Our 14-year dataset revealed that mast years coincided with a relatively low rodent abundance but a high weevil abundance.

Cross-cultural nuances in sarcasm comprehension: a comparative study of Chinese and American perspectives.

It is evident that sarcasm can be interpreted differently due to various factors, However, rare research was conducted to investigate the influence of national culture on sarcasm comprehension despite its valuable theoretical implication. This study used an online rating task to explore how national culture impacts the comprehension of sarcasm, focusing on the differences between Chinese and American cultural values (i.e.

Cryo-EM structure of HQNO-bound alternative complex III from the anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus.

Alternative complex III (ACIII) couples quinol oxidation and electron acceptor reduction with potential transmembrane proton translocation. It is compositionally and structurally different from the cytochrome bc1/b6f complexes but functionally replaces these enzymes in the photosynthetic and/or respiratory electron transport chains (ETCs) of many bacteria. However, the true compositions and architectures of ACIIIs remain unclear, as do their structural and functional relevance in mediating the ETCs.

Pan-cancer analysis of the prognostic significance and oncogenic role of GXYLT2.

Growing evidence supports an oncogenic role for glucoside xylosyltransferase 2 (GXYLT2) in a number of malignancies. To evaluate the prognostic value and oncogenic function of GXYLT2 in diverse cancer types, we analyzed sequencing data from public databases on 33 tumor tissues and their corresponding normal tissues. We found that GXYLT2 was overexpressed in a number of tumors, and that its expression was positively correlated with disease progression and mortality in several major cancer types including stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD).

A cytochrome c mediates the cyclic electron transport chain of the anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Roseiflexus castenholzii.

Roseiflexus castenholzii is a gram-negative filamentous phototrophic bacterium that carries out anoxygenic photosynthesis through a cyclic electron transport chain (ETC). The ETC is composed of a reaction center (RC)-light-harvesting (LH) complex (rcRC-LH); an alternative complex III (rcACIII), which functionally replaces the cytochrome bc/bf complex; and the periplasmic electron acceptor auracyanin (rcAc). Although compositionally and structurally different from the bc/bf complex, rcACIII plays similar essential roles in oxidizing menaquinol and transferring electrons to the rcAc.

TRIM69: a marker of metastasis and potential sensitizer to 5-Fluorouracil and PD-1 blockers in colon adenocarcinoma.

Background: Several proteins in the tripartite-motif (TRIM) family are associated with the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), but research on the role of TRIM69 was lacking. The present study examined the correlation between TRIM69 expression and colon adenocarcinoma (COAD).

Methods: mRNA sequencing data for COAD patients was extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas to analyze correlations between TRIM69 expression and patients' clinical features as well as survival.

Effects of HBsAg carriers on pregnancy complications in pregnant women: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health threat worldwide, especially in developing countries. We aimed to investigate the impact of hepatitis B carrier on pregnancy complications in pregnant women, in China.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted by using data from the EHR system of Longhua District People's Hospital in Shenzhen, China, from January 2018 to June 2022.

Hybrid assembly of polymeric nanofiber network for robust and electronically conductive hydrogels.

Electroconductive hydrogels have been applied in implantable bioelectronics, tissue engineering platforms, soft actuators, and other emerging technologies. However, achieving high conductivity and mechanical robustness remains challenging. Here we report an approach to fabricating electroconductive hydrogels based on the hybrid assembly of polymeric nanofiber networks.

How to establishing an indicators framework for evaluating the performances in primary TB control institutions under the new TB control model? Based on a Delphi study conducted in Guangxi, China.

Background: In China, the new TB control model of trinity form had been implemented in all parts, and the comprehensively evaluation to the performances in primary TB control institutions were closely related to the working capacity and quality of TB service, but there was still no an unified evaluation indicators framework in practice and few relevant studies. The purpose of this study was to establish an indicators framework for comprehensively evaluating the performances in primary TB control institutions under the new TB control model of trinity form in Guangxi, China.

Methods: The Delphi method was used to establish an indicators framework for comprehensively evaluating the performances in primary TB control institutions under the new TB control model of trinity form, and the analytic hierarchy process(AHP) was used to determine the weights of all levels of indicators, from September 2021 to December 2021 in Guangxi, China.

Eliminate the hardware: Mobile terminals-oriented food recognition and weight estimation system.

Food recognition and weight estimation based on image methods have always been hotspots in the field of computer vision and medical nutrition, and have good application prospects in digital nutrition therapy and health detection. With the development of deep learning technology, image-based recognition technology has also rapidly extended to various fields, such as agricultural pests, disease identification, tumor marker recognition, wound severity judgment, road wear recognition, and food safety detection. This article proposes a non-wearable food recognition and weight estimation system (nWFWS) to identify the food type and food weight in the target recognition area smartphones, so to assist clinical patients and physicians in monitoring diet-related health conditions.

A Digital Smartphone-Based Self-administered Tool (R+ Dietitian) for Nutritional Risk Screening and Dietary Assessment in Hospitalized Patients With Cancer: Evaluation and Diagnostic Accuracy Study.

Background: Malnutrition is a common and severe problem in patients with cancer that directly increases the incidence of complications and significantly deteriorates quality of life. Nutritional risk screening and dietary assessment are critical because they are the basis for providing personalized nutritional support. No digital smartphone-based self-administered tool for nutritional risk screening and dietary assessment among hospitalized patients with cancer has been developed and evaluated.