Soft Metalens for Broadband Ultrasonic Focusing through Aberration Layers.

Aberration layers (AL) often present significant energy transmission barriers in microwave engineering, electromagnetic waves, and medical ultrasound. However, achieving broadband ultrasonic focusing through aberration layers like the human skull using conventional materials such as metals and elastomers has proven challenging. In this study, we introduce an inverse phase encoding method employing tunable soft metalens to penetrate heterogeneous aberration layers.

Snow Leopard () Activity Patterns Using Camera Traps in the Qilian Mountain National Park (Qinghai Area), China.

In recent years, there has been growing concern about the condition of snow leopards. The snow leopard (), an apex predator of alpine ecosystems, is essential for the structural and functional stability of ecosystems. Monitoring of snow leopards' activity patterns based on camera traps in the Qilian Mountain National Park (Qinghai area) between August 2020 to October 2023 was performed.

Trans-ancestry analysis in over 799,000 individuals yields new insights into the genetic etiology of colorectal cancer.

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated the relevance of circulating factors in the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer (CRC); however, the causal relationship remains unclear.

Methods: Summary-level data for CRC were obtained from the UK Biobank (5,657 cases and 372,016 controls), FinnGen cohort (3,022 cases and 215,770 controls), and BioBank Japan Project (BBJ, 7,062 cases and 195,745 controls). Thirty-two peripheral markers with consistent definitions were collected from the three biobanks.

Investigation on the contribution of swim bladder to hearing in crucian carp (Carassius carassius).

The swim bladder in some teleost fish functions to transfer the sound energy of acoustic stimuli to the inner ears. This study uses the auditory evoked potential tests, micro-computed tomography scanning, reconstruction, and numerical modeling to assess the contribution of the swim bladder to hearing in crucian carp (Carassius carassius). The auditory evoked potential results show that, at the tested frequency range, the audiogram of fish with an intact swim bladder linearly increases, ranging from 100 to 600 Hz.

Identification and Characterization of Two Novel Extracellular β-Glucanases from Chaetomium globosum against Fusarium sporotrichioides.

Chaetomium globosum can inhibit the growth of fusarium by means of their extracellular proteins. Two novel β-glucanases, designated Cgglu17A and Cgglu16B, were separated from the supernatant of C. globosum W7 and verified to have the ability to hydrolyze cell walls of Fusarium sporotrichioides MLS-19.

Expression of aldose reductase in mouse endometrial epithelial cells and its role in sperm capacitation.

The survival, motility and capacitation of sperm in the female reproductive tract are important prerequisites for fertilization. The uterus is the main location for sperm capacitation. One of the most important physiological functions of the endometrial epithelium is to create a suitable uterine environment under the regulation of ovarian hormones, to ensure sperm capacitation.

The spatial variation and driving factors of soil total carbon and nitrogen in the Heihe River source region.

Soil carbon and nitrogen levels are key indicators of soil fertility and are used to assess ecological value and safeguard the environment. Previous studies have focused on the contributions of vegetation, topography, physical and chemical qualities, and meteorology to soil carbon and nitrogen change, but there has been little consideration of landscape and ecological environment types as potential driving forces. The study investigated the horizontal and vertical distribution and influencing factors of total carbon and total nitrogen in soil at 0-20 and 20-50 cm depths in the source region of the Heihe River.

Underwater acoustic metamaterials.

Acoustic metamaterials have been widely investigated over the past few decades and have realized acoustic parameters that are not achievable using conventional materials. After demonstrating that locally resonant acoustic metamaterials are capable of acting as subwavelength unit cells, researchers have evaluated the possibility of breaking the classical limitations of the material mass density and bulk modulus. Combined with theoretical analysis, additive manufacturing and engineering applications, acoustic metamaterials have demonstrated extraordinary capabilities, including negative refraction, cloaking, beam formation and super-resolution imaging.

PCSK9 involves in the high-fat diet-induced abnormal testicular function of male mice.

In Brief: Impaired spermatogenesis resulting from disturbed cholesterol metabolism due to intake of high-fat diet (HFD) has been widely recognized, however, the role of preprotein invertase subtilin 9 (PCSK9), which is a negative regulator of cholesterol metabolism, has never been reported. This study aims to reveal the role of PCSK9 on spermatogenesis induced by HFD in mice.

Abstract: Long-term consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) is an important factor that leads to impaired spermatogenesis exhibiting poor sperm quantity and quality.

Differentiation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocytes with CYP450 metabolic enzyme activity induced by a liver injury microenvironment.

The aim of this study was to observe the effect of a simulated liver tissue injury microenvironment on the directed differentiation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocytes with CYP450 metabolic activity in vitro, and to explore the mechanisms underlying this directed differentiation. Normal and damaged liver tissue homogenate supernatants (LHS and CCl-LHS, respectively) were used as induction fluids. After induction for different durations, Western blot and RT-PCR were used to measure the protein and gene expression of the hepatocellular proteins AFP, CK18, ALB, and the CYP450 family.

Exploring the association between epilepsy and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: This study offers meta-analytic data on the potential association between epilepsy and depression especially for the prevalence of depression in epilepsy or vice versa.

Methods: The relevant studies were searched and identified from nine electronic databases. Studies that mentioned the prevalence and/or incidence of epilepsy and depression were included.

Hyperandrogen-induced polyol pathway flux increase affects ovarian function in polycystic ovary syndrome via excessive oxidative stress.

Aims: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in the women of childbearing age. It is characterized by hyperandrogenism and abnormal follicular growth and ovulation. The polyol pathway is a glucose metabolism bypass pathway initiated by aldose reductase (ADR).

Distinct immune and inflammatory response patterns contribute to the identification of poor prognosis and advanced clinical characters in bladder cancer patients.

Due to the molecular heterogeneity, most bladder cancer (BLCA) patients show no pathological responses to immunotherapy and chemotherapy yet suffer from their toxicity. This study identified and validated three distinct and stable molecular clusters of BLCA in cross-platform databases based on personalized immune and inflammatory characteristics. H&E-stained histopathology images confirmed the distinct infiltration of immune and inflammatory cells among clusters.

Tactile Perception Object Recognition Based on an Improved Support Vector Machine.

Tactile perception is an irreplaceable source of information for humans to explore the surrounding environment and has advantages over sight and hearing in processing the material properties and detailed shapes of objects. However, with the increasing uncertainty and complexity of tactile perception features, it is often difficult to collect highly available pure tactile datasets for research in the field of tactile perception. Here, we have proposed a method for object recognition on a purely tactile dataset and provide the original tactile dataset.

Fc Fragment of IgE Receptor Ig (FCER1G) acts as a key gene involved in cancer immune infiltration and tumour microenvironment.

Although recent studies have revealed the relationship between Fc Fragment of IgE Receptor Ig (FCER1G) and human tumours, there is still a lack of a more comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of FCER1G as an immune-related gene. In this study, we investigated the expression pattern and prognostic value of FCER1G based on multiple databases. Subsequently, we further explored the role of FCER1G in tumour proliferation and metastasis, as well as its genomic alterations and DNA methylation levels, we next assessed the association between FCER1G and the immune infiltrating cells of the tumour microenvironment in different cancers and verified it by immunohistochemical staining.

Investigation on whistle directivity in the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) through numerical modeling.

Odontocetes have evolved special acoustic structures in the forehead to modulate echolocation and communication signals into directional beams to facilitate feeding and social behaviors. Whistle directivity was addressed for the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) by developing numerical models in the current paper. Directivity was first examined at the fundamental frequency 5 kHz, and simulations were then extended to the harmonics of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 kHz.

A prognostic model of patients with ovarian mucinous adenocarcinoma: a population-based analysis.

Background: Ovarian mucinous carcinoma is a disease that requires unique treatment. But for a long time, guidelines for ovarian serous carcinoma have been used for the treatment of ovarian mucinous carcinoma. This study aimed to construct and validate nomograms for predicting the overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with ovarian mucinous adenocarcinoma.

Dissecting and Evaluating the Therapeutic Targets of Coptis Chinensis Franch in the Treatment of Urinary Tract Infections Induced by .

Coptis chinensis Franch (CCF) is extensively used in the treatment of inflammatory-related diseases. Accumulating studies have previously demonstrated the anti-inflammatory properties of CCF, yet data on its exact targets against urinary tract infections (UTIs) remain largely unknown. Therefore, the present study decodes the potential targets of action of CCF against UTIs by network pharmacology combined with experiment evaluations.

Activation of SGLT3a in endometrial epithelial cells induces paracrine stromal cell decidualization.

Endometrial epithelial cells (EECs) and stromal cells (ESCs) have a close functional association. During the peri-implantation period, EECs with enhanced functional activities secrete a variety of paracrine factors to promote the decidualization of ESCs. However, little is known about the specific process by which EECs secrete paracrine factors to induce the decidualization of ESCs.

Contribution of high-fat diet-induced PCSK9 upregulation to a mouse model of PCOS is mediated partly by SREBP2.

The incidence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) due to high-fat diet (HFD) consumption has been increasing significantly. However, the mechanism by which a HFD contributes to the pathogenesis of PCOS has not been elucidated. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a key protein that regulates cholesterol metabolism.

Numerical-modeling-based investigation of sound transmission and reception in the short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus).

The sound-transmission, beam-formation, and sound-reception processes of a short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) were investigated using computed tomography (CT) scanning and numerical simulation. The results showed that sound propagations in the forehead were modulated by the upper jaw, air components, and soft tissues, which attributed to the beam formation in the external acoustic field. These structures owned different acoustic impedance and formed a multiphasic sound transmission system that can modulate sounds into a beam.

Lnc-STYK1-2 regulates bladder cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by targeting miR-146b-5p expression and AKT/STAT3/NF-kB signaling.

Background: Epigenetic modulation by noncoding RNAs substantially contributes to human cancer development, but noncoding RNAs involvement in bladder cancer remains poorly understood. This study investigated the role of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) lnc-STYK1-2 in tumorigenesis in cancerous bladder cells.

Methods: Differential lncRNA and mRNA profiles were characterized by high-throughput RNA sequencing combined with validation via quantitative PCR.

Baicalin ameliorates chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depression through the BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling pathway.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) can activate the extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK)/cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) cascade revealing an important role in antidepressant effects. Here, we studied the neuroprotective effect of baicalin (BA) in mice with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced via a BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling pathway. Depression was induced via six weeks of CUMS in male ICR mice, and drug therapy was given simultaneously for the last three weeks.

GLUT4 in Mouse Endometrial Epithelium: Roles in Embryonic Development and Implantation.

GLUT4 is involved in rapid glucose uptake among various kinds of cells to contribute to glucose homeostasis. Prior data have reported that aberrant glucose metabolism by GLUT4 dysfunction in the uterus could be responsible for infertility and increased miscarriage. However, the expression and precise functions of GLUT4 in the endometrium under physiological conditions remain unknown or controversial.