Chemerin attenuates acute kidney injury by inhibiting ferroptosis via the AMPK/NRF2/SLC7A11 axis.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and life-threatening condition associated with cell death, where ferroptosis plays a critical role. Chemerin, primarily produced in white adipose tissue, has multiple biological functions in renal pathophysiology. However, to date, whether and how chemerin regulates the progression of AKI remain unclear.

Inhibition of PKM2 by shikonin impedes TGF-β1 expression by repressing histone lactylation to alleviate renal fibrosis.

Background: Macrophage-myofibroblast transition (MMT) plays a significant role in the progression of renal fibrosis in chronic kidney disease (CKD), making inhibition of MMT a promising therapeutic strategy. Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) and its metabolite lactate are implicated in the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis; however, the mechanisms through which they contribute to this process remain poorly understood.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of PKM2 inhibition by shikonin on renal fibrosis and the underly mechanisms.

Administration of GUANKE alleviates SARS-CoV-2-induced pneumonia in mice.

Unlabelled: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) targets epithelial cells in the respiratory tract, triggering an acute proinflammatory response and chronic lung inflammation. Probiotic supplementation has shown promise in reducing the nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load, diminishing symptom frequency and duration, and mitigating inflammation; thus, it is a potential strategy for treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the oral administration of the GUANKE strain, a gram-positive bacterium originally isolated from a healthy individual, on SARS-CoV-2 infection in a human ACE2 transgenic mouse model.

Iterative Data-adaptive Autoregressive (IDAR) whitening procedure for long and short TR fMRI.

Introduction: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become a fundamental tool for studying brain function. However, the presence of serial correlations in fMRI data complicates data analysis, violates the statistical assumptions of analyses methods, and can lead to incorrect conclusions in fMRI studies.

Methods: In this paper, we show that conventional whitening procedures designed for data with longer repetition times (TRs) (>2 s) are inadequate for the increasing use of short-TR fMRI data.

Unraveling Alzheimer's Disease: Investigating Dynamic Functional Connectivity in the Default Mode Network through DCC-GARCH Modeling.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) has a prolonged latent phase. Sensitive biomarkers of amyloid beta ( ), in the absence of clinical symptoms, offer opportunities for early detection and identification of patients at risk. Current biomarkers, such as CSF and PET biomarkers, are effective but face practical limitations due to high cost and limited availability.

Platelet membrane biomimetic nanoparticle-targeted delivery of TGF-β1 siRNA attenuates renal inflammation and fibrosis.

The progression of renal fibrosis to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is significantly influenced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signal pathway. This study aimed to develop nanoparticles (PMVs@PLGA complexes) with platelet membrane camouflage, which can transport interfering RNA to target and regulate the TGF-β1 pathway in damaged renal tissues. The aim is to reduce the severity of acute kidney injury and to reduce fibrosis in chronic kidney disease.

Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE modulate anti-viral function of dendritic cells in mice.

GUANKE is a Lactobacillus plantarum isolated from the feces of healthy volunteer. We have previously shown that GUANKE enhances the efficacy of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and prolongs the duration of vaccine protection by upregulating the IFN pathway and T and B lymphocyte functions of the host. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the protective effects and mechanism of oral administration of Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE in the influenza (A virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34) infection mouse model.

CJS-YOLOv5n: A high-performance detection model for cigarette appearance defects.

In tobacco production, cigarettes with appearance defects are inevitable and dramatically impact the quality of tobacco products. Currently, available methods do not balance the tension between detection accuracy and speed. To achieve accurate detection on a cigarette production line with the rate of 200 cigarettes per second, we propose a defect detection model for cigarette appearance based on YOLOv5n (You Only Look Once Version 5 Nano), called CJS-YOLOv5n (YOLOv5n with C2F (Cross Stage Partial (CSP) Bottleneck with 2 convolutions-fast), Jump Concat, and SCYLLA-IoU (SIoU)).

Boosting zinc-ion storage performance by interlayer chemistry modulation on an organic-inorganic hybrid cathode.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have triggered a surge of scientific research due to the unique merits of high safety, volumetric specific capacity, and environmental benignity. However, the implementation of this technology is still plagued by the lack of high-performance cathodes that can output high energy density and exceptional cycle life and inadequate Zn reversibility. Here, an organic-inorganic hybrid cathode based on a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) intercalated hydrated vanadium oxide (denoted PVO), which delivers an ultrahigh discharge capacity of 513.

Prognostic model based on telomere-related genes predicts the risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: This study investigated a potential prognostic model based on telomere-related genes (TRGs) for the clinical prediction of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Methods: Gene expression data and associated clinical phenotypes were obtained from online databases. Differentially expressed (DE)-TRGs were identified between OSCC and normal samples, followed by protein-protein interaction and enrichment analyses.

Uncovering the Critical Factors that Enable Extractive Desulfurization of Fuels in Ionic Liquids and Deep Eutectic Solvents from Simulations.

Environmental regulatory agencies have implemented stringent restrictions on the permissible levels of sulfur compounds in fuel to reduce harmful emissions and improve air quality. Problematically, traditional desulfurization methods have shown low effectiveness in the removal of refractory sulfur compounds, e.g.

An investigation on graphite behavior and coating properties in the molten pool based on different powder particle sizes.

This paper aims to explore the influence mechanism of powder particle sizes on the microstructure and properties of coatings and identify the effect of powder particle size difference on the coating graphite phase. NbC-reinforced Ni-based coatings were in-situ synthesized by laser cladding to investigate the impact of powder particle sizes on the morphology, structure, and properties of coatings. The results indicate that increasing powder particle size enlarges the coating area and decreases the coating width and dilution ratio.

Microstructures and Properties of NbC-Reinforced Ni-Based Coatings Synthesized In Situ by Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Laser Cladding.

This paper aims to explore the mechanism of an ultrasonic applied field on the microstructures and properties of coatings, and clarify the evolution of the molten pool under different ultrasonic frequencies. The Taguchi experimental design method was adopted in this paper. NbC-reinforced Ni-based coatings were in situ synthesized by laser cladding to investigate the effects of ultrasonic vibration process parameters on the microstructure, pore area, microhardness, and wear resistance of the cladding layer.

Immune microenvironment: novel perspectives on bone regeneration disorder in osteoradionecrosis of the jaws.

Osteoradionecrosis of the jaws (ORNJ) is a severe complication that occurs after radiotherapy of head and neck malignancies. Clinically, conservative treatments and surgeries for ORNJ exhibited certain therapeutic effects, whereas the regenerative disorder of the post-radiation jaw remains a pending problem to be solved. In recent years, the recognition of the role of the immune microenvironment has led to a shift from an osteoblasts (OBs) or bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs)-centered view of bone regeneration to the concept of a complicated microecosystem that supports bone regeneration.

Shorter Alkanesulfonate Carbon Chains Destabilize the Active Site Architecture of SsuD for Desulfonation.

Bacteria have evolved to utilize alternative organosulfur sources when sulfur is limiting. The SsuE/SsuD and MsuE/MsuD enzymes expressed when sulfur sources are restricted, are responsible for providing specific bacteria with sulfur in the form of alkanesulfonates. In this study, we evaluated why two structurally and functionally similar FMNH-dependent monooxygenase enzymes (MsuD and SsuD) are needed for the acquisition of alkanesulfonates in some bacteria.

Bortezomib inhibits ZIKV/DENV by interfering with viral polyprotein cleavage via the ERAD pathway.

Flaviviruses have posed a serious threat to human health in the past decades, and effective therapeutic drugs are lacking; thus, treatment of flavivirus infection is a great challenge. The flavivirus protease NS2B3 is an attractive target for antiviral drug screening. Here, we developed an intracellular Zika virus (ZIKV) NS2AB3 self-cleavage assay to identify inhibitors that interfere with viral polyprotein cleavage and block ZIKV/dengue virus (DENV) replication.

An Optimized LIME Scheme for Medical Low Light Level Image Enhancement.

The role of medical image technology in the medical field is becoming more and more obvious. Doctors can use medical image technology to more accurately understand the patient's condition and make accurate judgments and diagnosis and treatment in order to make a large number of medical blurred images clear and easy to identify. Inspired by the human vision system (HVS), we propose a simple and effective method of low-light image enhancement.

Comparison between Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics and OPLS-Based Force Fields for Ionic Liquid Solvent Organization.

OPLS-based force fields (FFs) have been shown to provide accurate bulk-phase properties for a wide variety of imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs). However, the ability of OPLS to reproduce an IL solvent structure is not as well-validated given the relative lack of high-level theoretical or experimental data available for comparison. In this study, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations were performed for three widely used ILs: the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cation with chloride, tetrafluoroborate, or hexafluorophosphate anions, that is, [BMIM][Cl], [BMIM][BF], and [BMIM][PF], respectively, as a basis for further assessment of two unique IL FFs: the ±0.

The stalk domain of SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 is essential for its helicase activity.

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has been spreading worldwide for more than two years and has led to immense challenges to human health. Despite the great efforts that have been made, our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 is still limited. The viral helicase, NSP13 is an important enzyme involved in SARS-CoV-2 replication and transcription.

REHE: Fast variance components estimation for linear mixed models.

Linear mixed models are widely used in ecological and biological applications, especially in genetic studies. Reliable estimation of variance components is crucial for using linear mixed models. However, standard methods, such as the restricted maximum likelihood (REML), are computationally inefficient in large samples and may be unstable with small samples.

netgsa: Fast computation and interactive visualization for topology-based pathway enrichment analysis.

Existing software tools for topology-based pathway enrichment analysis are either computationally inefficient, have undesirable statistical power, or require expert knowledge to leverage the methods' capabilities. To address these limitations, we have overhauled NetGSA, an existing topology-based method, to provide a computationally-efficient user-friendly tool that offers interactive visualization. Pathway enrichment analysis for thousands of genes can be performed in minutes on a personal computer without sacrificing statistical power.

Characterization of YAG:Ce phosphor dosimeter by the co-precipitation method for radiotherapy.

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) doped with Ce was synthesized via the co-precipitation method with as the precipitant. The spectroscopic properties and the effects of the Ce doping concentration and sintering atmosphere on the crystal phase were investigated. The dosimeter of YAG:Ce phosphor material was prepared to study the radioluminescence (RL) characteristics of a clinical linear accelerator.

NMCMDA: neural multicategory MiRNA-disease association prediction.

Motivation: There is growing evidence showing that the dysregulations of miRNAs cause diseases through various kinds of the underlying mechanism. Thus, predicting the multiple-category associations between microRNAs (miRNAs) and diseases plays an important role in investigating the roles of miRNAs in diseases. Moreover, in contrast with traditional biological experiments which are time-consuming and expensive, computational approaches for the prediction of multicategory miRNA-disease associations are time-saving and cost-effective that are highly desired for us.

Substrate-Dependent Mobile Loop Conformational Changes in Alkanesulfonate Monooxygenase from Accelerated Molecular Dynamics.

Substrate-induced conformational changes present in alkanesulfonate monooxygenase (SsuD) are crucial to catalysis and lead to distinct interactions between a dynamic loop region and the active site. Accelerated molecular dynamics (aMD) simulations have been carried out to examine this potential correlation by studying wild-type SsuD and variant enzymes bound with different combinations of reduced flavin (FMNH), C4a-peroxyflavin intermediate (FMNOO), and octanesulfonate (OCS). Three distinct mobile loop conformations were identified: "open", "closed", and "semiclosed".