Enhancing Field Emission in Air via Ultrascaled Nanorod Electrodes.

Enhancing field emission in ultrascaled electronics improves the device performance and energy efficiency. Conventional lithography defines electrodes with a few-nanometer spacing on the cost of strengthened electron scattering and the reduced field enhancement factor, thus presenting challenges to enhance field emission at a small bias. Here, we used self-assembled nanorods with sub-5 nm spacing as electrodes to overcome these challenges.

An eco-friendly solution for construction and demolition waste: Recycled coarse aggregate with CO utilization.

Carbonation of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) is an eco-friendly solution for the recycling of construction and demolition waste. This paper provides a comprehensive understanding of utilizing CO in RCA. The carbonation mechanism associated with CO treatment of RCA has been systematically summarized.

Hesperetin ameliorates spinal cord injury in rats through suppressing apoptosis, oxidative stress and inflammatory response.

Spinal cord injury (SCI), a fatal condition, is characterized by progressive tissue degradation and extreme functional deficits with limited treatment options. Hesperetin, a natural flavonoid with potent antioxidant, antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties, has yet to be systematically investigated for its therapeutic effects on neurological damage in rat models of SCI. In this study, rats were given oral hesperetin once daily for 28 days, and their locomotion and histopathological changes were assessed.

A cooperative construction strategy for multi-parameter spatial variant random fields and its application in groundwater pollution risk assessment.

The spatial variability of hydrogeological parameters is a significant source of uncertainty in groundwater numerical modeling and has a certain risk impact on the prediction of pollutant migration and transformation. Current research has focused on the effects of single-parameter spatial variant random fields or utilizing random sampling methods to randomly combine multiple-parameter spatial variant random fields while ignoring the correlation between parameters. This paper proposes an innovative concept of associated random variables to construct multi-parameter synergistic spatial variant random fields, ensuring both the spatial variability and inherent correlation of the parameters.

Aptamer-Assisted Blockade of the Immune Suppressor Sialic Acid-Binding Immunoglobulin-Like Lectin-15 for Cancer Immunotherapy.

The percentage of low response and adaptive resistance to current antibody-based immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy requires the development of novel immunotherapy strategies. Here, we developed an aptamer-assisted immune checkpoint blockade (Ap-ICB) against sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-15 (Siglec-15), a novel immune suppressor broadly upregulated on cancer cells and tumor infiltrating myeloid cells, which is mutually exclusive of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1). Using protein aptamer selection, we identified WXY3 aptamer with high affinity against Siglec-15 protein/Siglec-15 positive cells.

CO utilization and sequestration in ready-mix concrete-A review.

CO utilization and sequestration in concrete have been gaining increased attention in recent years. CO can be injected into ready-mix concrete, which is defined as carbonation ready-mix concrete (CRC) showing a huge CO sequestration potential. CRC technology was comprehensively reviewed in this paper.

Capturing nascent extracellular vesicles by metabolic glycan labeling-assisted microfluidics.

Extracellular vesicle (EV) secretion is a dynamic process crucial to cellular communication. Temporally sorting EVs, i.e.

A non-toxic recombinant Clostridium septicum α toxin induces protective immunity in mice and rabbits.

Clostridium septicum alpha toxin (CSA) plays significant roles in ruminant's braxy. Genetically engineered CSA has been shown to function as a potential vaccine candidate in the prevention of the disease caused by Clostridium septicum. In the present study, we synthesized a non-toxic recombinant, rCSA by introducing four amino acid substitutions (C86L/N296A/H301A/W342A) and 11-amino-acid deletion (residues 212 to 222).

Plexin D1 mediates disturbed flow-induced M1 macrophage polarization in atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis preferentially develops at bifurcations exposed to disturbed flow. Plexin D1 (PLXND1) responds to mechanical forces and drives macrophage accumulation in atherosclerosis. Here, multiple strategies were used to identify the role of PLXND1 in site-specific atherosclerosis.

Sensitive magnetic particle imaging of haemoglobin degradation for the detection and monitoring of intraplaque haemorrhage in atherosclerosis.

Background: Intraplaque haemorrhage (IPH) drives atherosclerosis progression and is a key imaging biomarker of unstable plaques. Non-invasive and sensitive monitoring of IPH is challenging due to the compositional complexity and dynamic nature of atherosclerotic plaques. Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a highly sensitive, radiation-free, and no-tissue-background tomographic technique that detects superparamagnetic nanoparticles.

Aptamer-LYTACs for Targeted Degradation of Extracellular and Membrane Proteins.

Recently, lysosome targeting chimeras (LYTACs) have emerged as a promising technology that expands the scope of targeted protein degradation to extracellular targets. However, the preparation of chimeras by conjugation of the antibody and trivalent N-acetylgalactosamine (tri-GalNAc) is a complex and time-consuming process. The large uncertainty in number and position and the large molecular weights of the chimeras result in low internalization efficiency.

Adaptive permissible region based random Kaczmarz reconstruction method for localization of carotid atherosclerotic plaques in fluorescence molecular tomography.

In this study, we propose the adaptive permissible region based random Kaczmarz method as an improved reconstruction method to recover small carotid atherosclerotic plaque targets in rodents with high resolution in fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT).We introduce the random Kaczmarz method as an advanced minimization method to solve the FMT inverse problem. To satisfy the special condition of this method, we proposed an adaptive permissible region strategy based on traditional permissible region methods to flexibly compress the dimension of the solution space.

Identification of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in sheep farms in Bayannaoer, Inner Mongolia, China (short communication).

Background: Paratuberculosis is a widespread chronic infection of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) that causes significant economic losses to the sheep industry. The current study investigated this disease, which causes diarrhea in sheep, particularly, in Bayannaoer, Inner Mongolia, China. Diagnosis was based on clinical symptoms, pathological autopsy, histopathological inspection, and serological and molecular methods.

Elimination of stripe artifacts in light sheet fluorescence microscopy using an attention-based residual neural network.

Stripe artifacts can deteriorate the quality of light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) images. Owing to the inhomogeneous, high-absorption, or scattering objects located in the excitation light path, stripe artifacts are generated in LSFM images in various directions and types, such as horizontal, anisotropic, or multidirectional anisotropic. These artifacts severely degrade the quality of LSFM images.

The effect of endothelial progenitor cell transplantation on neointimal hyperplasia and reendothelialisation after balloon catheter injury in rat carotid arteries.

Background: Reendothelialisation is the natural pathway that inhibits neointimal hyperplasia and in-stent restenosis. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) derived from bone marrow (BM) might contribute to endothelial repair. However, the temporal and spatial distributions of reendothelialisation and neointimal hyperplasia after EPC transplantation in injured arteries are currently unclear.

RNA-seq analysis of testes from flurochloridone-treated rats.

Flurochloridone (FLC) is a widely used herbicide in developing countries. Although the testes are a target organ for FLC in rats, the adverse effects of FLC on testes have not been fully elucidated. To clarify them, we performed RNA-seq analysis using the testes of FLC-treated rats from our previous subchronic toxicity tests.

The Oral NOAEL of Flurochloridone in Male Wistar Rats in Ninety-Day Subchronic Toxicity Test Was 3mg/kg/day.

A ninety-day toxicity and toxicokinetics of flurochloridone (FLC) were studied in male Wistar rats with oral administration at doses of 3 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg respectively, following the previous study. Apparent toxicity to reproductive system of male rats was still observed at the dose of 10 mg/kg, trace amounts of FLC were still detected 24 hours after administration, testicular weight, epididymal weight and serum testosterone were significantly reduced and sperm abnormalities in epididymis were significantly increased. No abnormalities were found in 3 mg/kg group, it indicated that no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of FLC in male rats was 3 mg/kg/day, far below the dose of 20 mg/kg/day reported by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Effects of bioactive constituents in the Traditional Chinese Medicinal formula Si-Wu-Tang on Nrf2 signaling and neoplastic cellular transformation.

Background: The nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a potential molecular target for cancer chemoprevention. Si-Wu-Tang (SWT), a popular traditional Chinese medicine for women's health, was reported with a novel activity of cancer prevention.

Purpose: The present study was aimed to identify the bioactive constituents in SWT responsible for the Nrf2 activating and cancer preventive activity and explore the pharmacological mechanisms.

Inhibition of Neoplastic Transformation and Chemically-Induced Skin Hyperplasia in Mice by Traditional Chinese Medicinal Formula Si-Wu-Tang.

Exploring traditional medicines may lead to the development of low-cost and non-toxic cancer preventive agents. Si-Wu-Tang (SWT), comprising the combination of four herbs, Rehmanniae, Angelica, Chuanxiong, and Paeoniae, is one of the most popular traditional Chinese medicines for women's diseases. In our previous studies, the antioxidant Nrf2 pathways were strongly induced by SWT in vitro and in vivo.

Complete Genome Sequence of Trueperella pyogenes, Isolated from Infected Farmland Goats.

Trueperella pyogenes is a significant pathogen of livestock, causing diverse diseases, such as mastitis, liver abscessation, and pneumonia. In this study, we have reported the genome sequence of Trueperella pyogenes 2012CQ-ZSH. Moreover, several genes coding for virulence factors were found, such as pyolysin (PYO), nanH, nanP, cbpA, fimC, and fimE.

Metabolism and Bioactivation of Fluorochloridone, a Novel Selective Herbicide, in Vivo and in Vitro.

Fluorochloridone (FLC) is a herbicide used worldwide that is thought to be safe. However, due to its potential genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, and even systematic toxicity, there are increasing concerns about human exposure to this compound. Thus, the metabolism and bioactivation of FLC was investigated.

Effects of Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) on Systemic Oxidative Stress and Cardiac Function in ApoE(-/-) Mice.

Aim: In this study, we aimed to explore the toxic mechanisms of cardiovascular injuries induced by ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in atherosclerotic-susceptible ApoE(-/-) mice. An acute toxicological animal experiment was designed with PM2.

Identification of flurochloridone metabolites in rat urine using liquid chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry.

It is of great interest to develop strategic methods to enable chemicals' metabolites to be accurately and rapidly screened and identified. To screen and identify a category of metabolites with distinct isotopic distribution, this study proposed a generic strategy using in silico metabolite prediction plus accurate-mass-based isotopic pattern recognition (AMBIPR) and library identification on the data acquired via the data dependent MS/MS scan of LC-Q Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry. The proposed method was evaluated by the analysis of flurochloridone (FLC) metabolites in rat urine sample collected from toxicity tests.