Targeted APT8(16-34) obtained by cell-SELEX and its internalization with miR-23-5p into activated hepatic stellate cells.

Background: The activation of hepatic stellate cells play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis. However, the current lack of specifically identified targets on these cells poses a significant challenge in developing targeted delivery tools for effective anti-hepatic fibrosis therapeutics in clinical practice.

Methods: Cell-systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment method was conducted on HSC-T6 cell line to screen out activated hepatic stellate cell-specific aptamers.

Light-stabilized GIL1 suppresses PIN3 activity to inhibit hypocotyl gravitropism.

Light and gravity coordinately regulate the directional growth of plants. Arabidopsis Gravitropic in the Light 1 (GIL1) inhibits the negative gravitropism of hypocotyls in red and far-red light, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Our study found that GIL1 is a plasma membrane-localized protein.

Fabrication and structural and magnetic properties of spark plasma sintered group-IV diluted magnetic semiconductor Fe-doped SiGe alloys.

Fe-doped SiGe bulk alloys are fabricated using non-equilibrium spark plasma sintering (SPS) and their structure and ferromagnetic and magneto-transport properties are investigated. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscope measurements show that the obtained alloys are composed of SiGe polycrystals. Magnetization measurements reveal that the Fe-doped SiGe alloys exhibit ferromagnetism up to 259 K, and their Curie temperature increases with Fe doping concentration up to 8%.

Amyloplast sedimentation repolarizes LAZYs to achieve gravity sensing in plants.

Gravity controls directional growth of plants, and the classical starch-statolith hypothesis proposed more than a century ago postulates that amyloplast sedimentation in specialized cells initiates gravity sensing, but the molecular mechanism remains uncharacterized. The LAZY proteins are known as key regulators of gravitropism, and lazy mutants show striking gravitropic defects. Here, we report that gravistimulation by reorientation triggers mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling-mediated phosphorylation of Arabidopsis LAZY proteins basally polarized in root columella cells.

Development and validation of a contrast-enhanced CT-based radiomics nomogram for differentiating mass-like thymic hyperplasia and low-risk thymoma.

Purpose: To explore the efficiency of a contrast-enhanced CT-based radiomics nomogram integrated with radiomics signature and clinically independent predictors to distinguish mass-like thymic hyperplasia (ml-TH) from low-risk thymoma (LRT) preoperatively.

Methods: 135 Patients with histopathology confirmed ml-TH (n = 65) and LRT (n = 70) were randomly divided into training set (n = 94) and validation set (n = 41) at a ratio of 7:3. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm was used to obtain the optimal features.

Application of DCE-MRI radiomics signature analysis in differentiating molecular subtypes of luminal and non-luminal breast cancer.

Background: The goal of this study was to develop and validate a radiomics signature based on dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) preoperatively differentiating luminal and non-luminal molecular subtypes in patients with invasive breast cancer.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-five invasive breast cancer patients with luminal ( = 78) and non-luminal ( = 57) molecular subtypes were divided into training set ( = 95) and testing set ( = 40) in a 7:3 ratio. Demographics and MRI radiological features were used to construct clinical risk factors.

Development and validation of a MRI-based combined radiomics nomogram for differentiation in chondrosarcoma.

Objective: This study aims to develop and validate the performance of an unenhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based combined radiomics nomogram for discrimination between low-grade and high-grade in chondrosarcoma.

Methods: A total of 102 patients with 44 in low-grade and 58 in high-grade chondrosarcoma were enrolled and divided into training set (n=72) and validation set (n=30) with a 7:3 ratio in this retrospective study. The demographics and unenhanced MRI imaging characteristics of the patients were evaluated to develop a clinic-radiological factors model.

Facile Solution-Refluxing Synthesis and Photocatalytic Dye Degradation of a Dynamic Covalent Organic Framework.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), as a novel crystalline porous adsorbent, have been attracting significant attention for their synthesis and application exploration due to the advantages of designability, stability, and functionalization. Herein, through increasing the concentration of the acid catalyst, a facile solution-refluxing synthesis method was developed for the preparation of a three-dimensional dynamic COF material, COF-300, with high yields (>90%) and high space−time yields (>28 kg m−3 day−1). This synthesis method not only permits gram-scale synthesis, but also yields products that well maintain porosity and unique guest-dependent dynamic behavior.

Application of a combined radiomics nomogram based on CE-CT in the preoperative prediction of thymomas risk categorization.

Objective: This study aimed to establish a combined radiomics nomogram to preoperatively predict the risk categorization of thymomas by using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) images.

Materials And Methods: The clinical, pathological, and CT data of 110 patients with thymoma (50 patients with low-risk thymomas and 60 patients with high-risk thymomas) collected in our Hospital from July 2017 to March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The study subjects were randomly divided into the training set (n = 77) and validation set (n = 33) in a 7:3 ratio.

Nomogram Incorporating Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography Predicting Time to the Development of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

Background: It is valuable to predict the time to the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in patients with advanced prostate cancer (PCa). This study aimed to build and validate a nomogram incorporating the clinicopathologic characteristics and the parameters of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) to predict the time to CRPC after androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

Methods: Patients with PCa were divided into the training (n = 183) and validation cohorts (n = 37) for nomogram construction and validation.

Analysis of melanin biosynthesis in the plant pathogenic fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides.

Melanin is recognized as a dark pigment that can protect fungi from the harm of environmental stresses. To investigate what roles of melanin played in the pathogenicity and development of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, a causal agent of poplar anthracnose, genes encoding a transcription factor CgCmr1 and a polyketide synthase CgPks1 were isolated as the ortholog of Magnaporthe oryzae Pig1 and Pks1 respectively. Deletion of CgCmr1 or CgPks1 resulted in melanin-deficient fungal colony.

Mucin Msb2 cooperates with the transmembrane protein Sho1 in various plant surface signal sensing and pathogenic processes in the poplar anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides.

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a hemibiotrophic ascomycete fungus that causes anthracnose on numerous plants worldwide and forms a specialized infection structure known as an appressorium in response to various plant surface signals. However, the associated mechanism of host surface signal recognition remains unclear. In the present study, three putative sensors, namely the mucin Msb2, the membrane sensor protein Sho1, and the G-protein-coupled receptor Pth11, were identified and characterized.

CgEnd3 Regulates Endocytosis, Appressorium Formation, and Virulence in the Poplar Anthracnose Fungus .

The hemibiotrophic ascomycete fungus is the causal agent of anthracnose on numerous plants, and it causes considerable economic losses worldwide. Endocytosis is an essential cellular process in eukaryotic cells, but its roles in remain unknown. In our study, we identified an endocytosis-related protein, CgEnd3, and knocked it out via polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated protoplast transformation.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade CgSte50-Ste11-Ste7-Mk1 regulates infection-related morphogenesis in the poplar anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides.

The hemibiotrophic pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is the causal agent of poplar anthracnose and causes considerable economic losses. This fungus infects its host through a specialized structure called an appressorium. In a previous study, we demonstrated that the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) CgMk1 plays a critical role in appressorium formation and pathogenicity.

A Cdc42 homolog in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides regulates morphological development and is required for ROS-mediated plant infection.

The Rho GTPase Cdc42 is conserved in fungi and plays a key role in regulating polarity establishment, morphogenesis and differentiation. In this study, we identified an ortholog of Cdc42, CgCdc42, and functionally characterized it to determine the role of Cdc42 in the development and pathogenicity of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, a causal agent of poplar anthracnose. Targeted deletion of CgCdc42 resulted in reduced vegetative growth and dramatic morphological defects, including the formation of elongated conidia and abnormally shaped appressoria.

The Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Governs Appressorium Formation, Melanin Synthesis, and Plant Infection of .

The fungus infects plant hosts with a specialized cell called an appressorium, which is melanized and required for plant cell wall penetration. Here, we show that the mitogen-activated protein kinase governs appressorium formation and virulence in the poplar anthracnose fungus . Deletion of impairs aerial hyphal growth and biomass accumulation, and is responsible for the expression of melanin biosynthesis-associated genes.

Histamine downregulates aquaporin 5 in human nasal epithelial cells.

Background: Aquaporin 5 (AQP5) is a water-specific channel protein. It is thought to be a key participant in fluid secretion and a rate-limiting barrier to the secretion seen during allergic inflammation. We sought to determine the effect of histamine on AQP5 expression in human nasal epithelial cells (HNEpC).

Hes1, an important gene for activation of hepatic stellate cells, is regulated by Notch1 and TGF-β/BMP signaling.

Aim: To determine the role of Notch1 and Hes1 in regulating the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and whether Hes1 is regulated by transforming growth factor (TGF)/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling.

Methods: Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the expression of desmin, glial fibrillary acidic protein and the myofibroblastic marker α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) after freshly isolated, normal rat HSCs had been activated in culture for different numbers of days (0, 1, 3, 7 and 10 d). The expression of α-SMA, collagen1α2 (COL1α2), Notch receptors (Notch1-4), and the Notch target genes Hes1 and Hey1 were analyzed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.

Achieving nitrogen removal via nitrite in a pilot-scale continuous pre-denitrification plant.

Nitrogen removal via nitrite (the nitrite pathway) is beneficial for carbon-limited biological wastewater treatment plants. However, partial nitrification to nitrite has proven difficult in continuous processes treating domestic wastewater. The nitrite pathway is achieved in this study in a pilot-scale continuous pre-denitrification plant (V=300 L) treating domestic wastewater by controlling the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration at 0.

The denitrification capability of cluster 1 Defluviicoccus vanus-related glycogen-accumulating organisms.

The denitrification capability of Cluster 1 Defluviicoccus vanus-related glycogen-accumulating organisms (DvGAOs) is investigated. A sequencing batch reactor (SBR) fed with acetate as the sole carbon source was operated under alternating anaerobic-aerobic conditions to enrich Cluster 1 DvGAOs. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) showed that more than 85% of the bacterial population present in the reactor bound to the probes previously designed for Cluster 1 DvGAOs.

Anaerobic metabolism of Defluviicoccus vanus related glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs) with acetate and propionate as carbon sources.

The anaerobic uptake of acetate and propionate as single and dual carbon sources by the putative Defluviicoccus vanus related glycogen accumulating organisms (DvGAOs) is investigated. A high enrichment of DvGAOs, representing 95+/-3% of the bacterial community bound to the EUBMIX probes, was achieved in a lab-scale reactor operated under alternating anaerobic and aerobic conditions with acetate as the sole carbon source. The culture is able to take up both acetate and propionate under anaerobic conditions, and the metabolism in both cases is well described by the metabolic models previously proposed for GAOs and verified with experimental data obtained with other types of GAO cultures.

Short-cut nitrification of domestic wastewater in a pilot-scale A/O nitrogen removal plant.

The feasibility of nitrite accumulation in a pilot-scale A/O (anoxic/oxic) nitrogen removal plant treating domestic wastewater was investigated at various dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and pH levels. The results showed that the pH was not a useful operational parameter to realize nitrite accumulation. Significant nitrite accumulation was observed at the low DO concentration range of 0.

Influence of wastewater composition on nitrogen and phosphorus removal and process control in A2O process.

A bench-scale anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A2O) bioreactor with steady denitrifying phosphorus removal performance was tested to determine the influence of influent C/N ratio (SCOD/TN) and C/P ratio (SCOD/TP) on biological nutrient removal for treating synthetic brewage wastewater; meanwhile, the spatial profiles of DO, pH and ORP sensors in such systems were investigated. The results showed that influent C/N ratio had significant effect on the TN, TP removal efficiencies and the ratio of anoxic to aerobic P uptake amount. The maximal TN and TP removal efficiencies could be achieved when influent C/N ratio was kept at about 7.

Nitrogen removal influence factors in A/O process and decision trees for nitrification/denitrification system.

In order to improve nitrogen removal in anoxic/oxic(A/O) process effectively for treating domestic wastewaters, the influence factors, DO(dissolved oxygen), nitrate recirculation, sludge recycle, SRT(solids residence time), influent COD/TN and HRT(hydraulic retention time) were studied. Results indicated that it was possible to increase nitrogen removal by using corresponding control strategies, such as, adjusting the DO set point according to effluent ammonia concentration; manipulating nitrate recirculation flow according to nitrate concentration at the end of anoxic zone. Based on the experiments results, a knowledge-based approach for supervision of the nitrogen removal problems was considered, and decision trees for diagnosing nitrification and denitrification problems were built and successfully applied to A/O process.