Human-like adrenal features in Chinese tree shrews revealed by multi-omics analysis of adrenal cell populations and steroid synthesis.

The Chinese tree shrew ( ) has emerged as a promising model for investigating adrenal steroid synthesis, but it is unclear whether the same cells produce steroid hormones and whether their production is regulated in the same way as in humans. Here, we comprehensively mapped the cell types and pathways of steroid metabolism in the adrenal gland of Chinese tree shrews using single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptome analysis, mass spectrometry, and immunohistochemistry. We compared the transcriptomes of various adrenal cell types across tree shrews, humans, macaques, and mice.

Immunometabolic features of natural killer cells are associated with infection outcomes in critical illness.

Immunosuppression increases the risk of nosocomial infection in patients with chronic critical illness. This exploratory study aimed to determine the immunometabolic signature associated with nosocomial infection during chronic critical illness. We prospectively recruited patients who were admitted to the respiratory care center and who had received mechanical ventilator support for more than 10 days in the intensive care unit.

A Mobile Applet for Assessing Medication Adherence and Managing Adverse Drug Reactions Among Patients With Cancer: Usability and Utility Study.

Background: Medication adherence and the management of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are crucial to the efficacy of antitumor drugs. A WeChat applet, also known as a "Mini Program," is similar to the app but has marked advantages. The development and use of a WeChat applet makes follow-up convenient for patients with cancer.

Spatial multi-omics analyses of the tumor immune microenvironment.

In the past decade, single-cell technologies have revealed the heterogeneity of the tumor-immune microenvironment at the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic levels and have furthered our understanding of the mechanisms of tumor development. Single-cell technologies have also been used to identify potential biomarkers. However, spatial information about the tumor-immune microenvironment such as cell locations and cell-cell interactomes is lost in these approaches.

[Comparison of artificial neural network with compatible biomass model for predicting aboveground biomass of individual tree].

Forest biomass is an important index in forest development planning and forest resource monitoring. In order to provide a more efficient and low-biased method for estimating individual tree biomass, we introduced artificial neural network here. We used the data of aboveground biomass of 101 trees harvested from the Dongzhelenghe Forest Farm in Heilongjiang Province to develop four aggregation model systems (AMS), based on different combination of the variables (diameter at breast height, tree height, crown width).

NK cell receptor and ligand composition influences the clearance of SARS-CoV-2.

To explore how the immune system controls clearance of SARS-CoV-2, we used a single-cell, mass cytometry-based proteomics platform to profile the immune systems of 21 patients who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection without need for admission to an intensive care unit or for mechanical ventilation. We focused on receptors involved in interactions between immune cells and virus-infected cells. We found that the diversity of receptor repertoires on natural killer (NK) cells was negatively correlated with the viral clearance rate.

Cancer-Derived Succinate Promotes Macrophage Polarization and Cancer Metastasis via Succinate Receptor.

Macrophages form a major cell population in the tumor microenvironment. They can be activated and polarized into tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) by the tumor-derived soluble molecules to promote tumor progression and metastasis. Here, we used comparative metabolomics coupled with biochemical and animal studies to show that cancer cells release succinate into their microenvironment and activate succinate receptor (SUCNR1) signaling to polarize macrophages into TAM.

Host-Induced Gene Silencing of Confers Broad-Spectrum Resistance to .

Rice blast caused by () is a major threat to global rice production. In recent years, small interference RNAs (siRNAs) and host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) has been shown to be new strategies for the development of transgenic plants to control fungal diseases and proved a useful tool to study gene function in pathogens. We here tested whether feeding artificial siRNAs (asiRNAs) could compromise e virulence and HIGS technique could improve rice blast resistance.

TLR2 Promotes Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Chondrogenic Differentiation and Consequent Calcification via the Concerted Actions of Osteoprotegerin Suppression and IL-6-Mediated RANKL Induction.

Objective- Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) transformation to an osteochondrogenic phenotype is an initial step toward arterial calcification, which is highly correlated with cardiovascular disease-related morbidity and mortality. TLR2 (Toll-like receptor 2) plays a pathogenic role in the development of vascular diseases, but its regulation in calcification of arteries and VSMCs remains unclear. We postulate that TLR2-mediated inflammation participates in mediating atherosclerotic arterial calcification and VSMC calcification.

Inhomogeneity of Free Volumes in Metallic Glasses under Tension.

In this work, the deformation of Zr₂Cu metallic glass (MG) under uniaxial tensile stress was investigated at the atomic level using a series of synchrotron radiation techniques combined with molecular dynamics simulation. A new approach to the quantitative detection of free volumes in MGs was designed and it was found that free volumes increase in the elastic stage, slowly expand in the yield stage, and finally reach saturation in the plastic stage. In addition, in different regions of the MG model, free volumes exhibited inhomogeneity under stress, in terms of size, density, and distribution.

Mitigation of membrane biofouling by d-amino acids: Effect of bacterial cell-wall property and d-amino acid type.

Development of novel approaches for biofouling mitigation is of crucial importance for membrane-based technologies. d-amino acids (d-AAs) have been proposed as a potential strategy to mitigate biofouling. However, the effect of bacterial cell-wall properties and d-AAs type on biofouling mitigation remains unclear.

Modelling of XCO₂ Surfaces Based on Flight Tests of TanSat Instruments.

The TanSat carbon satellite is to be launched at the end of 2016. In order to verify the performance of its instruments, a flight test of TanSat instruments was conducted in Jilin Province in September, 2015. The flight test area covered a total area of about 11,000 km² and the underlying surface cover included several lakes, forest land, grassland, wetland, farmland, a thermal power plant and numerous cities and villages.

TLR4-Activated MAPK-IL-6 Axis Regulates Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Function.

Migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) into the intima is considered to be a vital event in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. Despite substantial evidence supporting the pathogenic role of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the progression of atherogenesis, its function in the regulation of VSMC migration remains unclear. The goal of the present study was to elucidate the mechanism by which TLR4 regulates VSMC migration.

sn-1,2-diacylglycerols protect against lethal endotoxemia by controlling systemic inflammation.

Systemic inflammation has emerged as a key pathophysiological process that induces multiple organ injuries and causes serious human diseases. Despite substantial evidence supporting the role of diacylglycerols (DAG) in modulating chronic inflammation and chronic diseases, the potential mechanisms of its involvement in TLRs-mediated inflammation are still unclear. Here, we show that sn-1,2-diacylglycerols modulate LPS/TLR4-mediated inflammation in vitro and in vivo.

Endothelium-Derived 5-Methoxytryptophan Is a Circulating Anti-Inflammatory Molecule That Blocks Systemic Inflammation.

Rationale: Systemic inflammation has emerged as a key pathophysiological process that induces multiorgan injury and causes serious human diseases. Endothelium is critical in maintaining cellular and inflammatory homeostasis, controlling systemic inflammation, and progression of inflammatory diseases. We postulated that endothelium produces and releases endogenous soluble factors to modulate inflammatory responses and protect against systemic inflammation.

Endothelium-Derived 5-Methoxytryptophan Protects Endothelial Barrier Function by Blocking p38 MAPK Activation.

The endothelial junction is tightly controlled to restrict the passage of blood cells and solutes. Disruption of endothelial barrier function by bacterial endotoxins, cytokines or growth factors results in inflammation and vascular damage leading to vascular diseases. We have identified 5-methoxytryptophan (5-MTP) as an anti-inflammatory factor by metabolomic analysis of conditioned medium of human fibroblasts.

[Two-temperature diagnostic studies by emission spectra for nonequilibrium Ti-H plasma].

Using the T-H solid solution made by titanium absorbed hydrogen as the cathode, the Ti-H plasma produced by the pulsed vacuum are ion source was nonequilibrium: it contained both the component of titanium and hydrogen; there existed gradient in the radiaL, the horizontal and the time. As a result, it could not be described by a single temperature. The present paper assumed that the subsystem consisting of electrons and the subsystem consisting of other heavy particles reached equilibrium respectively, meaning that the Ti-H plasma was described by the two temperatures as electron temperature and heavy ion temperature, it was non-equilibrium two-temperature plasma Using Culdberg-Waage dissociation equation to describe the molecular dissociation process in the system, using Saha ionization equation to describe the atomic ionization process, combining plasma's charge quasi-neutral condition and introducing atomic emission spectroscopy as a plasma diagnostic method which would not interfere the plasma at the same time; the temperature and the particle number density of the Ti-H plasma were diagnosed.

D-amino acids inhibit initial bacterial adhesion: thermodynamic evidence.

Bacterial biofilms are structured communities of cells enclosed in a self-produced hydrated polymeric matrix that can adhere to inert or living surfaces. D-Amino acids were previously identified as self-produced compounds that mediate biofilm disassembly by causing the release of the protein component of the polymeric matrix. However, whether exogenous D-amino acids could inhibit initial bacterial adhesion is still unknown.

[Preliminary study of atomic emission spectrometry of Ti (H) plasma produced by vacuum arc ion source].

In order to study the discharge process of vacuum arc ion source, make a detail description of the discharge plasma, and lay the foundation for further research on ion source, atomic emission spectrometry was used to diagnose the parameters of plasma produced by vaccum arc ion source. In the present paper, two kinds of analysis method for the emission spectra data collected by a spectrometer were developed. Those were based in the stark broadening of spectral lines and Saba-Boltzmann equation.

Influences of D-tyrosine on the stability of activated sludge flocs.

The sludge floc stability is essential for the solid/liquid separation in biological wastewater treatment. In this study, the effect of an exogenous d-tyrosine on the shear stability and surface characteristics of activated sludge flocs was investigated. Sludge flocs were found to be less stable in the addition of d-tyrosine.

Cyclodextrin-based microcapsules as bioreactors for ATP biosynthesis.

A biomimetic energy converter was fabricated via the assembly of CF0F1-ATPase on lipid-coated hollow nanocapsules composed of α-cyclodextrins/chitosan-graft-poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate. Upon entrapped GOD into these capsules, the addition of glucose could trigger proton-motive force and then drive the rotation of ATPase to synthesize ATP.

pH-Switchable macroscopic assembly through host-guest inclusion.

A novel pH-switchable macroscopic assembly is reported using alginate-based hydrogels functionalized with host (α-cyclodextrin, αCD) and guest (diethylenetriamine, DETA) moieties. Since the interaction of αCD and DETA is pH sensitive, the host hydrogel and guest hydrogel could adhere together when the pH is 11.5 and separate when the pH is 7.

Redox- and glucose-induced shape-memory polymers.

A novel redox-induced shape-memory polymer (SMP) is prepared by crosslinking β-cyclodextrin modified chitosan (β-CD-CS) and ferrocene modified branched ethylene imine polymer (Fc-PEI). The resulting β-CD-CS/Fc-PEI contains two crosslinks: reversible redox-sensitive β-CD-Fc inclusion complexes serving as reversible phases, and covalent crosslinks serving as fixing phases. It is shown that this material can be processed into temporary shapes as needed in the reduced state and recovers its initial shape after oxidation.

Photoreversible polymer-surfactant micelles using the molecular recognition of α-cyclodextrin.

Photoreversible micelles were achieved by a combination of commercially available components sodium alginate (Alg), tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB), α-cyclodextrin (α-CD), and 4-(phenylazo)benzoic acid (PBA). Under visible light irradiation, α-CD interacted more favorably with PBA than with alkyl chains of TTAB. Therefore, polymer-surfactant micelles were formed by the self-assembly of Alg and TTAB through electrostatic attraction.