Application of Fucoidan in Caco-2 Model Establishment.

The Caco-2 model is a common cell model for material intestinal absorption in vitro, which usually takes 21 days to establish. Although some studies have shown that adding puromycin (PM) can shorten the model establishment period to 7 days, this still requires a long modeling time. Therefore, exploring a shorter modeling method can reduce the experimental costs and promote the development and application of the model.

Improved Thermoelectric Performance of p-Type Argyrodite CuGeSe via the Simultaneous Engineering of the Electronic and Phonon Transports.

Guided by the concept of "phonon-liquid electron-crystal", many n-type argyrodite compounds have been developed as candidates for thermoelectric (TE) materials. In recent years, the p-type CuGeSe (CGS) compound has attracted some attention in TEs due to the presence of very strong atomic vibrational arharmonicity inside the sublattice, which is caused by the weak bonding between Cu ions and [GeSe]. However, its TE performance is still poor, with a value of only 0.

Relaxation and Strain-Hardening Relationships in Highly Rejuvenated Metallic Glasses.

One way to rejuvenate metallic glasses is to increase their free volume. Here, by randomly removing atoms from the glass matrix, free volume is homogeneously generated in metallic glasses, and glassy states with different degrees of rejuvenation are designed and further mechanically tested. We find that the free volume in the rejuvenated glasses can be annihilated under tensile or compressive deformation that consequently leads to structural relaxation and strain-hardening.

Improved Thermoelectric Performance of P-type SnTe through Synergistic Engineering of Electronic and Phonon Transports.

SnTe has been regarded as a potential alternative to PbTe in thermoelectrics because of its environmentally friendly features. However, it is a challenge to optimize its thermoelectric (TE) performance as it has an inherent high hole concentration (∼2 × 10 cm) and low mobility (μ∼18 cm V s) at room temperature (RT), arising from a high intrinsic Sn vacancy concentration and large energy separation between its light and heavy valence bands. Therefore, its TE figure of merit is only 0.

Long noncoding RNA KCNQ1 opposite strand/antisense transcript 1 promotes osteosarcoma progression through miR-154-3p/KLF12.

Objective: Osteosarcoma (OS) is a common bone cancer that usually influences children. Metastasis and recurrence are the main reasons for the poor prognosis. In this study, we investigated the functions and mechanisms of KCNQ1 opposite strand/antisense transcript 1 (KCNQ1OT1) in OS.

EMI Shielding Nanocomposite Laminates with High Temperature Resistance, Hydrophobicity and Anticorrosion Properties.

High-performance multifunctional EMI shielding composite fabricated by low-cost method is increasingly required. Herein, novel EMI shielding nanocomposite laminates, consisting of composite prepreg of carbon fiber/epoxy resin/carbon nanotube film, were manufactured by facile electric heating of carbon nanotube film. The results indicated that composite with excellent specific shielding effectiveness of 0.

The Effect of Phase Separation on the Mechanical Behavior of the Co-Cr-Cu-Fe-Ni High-Entropy Alloy.

Phase separation phenomena in high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted much attention since their discovery, but little attention has been given to the dynamics of the deformation mechanism of this kind of HEA during uniaxial tension, which limits their widespread and practical utility. In this work, molecular dynamics simulation was used to study the effect of phase separation on the mechanical properties of an HEA under uniaxial tensile loading. Moreover, the associated deformation behavior of the Co-Cr-Cu-Fe-Ni HEA was investigated at the nanoscale.

Impact Measurement of COVID-19 Lockdown on China's Electricity-Carbon Nexus.

Lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) resulted in the plummeting of China's overall electric-power demand and production. To date, power generation remains one of the largest carbon dioxide (CO) emitting sectors of China on account of its high carbon intensity. Within this context, our study seeks to measure the impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on the electricity-power related carbon footprints on both generation and consumption sides.

Biological functions and potential therapeutic applications of huntingtin-associated protein 1: progress and prospects.

Huntington disease (HD) is a single-gene autosomal dominant inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by a polyglutamine expansion of the protein huntingtin (HTT). Huntingtin-associated protein 1 (HAP1) is the first protein identified as an interacting partner of huntingtin, which is directly associated with HD. HAP1 is mainly expressed in the nervous system and is also found in the endocrine system and digestive system, and then involves in the occurrence of the related endocrine diseases, digestive system diseases, and cancer.

Water Microdroplets Allow Spontaneously Abiotic Production of Peptides.

The chemistry of abiotic synthesis of peptides in the context of their prebiotic origins is a continuing challenge that arises from thermodynamic and kinetic constraints in aqueous media. Here we reported a strategy of microdroplets' mass spectrometry for peptide bonds formed from pure amino acids or a mixture in the presence of phosphoric acids in aqueous microdroplets. In contrast to bulk experiments, the condensation reactions proceed spontaneously under ambient conditions.

Anti-ovarian cancer potential of phytocompound and extract from South African medicinal plants and their role in the development of chemotherapeutic agents.

Ovarian cancer (OC) accounts for the highest tumor-related mortality among the gynecologic malignancies. Most of the OC patients diagnosed with advanced-stage (III and IV) this situation creates panic and provokes an emergency to discover a new therapeutic strategy. Plants that possess medicinal properties are gaining attention as they are enriched with various chemical compounds that are potential to treat various diseases.

Molecular characterization and functional analysis of the bactericidal permeability-increasing protein/LPS-binding protein (BPI/LBP) from roughskin sculpin (Trachidermus fasciatus).

Bactericidal permeability-increasing protein (BPI) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) binding proteins (LBP) both play important roles in innate immunity against bacterial infection. Herein, we identified a novel full-length cDNA sequence of BPI/LBP from Trachidermus fasciatus (designated as TfBPI/LBP). The full-length cDNA sequence of TfBPI/LBP was 1594bp, which contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 1422bp encoding a secreted protein with 473 amino acid residues.

Synthesis of oxadiazole-2-oxide derivatives as potential drug candidates for schistosomiasis targeting SjTGR.

Background: Schistosomiasis is a chronic parasitic disease that affects millions of people's health worldwide. Because of the increasing drug resistance to praziquantel (PZQ), which is the primary drug for schistosomiasis, developing new drugs to treat schistosomiasis is crucial. Oxadiazole-2-oxides have been identified as potential anti-schistosomiasis reagents targeting thioredoxin glutathione reductase (TGR).

Effect of Equal Channel Angular Pressing on the Dynamic Softening Behavior of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy in the Hot Deformation Process.

To investigate the effect of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) on the deformation of Ti-6Al-4V alloy at a higher temperature, hot compression tests were conducted on alloys having two different initial microstructures (the original alloy (Pre-ECAP) and ECAP-deformed alloy (Post-ECAP)). Post-ECAP, the alloy showed a higher degree of dynamic softening during the hot deformation process due to its finer grain size and higher distortion energy. The flow stress of Post-ECAP alloy was higher than the Pre-ECAP alloy at 500 °C when ε˙= 0.

Acute and chronic infection of H. pylori caused the difference in apoptosis of gastric epithelial cells.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the most important pathogenic bacteria associated with various gastrointestinal diseases. At present, its apoptotic or antiapoptotic mechanism on gastric epithelial cells remains unknown and needs further illustrated.

The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of Yimeng wool rabbit.

Yimeng wool rabbit is a national breed of geographical indication in China. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Yimeng wool rabbit was first determined in this study (Accession number MN296708). The mitogenome (16,740 bp) consists of 22 tRNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, and 1 control region (D-loop region).

Radiomics-based machine-learning method for prediction of distant metastasis from soft-tissue sarcomas.

Aim: To construct and validate a radiomics-based machine-learning method for preoperative prediction of distant metastasis (DM) from soft-tissue sarcoma.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-seven soft-tissue sarcomas were divided into a training set (n=54) and a validation set (n=23). The performance of three feature selection methods (ReliefF, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator [LASSO], and regularised discriminative feature selection for unsupervised learning [UDFS]) and four classifiers, random forest (RF), logistic regression (LOG), K nearest neighbour (KNN), and support vector machines (SVMs), were compared for predicting the likelihood of DM.

The clinicopathological features and prognosis of serum AFP positive gastric cancer: a report of 16 cases.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing gastric cancer (AFPGC) is a relatively rare type of gastric cancer (GC). To improve the early diagnosis and treatment of AFPGC, we thoroughly investigated the clinicopathological features and prognosis of AFPGC. 139 GC patients who had received treatment from January 2013 to March 2016 in Jinan Central Hospital were included in this study.

Impact of data preprocessing on cell-type clustering based on single-cell RNA-seq data.

Background: Advances in single-cell RNA-seq technology have led to great opportunities for the quantitative characterization of cell types, and many clustering algorithms have been developed based on single-cell gene expression. However, we found that different data preprocessing methods show quite different effects on clustering algorithms. Moreover, there is no specific preprocessing method that is applicable to all clustering algorithms, and even for the same clustering algorithm, the best preprocessing method depends on the input data.

(Rodentia, Muridae) is a distinct species based on molecular, karyotyping, and morphological evidence.

Thomas, 1908, which has been regarded as a subspecies of , was found to be a distinct species from based on molecular, karyotyping, and morphological characteristics in this study. was found to belong to a distinct phylogenetic clade in phylogenetic tree constructed using the mitochondrial gene , it clustered with (Bonhote, 1903) from Vietnam and (Milne-Edwards, 1871) from Yunnan, but showed a distant relationship with from adjacent areas. The genetic distance between and was more than 5.

TransBorrow: genome-guided transcriptome assembly by borrowing assemblies from different assemblers.

RNA-seq technology is widely used in various transcriptomic studies and provides great opportunities to reveal the complex structures of transcriptomes. To effectively analyze RNA-seq data, we introduce a novel transcriptome assembler, TransBorrow, which borrows the assemblies from different assemblers to search for reliable subsequences by building a colored graph from those borrowed assemblies. Then, by seeding reliable subsequences, a newly designed path extension strategy accurately searches for a transcript-representing path cover over each splicing graph.

The Impact on Antioxidant Enzyme Activity and Related Gene Expression Following Adult Zebrafish () Exposure to Dimethyl Phthalate.

Dimethyl phthalate (DMP) is a widespread environmental contaminant that poses potential toxicity risks for animals and humans. However, the toxicological effects of DMP on fish have not been adequately examined. In this study, the acute toxicity, oxidative damage, antioxidant enzyme activities, and relative gene expression patterns were investigated in the liver of adult zebrafish () exposed to DMP.

Interpreting the Pharmacological Mechanisms of Huachansu Capsules on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Through Combining Network Pharmacology and Experimental Evaluation.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most fatal cancers across the world. Chinese medicine has been used as adjunctive or complementary therapy for the management of HCC. Huachansu belongs to a class of toxic steroids isolated from toad venom that has important anti-cancer property.

A peptide inhibitor of macrophage migration in atherosclerosis purified from the leech Whitmania pigra.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Atherosclerosis has become a worldwide public health problem that seriously threatens human health. Leech is traditional Chinese medicine that can be utilized to treat cardiovascular disease. Based on the anti-atherosclerosis activity of leech hydrolysate, we separated and purified the leech peptide capable of inhibiting macrophage migration and studied the pathways of the anti-migration leech peptide.

Development and Properties of Fish Gelatin/Oxidized Starch Double Network Film Catalyzed by Thermal Treatment and Schiff' Base Reaction.

In order to improve the properties of fish gelatin (FG), oxidized starch (OS) was adopted to form hetero-covalent linkage with it based on thermal treatment and the Schiff' base reaction. The effects of different ratios of FG/OS (ranging from 10:1 to 2:1) on the properties of films were investigated. OS improved the mechanical and barrier properties of films significantly, while the moisture content decreased as OS concentration increased.