Multi-omics profiling reveals liver-retina axis in high-fat diet-induced early retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), a leading cause of blindness in the working-age population, is a severe complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The global increase in T2DM due to high-fat diets necessitates urgent research into the pathogenesis and precision treatments for high-fat-induced DR. Emerging clinical evidence of liver-retina crosstalk offers new mechanistic insights, while the underlying network of metabolites and secreted proteins within the liver-retina axis in high-fat diets induced retinopathy remains unclear.

Achieving Extra-High-Quality Images in ToF-SIMS Molecular Imaging of Insulating Samples Using a Low Current O Auxiliary Beam and Back Side Au Coating.

Molecular imaging enabled by ToF-SIMS has become increasingly desirable in many research fields in the last several decades. However, complex charging on highly insulating samples and at phase-separation boundaries may lead to dark edges and boundaries in ion images, presenting a big obstacle to obtaining high quality ion images, even with low energy electron charge compensation. Depositing a thin metal layer on the sample surface or using a combination of a low energy electron beam and a low energy Argon ion beam can be helpful.

Pt(OH) Coordination Engineering of Bifunctional Pt/NiFe LDH-O Catalyst for Robust Water Splitting.

Modulating the coordination environment of metal active sites and adjacent atoms significantly enhances the catalytic activity of heterogeneous catalysts owing to the local synergistic effect between metal sites and supports. While layered double hydroxide (LDH)-supported Pt catalysts exhibit complementary advantages and exceptional performance in overall water splitting (OWS), the absence of a robust coordination structure between Pt and LDH constrains their activity and stability. Herein, we report a coordination engineering strategy to alter the coordination structure of Pt on the surface of NiFe LDH using atomic layer deposition (ALD) for OWS.

Integrating Competitive Li Coordination with Immobilized Anions in Composite Solid Electrolyte for High-Performance Li Metal Batteries.

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-based polymer electrolytes have attracted widespread attention due to their unique Li transport mechanism. However, their low ionic conductivity and porous structure, as well as residual solvent limit their application at high current densities. Here, a composite solid electrolyte (CSE) is developed by integrating poly(vinylidene-co-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] in its all-trans conformation with aminofunctionalized metal-organic framework (ZIF-90-NH).

Evaluation of pulmonary artery pressure, blood indices, and myocardial microcirculation in rats returning from high altitude to moderate altitude.

Background: To investigate changes in pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), blood indices, and myocardial microcirculation in rats returning from high altitude (HA) to moderate altitude (MA).

Methods: Forty 4-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups with ten rats in each group. One group was transported to the MA area (MA-group), and the other three groups were transported to HA (HA-group-A, HA-group-B, and HA-group-C).

Redox Regulation of Immunometabolism in Microglia Underpinning Diabetic Retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness among the working-age population. Microglia, resident immune cells in the retina, are recognized as crucial drivers in the DR process. Microglia activation is a tightly regulated immunometabolic process.

Ethanolamine as a biomarker and biomarker-based therapy for diabetic retinopathy in glucose-well-controlled diabetic patients.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness among the working-age population. Although controlling blood glucose levels effectively reduces the incidence and development of DR to less than 50%, there are currently no diagnostic biomarkers or effective treatments for DR development in glucose-well-controlled diabetic patients (GW-DR). In this study, we established a prospective GW-DR cohort by strictly adhering to glycemic control guidelines and maintaining regular retinal examinations over a median 2-year follow-up period.

Branched-Chain Amino Acids Metabolism and Their Roles in Retinopathy: From Relevance to Mechanism.

Retinopathy is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness and vision loss worldwide. Imbalanced nutrients play important roles in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of retinal diseases. Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs), as essential amino acids, perform a variety of biological functions, including protein synthesis, glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, inflammation, and oxidative stress in metabolic tissues of diabetes and aging-related diseases.

Amino Acids Metabolism in Retinopathy: From Clinical and Basic Research Perspective.

Retinopathy, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), are the leading cause of blindness among seniors, working-age populations, and children. However, the pathophysiology of retinopathy remains unclear. Accumulating studies demonstrate that amino acid metabolism is associated with retinopathy.

Characterizing natural variability of lignin abundance and composition in fine roots across temperate trees: a comparison of analytical methods.

Lignin is an important root chemical component that is widely used in biogeochemical models to predict root decomposition. Across ecological studies, lignin abundance has been characterized using both proximate and lignin-specific methods, without much understanding of their comparability. This uncertainty in estimating lignin limits our ability to comprehend the mechanisms regulating root decomposition and to integrate lignin data for large-scale syntheses.

Coordination between compound-specific chemistry and morphology in plant roots aligns with ancestral mycorrhizal association in woody angiosperms.

Recent studies on fine root functional traits proposed a root economics hypothesis where adaptations associated with mycorrhizal dependency strongly influence the organization of root traits, forming a dominant axis of trait covariation unique to roots. This conclusion, however, is based on tradeoffs of a few widely studied root traits. It is unknown how other functional traits fit into this mycorrhizal-collaboration gradient.

Multicellular gene network analysis identifies a macrophage-related gene signature predictive of therapeutic response and prognosis of gliomas.

Background: The tumor-associated microenvironment plays important roles in tumor progression and drug resistance. However, systematic investigations of macrophage-tumor cell interactions to identify novel macrophage-related gene signatures in gliomas for predicting patient prognoses and responses to targeted therapies are lacking.

Methods: We developed a multicellular gene network approach to investigating the prognostic role of macrophage-tumor cell interactions in tumor progression and drug resistance in gliomas.

Long-Term Simulated Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition Alters Leaf and Fine Root Decomposition.

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition increases forest carbon sequestration across broad parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Slower organic matter decomposition and greater soil carbon accumulation could contribute to this increase in carbon sequestration. We investigated the effects of chronic simulated nitrogen deposition on leaf litter and fine root decomposition at four sugar maple ()- dominated northern hardwood forests.

Higher-order error bound for the difference of two functions.

Error bounds play an important role in the research of mathematical programming. Using some techniques of nonsmooth analysis, we establish some results on the existence of higher-order error bounds for difference functions with set constraints.

Chronic nitrogen deposition influences the chemical dynamics of leaf litter and fine roots during decomposition.

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition induces a forest carbon sink across broad parts of the Northern Hemisphere; this carbon sink may partly result from slower litter decomposition. Although microbial responses to experimental nitrogen deposition have been well-studied, evidence linking these microbial responses to changes in the degradation of specific compounds in decaying litter is sparse. We used wet chemistry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) methods to study effects of chronic simulated nitrogen deposition on leaf litter and fine root chemistry during a three-year decomposition experiment at four northern hardwood forests in the north-central USA.

Fine roots are the dominant source of recalcitrant plant litter in sugar maple-dominated northern hardwood forests.

Most studies of forest litter dynamics examine the biochemical characteristics and decomposition of leaf litter, but fine roots are also a large source of litter in forests. We quantified the concentrations of eight biochemical fractions and nitrogen (N) in leaf litter and fine roots at four sugar maple (Acer saccharum)-dominated hardwood forests in the north-central United States. We combined these results with litter production data to estimate ecosystem biochemical fluxes to soil.

Transcriptomic analysis reveals the roles of microtubule-related genes and transcription factors in fruit length regulation in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.).

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) fruit is a type of fleshy fruit that is harvested immaturely. Early fruit development directly determines the final fruit length and diameter, and consequently the fruit yield and quality.

Ephemeral root modules in Fraxinus mandshurica.

Historically, ephemeral roots have been equated with 'fine roots' (i.e. all roots of less than an arbitrary diameter, such as 2 mm), but evidence shows that 'fine roots' in woody species are complex branching systems with both rapid-cycling and slow-cycling components.

Anatomical traits associated with absorption and mycorrhizal colonization are linked to root branch order in twenty-three Chinese temperate tree species.

* Different portions of tree root systems play distinct functional roles, yet precisely how to distinguish roots of different functions within the branching fine-root system is unclear. * Here, anatomy and mycorrhizal colonization was examined by branch order in 23 Chinese temperate tree species of both angiosperms and gymnosperms forming ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular-mycorrhizal associations. * Different branch orders showed marked differences in anatomy.