An attenuated African swine fever virus with deletions of the and genes offers complete protection against homologous challenge in pigs.

African swine fever (ASF) has caused a devastating pandemic among domestic and wild swine, leading to significant economic losses in the global swine industry. Recombinant live-attenuated vaccines are a potential option for the control of ASF. However, safe and effective vaccines against the ASF virus (ASFV) are not yet commercially available, and thus, additional vaccine candidates still need to be developed.

Rational design of respiratory syncytial virus dimeric F-subunit vaccines in protein and mRNA forms.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) poses a significant public health threat, particularly to children and the elderly. Two protein-based vaccines and one mRNA vaccine have been approved, all targeting the prefusion conformation of the fusion (F) trimer. However, it has been reported that the epitope activity of the F protein gradually declines during storage, resulting in a reduction of the vaccines' immunogenicity.

Inhibition of UBE2N promotes the clearance of mutant HTT (huntingtin) in HD knock-in mice.

Accumulation of misfolded proteins leads to many neurodegenerative diseases that can be treated by lowering or removing mutant proteins. Huntington disease (HD) is characterized by the accumulation of ubiquitinated mutant HTT (huntingtin) in the central nervous system. Ubiquitination of the misfolded proteins, a common feature of the neurodegenerative diseases, is mediated by the different lysine residues on ubiquitin.

The role of oligodendroglial dysfunction in Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms. Research efforts to understand and treat the disease have historically focused on neuronal pathology, but growing evidence underscores the critical role of oligodendrocytes in its pathogenesis. This review synthesizes recent findings on oligodendroglial dysfunction in HD, showing that white matter abnormalities arise early in disease progression, often preceding gray matter changes and clinical symptoms.

Zika virus disrupts steroidogenesis and impairs spermatogenesis by stalling the translation of CYP17A1 mRNA.

ZIKV infection is associated with testicular damage and abnormal spermatogenesis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these pathogenic processes remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that ZIKV disrupts Leydig cells' ability to produce testosterone, leading to decreased sperm counts and motility.

Ultrasound-Activated Nitric Oxide Release Nanoplatforms and Their Biomedical Applications.

Nitric oxide (NO), a crucial signaling molecule, plays a significant role in the treatment of various diseases. However, the short half-life of NO limits its biological applications, and different strategies have been designed to control its release. Therefore, the selection of NO donors and triggering mechanisms has become an important focus of research.

Multiple competitive superiority made a great successful invasion of Spartina alterniflora in Eastern China: hints for management.

Numerous case studies indicate that the successful invasion of alien species involve multiple mechanisms. Spartina alterniflora (Poaceae) has rapidly and extensively encroached on China's coastline over the past decades, however, limited studies have explored multiple invasion mechanisms. Using a combination of greenhouse experiments, field survey, and literature investigations, a cross-scale study of S.

Mutant THAP11 causes cerebellar neurodegeneration and triggers TREM2-mediated microglial activation in mice.

Abnormal expansions of the CAG trinucleotide repeat within specific gene exons give rise to polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases, a family of inherited disorders characterized by late-onset neurodegeneration. Recently, a new type of polyQ disease was identified and named spinocerebellar ataxia 51 (SCA51). SCA51 is caused by polyQ expansion in THAP domain containing 11 (THAP11), an essential transcription factor for brain development.

Recent stabilization of agricultural non-CO greenhouse gas emissions in China.

Agriculture emerges as a prominent contributor to CH and NO emissions in China. However, estimates of these two non-CO greenhouse gases (GHGs) remain poorly constrained, hindering a precise understanding of their spatiotemporal dynamics and the development of effective mitigation strategies. Here, we established a consistent estimation framework that integrates emission-factor approach, data-driven models and process-based biogeochemical models, to identify the magnitudes, spatial variations, and long-term trends of agricultural non-CO GHG emissions in China's mainland from 1980 to 2023.

Methane and nitrous oxide budget for Chinese natural terrestrial ecosystems.

China's natural terrestrial ecosystems (NTEs) are significant sources and sinks of methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), two potent non-CO₂ greenhouse gases. This article reviews CH₄ and N₂O inventories for China's NTEs, derived from site-specific extrapolation and models, to elucidate their spatiotemporal emission patterns. Despite progress, significant gaps remain, including large uncertainties due to model limitations and inconsistent driving data, insufficient assessments of integrated global warming potential (GWP) under long-term land-use and climate changes, the lack of freshwater emission inventories, and the need for more observations, refined prior sectoral contributions, and novel methods like isotopic signature applications in machine-learning and inversion techniques.

Surface engineering of NIR-II luminescent gold nanoclusters for brain glioma-targeted imaging.

Ultrasmall gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) with photoluminescence in the second near-infrared region (NIR-II) have emerged as promising probes for biomedical applications. However, it remains a challenge to utilize NIR-II-emitting AuNCs for imaging brain glioblastoma (GBM), which is highly lethal and hard to diagnose in time. Herein, we have presented systematic investigations on the brain delivery and GBM targeting efficacies of NIR-II-emitting AuNCs protected by different ligands.

Divergence of microbial carbon use efficiency and soil organic carbon along a tidal flooding gradient in a subtropical coastal wetland.

Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) typically promotes soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in terrestrial ecosystems. However, this relationship remains poorly understood in coastal wetlands, where tidal flooding creates unique environmental conditions, facilitates lateral transfer and SOC loss, and mediates organic matter exchange between terrestrial and marine systems. Here we examined the CUE-SOC relationship across a tidal flooding gradient (4-25 % frequency) in a subtropical coastal wetland.

DNA methylation confers a cerebellum-specific identity in non-human primates.

Selective regulation of gene expression across distinct brain regions is crucial for establishing and maintaining subdivision identities. DNA methylation, a key regulator of gene transcription, modulates transcriptional activity through the conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). While DNA methylation is hypothesized to play an essential role in shaping brain identity by influencing gene expression patterns, its direct contribution, especially in primates, remains largely unexplored.

Temporal Logic Disturbance Rejection Control of Nonlinear Systems Using Control Barrier Functions.

The high level of autonomy within autonomous systems demands new control strategies to achieve more complex objectives while ensuring both safety and robustness, rather than relying solely on a given reference. To this end, this article addresses the problem of temporal logic disturbance rejection control (TLDRC) for a class of nonlinear systems subject to disturbances. Signal temporal logic (STL) specifications are introduced for the representation of complex tasks.

Ribosome-associated pathological TDP-43 alters the expression of multiple mRNAs in the monkey brain.

Cytoplasmic accumulation of TDP-43 is a pathological hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases. While current studies have primarily focused on gene regulation mediated by full-length nuclear TDP-43, the potential effects of cytoplasmic TDP-43 fragments remain less explored. Our previous findings demonstrated that primate-specific cleavage of TDP-43 contributes to its cytoplasmic localization, prompting further investigation into its pathological effects.

Long-Distance Passive Sensing Tag Design Based on Multi-Source Energy Harvesting and Reflection Amplification.

Wireless sensor networks often rely on battery power, which incurs high costs, considerable volume, and a limited lifespan. Additionally, the communication range of existing passive sensor tags remains short, which challenges their suitability for evolving Internet of Things (IoT) applications. This paper, therefore, presents a long-distance passive RFID sensing tag that integrates multi-source energy harvesting and reflection amplification.

Application of antisense oligonucleotide drugs in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Huntington's disease.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington's disease (HD) are diverse in clinical presentation and are caused by complex and multiple factors, including genetic mutations and environmental factors. Numerous therapeutic approaches have been developed based on the genetic causes and potential mechanisms of ALS and HD. Currently, available treatments for various neurodegenerative diseases can alleviate symptoms but do not provide a definitive cure.

RNA-Targeting CRISPR/CasRx system relieves disease symptoms in Huntington's disease models.

Background: HD is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of CAG repeats in the HTT. Silencing the expression of mutated proteins is a therapeutic direction to rescue HD patients, and recent advances in gene editing technology such as CRISPR/CasRx have opened up new avenues for therapeutic intervention.

Methods: The CRISPR/CasRx system was employed to target human HTT exon 1, resulting in an efficient knockdown of HTT mRNA.

Non-smooth fixed-time state feedback stabilization of uncertain switched systems with output constraints.

In this paper, non-smooth fixed-time state feedback stabilization of output-constrained uncertain switched systems has been investigated. First, to deal with the output constraints implicitly, a tangent-type barrier Lyapunov function (T-BLF), which degenerates into a quadratic function as the output constraints tend to infinity, is constructed deliberately. Then, the fixed-time state feedback control scheme for the output-constrained uncertain switched systems is established with remoulding the technique called adding a power integrator (AAPI).

Combining fire needle plus cupping with famciclovir and gabapentin in the treatment of acute herpes zoster: a revised intervention approach.

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of fire needle plus cupping (FC) combined with oral famciclovir and gabapentin for the treatment of acute-phase herpes zoster (AHZ). This study was conducted as a superiority, randomized controlled trial in which 84 patients with AHZ who met the diagnostic criteria were selected and randomly assigned to three groups on a 1:1 basis. Group A: received oral famciclovir with gabapentin treatment (FG); Group B: received fire needle plus cupping (FC) with FG.

Satellite-Based Monitoring of Methane Emissions from China's Rice Hub.

Rice cultivation is one of the major anthropogenic methane sources in China and globally. However, accurately quantifying regional rice methane emissions is often challenging due to highly heterogeneous emission fluxes and limited measurement data. This study attempts to address this issue by quantifying regional methane emissions from rice cultivation with a high-resolution inversion of satellite methane observations from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI).

Organotropic Engineering of Luminescent Gold Nanoclusters for In Vivo Imaging of Lung Orthotopic Tumors.

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are emerging as promising functional probes for bioapplications. However, because of rapid renal clearance, it is a challenge to tailor their biofate and improve their disease-targeting ability in vivo. Herein, we report an efficient strategy to tailor their organotropic actions by rationally designing AuNC assemblies.

Increased expression of mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) contributes to synapse loss in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: The activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is an early pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain, but how ER stress contributes to the onset and development of AD remains poorly characterized. Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) is a non-canonical neurotrophic factor and an ER stress inducible protein. Previous studies reported that MANF is increased in the brains of both pre-symptomatic and symptomatic AD patients, but the consequence of the early rise in MANF protein is unknown.