A review on microbial metabolic engineering for the improvement of itaconic acid production.

Itaconic acid (IA), also known as methylene-butanedioic acid, is one of the top 12 platform chemicals in the world and demand for it is growing worldwide. The itaconic acid molecule contains one reactive double bond and two carboxyl groups, endowing it with chemical reactivity. It is widely used in fields such as light industry, agriculture, energy, and medical applications.

Interictal Epileptiform Discharge Detection using Dual-domain Features and GAN.

Interictal Epileptiform Discharge is essential for identifying epilepsy. However, the unpredictable and non-stationary nature of electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns poses considerable challenges for reliable identification. Manual interpretation of EEG is subjective and time-consuming.

AI-assisted 3D versus conventional 2D preoperative planning in total hip arthroplasty for Crowe type II-IV high hip dislocation: a two-year retrospective study.

Background: With the growing complexity of total hip arthroplasty (THA) for high hip dislocation (HHD), artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted three-dimensional (3D) preoperative planning has emerged as a promising tool to enhance surgical accuracy. This study compared clinical outcomes of AI-assisted 3D versus conventional two-dimensional (2D) X-ray preoperative planning in such cases.

Methods: A retrospective cohort of 92 patients with Crowe type II-IV HHD who underwent THA between May 2020 and January 2023 was analyzed.

Pharmacokinetics, Bioequivalence, and Safety of Levothyroxine Sodium Tablets in Healthy Chinese Subjects.

Recently, a local pharmaceutical company produced levothyroxine sodium tablets, an endogenous drug that helps improve water-salt metabolism and reduce myxedema. However, the bioequivalence of these tablets is not well known. The present study aimed to investigate the bioequivalence, pharmacokinetics, and safety of a single oral dose of 2 levothyroxine sodium tablets in healthy adult Chinese subjects under fasting conditions.

Contributions of different host species to the natural transmission of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus in China.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne emerging infectious disease with a reported mortality rate of up to 30% in hospitalized patients. The causative agent, SFTS virus (SFTSV) is maintained in nature through a transmission cycle involving animal hosts and ticks. Therefore, effective control of SFTS in nature environments necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the tick-host circulation patterns that sustain viral persistence.

MiR-21-5p promotes RPE cell necroptosis by targeting Peli1 in a rat model of AMD.

Nonexudative age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) is characterized by the progressive degeneration of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and photoreceptors, resulting in central vision loss. The disease is primarily marked by the accumulation of drusen and RPE atrophy. Given the emerging role of miR-21-5p in various ocular diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, pterygium, and choroidal neovascularization, we hypothesized that miR-21-5p may also impact RPE cell integrity in AMD.

sp. nov., a chitinolytic bacterium isolated from an intertidal mudflat.

A novel chitinolytic bacterium, designated as NN19, was isolated from the intertidal mudflat in Leizhou, Guangdong Province, PR China, and subjected to polyphasic taxonomy studies. Strain NN19 is a Gram-negative short rod-shaped bacterium that is motile via a single polar flagellum. Growth occurred at temperatures of 15 °C and 37 °C (optimal 30 °C), pH 6.

Metabolomic insights into pigment and bioactive metabolite alterations in Eucommia ulmoides leaves: A comparison between new variety and wild-type varieties.

Eucommia ulmoides (EU), an endemic Chinese plant, faces challenges of weak germplasm resources and low genetic diversity. Carbon ion beam irradiation (CIBI) was used to develop a novel EU variety with enhanced traits, particularly in leaf composition. The new variety exhibited elongated leaves with distinct pigmentation and increased anthocyanin accumulation.

The transcription factor MYB44 suppresses starch synthesis to negatively regulate grain weight and yield in wheat and rice.

Starch is the primary storage compound in wheat grains and is essential for both flour quality and grain weight. In this study, we identified TaMYB44, an R2R3-MYB transcription factor gene that controls starch content in wheat grains, through a genome-wide association study. The TaMYB44 homoeologs were predominantly expressed in developing grains, with peak levels observed 10 days after pollination.

[Single-cell transcriptomics combined with bioinformatics for comprehensive analysis of macrophage subpopulations and hub genes in ischemic stroke].

Objective To explore macrophage subpopulations in ischemic stroke (IS) by using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data analysis and High-Dimensional Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (hdWGCNA). Methods Based on single-cell sequencing data, transcriptomic information for different cell types was obtained, and macrophages were selected for subpopulation identification. hdWGCNA, cell-cell communication, and pseudotime trajectory analysis were used to explore the characteristics of macrophage subpopulations following IS.

Differential global gene transcription of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by zinc sulfate addition under acetic acid stress and identification of novel zinc and stress-responsive genes related to cell wall function.

Zinc sulfate is an important micronutrient for cell metabolism and stress protection. Acetic acid is a common inhibitor present in lignocellulosic hydrolysate, and the addition of zinc sulfate allows yeast cells to better cope with acetic acid stress. In-depth understanding of how zinc sulfate leads to changes in global gene transcription benefits efficient cellulosic ethanol production using robust yeast strains.

Asymptomatic intramural esophageal dissection: A case report and literature review.

Rationale: Intramural esophageal dissection (IED) is a rare condition, with asymptomatic cases not previously reported. This report aims to highlight an incidental finding of IED in a patient undergoing routine gastroscopy.

Patient Concerns: A 41-year-old male with decompensated liver cirrhosis underwent gastroscopy, revealing IED without prior symptoms or history of esophageal surgery or injury.

Influence of mutations at different distances from the active center on the activity and stability of laccase 13B22.

Laccases with high catalytic efficiency and high thermostability can drive a broader application scope. However, the structural distribution of key amino acids capable of significantly influencing the performance of laccases has not been explored in depth. Thirty laccase 13B22 mutants with changes in amino acids at distances of 5 Å (first shell), 5-8 Å (second shell), and 8-12 Å (third shell) from the active center were validated experimentally with 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) as substrate.

Fault Diagnosis of Planetary Gearbox Based on Hierarchical Refined Composite Multiscale Fuzzy Entropy and Optimized LSSVM.

Efficient extraction and classification of fault features remain critical challenges in planetary gearbox fault diagnosis. A fault diagnosis framework is proposed that integrates hierarchical refined composite multiscale fuzzy entropy (HRCMFE) for feature extraction and a gray wolf optimization (GWO)-optimized least squares support vector machine (LSSVM) for classification. Firstly, the HRCMFE is developed for feature extraction, which combines the segmentation advantage of hierarchical entropy (HE) and the computational stability advantage of refined composite multiscale fuzzy entropy (RCMFE).

Modified Sparrow Search Algorithm by Incorporating Multi-Strategy for Solving Mathematical Optimization Problems.

The Sparrow Search Algorithm (SSA), proposed by Jiankai Xue in 2020, is a swarm intelligence optimization algorithm that has received extensive attention due to its powerful optimization-seeking ability and rapid convergence. However, similar to other swarm intelligence algorithms, the SSA has the problem of being prone to falling into local optimal solutions during the optimization process, which limits its application effectiveness. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes a Modified Sparrow Search Algorithm (MSSA), which enhances the algorithm's performance by integrating three optimization strategies.

CLPP Gene Variants Causing Perrault Syndrome Type 3 in Han Chinese Families: A Genotype-Phenotype Study.

Background: Perrault syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) secondary to ovarian dysgenesis. However, the mutation spectrum of disease-causing genes for Perrault syndrome in the Chinese population remains poorly understood. In this study, we report on two Chinese families with Perrault syndrome type 3 caused by novel CLPP gene variants.

Fructose metabolism in Entner-Doudoroff pathway-deficient Cupriavidus necator H16 depends on the Calvin shunt.

As a facultative chemolithoautotrophic bacterium, Cupriavidus necator H16 uses the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway for heterotrophic growth on carbohydrates such as fructose and the Calvin cycle for lithoautotrophic carbon dioxide fixation. In a previous study, we found that an ED pathway-deficient C. necator strain can survive on fructose, but the underlying metabolic pathway remained unclear.

Enhancing Burn Recovery: A Systematic Review on the Benefits of Electrical Stimulation in Accelerating Healing.

Prolonged healing time of acute burn wounds is associated with increased pain, infection, risk of scarring, poorer mobility and higher financial and emotional burden. Electrical stimulation (ES) reduces healing time in chronic wounds; however, its reported use on acute burn wounds is limited. This systematic review (SR) aimed to evaluate the relative benefit of ES compared to routine wound care on the healing time of acute burn wounds in adults.

JAM-C prevents ocular fibrosis by suppressing the TAZ/KLF6 pathway.

Introduction: Ocular fibrosis is one of the leading causes of irreversible visual impairment or blindness. Currently, there is no effective drug available for such diseases. Therefore, understanding the underlying mechanisms is a prerequisite for finding better therapeutic strategies.

Predicting lymphatic transport potential using graph transformer based on limited historical data from in vivo studies.

The lymphatic system hosts a large number of therapeutic targets that can be used to modulate a wide range of diseases including cancers, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, infectious diseases and metabolic syndrome; however, drug access to the lymphatic system is often challenging. Over the past decades significant efforts have been made to promote drug transport to the lymphatics through medicinal chemistry approaches, and a number of promising progresses are emerging. Nevertheless, so far it remains difficult to clearly delineate the mechanism of lymphatic drug transport and to map the design criteria for lymphotropic drug molecules, and the attempts to synthesize lymph-directing drug candidates or drug derivatives are largely in an experience-driven, trial and error basis.

Research on coupling risk assessment method of industrialized urban area based on information diffusion and extension grey clustering model.

The regional accident risk in industrialized towns is a critical foundation for optimizing urban industrial layouts and dynamically managing regional risks. However, assessing production safety risks in urban areas often encounters challenges such as incomplete information and fuzzy index judgments due to limited small-sample data. This study proposes a dynamic control model for coupling risks in industrialized urban areas, integrating system engineering principles and focusing on two dimensions: the inherent risk of production safety accidents and the vulnerability of regional safety protection systems.

Metabolic Engineering of for Efficient l-Isoleucine Production based on the Citramalate Pathway.

l-isoleucine, a value-added branched-chain amino acid, has been widely used in the food, feed, and pharmaceutical industries. However, the production efficiency of l-isoleucine is relatively low due to the complex and inefficient biosynthetic network of the canonical threonine pathway. Here, we report the exploitation of a concise citramalate pathway for the development of an efficient l-isoleucine producer.

New 3D Ink Formulation Comprising a Nanocellulose Aerogel Based on Electrostatic Repulsion and Sol-Gel Transition.

New 3D printing aerogel materials are environmentally friendly and could be used in environmental protection and biomedical fields. There is significant research interest in 3D printing cellulose-based aerogels since cellulose materials are biocompatible and are abundant in nature. The gel-like nature of the cellulose water suspension is suitable for 3D printing; however, the complexity and resolution of the geometry of aerogels are quite limited, mainly due to the inks' low viscosity that fails to maintain the integrity of the shape after printing.

Effective Motor Skill Learning Induces Inverted-U Load-Dependent Activation in Contralateral Pre-Motor and Supplementary Motor Area.

Motor learning involves complex interactions between the cognitive and sensorimotor systems, which are susceptible to different levels of task load. While the mechanism underlying load-dependent regulations in cognitive functions has been extensively investigated, their influence on downstream execution in motor skill learning remains less understood. The current study extends the understanding of whether and how learning alters the load-dependent activation pattern by a longitudinal functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study in which 30 healthy participants (15 females) engaged in extensive practice on a two-dimensional continuous hand tracking task with varying task difficulty.

Expression of Cancer-Testis Antigens MAGE-A1, MAGE-A4, NY-ESO-1 and PRAME in Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas: The Experience From a Single Center in China.

Objective: Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of malignancies, low disease-control levels and the limited durability of responses have prompted the exploration of various novel immunotherapeutic approaches. To preliminarily explore the feasibility of cancer vaccines based on cancer testis antigen in the immunotherapy of sarcomas, we investigate the expression of Cancer/Testis Antigens (CTA) MAGE-A4, PRAME, MAGE-A1, KK-LC-1, and NY-ESO-1 in bone and soft tissue sarcomas, with the aim of assessing their potential for use in sarcoma immunotherapy and determining their expression levels in different subtypes.

Methods And Results: We employed immunohistochemistry and multiplex immunostaining microarrays (MI chips) to assess the expression of MAGE-A4, PRAME, MAGE-A1, KK-LC-1, and NY-ESO-1 in 21 cases of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS), 26 cases of smooth muscle sarcoma, 28 cases of liposarcoma, 40 cases of osteosarcoma (OS), and 13 cases of chondrosarcoma.