Ecological presence and functional role of bacteriophages in fermented vegetables.

Fermented vegetables are widely favored by consumers for their distinctive flavors and nutritional value, with their quality attributes being closely associated with microbiome dynamics. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have revealed abundant bacteriophage resources within the fermented vegetable microbiome. These viral components significantly influence fermentation processes and product characteristics by modulating microbial community structure and function.

Ultrasound-assisted fermentation by Lactiplantibacillus paraplantarum for the preparation of camel milk polysaccharide-protein composite nanoparticles.

Polysaccharide-protein composite nanoparticles (PPNPs) are extensively utilized in food, drug delivery, and antioxidant materials due to their excellent biocompatibility, functionality, and environmental sustainability. Camel milk is abundant in bioactive compounds such as lactoferrin, lysozyme, and immunoglobulins, while also displaying low allergenicity, which provides an inherent advantage for functional particle preparation. Its unique nutritional profile and limited availability make it a promising resource for developing highly valuable nanoparticles (NPs).

Isolation, Characterization, and Preliminary Application of Staphylococcal Bacteriophages in Sichuan Fermentation.

Sichuan , a microbial food predominantly fermented by lactic acid bacteria and hosting a complex and diverse microbial ecosystem, serves as an ideal habitat for bacteriophages. However, relatively few studies have been conducted on isolating bacteriophages from fermented vegetables and their application in vegetable fermentation. In this study, three staphylococcal bacteriophages, ΦSx-2, ΦSs-1, and ΦSs-2, were isolated and purified from Sichuan using the spot test method.

Astrocytic connexin43 in the medial prefrontal cortex regulates depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors via ATP release.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects 17 % of the global population and is highly comorbid with anxiety disorders. Emerging evidence indicates that dysregulation of astrocytic ATP contributes to the pathophysiology of depression. However, the molecular substrates underlying the stress-induced reduction in ATP release remain poorly understood, and the basis for the comorbidity of depression and anxiety disorders is still unknown.

Loneliness and Risk of Incident Hearing Loss: The UK Biobank Study.

Hearing loss (HL) is one major cause of disability and can lead to social impairments. However, the relationship between loneliness and the risk of incident HL remains unclear. Our study aimed to investigate this association among adults in the UK.

Association of ambient air pollution with hospital admissions for major osteoarthritis diseases: A national case-crossover study in China.

Objectives: To investigate the acute effects of short-term exposure to ambient air pollution on the risk of hospital admissions for osteoarthritis (OA) and its major subtypes.

Methods: Hospital admission data on OA and its major subtypes were sourced from two major urban medical insurance systems in China, covering the period from 2013 to 2017. A two-stage, time-stratified case-crossover design was used to investigate the acute effects of short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants on hospital admissions for OA across 278 Chinese cities with available hospital admission data over 50 cases.

Only child or multiple children? The number of children and cognition in older Chinese parents.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the number of children and cognitive function trajectories among older Chinese parents.

Methods: A total of 6723 individuals (55% men) aged 50 years and older were followed for 7 years as part of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Cognitive function was assessed through episodic memory and mental status tests.

A Comparison of Transfer Learning Metaphyseal Sign Diagnostic Models for Kashin-Beck Disease Based on X-rays of Children's Hands.

Background Kashin-Beck disease (KBD), prevalent in certain regions of the world, primarily affects children and is characterized by joint deformities. Timely screening and accurate diagnosis, heavily reliant on metaphyseal signs in X-rays, are crucial but challenging, especially in regions where specialist availability is scarce. Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted diagnostic technology offers a valuable solution to streamline KBD screening, emphasizing its importance in enhancing diagnostic precision and efficiency.

The structural basis of TRIM25-mediated regulation of RIG-I.

TRIM25, an E3 ligase, is an important regulator to modulate the functions of retinoic acid inducible gene-I (RIG-I) and other factors in innate immunity. Herein the structural interaction between the 2CARD domain of RIG-I and the PRYSPRY domain of TRIM25 was investigated by NMR, X-ray crystallography, computer-assisted modeling, and cell-based assays to elucidate the complex structure of PRYSPRY/2CARD. The interacting model indicated that docking of 2CARD onto PRYSPRY brought two RIG-I molecules into a close proximity to form a dimer.

Prodrug-based bispecific antibodies for cancer therapy: advances and future directions.

Bispecific antibodies represent an innovative paradigm in cancer therapy, offering broader therapeutic potential compared to conventional monoclonal antibodies. To increase tumor selectivity while mitigating off-target effects in normal tissues, the concept of prodrug-based bispecific antibodies has emerged. This review delineates the various mechanisms underlying the action of prodrug-based bispecific antibodies, including protease-mediated activation, steric hindrance release via proteolytic processing, activation by soluble factors, conditional assembly, and chain exchange-mediated activation.

Evaluating the influence of human activities on flood severity and its spatial heterogeneity across the Pearl River Delta.

With climate change and intensified human activities, disasters such as heavy rainfall, flooding, typhoons, and storm surges are becoming more frequent, posing significant threats to lives, property, and economic development. We propose a method combining extreme value theory and probability distribution to examine the flood severity under the effect of strong human activities. By focusing on the Pearl River Delta (PRD), as one of the most populated areas of China, we quantified changes in the severity of extreme water level for different return levels between 1966 and 1990 and 1991-2016 (with strong human activities), associated with the spatial patterns over the PRD.

Loneliness is associated with diminished heart rate variability reactivity to acute social stress in younger adults.

Loneliness is linked to cardiovascular health, with atypical stress reactivity serving as an underlying mediator. This study aimed to investigate the association between loneliness and heart rate variability (HRV) reactivity to acute social stress in younger adults. A total of 92 participants (52 women; mean age = 22.

Targeting HER2 in solid tumors: Unveiling the structure and novel epitopes.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is overexpressed in various solid tumor types, acting as an established therapeutic target. Over the last three decades, the fast-paced development of diverse HER2-targeted agents, notably marked by the introduction of the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), yielding substantial improvements in survival rates. However, resistance to anti-HER2 treatments continues to pose formidable challenges.

Synergistic Therapeutic Effects and Immunoregulatory Mechanism of Maxing Shigan Decoction Combined with Sijunzi Decoction on Viral Pneumonia in Mice.

Influenza is defined in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as an epidemic febrile illness and is usually treated with herbal compound formulas under the guidance of the "Qu Xie and Fu Zheng" theories. Ma Xing Shi Gan Tang (MXSGD) is a prominent remedy for clearing heat and detoxifying toxins in the clinical treatment of influenza in TCM, playing the role of "Qu Xie." Si Jun Zi Tang (SJZD) is recognized as one of the "Fu Zheng" formulas for strengthening the spleen and nourishing the stomach, with immunomodulatory effects.

A framework to evaluate the impact of a hazard chain and geographical covariates on spatial extreme water levels: A case study in the Pearl River Delta.

The interactions and collective impacts of different types of hazards within a compound hazard system, along with the influence of geographical covariates on flooding are presently unclear. Understanding these relationships is crucial for comprehending the formation and dynamic processes of the hazard chain and improving the ability to identify flood warning signals in complex hazard scenarios. In this study, we presented a multivariate spatial extreme value hierarchical (MSEVH) framework to assess the spatial extreme water levels (EWL) at different return levels under the influence of a hazard chain and geographical covariates.

Prospective association of comorbid hypertension and depressive symptoms with C-reactive protein in older adults.

Background: Hypertension and depressive symptoms often occur together in the older population, and each has been separately linked to elevated C-reactive protein (CRP). This study investigated the prospective association between comorbid hypertension and depressive symptoms and high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) in a Chinese older population.

Methods: This study used data from 4978 participants aged 50 and above, who took part in two waves (2011 and 2015) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).

Effects of different roasting temperatures on rabbit meat protein oxidation and fluorescent carbon nanoparticle formation.

This study explores the oxidation of rabbit meat proteins and the physicochemical properties of the resulting fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) under various roasting temperatures (180, 210, 240, 270, and 300 °C). The determination of sulfhydryl content, along with the results from UV and fluorescence spectroscopy, indicates that the protein structure undergoes changes during the roasting process, and the degree of oxidation shows an increasing trend with rising roasting temperatures. The CNP solution obtained exhibits a typical blue fluorescence.

Agilicious: Open-source and open-hardware agile quadrotor for vision-based flight.

Autonomous, agile quadrotor flight raises fundamental challenges for robotics research in terms of perception, planning, learning, and control. A versatile and standardized platform is needed to accelerate research and let practitioners focus on the core problems. To this end, we present Agilicious, a codesigned hardware and software framework tailored to autonomous, agile quadrotor flight.

The ATP Level in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Regulates Depressive-like Behavior via the Medial Prefrontal Cortex-Lateral Habenula Pathway.

Background: Depression is the most common mental illness. Mounting evidence suggests that dysregulation of extracellular ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is involved in the pathophysiology of depression. However, the cellular and neural circuit mechanisms through which ATP modulates depressive-like behavior remain elusive.

A molecular beam-surface apparatus for quantum state-resolved adsorption studies.

Understanding the microscopic mechanism of molecule-surface interaction is of great importance in the study of chemical dynamics. Yet, it remains challenging to experimentally acquire quantum state resolved results, particularly the results related to different degrees of freedom of the reactants. Here, we report the design and performance of a new apparatus for molecule-surface dynamics studies, which enable the measurement of quantum state-resolved adsorption.