Arbutin Preserves Boar Sperm During Storage at 17°C by Enhancing the Antioxidant Capacity via the NRF2/GPX4 Signalling.

Arbutin is a naturally present antioxidant derived from plants. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of arbutin on boar sperm during storage at 17°C and the underlying mechanisms. Our results showed that the addition of arbutin to extenders markedly enhanced the sperm (progressive) motility and plasma membrane and acrosomal integrity on Days 9 and 13 of preservation (p < 0.

Microbial mechanisms underlying the reduction of NO emissions from submerged plant covered system.

Submerged plant (SP) restoration is a crucial strategy for restoring aquatic ecosystem. However, the effect of SP on nitrous oxide (NO) emissions remains controversial, and the impact of SP-attached biofilms on NO emissions is often overlooked. In this study, SP and non-submerged plant (NSP) systems were set up and operated continuously for 189 days, revealing that SP reduced NO flux by 42.

Proteomics unveil candidate biomarkers and pathogenesis of subacute thyroiditis.

Abstract: Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is an inflammatory thyroid disease characterized by neck pain, tenderness, general symptoms and thyroid dysfunction. Despite gaining new insights into the epidemiology, pathogenesis and treatment of SAT in recent years, the exact pathogenesis and determinants of its clinical progression remain unclear. Here, we profiled thyroid in situ protein alterations in fine-needle aspiration biopsy samples from SAT patients using proteomic analysis and uncovered 57 differentially abundant proteins.

A comprehensive study of Z-DNA density and its evolutionary implications in birds.

Background: Z-DNA, a left-handed helical form of DNA, plays a significant role in genomic stability and gene regulation. Its formation, associated with high GC content and repetitive sequences, is linked to genomic instability, potentially leading to large-scale deletions and contributing to phenotypic diversity and evolutionary adaptation.

Results: In this study, we analyzed the density of Z-DNA-prone motifs of 154 avian genomes using the non-B DNA Motif Search Tool (nBMST).

Perfluorooctanoic acid effect and microbial mechanism to methane production in anaerobic digestion.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as emerging pollutants was largely produced and stable in nature environment. Its fate and effect to the wasted sludge digestion process and corresponding microbial mechanism was rarely reported. This study investigated the different dose of PFOA to the wasted sludge digestion process, where the methane yield and microbial mechanism was illustrated.

Evaporative self-assembly in colloidal droplets: Emergence of ordered structures from complex fluids.

Colloidal droplet evaporation is an intriguing and intricate phenomenon that has captured the interest of scientists across diverse disciplines, including physical chemistry, fluid dynamics, and soft matter science, over the past two decades. Despite being a non-equilibrium system with inherent challenges posed by coffee ring formation and Marangoni effects, which hinder the precise control of deposition patterns, evaporative self-assembly presents a convenient and cost-effective approach for generating arrays of well-ordered structures and functional patterns with wide-ranging applications in inkjet printing, photonic crystals, and biochemical assays. In the realm of printed electronics and photonics, effectively mitigating coffee rings while achieving uniformity and orderliness has emerged as a critical factor in realising the next generation of large-area, low-cost, flexible devices that are exceptionally sensitive and high-performance.

Increasing fish production in recirculating aquaculture system by integrating a biofloc-worm reactor for protein recovery.

Aquaculture, producing half of global fish production, offers a high-quality protein source for humans. Improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) through microbial protein recovery is crucial for increasing fish production and reducing environmental footprint. However, the poor palatability and high moisture content of microbial protein make its utilization challenging.

Liraglutide Promotes Diabetic Wound Healing via Myo1c/Dock5.

Non-healing diabetic wounds and ulcer complications, with persistent cell dysfunction and obstructed cellular processes, are leading causes of disability and death in patients with diabetes. Currently, there is a lack of guideline-recommended hypoglycemic drugs in clinical practice, likely due to limited research and unclear mechanisms. In this study, it is demonstrated that liraglutide significantly accelerates wound closure in diabetic mouse models (db/db mice and streptozotocin-induced mice) by improving re-epithelialization, collagen deposition, and extracellular matrix remodeling, and enhancing the proliferation, migration, and adhesion functions of keratinocytes.

Comparison and optimization of different CRISPR/Cas9 donor-adapting systems for gene editing.

Gene knock-in in mammalian cells usually uses homology-directed repair (HDR) mechanism to integrate exogenous DNA template into the target genome site. However, HDR efficiency is often low, and the co-localization of exogenous DNA template and target genome site is one of the key limiting factors. To improve the efficiency of HDR mediated by CRISPR/Cas9 system, our team and previous studies fused different adaptor proteins with SpCas9 protein and expressed them.

Plasma Asprosin Concentrations are Associated with Progression of Diabetic Kidney Disease.

Purpose: To explore the expression of asprosin in subjects with pre-DKD and DKD and to analyze its relationship with kidney injury, inflammation, and glucose and lipid metabolism.

Methods: Based on urine albumin:creatinine ratio (UACr), participants were divided into DM, pre-DKD, and DKD groups. Relevant human physiological and biochemical parameters were detected in the three groups.

Greenhouse gases emissions from aquaculture ponds: Different emission patterns and key microbial processes affected by increased nitrogen loading.

Global aquaculture production is expected to rise to meet the growing demand for food worldwide, potentially leading to increased anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. As the demand for fish protein increases, so will stocking density, feeding amounts, and nitrogen loading in aquaculture ponds. However, the impact of GHG emissions and the underlying microbial processes remain poorly understood.

Dock5 Deficiency Promotes Proteinuric Kidney Diseases via Modulating Podocyte Lipid Metabolism.

Podocytes are particularly sensitive to lipid accumulation, which has recently emerged as a crucial pathological process in the progression of proteinuric kidney diseases like diabetic kidney disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, podocytes predominantly expressed protein dedicator of cytokinesis 5 (Dock5) is screened to be critically related to podocyte lipid lipotoxicity.

High nitrous oxide (NO) greenhouse gas reduction potential of Pseudomonas sp. YR02 under aerobic condition.

Aerobic environments exist widely in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and are unfavorable for greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (NO) reduction. Here, a novel strain Pseudomonas sp. YR02, which can perform NO reduction under aerobic conditions, was isolated.

Serum Annexin A2 concentrations are increased in patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy and are linked to cardiac dysfunctions.

Background: Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DbCM) is defined as the existence of abnormal myocardial structure and functions in the absence of other cardiac diseases, such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, and significant valvular disease, in individuals with diabetes. Although abundant epidemic evidence demonstrates that diabetes is independently associated with the risk of developing heart failure, DbCM is not normally diagnosed in clinical practices due to its exclusive diagnosis, and no diagnostic biomarker was applied in a clinical test.

Methods: To detect the concentrations of serum Annexin A2 in non-diabetic subjects, type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients with or without DbCM, and analyzed its relationship to parameters of cardiac functions, glucose, lipid metabolism, and renal functions.

The Effects of Bone Cement Volume in Percutaneous Vertebroplasty for Thoracolumbar Junction Vertebral Compression Fractures: A Clinical Comparative Study.

We compared the outcomes of patients treated with different volumes of polymethyl methacrylate bone cement during percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) for thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures. We performed a comparative, retrospective study of 316 patients who underwent PVP for a single-level thoracolumbar vertebral compression fracture. Patients were divided into two groups: group A (≤5 mL; = 146) and group B (>5 mL; = 170).

Dissolved Oxygen-Sensing Chip Integrating an Open Container Connected with a Position-Raised Channel for Estimation of Cellular Mitochondrial Activity.

The measurement of oxygen consumption of adherent cells is a profoundly important issue for estimating the bioenergetic health and metabolism activity of cells. The study describes the construction of a microfluidic chip consisting of an open container connected with a position-raised channel and dissolved oxygen (DO)-sensing gold ultramicroelectrodes for quantifying the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of adherent cells. The microfluidic chip design can reduce the action of shear force on the adherent cells during medium replacement.

Imbibition-induced ultrafast assembly and printing of colloidal photonic crystals.

Hypothesis: Self-assembly of colloidal particles enables the versatile fabrication of highly ordered structures and materials for optical, sensing, and other applications. Nevertheless, many traditional assembly processes are inefficient, because there exists an inevitable contradiction between time efficiency and crystalline quality. In this work, we introduce an ultrafast, robust, and scalable approach of imbibition-induced assembly.

Wall-Confined Spreading Dynamics on the Surface of Surfactant Solution.

A liquid spreading over another is a universal physical process in the nature, which was investigated by the scaling law to reveal the underlying mechanical mechanism over the decades. However, scaling laws are restricted to piecewise physical stages, respectively. It is a challenge to present a full physical picture for a dynamic spreading process covering a wide-spectrum speed.

Ultrafast Self-Assembly of Colloidal Photonic Crystals during Low-Pressure-Assisted Evaporation of Droplets.

After evaporation of a sessile colloidal droplet, the coffee stain always emerges with disordered structures. This may be unfavorable for many applications, such as droplet-based printing. Therefore, to realize uniform and ordered patterns is becoming an urgent task.

Fabrication of MnCuNiFe-CuAlNiFeMn Gradient Alloy by Laser Engineering Net Shaping System.

Marine noise pollution generated by propellers is of wide concern. Traditional propeller materials (nickel-aluminum bronze (NAB) alloys) can no longer meet the requirements for reducing shaft vibration. However, the Mn-Cu alloy developed to solve the problem of propeller vibration is affected by seawater corrosion, which greatly limits the application of the alloy in the field of marine materials.