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The Yellow River Delta possesses lots of characteristic medicinal plants due to its high salinity and high alkaline environment and Limonium sinense is an iconic plant. However, there are very few studies on L. sinense and its chemical constituents have not been investigated in recent ten years. In the present study, the chemical constituents and bioactivities of L. sinense were fully studied for the first time. UPLC-MS/MS method combined with database comparison identified 109 compounds mainly including flavonoids, alkaloids and polyphenols. In addition, the potential bioactivities of L. sinense were considerated as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-tumor, hepatoprotective and hpyerglycemic activities based on these identified compounds and their related literature. Furthermore, four derivatives of 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid and butenolide including two new ones (1 and 2) were isolated from the whole plants of L. sinense. Their structures, including the absolute configurations, were determined by the analysis of comprehensive spectroscopic data. All isolates were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity. Compound 1 exhibited moderate anti-inflammatory activity with IC50 value of 37.5 ± 1.2 µM on NO production level.

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Hybrid rice, widely planted in Asia, is pathogen resistant and has superior yields, making it a major contributor to global food security. The two-line hybrid rice system, which utilizes mutants exhibiting photo-/thermo-sensitive genic male sterility (P/TGMS), is the leading hybrid rice breeding technology. Mutations in THERMO-SENSITIVE GENIC MALE STERILE 5 (TMS5) accounts for over 95% of current TGMS lines. We previously found that tms5 carries a mutation in ribonuclease ZS1. Despite its importance for breeding robust rice lines, the mechanism underlying tms5-mediated TGMS remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that TMS5 is a tRNA 2',3'-cyclic phosphatase. The tms5 mutation leads to accumulation of 2',3'-cyclic phosphate (cP)-ΔCCA-tRNAs (tRNAs without 3' CCA ended with cP), which is exacerbated by high temperatures, and reduction in the abundance of mature tRNAs, particularly alanine tRNAs (tRNA-Alas). Overexpression of tRNA-Alas in the tms5 mutant restores male fertility to 70%. Remarkably, male fertility of tms5 mutant is completely restored at high temperatures by knocking out OsVms1 which encodes the enzyme for cP-ΔCCA-tRNA generation. Our study reveals the mechanism underlying tms5-mediated TGMS in rice and provides mechanistic insight into the further improvement of TGMS in hybrid crop development.

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Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent mental disorder that significantly impacts social and psychological function, but no effective medication is currently available. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been reported to participate in the pathogenesis of MDD which are envisioned as promising therapeutic targets. However, nonviral-based delivery strategies targeting circRNA against MDD are not thoroughly investigated. Here, it is identified that circATF7IP is significantly upregulated in plasma samples and positively correlated with 24-Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-24) scores of MDD patients. Synergistic amine lipid nanoparticles (SALNPs) are designed to deliver siRNA targeting circATF7IP (si-circATF7IP) into the hippocampus brain region by intranasal administration. Intranasal delivery of SALNP-si-circATF7IP successfully alleviated the depressive-like behaviors in the LPS-induced mouse depression model via decreasing CD11b+CD45dim microglia population and pro-inflammatory cytokine productions (TNF-α and IL-6). These results indicate that the level of circATF7IP positively correlates with MDD pathogenesis, and SALNP delivery of si-circATF7IP via intranasal administration is an effective strategy to ameliorate LPS-induced depressive-like behaviors.

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The adhesion of H2 bubbles on the electrode surface is one of the main factors limiting the performance of H2 evolution of electrolytic water, especially at high current density. To overcome this problem, here a "quasi-gas phase" electrolytic water reaction system based on capillary effect is proposed for the first time to improve the mass transfer efficiency of H2. The typical feature of this reaction system is that the main site of H2 evolution reaction is transferred from the bulk aqueous solution to the gas phase environment above the bulk aqueous solution, thus effectively inhibiting the aggregation of H2 bubbles and reducing the resistance of their diffusion away. Electrochemical test results show that the proposed quasi-gas phase system can significantly reduce the potential required in H2 evolution reaction process at high current density compared with the conventional electrolytic reaction system. Specifically, the overpotential potential is reduced by 0.31 V when the H2 evolution current density of 250 mA cm-2 is achieved.

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OBJECTIVE: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (TCM and WM) are important medical documents used to assist medical decision-making and are of great significance for standardizing clinical pathways. However, due to the constraints of text format, it is difficult for Integrated TCM and WM CPGs to play a real role in medical practice. In addition, how to standardize the structure and semantic relationships between Integrated TCM and WM CPG knowledge, and realize the construction of computable, sharable and reliable CPGs, remains an urgent issue to be addressed. Therefore, we are proposing an ontology of CPGs for Integrated TCM and WM. METHODS: We first initialized domain concepts and relationships to ensure the accuracy of the ontology knowledge structure. We then screened CPGs that meet the standards for Integrated TCM and WM, analyzed and classified the contents, and extracted the common structures. Based on the seven-step ontology construction method combined with inference-complement, referring to the representation methods and hierarchical relationships of terms and concepts in MeSH, ICD-10, SNOMED-CT, and other ontologies and terminology sets, we formed the concept structure and semantic relationship tables for the ontology. We also achieved the matching and mapping between the ontology and reference ontologies and term sets. Next, we defined the aspects and constraints of properties, selected multiple Integrated TCM and WM CPGs as instances to populate, and used ontology reasoning tools and formulated defined inference rules to reason and extend the ontology. Finally, we evaluated the performance of the ontology. RESULTS: The content of the Integrated TCM and WM CPGs is divided into nine parts: basic information, background, development method, clinical question, recommendation, evidence, conclusion, result, and reason for recommendations. The Integrated TCM and WM CPG ontology has 152 classes and defines 90 object properties and 114 data properties, with a maximum classification depth of 4 layers. The terms of disease, drug and examination item names in the ontology have been standardized. CONCLUSIONS: This study proposes an Integrated TCM and WM CPG ontology. The ontology adopts a modular design, which has both sharing and scaling ability, and can express rich guideline knowledge. It provides important support for the semantic processing and computational application of guideline documents.

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Iridium-catalyzed C-H borylation of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons assisted by a directing group was theoretically investigated. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed both Ir-catalyzed C(sp2)-H and C(sp3)-H borylations via an IrIII/IrV catalytic cycle, where the tetra-coordinated (C, N)IrIII(Bpin)2 complex with two vacant sites is an active species. Dramatically, the orientation of cyclometalation for C(sp2)-H bond activation assisted by a directing group is different from the C(sp3)-H one. The activation energy (ΔG°‡ = 28.5 kcal mol-1) of the C(sp2)-H bond via trans-chelation to form cyclometalation is lower than that (41.4 kcal mol-1) via cis-chelation. In contrast, the ΔG°‡ (26.6 kcal mol-1) of the C(sp3)-H bond via cis-chelation to form cyclometalation is lower than that (34.3 kcal mol-1) via trans-chelation. In addition, the rate-determining step of Ir-catalyzed C(sp2)-H borylation is oxidative addition of the C(sp2)-H bond, while that of C(sp3)-H analogues is hydride migration. Such differences arise from not only the differences in the steric hindrance of the C(sp2) and secondary C(sp3) atoms but also the differences in the trans effect and steric effect of the two vacant sites of active species. These findings were expected to facilitate further studies on the design and synthesis of innovative ligands for Ir-catalyzed C-H borylation.

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Purpose: The goal of the study was to create a nomogram based on clinical risk factors to forecast the rate of locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who underwent radiotherapy (RT). Methods: In this study, 574 ESCC patients were selected as participants. Following radiotherapy, subjects were divided into training and validation groups at a 7:3 ratio. The nomogram was established in the training group using Cox regression. Performance validation was conducted in the validation group, assessing predictability through the C-index and AUC curve, calibration via the Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) test, and evaluating clinical applicability using decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: T stage, N stage, gross tumor volume (GTV) dose, location, maximal wall thickness (MWT) after RT, node size (NS) after RT, Δ computer tomography (CT) value, and chemotherapy were found to be independent risk factors that impacted LRFS by multivariate cox analysis, and the findings could be utilized to create a nomogram and forecast LRFS. the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC) curve and C-index show that for training and validation groups, the prediction result of LRFS using nomogram was more accurate than that of TNM. The LRFS in both groups was consistent with the nomogram according to the H-L test. The DCA curve demonstrated that the nomogram had a good prediction effect both in the groups for training and validation. The nomogram was used to assign ESCC patients to three risk levels: low, medium, or high. There were substantial variations in LRFS between risk categories in both the training and validation groups (p<0.001, p=0.003). Conclusions: For ESCC patients who received radiotherapy, the nomogram based on clinical risk factors could reliably predict the LRFS.

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Importance: Previous randomized clinical trials did not demonstrate the superiority of endovascular stenting over aggressive medical management for patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (sICAS). However, balloon angioplasty has not been investigated in a randomized clinical trial. Objective: To determine whether balloon angioplasty plus aggressive medical management is superior to aggressive medical management alone for patients with sICAS. Design, Setting, and Participants: A randomized, open-label, blinded end point clinical trial at 31 centers across China. Eligible patients aged 35 to 80 years with sICAS defined as recent transient ischemic attack (<90 days) or ischemic stroke (14-90 days) before enrollment attributed to a 70% to 99% atherosclerotic stenosis of a major intracranial artery receiving treatment with at least 1 antithrombotic drug and/or standard risk factor management were recruited between November 8, 2018, and April 2, 2022 (final follow-up: April 3, 2023). Interventions: Submaximal balloon angioplasty plus aggressive medical management (n = 249) or aggressive medical management alone (n = 252). Aggressive medical management included dual antiplatelet therapy for the first 90 days and risk factor control. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was a composite of any stroke or death within 30 days after enrollment or after balloon angioplasty of the qualifying lesion or any ischemic stroke in the qualifying artery territory or revascularization of the qualifying artery after 30 days through 12 months after enrollment. Results: Among 512 randomized patients, 501 were confirmed eligible (mean age, 58.0 years; 158 [31.5%] women) and completed the trial. The incidence of the primary outcome was lower in the balloon angioplasty group than the medical management group (4.4% vs 13.5%; hazard ratio, 0.32 [95% CI, 0.16-0.63]; P < .001). The respective rates of any stroke or all-cause death within 30 days were 3.2% and 1.6%. Beyond 30 days through 1 year after enrollment, the rates of any ischemic stroke in the qualifying artery territory were 0.4% and 7.5%, respectively, and revascularization of the qualifying artery occurred in 1.2% and 8.3%, respectively. The rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage in the balloon angioplasty and medical management groups was 1.2% and 0.4%, respectively. In the balloon angioplasty group, procedural complications occurred in 17.4% of patients and arterial dissection occurred in 14.5% of patients. Conclusions and Relevance: In patients with sICAS, balloon angioplasty plus aggressive medical management, compared with aggressive medical management alone, statistically significantly lowered the risk of a composite outcome of any stroke or death within 30 days or an ischemic stroke or revascularization of the qualifying artery after 30 days through 12 months. The findings suggest that balloon angioplasty plus aggressive medical management may be an effective treatment for sICAS, although the risk of stroke or death within 30 days of balloon angioplasty should be considered in clinical practice. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03703635.

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In the field of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), traditional subject-specific decoding methods suffer from the limitations of long calibration time and low cross-subject generalizability, which restricts the promotion and application of BCI systems in daily life and clinic. To address the above dilemma, this study proposes a novel deep transfer learning approach that combines the revised inception-residual network (rIRN) model and the model-based transfer learning (TL) strategy, referred to as TL-rIRN. This study performed cross-subject recognition experiments on mental arithmetic (MA) and mental singing (MS) tasks to validate the effectiveness and superiority of the TL-rIRN approach. The results show that the TL-rIRN significantly shortens the calibration time, reduces the training time of the target model and the consumption of computational resources, and dramatically enhances the cross-subject decoding performance compared to subject-specific decoding methods and other deep transfer learning methods. To sum up, this study provides a basis for the selection of cross-subject, cross-task, and real-time decoding algorithms for fNIRS-BCI systems, which has potential applications in constructing a convenient and universal BCI system.

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Interfaces Cerebro-Computador , Espectroscopía Infrarroja Corta , Espectroscopía Infrarroja Corta/métodos , Humanos , Aprendizaje Profundo , Algoritmos , Encéfalo/fisiología , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagen , Redes Neurales de la Computación

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Theoretically determining the lowest-energy structure of a cluster has been a persistent challenge due to the inherent difficulty in accurate description of its potential energy surface (PES) and the exponentially increasing number of local minima on the PES with the cluster size. In this work, density-functional theory (DFT) calculations of Co clusters were performed to construct a dataset for training deep neural networks to deduce a deep potential (DP) model with near-DFT accuracy while significantly reducing computational consumption comparable to classic empirical potentials. Leveraging the DP model, a high-efficiency hybrid differential evolution (HDE) algorithm was employed to search for the lowest-energy structures of CoN (N = 11-50) clusters. Our results revealed 38 of these clusters superior to those recorded in the Cambridge Cluster Database and identified diverse architectures of the clusters, evolving from layered structures for N = 11-27 to Marks decahedron-like structures for N = 28-42 and to icosahedron-like structures for N = 43-50. Subsequent analyses of the atomic arrangement, structural similarity, and growth pattern further verified their hierarchical structures. Meanwhile, several highly stable clusters, i.e., Co13, Co19, Co22, Co39, and Co43, were discovered by the energetic analyses. Furthermore, the magnetic stability of the clusters was verified, and a competition between the coordination number and bond length in affecting the magnetic moment was observed. Our study provides high-accuracy and high-efficiency prediction of the optimal structures of clusters and sheds light on the growth trend of Co clusters containing tens of atoms, contributing to advancing the global optimization algorithms for effective determination of cluster structures.

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Pulmonary fibrosis is a lethal interstitial lung disease, for which current treatments are inadequate in halting its progression. A significant factor contributing to the development of fibrosis is insufficient autophagy, which leads to increased fibroblast proliferation and collagen deposition. However, treatments aimed at upregulating autophagy often cause further lung pathology due to the disruption of epithelial cell balance. In response, we have developed a novel macrophage delivery system loaded with an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition inhibitor, hyperoside (HYP), and an autophagy inducer, rapamycin (RAP). This system targets the fibrotic areas of the lung through chemotaxis, releases liposomes via macrophage extracellular traps, and effectively inhibits fibroblast proliferation while restoring the alveolar structure through the combined effects of RAP and HYP, ultimately reducing lung pathology without causing systemic toxicity. Our findings not only highlight a promising method to enhance autophagy-based treatments for pulmonary fibrosis but also demonstrate the potential of macrophages as effective nanocarriers for drug delivery.

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Introducing a sulfur atom into active agricultural molecules is an important strategy for pesticide development. Matrine, an environmentally friendly botanical pesticide, has the advantage of being easily degraded and has drawn attention in the agricultural field. To explore the novel matrine-type pesticides, in this study, we designed and synthesized 13/14-arylthioether matrine derivatives by introducing various aryl sulfide motifs into bioactive matrine. Most of the synthesized arylthioether matrines exhibited good antifeedant activity against Spodoptera exigua. Among them, compound 2q showed the best antifeedant effect with an EC50 value of 0.038 mg/mL, which is approximately 125-fold more activity than matrine and reached the activity level of commercial standard azadirachtin A. Furthermore, compound 2q exhibited an inhibitory effect on antifeedant-related enzyme carboxylesterase (CarE) from S. exigua. In short, the high activity of arylthioether matrines offers new insights into developing new antifeedants.

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AIM: We aimed to explore whether the combination of CLP290 and bumetanide maximally improves neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury (SCI) and its possible molecular mechanism. METHODS: Rats were randomly divided into five groups: Sham, SCI + vehicle, SCI + CLP290, SCI + bumetanide, and SCI + combination (CLP290 + bumetanide). Drug administration commenced on the 7th day post-injury (7 dpi) and continued for 14 days. All rats underwent behavioral assessments for 56 days to comprehensively evaluate the effects of interventions on mechanical pain, thermal pain, cold pain, motor function, and other relevant parameters. Electrophysiological assessments, immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence detection were performed at different timepoints post-injury, with a specific focus on the expression and changes of KCC2 and NKCC1 proteins in the lumbar enlargement of the spinal cord. RESULTS: CLP290 and bumetanide alleviated SCI-associated hypersensitivity and locomotor function, with the combination providing enhanced recovery. The combined treatment group exhibited the most significant improvement in restoring Rate-Dependent Depression (RDD) levels. In the combined treatment group and the two individual drug administration groups, the upregulation of potassium chloride cotransporter 2 (K+-Cl-cotransporter 2, KCC2) expression and downregulation of sodium potassium chloride cotransporter 1 (Na+-K+-Cl-cotransporter 1, NKCC1) expression in the lumbar enlargement area resulted in a significant increase in the KCC2/NKCC1 ratio compared to the SCI + vehicle group, with the most pronounced improvement seen in the combined treatment group. Compared to the SCI + vehicle group, the SCI + bumetanide group showed no significant paw withdrawal thermal latency (PWTL) improvement at 21 and 35 dpi, but a notable enhancement at 56 dpi. In contrast, the SCI + CLP290 group significantly improved PWTL at 21 days, with non-significant changes at 35 and 56 days. At 21 dpi, KCC2 expression was marginally higher in monotherapy groups versus SCI + vehicle, but not significantly. At 56 dpi, only the SCI + bumetanide group showed a significant difference in KCC2 expression compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Combined application of CLP290 and bumetanide effectively increases the ratio of KCC2/NKCC1, restores RDD levels, enhances GABAA receptor-mediated inhibitory function in the spinal cord, and relieves neuropathic pain in SCI; Bumetanide significantly improves neuropathic pain in the long term, whereas CLP290 demonstrates a notable short-term effect.

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Bumetanida , Cotransportadores de K Cl , Neuralgia , Ratas Sprague-Dawley , Miembro 2 de la Familia de Transportadores de Soluto 12 , Traumatismos de la Médula Espinal , Simportadores , Animales , Bumetanida/farmacología , Bumetanida/uso terapéutico , Traumatismos de la Médula Espinal/complicaciones , Traumatismos de la Médula Espinal/tratamiento farmacológico , Traumatismos de la Médula Espinal/metabolismo , Neuralgia/tratamiento farmacológico , Neuralgia/etiología , Neuralgia/metabolismo , Ratas , Masculino , Simportadores/metabolismo , Miembro 2 de la Familia de Transportadores de Soluto 12/metabolismo , Inhibidores del Simportador de Cloruro Sódico y Cloruro Potásico/farmacología , Inhibidores del Simportador de Cloruro Sódico y Cloruro Potásico/uso terapéutico , Quimioterapia Combinada , Médula Espinal/efectos de los fármacos , Médula Espinal/metabolismo , Hiperalgesia/tratamiento farmacológico , Hiperalgesia/etiología , Acetatos , Indenos

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PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to characterize the differences between respiration and swallowing in patients with dysphagia after cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI) and to explore the underlying physiological changes. METHOD: A total of 95 participants were recruited for bedside swallowing evaluation followed by a flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing and surface electromyography with a thermocouple nasal airflow sensor examination: 32 with dysphagia, 33 without dysphagia, and 30 healthy controls. The differences in respiratory patterns, swallowing apnea duration (SAD), inspiratory-expiratory ratio, and swallowing efficiency were observed among healthy adults, CSCI patients with and without dysphagia after CSCI. RESULTS: Compared with those of healthy controls and patients without dysphagia after CSCI, the postswallow respiratory pattern of patients with dysphagia after CSCI was an inspiratory pattern, and the SAD was significantly shorter in patients with dysphagia after CSCI (p < .001). Additionally, the expiratory time in patients with dysphagia was significantly shorter than the inspiratory time, and the swallowing efficiency was reduced, requiring multiple swallows. Moreover, the index of SAD was statistically significant for predicting the development of dysphagia in patients with CSCI (p < .001). CONCLUSION: Patients with CSCI have an inspiratory pattern after swallowing, and the SAD is significantly reduced; SAD can be used as the predictor of dysphagia in patients after CSCI; the pattern of coordination between respiration and swallowing in patients with dysphagia after CSCI is different from that of healthy controls and patients without dysphagia after CSCI. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26524717.

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STUDY QUESTION: What is the molecular landscape underlying the functional decline of human testicular ageing? SUMMARY ANSWER: The present study provides a comprehensive single-cell transcriptomic atlas of testes from young and old humans and offers insights into the molecular mechanisms and potential targets for human testicular ageing. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Testicular ageing is known to cause male age-related fertility decline and hypogonadism. Dysfunction of testicular cells has been considered as a key factor for testicular ageing. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Human testicular biopsies were collected from three young individuals and three old individuals to perform single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). The key results were validated in a larger cohort containing human testicular samples from 10 young donors and 10 old donors. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: scRNA-seq was used to identify gene expression signatures for human testicular cells during ageing. Ageing-associated changes of gene expression in spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) and Leydig cells (LCs) were analysed by gene set enrichment analysis and validated by immunofluorescent and functional assays. Cell-cell communication analysis was performed using CellChat. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: The single-cell transcriptomic landscape of testes from young and old men was surveyed, revealing age-related changes in germline and somatic niche cells. In-depth evaluation of the gene expression dynamics in germ cells revealed that the disruption of the base-excision repair pathway is a prominent characteristic of old SSCs, suggesting that defective DNA repair in SSCs may serve as a potential driver for increased de novo germline mutations with age. Further analysis of ageing-associated transcriptional changes demonstrated that stress-related changes and cytokine pathways accumulate in old somatic cells. Age-related impairment of redox homeostasis in old LCs was identified and pharmacological treatment with antioxidants alleviated this cellular dysfunction of LCs and promoted testosterone production. Lastly, our results revealed that decreased pleiotrophin signalling was a contributing factor for impaired spermatogenesis in testicular ageing. LARGE SCALE DATA: The scRNA-seq sequencing and processed data reported in this paper were deposited at the Genome Sequence Archive (https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/), under the accession number HRA002349. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Owing to the difficulty in collecting human testis tissue, the sample size was limited. Further in-depth functional and mechanistic studies are warranted in future. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the cell type-specific mechanisms underlying human testicular ageing at a single-cell resolution, and suggest potential therapeutic targets that may be leveraged to address age-related male fertility decline and hypogonadism. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFA1104100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32130046, 82171564, 82101669, 82371611, 82371609, 82301796), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (2022A1515010371), the Major Project of Medical Science and Technology Development Research Center of National Health Planning Commission, China (HDSL202001000), the Open Project of NHC Key Laboratory of Male Reproduction and Genetics (KF202001), the Guangdong Province Regional Joint Fund-Youth Fund Project (2021A1515110921, 2022A1515111201), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M703736). The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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The mixing groups gathered in the enclosed space form a complex contact network due to face-to-face interaction, which affects the status and role of different groups in social communication. The intricacies of epidemic spreading in mixing groups are intrinsically complicated. Multiple interactions and transmission add to the difficulties of understanding and forecasting the spread of infectious diseases in mixing groups. Despite the critical relevance of face-to-face interactions in real-world situations, there is a significant lack of comprehensive study addressing the unique issues of mixed groups, particularly those with complex face-to-face interactions. We introduce a novel model employing an agent-based approach to elucidate the nuances of face-to-face interactions within mixing groups. In this paper, we apply a susceptible-infected-susceptible process to mixing groups and integrate a temporal network within a specified time window to distinguish between individual movement patterns and epidemic spreading dynamics. Our findings highlight the significant impact of both the relative size of mixing groups and the groups' mixing patterns on the trajectory of disease spread within the mixing groups. When group sizes differ significantly, high inter-group contact preference limits disease spread. However, if the minority reduces their intra-group preferences while the majority maintains high inter-group contact, disease spread increases. In balanced group sizes, high intra-group contact preferences can limit transmission, but asymmetrically reducing any group's intra-group preference can lead to increased spread.

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Epidemias , Humanos , Enfermedades Transmisibles/epidemiología , Enfermedades Transmisibles/transmisión

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Background: Recent research indicates that the monocyte lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) may serve as valuable predictors of early postoperative mortality in elderly individuals with hip fractures. The primary objective of the study was to examine the association between preoperative MLR, NLR, PLR, CRP, and SII levels and 3-year mortality risk in geriatric patients after hip fracture surgery. Patients and methods: The study included patients aged 65 years or older who underwent hip fracture surgery between November 2018 and November 2019. Admission levels of MLR, NLR, PLR, CRP, and SII were measured. The median follow-up period was 3.1 years. Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) for mortality with adjusting for potential covariates. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to assess the predictive capability of inflammatory indicators for mortality. Results: A total of 760 patients completed the follow-up (79.4 ± 7.8 years, 71.1% female). A higher preoperative MLR was found to be significantly associated with an increased 3-year postoperative mortality risk (HR 1.811, 95% CI 1.047-3.132, P = 0.034). However, no significant correlations were observed between preoperative NLR, PLR, CRP, SII and 3-year mortality. The areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) of MLR for predicting 30-day, 120-day, 1-year, and 3-year mortality were 0.74 (95% CI 0.53-0.95), 0.70 (95% CI 0.57-0.83), 0.67 (95% CI 0.60-0.74), and 0.61 (95% CI 0.56-0.66), respectively. Conclusion: Preoperative MLR is a useful inflammatory marker for predicting 3-year mortality in elderly hip fracture patients, but its predictive ability diminishes over time.

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Agricultural droughts are a threat to local economies, as they disrupt crops. The monitoring of agricultural droughts is of practical significance for mitigating loss. Even though satellite data have been extensively used in agricultural studies, realizing wide-range, high-resolution, and high-precision agricultural drought monitoring is still difficult. This study combined the high spatial resolution of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing with the wide-range monitoring capability of Landsat-8 and employed the local average method for upscaling to match the remote sensing images of the UAVs with satellite images. Based on the measured ground data, this study employed two machine learning algorithms, namely, random forest (RF) and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost1.5.1), to establish the inversion models for the relative soil moisture. The results showed that the XGBoost model achieved a higher accuracy for different soil depths. For a soil depth of 0-20 cm, the XGBoost model achieved the optimal result (R2 = 0.6863; root mean square error (RMSE) = 3.882%). Compared with the corresponding model for soil depth before the upscaling correction, the UAV correction can significantly improve the inversion accuracy of the relative soil moisture according to satellite remote sensing. To conclude, a map of the agricultural drought grade of winter wheat in the Huaibei Plain in China was drawn up.

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Due to the continuous production of industrial wastes and the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, severe cadmium (Cd) pollution in soil has occurred globally. This study investigated the impacts of incorporating zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) into hydroponically grown lettuce (Lactuca sativa) under cadmium stress conditions, to seek effective methods to minimize Cd buildup in green leafy vegetables. The results showed that 1 mg/L of Cd significantly inhibited lettuce growth, decreasing in leaves (29 %) and roots (33 %) biomass. However, when lettuce was exposed to 2.5 mg/L ZnONPs under cadmium stress, the growth, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), actual photochemical efficiency of PSII (φPSII), and activity of key enzymes in photosynthesis were all significantly enhanced. Furthermore, ZnONPs significantly decreased the accumulation of Cd in lettuce leaves (36 %) and roots (13 %). They altered the subcellular distribution and chemical morphology of Cd in lettuce by modifying the composition of cell walls (such as pectin content) and the levels of phenolic compounds, resulting in a reduction of 27 % in Cd translocation from roots to leaves. RNA sequencing yielded 45.9 × 107 and 53.4 × 107 clean reads from plant leaves and roots in control (T0), Cd (T1), Cd+ZnONPs (T2), and ZnONPs (T3) treatment groups respectively, and 3614 and 1873 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis identified photosynthesis, carbon fixation, and phenylpropanoid metabolism as the main causes of ZnONPs-mediated alleviation of Cd stress in lettuce. Specifically, the DEGs identified included 12 associated with photosystem I, 13 with photosystem II and 23 DEGs with the carbon fixation pathway of photosynthesis. Additionally, DEGs related to phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, caffeoyl CoA 3-O-methyltransferase, peroxidase, 4-coumarate-CoA ligase, hydroxycinnamoyl transferase, and cytochrome P450 proteins were also identified. Therefore, further research is recommended to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which ZnONPs reduce Cd absorption in lettuce through phenolic acid components in the phenylpropanoid metabolism pathway. Overall, treatments with ZnONPs are recommended to effectively reduce Cd accumulation in the edible portion of lettuce.

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The image-based visual servoing (IBVS) of manipulators is important for intelligent manipulation using visual feedbacks. While the traditional IBVS methods for manipulators require the knowledge of the depth information in the interaction matrix, in this article, we propose a novel IBVS method for manipulators without depth estimation by leveraging the property of the associated image Jacobian. Because of a novel transformation, the IBVS problem is converted into a convex optimization problem subject to the kinematic constraint, joint constraints, and other constraints that are not explicitly related to the depth information. The problem is then solved by developing a recurrent neural network of global asymptotic convergence, and a dynamic neural control law without depth estimation emerges for the IBVS of manipulators. The theoretical guarantee and simulation results are provided to show the efficacy of the proposed method.