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It was assumed that dietary inclusion of Lactobacillus reuteri SL001 isolated from the gastric contents of rabbits could act as an alternative to feed antibiotics to improve the growth performance of broiler chickens. We randomly assigned 360 one-day-old AA white-feathered chicks in three treatments: basal diet (control), basal diet plus zinc bacitracin (antibiotic), and basal diet plus L. reuteri SL001 (SL001) treatment. The results showed the total BW gain and average daily gain (ADG) of broilers in SL001 treatment increased significantly (p < 0.05, respectively) compared with the control group from day 0 to 42. Moreover, we observed higher levels of immune globulins in both the SL001 group and the antibiotic group. Total antioxidant capacity and levels of antioxidant factors were also significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05, respectively) in the SL001 treatment group, while the interleukin 6, interleukin 4, creatinine, uric acid, total cholesterol, triglyceride, VLDL, LDL and malondialdehyde were remarkably decreased (p < 0.05, respectively). In the ileum of SL001 treatment broilers, the height of villi and the ratio of villi height to crypt depth were significantly increased (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the crypt depth reduced (p < 0.01) and the ratio of villi height to crypt depth increased (p < 0.05) in the jejunum compared to the control. The abundance of microbiota increased in the gut of broilers supplemented with SL001. Dietary SL001 significantly increased the relative abundance of Actinobacteria in the cecal contents of broilers (p < 0.01) at the phylum level. In conclusion, L. reuteri SL001 supplementation promotes the growth performance of broiler chickens and exhibits the potential application value in the industry of broiler feeding.

Background The recalcitrance of lignin is a major bottleneck in the efficient conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol. Genetic reduction of lignin content represents a key strategy to overcome this barrier. This study focuses on characterizing the brown midrib2 ( bm2 ) maize mutant to assess its potential for improving bioethanol production. Results Using a near-isogenic line (BC 4 F 5 ) harboring the bm2 mutation, an 8.01% reduction in acid-insoluble lignin content in stalks was observed, with no significant change in cellulose or hemicellulose. This lignin reduction led to a 25.17% increase in glucose release upon sulfuric acid pretreatment. Most importantly, the bm2 mutant showed significantly higher lignocellulosic bioethanol yields: 3.05 g/L Ethanol 1 from the pretreatment hydrolysate (fermentation via Pichia stipites ) and 25.88 g/L Ethanol 2 from the cellulose residue (fermentation via Saccharomyces cerevisiae ), corresponding to 59.07% and 38.58% increases over the wild-type control, respectively. Conclusions Our results provide direct evidence that the bm2 mutation enhances lignocellulosic ethanol production by reducing lignin content and improving saccharification efficiency. This work underscores the value of bm2 in breeding specialized corn varieties for sustainable biofuel feedstock.

To date, no comprehensive studies have examined the relationship between various thyroid function statuses and thyroid hormone levels with uric acid levels. This study aims to analyze the correlation between thyroid disease and hyperuricemia. Data from individuals undergoing health screenings in the Taiyuan area were collected. The data were categorized by thyroid disease type, thyroid function indices (FT4, FT3, and TSH), and serum uric acid (SUA) levels, followed by statistical analysis. The analysis indicated that the prevalence rates were as follows: clinical hyperthyroidism (CHyper) at 0.9%, subclinical hyperthyroidism (SCHyper) at 0.7%, clinical hypothyroidism (CHypo) at 0.8%, subclinical hypothyroidism (SCHypo) at 13.7%, and hyperuricemia at 16.9%. Further analysis revealed that the prevalence of hyperuricemia increased with higher FT4 and FT3 levels but decreased with lower TSH levels. However, logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for covariates, thyroid disease status, including CHyper, SCHyper, CHypo, and SCHypo, was not significantly correlated with hyperuricemia. Among the thyroid function indices, only FT4 had a statistically significant effect on the risk of hyperuricemia (OR 1.028, 95% CI 1.011-1.045). Additionally, the restricted cubic spline (RCS) was employed to assess the dose-response relationship between thyroid function indicators (FT4, FT3, and TSH) within the normal reference range and the risk of hyperuricemia. The FT4 level exhibited a positive relationship with the risk of hyperuricemia (nonlinear test χ was 0.26, ). When FT4 exceeded 16.85 pmol/L, higher levels of FT4 became a risk factor for hyperuricemia. Thyroid disease status does not significantly affect hyperuricemia. However, within the normal range, the FT4 level demonstrates a positive dose-response relationship with the risk of hyperuricemia.

Recent research studies have revealed that probiotics such as Lactobacillus are good antibiotic alternatives in the poultry industry. We previously isolated Lactobacillus reuteri SL001 from the gastric contents of rabbits and proved that dietary inclusion of SL001 could positively improve the composition of the intestinal bacterial community in Alzheimer's disease model mice. In the present study, we explored the effects of dietary SL001 on growth performance, health-related parameters, intestinal morphology and microbiota of broiler chickens. Our results showed that SL001 supplementation in diets promoted the growth performance of broilers, strengthened immunity, and improved antioxidant stress as well as intestinal morphology and microbiota, implying its potential application in boiler feeding. It was assumed that dietary inclusion of Lactobacillus reuteri SL001 isolated from the gastric contents of rabbits could act as an alternative to feed antibiotics to improve the growth performance of broiler chickens. We randomly assigned 360 one-day-old AA white-feathered chicks in three treatments: basal diet (control), basal diet plus zinc bacitracin (antibiotic), and basal diet plus L. reuteri SL001 (SL001) treatment. The results showed the total BW gain and average daily gain (ADG) of broilers in SL001 treatment increased significantly (p < 0.05, respectively) compared with the control group from day 0 to 42. Moreover, we observed higher levels of immune globulins in both the SL001 group and the antibiotic group. Total antioxidant capacity and levels of antioxidant factors were also significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05, respectively) in the SL001 treatment group, while the interleukin 6, interleukin 4, creatinine, uric acid, total cholesterol, triglyceride, VLDL, LDL and malondialdehyde were remarkably decreased (p < 0.05, respectively). In the ileum of SL001 treatment broilers, the height of villi and the ratio of villi height to crypt depth were significantly increased (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the crypt depth reduced (p < 0.01) and the ratio of villi height to crypt depth increased (p < 0.05) in the jejunum compared to the control. The abundance of microbiota increased in the gut of broilers supplemented with SL001. Dietary SL001 significantly increased the relative abundance of Actinobacteria in the cecal contents of broilers (p < 0.01) at the phylum level. In conclusion, L. reuteri SL001 supplementation promotes the growth performance of broiler chickens and exhibits the potential application value in the industry of broiler feeding.

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have gained a rapid development in the past two decades and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of single-junction OSC has recently approached 20%. The novel materials and device engineering are two key factors of this evolution. In this review, the device engineering, including morphology characterization and optimization, device physics, flexible and large-area OSCs, and stability of OSCs are systematically summarized. In addition, the current challenges, problems and future developments are also discussed.

In recent years, vegetation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) has undergone significant greening. However, the causal factors underpinning this phenomenon, whether attributable to temperature fluctuations, precipitation patterns, or anthropogenic interventions, remain a subject of extensive scholarly debate. This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of the evolving vegetation across the QTP. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Data Record Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Normalized Vegetation Difference Index (NOAA CDR AVHRR NDVI) dataset was employed to elucidate the intricate relationship between climatic variables and human activities driving vegetative transformations. The findings were as follows: The NDVI on the QTP has exhibited a significant greening trend at a rate of 0.0013/a (per year). A minor decline, accounting for only 17.6% of grasslands, was observed, which was primarily concentrated in the northwestern and northern regions. Through residual analysis, climate change was found to be the predominant driver, explaining 70.6% of the vegetation variability across the plateau. Concurrently, noticeable trends in temperature and precipitation increases were observed on the QTP, with the southern region demonstrating improved sensitivity to precipitation alterations. In summary, these results substantiate that a confluence of climatic warming, enhanced moisture availability, and a reduction in livestock population collectively creates an environment conducive to enhanced vegetation vigor on the QTP. This study highlights the significance of acknowledging the dual influence of climate and human agency in shaping vegetative dynamics, which is a critical consideration for informed land management strategies and sustainable development initiatives on this ecologically pivotal plateau.

The levels of DDT, HCH, Chlordane, PAH and PBDE in the egosystem of Deep Bay （including seawater, suspended particulate matter, surface sediment, age-dated core sediment and organism） were analyzed in 2004. Spatial and temporal concentration distributions of these HOCs were discussed. The mean levels of DDTs, HCHs, Chlordanes and PAHs were all higher in SPM than in surface sediment, consistent with higher TOC contents in SPM, and their coefficient of SPM to water and sediment to water were greater, respectively. Temporal trend of DDT, PAH and PBDE concentrations in core sediment generally increased from 1948 to 2004, with the highest concentrations in top or sub-surface sediment. The vertical profile of Chlordanes was characterized by alternately high-low and ascending pattern and HCH was characterized by fairly uniform concentrations. The average sedimentation flux in the core sediment was 0.28 g · cm^-2 · a^-1, with an apparent sedimentation rate of 0.69 cm · a^-1. The abundant PAH congeners in this ecosystem were phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene and phenanthrene. Ratios of Ph/An and Fl/Py suggest PAH originate both from pyrolytic and petrogenic sources in Deep Bay. The relationships between partition coefficients in surface sediment （organic carbon normalized concentration） to that in water （Koc） for PAH and their octanol/water partition coefficients （Kow） were positively correlative, consistent with the so-called linear free energy relationships. As an emerging contaminant, the total level of 22 PBDE congeners in the core sediment ranged from 0.1 ng · g^-1 to 4.8 ng · g^-1, with a median value of 0.7 ng · g^-1. BDE47, BDE49, BDE99 and BDE 183 were predominant congeners, accounting for 65% of the total PBDEs.

Since other factors (soil properties, topography, etc.) under natural conditions are relatively invariant over one or two decades, climate variables (precipitation and temperature) and human activities are the two fundamental factors driving vegetation changes in global or large-scale areas. However, the combined effects of either single climatic factor and human activities on vegetation changes and the role of human activities itself in a specific region has not been fully discussed. In this study, the Hexi region, a typical dryland consisting of three inland river basins in northwest China was selected as a case area. A new classification framework combining Pearson correlation analysis and residual trend approach was proposed to assess their individual and conjoint contributions of climate variables and human activities in areas of significant vegetation changes. Our results indicated that most of vegetation covered areas in the Hexi region experienced significant changes during the period 2001−2017, and vegetation improvements were widespread except the interior of oases; significant changes in vegetation caused by human activities, precipitation, the interactions of precipitation and human activities, temperature, the interactions of temperature and human activities, the interactions of temperature and precipitation, and the interactions of the three factors accounted for 50.46%, 16.39%, 19.90%, 4.33%, 2.32%, 2.11%, and 4.49% of the total change areas, respectively. Generally, the influence of temperature was relatively weaker than that of precipitation, and the contributions of the interactions of climate variables and human activities on vegetation changes were greater than that of climate contributions alone. Moreover, the results of various investigations, according to the trends and the time of vegetation changes, indicate that decreasing trends of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the Hexi region were chiefly attributed to the adjustments of agricultural planting structure while the comprehensive treatment programs implemented in river basins supported a large proportion of vegetation improvements.

Hyperspectral imagery (HSI) has demonstrated significant potential in remote sensing applications because of its abundant spectral and spatial information. However, current mainstream hyperspectral image classification models are generally characterized by high computational complexity, structural intricacy, and a strong reliance on training samples, which poses challenges in meeting application demands under resource-constrained conditions. To this end, a lightweight hyperspectral image classification model inspired by bionic design, named BioLiteNet, is proposed, aimed at enhancing the model’s overall performance in terms of both accuracy and computational efficiency. The model is composed of two key modules: BeeSenseSelector (Channel Attention Screening) and AffScaleConv (Scale-Adaptive Convolutional Fusion). The former mimics the selective attention mechanism observed in honeybee vision for dynamically selecting critical spectral channels, while the latter enables efficient fusion of spatial and spectral features through multi-scale depthwise separable convolution. On multiple hyperspectral benchmark datasets, BioLiteNet is shown to demonstrate outstanding classification performance while maintaining exceptionally low computational costs. Experimental results show that BioLiteNet can maintain high classification accuracy across different datasets, even when using only a small amount of labeled samples. Specifically, it achieves overall accuracies (OA) of 90.02% ± 0.97%, 88.20% ± 5.26%, and 78.64% ± 7.13% on the Indian Pines, Pavia University, and WHU-Hi-LongKou datasets using just 5% of samples, 10% of samples, and 25 samples per class, respectively. Moreover, BioLiteNet consistently requires fewer computational resources than other comparative models. The results indicate that the lightweight hyperspectral image classification model proposed in this study significantly reduces the requirements for computational resources and storage while ensuring classification accuracy, making it well-suited for remote sensing applications under resource constraints. The experimental results further support these findings by demonstrating its robustness and practicality, thereby offering a novel solution for hyperspectral image classification tasks.

Objective Staphylococcal nuclease domain-containing 1 (SND1) that functioned as an oncogene in a variety of tumors was upregulated in burn-injured skin tissues, and this study aims to investigate the effect of SND1 on keloid and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Methods Keloid fibroblasts (KFs) and normal skin fibroblasts (NFs) were isolated from the keloid tissues and adjacent normal skin tissues of keloid patients. The SND1 expression was assessed in keloid tissues and KFs with Western blot assay. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments were performed to investigate the role of SND1 in proliferation, colony formation, telomerase activity, expression of fibrogenic genes and production of pro-inflammatory factors in KFs. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (CHIP) and Dual-luciferase reporter gene assays were used to verify the interaction of Paired-box gene 5 (PAX5) on SND1 promoter. Then, a series of rescue experiments were performed to verify the effects of SND1 overexpression on PAX5 knockdown-mediated KF functions. Finally, the role of SND1 in keloid formation in vivo was validated in mice with keloid implantation. Results SND1 was upregulated in keloid tissues and KFs. SND1 positively regulated proliferation, colony formation, telomerase activity, production of pro-inflammatory factors and expression of fibrogenic genes. PAX5 directly bound to the SND1 promoter to transcriptionally regulate SND1 expression and positively regulated SND1-mediated KF functions via the ERK/JNK pathway. In vivo assay further demonstrated that SND1 displayed a positive effect on keloid formation. Conclusion SND1 transcriptionally regulated by PAX5 promotes keloid formation through activating telomerase activity via the ERK/JNK signaling pathways, which provides a promising therapeutic target for clinical treatment of burned skin keloid.