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Syntactic priming, wherein prior exposure to a linguistic structure influences subsequent processing, has been less extensively explored for ditransitive structures (double-object and prepositional-object) among L1-English L2-Chinese learners. This study investigates cross-linguistic priming in 57 native English-speaking L2 learners of Chinese, varying in proficiency, using a translation selection task (comprehension) and a picture description task (production). The results reveal significant cross-linguistic priming effects in both comprehension and production tasks. Notably, in Task 2, the production rates of both syntactic structures under priming conditions were significantly higher than those observed under non-priming conditions. In addition, advanced learners exhibited stronger priming effects than beginners. These findings tentatively support the developed version of the bilingual lexical-syntactic representation model and the error-based implicit learning model, indicating that cross-linguistic priming is modulated by learners’ proficiency, where increased exposure and error-driven adjustments strengthen the connection between L1 and L2 syntactic representations. Furthermore, there is also an indication that modality might influence structural preferences, with prepositional-object structures possibly being favored in comprehension and double-object structures potentially more common in production, although these observations remain tentative. Overall, the insights offer valuable implications for optimizing Teaching Chinese as a Second Language strategies, particularly through tailored comprehension and production activities to enhance syntactic acquisition.

To better understand the mechanism of salt tolerance, we analyzed cotton growth and the ionomes in different tissues under different types of salt–alkali stress. Cotton was exposed to the soil salt and alkali stresses, NaCl, Na 2 SO 4 , and Na 2 CO 3  + NaHCO 3 , in a pot study. Salt and alkali stress significantly inhibited cotton growth, significantly reduced root length, surface area, and volume, and significantly increased relative electrical conductivity (REC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content but also significantly increased antioxidant enzyme activities, and proline (Pro) content. The REC in leaves was higher under salt stress than under alkali stress, but the effects on Pro were in the order Na 2 CO 3  + NaHCO 3  > NaCl > Na 2 SO 4 . Principal component analysis showed a significant difference in ion composition under the different types of salt–alkali stress. Under the three types of salt–alkali stress, concentrations of Na and Mo increased significantly in different organs of cotton plants. Under NaCl stress, the absorption of Ca was inhibited, the transport capacity of P, Mg, and Cu was reduced, and the ion balance was maintained by promoting the uptake and transport of Zn, Mn, Al, and Mo. Under Na 2 SO 4 stress, the absorption of P and Ca was inhibited, the transport capacity of Mg, B, and Cu was reduced, and the ion balance was maintained by promoting the uptake and transport of S, Zn, Fe, Mo, Al, and Co. Under Na 2 CO 3  + NaHCO 3 stress, the absorption of P and S was inhibited, the transport capacity of Mg and B was reduced, but that of Al and Fe increased, and the ion balance was maintained by promoting the uptake and transport of Mn, Mo, Ni, and Co. The relative expression of GhSOS1 and GhNHX1 in leaves increased significantly under salt stress but decreased under alkali stress. These results suggest that cotton is well-adapted to salt–alkali stress via the antioxidant enzyme system, adjustment of osmotic substances, and reconstruction of ionic equilibrium; neutral salt stress primarily disrupts the ion balance, whereas alkali stress decreases the ability to regulate Na and inhibits the absorption of mineral elements, as well as disrupts the ion balance; and the changes in the expression of salt tolerance-related genes may partially explain the accumulation of Na ions in cotton under salt–alkali stress.

Despite the tremendous biological activity of polysaccharides from the mushroom Dictyophora indusiata, its role in the restoration of gut microbiota has not yet been explored. The present study aimed to investigate whether D. indusiata polysaccharide (DIP) could modulate the recovery of gut microbiota composition and intestinal barrier function after broad-spectrum antibiotic-driven dysbiosis. Alteration and restoration in the microbial communities were elucidated by the Illumina MiSeq platform. Colon histology, expression of tight-junction associated proteins, and serum/tissue endotoxin and cytokine levels were evaluated. Two-week daily oral administration of clindamycin and metronidazole resulted in reduced bacterial diversity and richness, and perturbed the microbial flora at various taxonomic levels (altered Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and increased relative abundance of harmful flora (Proteobacteria, Enterococcus, and Bacteroides)), whereas DIP administration reversed the dysbiosis and increased beneficial flora, including Lactobacillaceae (lactic acid-producing bacteria), and Ruminococaceae (butyrate-producing bacteria). In addition, it resulted in the reduction of endotoxemia (through lipopolysaccharides (LPSs)) and pro-inflammatory cytokine (tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and interleukin 1β (IL-1β)) levels, with the increased expression of tight-junction associated proteins (claudin-1, occludin, and zonula occludens-1). These findings not only suggested a comprehensive understanding of the protective effects of a DIP in the restoration of gut microbiota but also highlighted its role in the enhancement of gut barrier integrity, reduction of inflammation and lowering of endotoxin levels in mice.

In order to improve the accuracy of motion pattern recognition, this paper combines the artificial visual neural network to construct a motion pattern recognition system. Moreover, this paper discusses the psychological perception properties of human eyes to color stimuli and gives a description of the observation field of view where the color stimuli are located. At the same time, this paper analyzes the phenomenon of color adaptation and provides a method of color appearance matching through modeling to achieve color appearance matching under variable observation conditions. Based on the chromatic adaptation transformation, a chromatic appearance model is given, which can predict the corresponding color and also predict the chromatic appearance properties of color stimuli under given observation conditions. In addition, this paper constructs an intelligent motion pattern recognition system combined with artificial visual neural network. The experimental results show that the motion pattern recognition system based on artificial visual neural network can accurately identify the motion pattern category.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a serious and often fatal illness that occurs in various clinical settings and represents a significant unmet medical need. Increasing evidence indicates that neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) contribute significantly to the progression of PF. Therefore, understanding the pathways by which NETs contribute to the disease is crucial for developing effective treatments. This review focuses on the formation of NETs and the common mechanisms of NETs in PF. Highlights 1. This review focuses on NETs formation and the role of NETs in PF and presents research progress. 2. We describe specific mechanisms by which NETs induce PF in fibroblasts while revealing the transduction mechanisms that remain to be investigated. 3. We explore the possible consequences of NETs action on lung epithelial cells, including NETs-induced lung epithelial damage and NETs-driven epithelial mesenchymal transition. 4. We introduce recent key findings about the role of NETs-mediated chronic inflammation in PF and the effect of autophagy-driven production of NETs in fibrosis.

Fluorescence polarization microscopy images both the intensity and orientation of fluorescent dipoles and plays a vital role in studying molecular structures and dynamics of bio-complexes. However, current techniques remain difficult to resolve the dipole assemblies on subcellular structures and their dynamics in living cells at super-resolution level. Here we report polarized structured illumination microscopy (pSIM), which achieves super-resolution imaging of dipoles by interpreting the dipoles in spatio-angular hyperspace. We demonstrate the application of pSIM on a series of biological filamentous systems, such as cytoskeleton networks and λ-DNA, and report the dynamics of short actin sliding across a myosin-coated surface. Further, pSIM reveals the side-by-side organization of the actin ring structures in the membrane-associated periodic skeleton of hippocampal neurons and images the dipole dynamics of green fluorescent protein-labeled microtubules in live U2OS cells. pSIM applies directly to a large variety of commercial and home-built SIM systems with various imaging modality. Polarization microscopy has been combined with single-molecule localization, but it’s often limited in either speed or resolution. Here the authors present polarized Structured Illumination Microscopy (pSIM), a method that uses polarized laser excitation to measure dye orientation during fast super-resolution live cell imaging.

Surface high-valent iron-oxo species (≡Fe IV =O) are reliable and green oxygen atom transfer reagents, but the ability is seriously inhibited by the maximal orbital overlap of axial Fe = O double bond in a symmetric planar coordination environment. Herein, we report the synthesis of planar asymmetric surface Fe IV  = O (PA-≡Fe IV  = O) on pyrite using chlorite as the oxidant, where the in-situ generated ClO 2 can transform a planar Fe-S bond to Fe-Cl by oxidizing and subsequently substituting planar sulfur atoms. Different from planar symmetric surface Fe IV  = O (PS-≡Fe IV  = O) with electron localization around axial Fe = O, PA-≡Fe IV  = O delocalizes electrons among Fe, axial oxo moiety and its planar ligands owing to the stronger electron-withdrawing capacity of Cl, which effectively weakens the orbital overlap of axial Fe = O bonding and thus facilitates the rapid electron transfer from the substrates to the unoccupied antibonding orbital of PA-≡Fe IV  = O, realizing more efficient oxygen atom transfer oxidation of methane, methyl phenyl sulfide, triphenylphosphonate and styrene than PS-≡Fe IV  = O. This study offers a facile approach for the synthesis of planar asymmetric surface Fe IV  = O, and also underscores the importance of planar coordination environment of high-valent metal-oxo species in the oxygen atom transfer reactions. Surface high-valent iron-oxo species (≡Fe⁴⁺=O) are effective and environmentally friendly reagents for oxygen atom transfer. Here, the authors create a planar, asymmetric ≡Fe⁴⁺=O with a Fe–Cl₁S₃ structure using pyrite and chlorite, which enhances electron delocalization and weakens the Fe=O bond to improve reaction efficiency.

Nature-inspired high-spin Fe IV  = O generation enables efficient ambient methane oxidation. By engineering sulfur-bridged dual ≡Fe II …Fe II ≡ sites on pyrite (FeS 2 ) mimicking soluble methane monooxygenase, we achieve O 2 -driven formation of high-spin (S = 2) surface Fe IV  = O species at room temperature and pressure. Strategic removal of bridging S atoms creates active sites that facilitate O 2 activation via transient ≡Fe-O-O-Fe≡ intermediates, promoting homolytic O − O bond cleavage. The resulting Fe IV  = O exhibits an asymmetrically distorted coordination environment that reduces the crystal field splitting and favors the occupation of higher energy d-orbitals with unpaired electrons. Impressively, this configuration can efficiently convert CH 4 to CH 3 OH through an oxygen transfer reaction with a synthetic efficiency of TOF = 27.4 h −1 and selectivity of 87.0%, outperforming most ambient O 2 -driven benchmarks under comparable conditions and even surpassing many H 2 O 2 -mediated systems. This study offers a facile method to synthesize high-spin surface Fe IV  = O and highlights the importance of metal spin state tailoring on non-enzymatic methane activation. High-spin Fe(IV) = O sites efficiently activate methane but are challenging to synthesize. This study develops dual Fe(II) sites on FeS 2 , generating high-spin Fe(IV) = O from O 2 , achieving superior methane-to-methanol conversion under mild conditions.

Under extreme drought conditions, the mechanisms of litter decomposition and the associated microbial activities differ significantly from those in non-drought regions. These differences are primarily attributed to reduced precipitation, sparse vegetation cover, intense solar radiation, and unstable soil environments. However, it remains unclear how alterations in litter properties and soil microbial communities-induced by changes in the microenvironment under extreme drought-affect the processes of litter decomposition. To address this issue, we selected two distinct habitat types, applied two sand-burial treatments (surface vs. 15 cm depth), and employed the litterbag method to investigate how variations in microenvironmental conditions influence litter decomposition via changes in litter quality and soil microbial communities. The results indicated that in vegetated areas, sand burial enhanced nitrogen (N) release from litter by 16.56%, accelerated carbon (C) release by 13.13%, and significantly increased mass loss by 7.50%. Structural equation modeling further revealed that and significantly promoted litter decomposition in vegetated areas by enhancing lignin degradation. In contrast, the higher decomposition rate of surface litter in non-vegetated areas (litter decomposition rate ( ): 0.421 vs. 0.275) suggests that abiotic factors are more influential in driving decomposition on exposed sandy land. A 29.37% increase in lignin breakdown, likely due to photodegradation, may be the primary mechanism accelerating surface litter mass loss in these areas. In summary, modifications to the microenvironment influence litter decomposition by altering nutrient release and the composition of soil microbial communities, ultimately affecting ecosystem C and N cycling in arid environments.

Despite advancements in targeted therapies and immunotherapy, liver cancer (LC) remains a prominent contributor to cancer-related deaths globally, primarily attributable to its high recurrence and metastasis rates. Recent investigations have underscored the crucial function of transmembrane proteins in advancing cancer by regulating proliferation, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Transmembrane protein 45B (TMEM45B), a transmembrane protein implicated in tumor aggressiveness in various cancer types, requires further investigation to clarify its specific role in LC. This study investigates the expression patterns, biological functions, and underlying mechanisms of TMEM45B in LC. Bioinformatic analyses were conducted on publicly available datasets to evaluate TMEM45B expression in LC and its correlation with clinical outcomes. TMEM45B knockdown and overexpression models were established in LC cell lines through lentivirus-mediated shRNA and plasmid transfection. The CCK-8 assay evaluated the influence of TMEM45B on tumor cell proliferation. Cell migration and invasion were assessed by Transwell migration and Matrigel invasion assays, respectively. EMT-related changes were examined by immunofluorescence staining of vimentin and E-cadherin. MET signaling activity was assessed by Western Blotting. Tumor growth in vivo was evaluated using a subcutaneous xenograft model in nude mice. Elevated expression of TMEM45B was detected in LC cell lines and tissues, correlating with poor prognosis and advanced clinical stages. Cox regression analyses in a 66-patient cohort further indicated that TMEM45B was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival. Knockdown of TMEM45B in vitro significantly suppressed LC cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and EMT, while its overexpression exacerbated these malignant phenotypes. Mechanistically, TMEM45B promoted MET signaling activation, as reflected by increased MET protein levels and enhanced phosphorylation of downstream effectors AKT and ERK. Rescue experiments confirmed the crucial role of MET signaling in mediating TMEM45B-induced oncogenic effects. In vivo, TMEM45B knockdown notably hindered tumor growth and decreased EMT marker expression in a subcutaneous xenograft model. Our study suggests that TMEM45B may facilitate LC progression, at least in part, through MET signaling activation and EMT induction. These results underscore TMEM45B’s significance as a prognostic indicator and therapeutic target in LC. Further research on developing TMEM45B-targeted therapy could improve the effectiveness of treating advanced LC patients.