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Acetylation is an important modification type of histones, which is dynamically regulated by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs). In this study, the histone acetylation level of Monascus was enhanced through the exogenous addition of the HDACs inhibitor vorinostat, and the regulation effects of histone acetylation on cell growth and secondary metabolism were evaluated. The results demonstrated that the augmentation of histone acetylation level could slightly facilitate sugar consumption, increase biomass weight, and significantly induce noticeable morphological alterations. Furthermore, in the presence of 80 μmol/L vorinostat concentration, there was a significant reduction observed in both extracellular and intracellular Monascus pigments, citrinin productions, with decreases of 35.46%, 63.90%, and 98.33% respectively. RT-qPCR results showed that adding vorinostat resulted in the up-regulation of HAT genes and down-regulation of HDAC genes. Additionally, transcriptome analysis revealed that glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, fatty acid metabolism, cell membrane anchor-protein related genes, and biosynthetic pathways involved in ergosterol and chitin synthesis were upregulated. Conversely, the electron transport chain and genetic clusters associated with Monascus pigments and citrinin synthesis were down-regulated. These findings underscore the pivotal role of histone acetylation in regulating the cell growth and secondary metabolism of M. purpureus and extend novel perspectives on the potential applications of clinical compounds derived from this process.

The BP neural network as the traditional prediction method has certain advantages, but it has some drawbacks, Such as slow convergence and sensitive to the initial weights, etc. The PSO algorithm is introduced into the neural network training, using the particle swarm algorithm to optimize the neural network weights and threshold. Through the establishment of the particle swarm - BP neural network model for power load budget, it improves the accuracy and stability of the forecast.

Purpose Postoperative adjuvant trans-catheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is regarded as a common strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients at a high risk of recurrence. However, there are currently no clinically available biomarkers to predict adjuvant TACE response. Vessels that encapsulate tumor clusters (VETC) can be used as an independent predictor of HCC prognosis. In this study, we aimed to explore whether the VETC pattern could predict adjuvant TACE benefit. Methods Vascular pattern and HIF-1α expression were detected in immunohistochemistry. The survival benefit of adjuvant TACE therapy for patients with or without VETC pattern (VETC+ /VETC−) was evaluated. Results The adjuvant TACE therapy obviously improved the TTR and OS in VETC+ patients, while adjuvant TACE therapy could not benefit from VETC− patients. Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that adjuvant TACE therapy significantly improved the TTR and OS in VETC+ patients, but not in VETC- patients. In addition, the VETC+ , but not VETC− , patients could benefit from adjuvant TACE therapy in patients with high-risk factors of vascular invasion, larger tumor or multiple tumor. The mechanistic investigations revealed that the favorable efficacy of adjuvant TACE on VETC+ patients, but not VETC− ones, may be not due to the activation of HIF-1α pathway. Conclusion The VETC pattern may represent a novel and reliable factor for selecting HCC patients who may benefit from adjuvant TACE therapy, and the combination of VETC pattern and tumor characteristics may help stratify patients’ outcomes and responses to adjuvant TACE therapy.

Epalrestat is a noncompetitive and reversible aldose reductase inhibitor used for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy. This study assumed that epalrestat had a protective effect on diabetic peripheral nerve injury by suppressing the expression of aldose reductase in peripheral nerves of diabetes mellitus rats. The high-fat and high-carbohydrate model rats were established by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. Peripheral neuropathy occurred in these rats after sustaining high blood glucose for 8 weeks. At 12 weeks after streptozotocin injection, rats were intragastrically administered epalrestat 100 mg/kg daily for 6 weeks. Transmission electron microscope revealed that the injuries to myelinated nerve fibers, non-myelinated nerve fibers and Schwann cells of rat sciatic nerves had reduced compared to rats without epalrestat administuation. Western blot assay and immunohistochemical results demonstrated that after intervention with epalrestat, the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase gradually increased, but aldose reductase protein expression gradually diminished. Results confirmed that epalrestat could protect against diabetic peripheral neuropathy by relieving oxidative stress and suppressing the polyol pathway.

A colluvial landslide in a debris flow valley is a typical phenomena and is easily influenced by rainfall. The direct destructiveness of this kind of landslide is small, however, if failure occurs the resulting blocking of the channel may lead to a series of magnified secondary hazards. For this reason it is important to investigate the potential response of this type of landslide to rainfall. In the present paper, the Goulingping landslide, one of the colluvial landslides in the Goulingping valley in the middle of the Bailong River catchment in Gansu Province, China, was chosen for the study. Electrical Resistivity Tomography（ERT）, Terrestrial Laser Scanning（TLS）, together with traditional monitoring methods, were used to monitor changes in water content and the deformation of the landslide caused by rainfall. ERT was used to detect changes in soil water content induced by rainfall. The most significant findings were as follows：（1） the water content in the centralupper part（0~41 m） of the landslide was greaterthan in the central-front part（41~84 m） and（2） there was a relatively high resistivity zone at depth within the sliding zone. The deformation characteristics at the surface of the landslide were monitored by TLS and the results revealed that rainstorms caused three types of deformation and failure：（1） gully erosion at the slope surface;（2） shallow sliding failure;（3） and slope foot erosion. Subsequent monitoring of continuous changes in pore-water pressure, soil pressure and displacement（using traditional methods） indicated that long duration light rainfall（average 2.22 mm/d） caused the entire landslide to enter a state of creeping deformation at the beginning of the rainy season. Shear-induced dilation occurred for the fast sliding（30.09 mm/d） during the critical failure sub-phase（EF）. Pore-water pressure in the sliding zone was affected by rainfall. In addition, the sliding L1 parts of the landslide exerted a discontinuous pressure on the L2 part. Through the monitoring and analysis, we conclude that this kind of landslide may have large deformation at the beginning and the late of the rainy season.