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Background Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is characterized by liver steatosis, inflammation, and even fibrosis. NASH is likely to develop into cirrhosis and liver cancer, the major causes of liver related deaths. We aimed to study the effect of probiotics on NASH via the gut‐liver axis. Methods Thirty male Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into three groups. A control group of 10 rats was fed on a standard chow for 16 weeks. Twenty rats fed on a high‐fat diet for 8 weeks were separated to two groups: a model group (10 rats) fed on vehicle for 8 weeks and a treatment group (10 rats) supplemented with binary Bacillus subtilis for 8 weeks. Hepatic expression of IL‐6 and TNF‐ɑ and ileum expression of IL‐17 and occludin were measured. Results The high‐fat diet caused inflammation of the liver and ileum in rats. Binary Bacillus subtilis treatment reduces liver inflammation through the intestinal liver axis. Increased levels of IL‐6 and TNF‐α were detected in rats fed a high‐fat diet, which were reduced to lower levels after treatment with binary Bacillus subtilis. In rats on the high‐fat diet, elevated IL‐17 levels and decreased occludin levels were observed. Treatment with Bacillus subtilis reduced IL‐17 levels and restored the expression of occludin. Conclusion Binary Bacillus subtilis has a beneficial effect on liver inflammation and intestinal damage. The gut liver axis has a functional connection between the gastrointestinal tract and the liver. Most of the blood in the liver comes from the intestines. Binary Bacillus subtilis is composed of 4.5 × 108 Fecal Escherichia coli R0026 and 5 × 107 Bacillus subtilis R0179. Binary Bacillus Subtilis treatment protect the intestinal mucosa barrier and alleviate enteritis and non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Background Paclitaxel (Taxol) is an invaluable secondary metabolite extracted from Taxus species, wildly utilized in cancer therapeutics. Salicylic acid (SA), an important phytohormone, substantially elevates paclitaxel accumulation in Taxus cell suspension cultures. However, the molecular mechanisms governing SA-induced modulation of paclitaxel biosynthesis remain poorly elucidated. Our previous studies identified TcMYB73, an SA-responsive R2R3-MYB transcription factor (TF), which demonstrates a robust positive correlation with paclitaxel biosynthesis, implying its orchestrating role in this metabolic pathway. Results Expression pattern analysis revealed that TcMYB73 displays predominant expression in lateral roots. Both overexpression and RNA interference (RNAi) of TcMYB73 demonstrated its regulatory function in modulating key paclitaxel biosynthetic genes, including taxadiene synthase ( TASY ), 10-deacetylbaccatin III-10-O-acetyltransferase ( DBAT ), and 3’-N-debenzoyl-2’-deoxytaxol-N-benzoyltransferase ( DBTNBT ). Transient TcMYB73 overexpression in Taxus chinensis ( T. chinensis) needles induced 2.38-, 2.87-, and 1.79-fold increases in 10-DAB, baccatin III, and paclitaxel accumulation, respectively, compared to controls. Additionally, yeast one-hybrid (Y1H), Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA), chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR (ChIP-qPCR), and dual-luciferase (Dual-LUC) assays verified that TcMYB73 directly binds to MYB recognition elements in the T10OH promoter, enhancing its transcription. Furthermore, TcWRKY33 , a transcriptional activator of DBAT , functions as a positive regulator mediating SA signaling within the paclitaxel biosynthetic pathway. Subsequent investigations validated that TcMYB73 upregulates DBAT expression via direct transcriptional activation of TcWRKY33 . Collectively, these results demonstrate that TcMYB73 transduces SA signals to T10OH and TcWRKY33 , coordinately regulating paclitaxel biosynthesis through dual mechanisms: direct activation of biosynthetic genes and indirect modulation of upstream regulators. Conclusions Our results indicated that the SA-responsive R2R3-MYB TF, TcMYB73 transcriptionally governs paclitaxel biosynthesis in T. chinensis through direct activation the expression of the T10OH gene, and activating TcWRKY33 expression, thereby modulating DBAT expression. This study provides mechanistic insights into the role of TcMYB73 in mediating SA-induced transcriptional regulation of paclitaxel biosynthesis in Taxus species.

The behavior of biomolecules in crowded environments remains largely unknown due to the accuracy of simulation models and the limited experimental data for comparison. Here we chose a small crowder of tetraethylene glycol (PEG-4) to investigate the self-crowding of PEG-4 solutions and molecular crowding effects on the structure and diffusion of lysozyme at varied concentrations from dilute water to pure PEG-4 liquid. Two Amber-like force fields of Amber14SB and a99SB-disp were examined with TIP3P (fast diffusivity and low viscosity) and a99SB-disp (slow diffusivity and high viscosity) water models, respectively. Compared to the Amber14SB protein simulations, the a99SB-disp model yields more coordinated water and less PEG-4 molecules, less intramolecular hydrogen bonds (HBs), more protein–water HBs, and less protein–PEG HBs as well as stronger interactions and more hydrophilic and less hydrophobic contacts with solvent molecules. The a99SB-disp model offers comparable protein–solvent interactions in concentrated PEG-4 solutions to that in pure water. The PEG-4 crowding leads to a slow-down in the diffusivity of water, PEG-4, and protein, and the decline in the diffusion from atomistic simulations is close to or faster than the hard sphere model that neglects attractive interactions. Despite these differences, the overall structure of lysozyme appears to be maintained well at different PEG-4 concentrations for both force fields, except a slightly large deviation at 370 K at low concentrations with the a99SB-disp model. This is mainly attributed to the strong intramolecular interactions of the protein in the Amber14SB force field and to the large viscosity of the a99SB-disp water model. The results indicate that the protein force fields and the viscosity of crowder solutions affect the simulation of biomolecules under crowding conditions.

Valley pseudospin in transition metal dichalcogenides monolayers intrinsically provides additional possibility to control valley carriers, raising a great impact on valleytronics in following years. The spin-valley locking directly contributes to optical selection rules which allow for valley-dependent addressability of excitons by helical optical pumping. As a binary photonic addressable route, manipulation of valley polarization states is indispensable while effective control methods at deep-subwavelength scale are still limited. Here, we report the excitation and control of valley polarization in h-BN/WSe 2 /h-BN and Au nanoantenna hybrid structure by electron beam. Near-field circularly polarized dipole modes can be excited via precise stimulation and generate the valley polarized cathodoluminescence via near-field interaction. Effective manipulation of valley polarization degree can be realized by variation of excitation position. This report provides a near-field excitation methodology of valley polarization, which offers exciting opportunities for deep-subwavelength valleytronics investigation, optoelectronic circuits integration and future quantum information technologies. Here, the authors generate near-field circularly polarized dipole modes in a hBN/WSe 2 /hBN–Au nanoantenna hybrid structure by electron beam excitation, and show nanoscale control of the valley polarization through spatial variation of the electron beam excitation position.

A facile cuprous oxide nanoparticles functionalized electro-reduced graphene oxide modified glassy carbon electrode (denoted as Cu2O NPs-ERGO/GCE) was fabricated via a simple physical adsorption and electrochemical reduction approach. Cyclic voltammetry and second-order derivative linear scan voltammetry were used to investigate the electrocatalysis oxidation of vanillin on the Cu2O NPs-ERGO/GCE. The compound yielded a well-defined voltammetric response in 0.1 M H2SO4 at 0.916 V (vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE)). A linear calibration graph was obtained in the concentration range of 0.1 μM to 10 μM and 10 μM to 100 μM, while the detection limit (S/N = 3) is 10 nM. In addition, the Cu2O NPs-ERGO/GCE presented well anti-interference ability, stability, and reproducibility. It was used to detect vanillin sensitively and rapidly in different commercial food products, and the results were in agreement with the values obtained by high performance liquid chromatography.

The study of laser-induced ultrafast magnetization dynamics is crucial for the development of information recording technology. Due to the complex mechanism, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding for ultrafast magnetization dynamics. As an essential stage of laser-induced ultrafast magnetization switching process, the transient ferromagnetic like state (TFLS), has attracted much attention. Different from other studies on TFLS through the difference of magnetization dynamics between rare-earth and transition-metal, our study mainly focuses on the influence of energy injection and relaxation on TFLS in the process of ultrafast magnetization dynamics. The influence of various parameters on the formation of energy exchange dependent TFLS is studied. The results of simulation well support our view. Understanding the mechanism behind the TFLS is of great significance to promote the application of laser-induced ultrafast magnetization switching.

The durability and protective effect of naturally acquired antibodies against hepatitis E virus (HEV) reinfection and clinical progression remain unclear in humans. In a 103-month longitudinal analysis of 7032 adult placebo recipients (aged 16 to 65 years) from a phase 3 HEV vaccine trial in China, we demonstrated that baseline anti-HEV IgG seropositivity (n = 3194) conferred over 50% higher protection against reinfection compared with seronegative individuals (n = 3838), with this protective effect remaining consistent over 8.5 years. A non-linear dose-response relationship was observed, whereby baseline anti-HEV IgG concentrations ≥0.25 WHO units/mL were associated with at least a 50% reduction in infection risk, with higher baseline antibody levels correlated with a lower risk of infection. Natural immunity provided approximately 70% protection against clinically apparent hepatitis E in the cohort, with 10 symptomatic cases identified over a decade of active surveillance. Six were hospitalized, all of whom were baseline seronegative. These findings establish that natural HEV immunity provides durable, though incomplete, protection. Hepatitis E virus is a leading cause of acute viral hepatitis and antibodies can persist for years post-infection. Here, the authors quantify the protective effects of naturally acquired immunity against subclinical and clinical hepatitis E infection using data from a placebo arm of a vaccine trial in China.

The emergence of Rocahepevirus ratti genotype 1 (rat hepatitis E virus; rat HEV) in humans presents an unprecedented threat; however, the risk of rat HEV transmission to humans is not well understood. Here, we report the “Distinguishing Antibody Response Elicitation (DARE)” method, which distinguishes exposure to rat HEV. We use four study sets from China for large-scale population analysis: set 1 (hospital visit) and set 3 (ALT abnormality) from Yunnan province, a biodiversity hotspot, and set 2 (received physical examination) and set 4 (ALT abnormality) from Jiangsu province, a non-hotspot control region. rat HEV exposure risk is significantly higher in Yunnan, with 21.97% (190 of 865) in set 1 and 13.97% (70 of 501) in set 3, compared to 0.75% (9 of 1196) in Jiangsu’s set 2. Six spillover infections for rat HEV are identified in set 1, with one case of abnormal ALT. The rat-1d strains carried by rats are closely related to those human infections. Our study reveals the substantial spillover burden posed by rat HEV in biodiversity hotspots and highlights the utility of DARE method for proactive surveillance of public health emergencies. Rat hepatitis E virus (HEV) can infect humans, but the extent of spillover isn’t well studied. Here the authors develop a serological test that distinguishes exposure to rat HEV from other HEV infection and show substantial spillover in a biodiversity hotspot in China. The method can support surveillance of rat HEV.

Phonon-assisted upconverted emission is the heart of energy harvesting, bioimaging, optical cryptography, and optical refrigeration. It has been demonstrated that emerging two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors can provide an excellent platform for efficient phonon-assisted upconversion due to the enhanced optical transition strength and phonon-exciton interaction of 2D excitons. However, there is little research on the further enhancement of excitonic upconverted emission in 2D semiconductors. Here, we report the enhanced multiphoton upconverted emission of 2D excitons in doubly resonant plasmonic nanocavities. Owing to the enhanced light collection, enhanced excitation rate, and quantum efficiency enhancement arising from the Purcell effect, an upconverted emission amplification of >1000-fold and a decrease of 2~3 orders of magnitude in the saturated excitation power are achieved. These findings pave the way for the development of excitonic upconversion lasing, nanoscopic thermometry, and sensing, revealing the possibility of optical refrigeration in future 2D electronic or excitonic devices.Based on locally enhanced electromagnetic field and accelerated spontaneous emission rate, excitonic upconversion enhancement of more than 1000-fold was achieved in plasmonic nanocavity coupled transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers.

The effectiveness of the hepatitis E vaccine in high-risk groups, such as chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, remains understudied. A key clinical manifestation of CHB is the persistent positivity of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). We conducted a test-negative design study involving 2,926 HBsAg-positive individuals (born 1941–1991; median age 49.0; male-to-female ratio of 1.4), identified through a hepatitis surveillance system, as part of the phase 3 trial (NCT01014845) of the recombinant hepatitis E vaccine HEV 239 (Hecolin). This system monitored suspected hepatitis cases and performed diagnoses across 11 townships in Dongtai, Jiangsu, China, from 2007 to 2017. Vaccine effectiveness of HEV 239 was assessed by comparing vaccination status between confirmed 96 hepatitis E cases and 2830 test-negative controls, using logistic regression adjusted for sex and age. We found that HEV 239 vaccination was associated with a reduced risk of hepatitis E among HBsAg-positive individuals, with an estimated effectiveness of 72.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) 11.2–91.2], and 81.5% (95% CI 35.9–94.6) among phase 3 trial participants. Our findings show that HEV 239 is highly effective in HBsAg-positive adults, supporting its future recommended use in this population. Effectiveness of the hepatitis E vaccine HEV 239 amongst high-risk groups isn’t well studied. Here, Zhuang et al. analyse a decade of surveillance data (2007–2017) from Dongtai, China, and estimate HEV 239 effectiveness of 72% amongst hepatitis B virus infected people.