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IL-23 is a heterodimeric pro-inflammatory cytokine secreted by dendritic cells and macrophages that belongs to the IL-12 family. It has pro-inflammatory effects and is a key cytokine and upstream regulatory cytokine involved in protective immune responses, stimulating the differentiation and proliferation of downstream effectors such as Th17 cells. It is expressed in various autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The IL-23/TH17 axis formed by IL-23 and TH17 has been confirmed to participate in autoimmune diseases pathogenesis. IL-23R is the receptor for IL-23 and plays an activating role. Targeting IL-23 is currently the main strategy for the treatment of various autoimmune diseases. In this review we summarized the mechanism of action and clinical application potential of IL-23 in autoimmune diseases by summarizing the latest research results and reviewing the literature, which would help to further understand IL-23 and provide a theoretical basis for future clinical targeting and drug development.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the Maillard reaction between polysaccharides and proteins from longan pulp and the effects of reaction on their in vitro activities. The polysaccharide-protein mixtures of fresh longan pulp (LPPMs) were co-prepared by an alkali extraction–acid precipitation method. They were then dry-heated under controlled conditions for monitoring the characterization of the Maillard reaction by the measurement of the free amino group content, ultraviolet-visible spectrum, Fourier transform infrared spectrum and molecular weight distribution. All the physicochemical analyses indicated the development of the Maillard reaction between polysaccharides and proteins. The in vitro activity evaluation indicated that the Maillard reaction could effectively enhance the antioxidant, antitumor and immunostimulating activities of LPPMs. The enhancement of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power displayed both a positive correlation with the reaction time (p < 0.05). LPPMs dry-heated for three days obtained relatively strong inhibitory activity against HepG2 cells and SGC7901 cells, as well as strong immunostimulating effects on the nitric oxide production and tumor necrosis factor α secretion of macrophages. Maillard-type intermacromolecular interaction is suggested to be an effective and controllable method for improving the functional activities of polysaccharides and proteins from longan pulp.

The activity of polysaccharides is usually related to molecular weight. The molecular weight of polysaccharides is critical to their immunological effect in cancer therapy. Herein, the Codonopsis polysaccharides of different molecular weights were isolated using ultrafiltration membranes of 60- and 100-wDa molecular weight cut-off to determine the relationship between molecular weight and antitumor activities. First, three water-soluble polysaccharides CPPS-I (<60 wDa), CPPS-II (60–100 wDa), and CPPS-III (>100 wDa) from Codonopsis were isolated and purified using a combination of macroporous adsorption resin chromatography and ultrafiltration. Their structural characteristics were determined through chemical derivatization, GPC, HPLC, FT–IR, and NMR techniques. In vitro experiments indicated that all Codonopsis polysaccharides exhibited significant antitumor activities, with the tumor inhibition rate in the following order: CPPS-II > CPPS-I > CPPS-III. The treatment of CPPS-II exhibited the highest inhibition rate at a high concentration among all groups, which was almost as efficient as that of the DOX·HCL (10 μg/mL) group at 125 μg/mL concentration. Notably, CPPS-II demonstrated the ability to enhance NO secretion and the antitumor ability of macrophages relative to the other two groups of polysaccharides. Finally, in vivo experiments revealed that CPPS-II increased the M1/M2 ratio in immune system regulation and that the tumor inhibition effect of CPPS-II + DOX was superior to that of DOX monotherapy, implying that CPPS-II + DOX played a synergistic role in regulating the immune system function and the direct tumor-killing ability of DOX. Therefore, CPPS-II is expected to be applied as an effective cancer treatment or adjuvant therapy.

The effects of amino acid-involved Maillard reactions (MRs) on the structure and activities of longan pulp polysaccharides (LPs), which were heteropolysaccharides mainly composed of glucose, galactose, mannose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, ribose, and galacturonic acid, were investigated. The changes of browning degree and molecular weight (Mw) distribution in the MR systems containing LPs and amino acids (lysine, proline, or glycine) indicated that lysine was more active in conjugating with LPs. The MR-modified LPs (MLPs) obtained via a 4 h MR between LPs and lysine showed obvious structural differences from LPs. Specifically, particle-like LPs contained 94% fractions with a Mw less than 7.07 kDa, by contrast, network-like MLPs contained 45% fractions with a Mw larger than 264.1 kDa. Moreover, MLPs showed stronger radical scavenging abilities and macrophage immunostimulating effects, but weaker cancer cell growth-inhibitory abilities. The results indicate that the amino acid-involved MR is a promising method to modify native polysaccharides for better biological properties.

Key messageRecent molecular studies revealed new opportunities to improve cucumber fruit quality. However, the fruit color and spine traits molecular basis remain vague despite the vast sources of genetic diversity.Cucumber is agriculturally, economically and nutritionally important vegetable crop. China produces three-fourths of the world’s total cucumber production. Cucumber fruit quality depends on a number of traits such as the fruit color (peel and flesh color), spine (density, size and color), fruit shape, fruit size, defects, texture, firmness, taste, maturity stage and nutritional composition. Fruit color and spine traits determine critical quality attributes and have been the interest of researchers at the molecular level. Evaluating the molecular mechanisms of fruit quality traits is important to improve production and quality of cucumber varieties. Genes and qualitative trait locus (QTL) that are responsible for cucumber fruit color and fruit spine have been identified. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the molecular research progress of fruit color and spines as key quality traits of cucumber. The markers and genes identified so far could help for marker-assisted selection of the fruit color and spine trait in cucumber breeding and its associated nutritional improvement. Based on the previous studies, peel color and spine density as examples, we proposed a comprehensive approach for cucumber fruit quality traits improvement. Moreover, the markers and genes can be useful to facilitate cloning-mediated genetic breeding in cucumber. However, in the era of climate change, increased human population and high-quality demand of consumers, studies on molecular mechanisms of cucumber fruit quality traits are limited.

Objectives Because radiotherapy is indispensible for treating cervical cancer, it is critical to accurately and efficiently delineate the radiation targets. We evaluated a deep learning (DL)‐based auto‐segmentation algorithm for automatic contouring of clinical target volumes (CTVs) in cervical cancers. Methods Computed tomography (CT) datasets from 535 cervical cancers treated with definitive or postoperative radiotherapy were collected. A DL tool based on VB‐Net was developed to delineate CTVs of the pelvic lymph drainage area (dCTV1) and parametrial area (dCTV2) in the definitive radiotherapy group. The training/validation/test number is 157/20/23. CTV of the pelvic lymph drainage area (pCTV1) was delineated in the postoperative radiotherapy group. The training/validation/test number is 272/30/33. Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), mean surface distance (MSD), and Hausdorff distance (HD) were used to evaluate the contouring accuracy. Contouring times were recorded for efficiency comparison. Results The mean DSC, MSD, and HD values for our DL‐based tool were 0.88/1.32 mm/21.60 mm for dCTV1, 0.70/2.42 mm/22.44 mm for dCTV2, and 0.86/1.15 mm/20.78 mm for pCTV1. Only minor modifications were needed for 63.5% of auto‐segmentations to meet the clinical requirements. The contouring accuracy of the DL‐based tool was comparable to that of senior radiation oncologists and was superior to that of junior/intermediate radiation oncologists. Additionally, DL assistance improved the performance of junior radiation oncologists for dCTV2 and pCTV1 contouring (mean DSC increases: 0.20 for dCTV2, 0.03 for pCTV1; mean contouring time decrease: 9.8 min for dCTV2, 28.9 min for pCTV1). Conclusions DL‐based auto‐segmentation improves CTV contouring accuracy, reduces contouring time, and improves clinical efficiency for treating cervical cancer.

Interleukin-38 (IL-38), a new cytokine of interleukin-1 family (IL-1F), is expressed in the human heart, kidney, skin, etc. Recently, new evidence indicated that IL-38 is involved in the process of different autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases are a cluster of diseases accompanied with tissue damage caused by autoimmune reactions, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, etc. This review summarized the links between IL-38 and autoimmune diseases, as well as the latest knowledge about the function and regulatory mechanism of IL-38 in autoimmune diseases. Especially, this review focused on the differentiation of immune cells and explore future prospects, such as the application of IL-38 in new technologies. Understanding the function of IL-38 is helpful to shed light on the progress of autoimmune diseases.

To address the challenges of dynamic obstacles, limited perception, and multi-UAV coordination constraints in complex urban environments, a hierarchical control framework based on a virtual leader-follower architecture is proposed, covering global planning, local obstacle avoidance, and formation coordination. In the global planning layer, a dynamic adaptive strategy rapidly exploring random tree star (DASRRT*) algorithm is proposed. To address the low sampling efficiency and limited path extension in dense environments that affect traditional RRT*, a hybrid guided sampling strategy, inefficient node optimization strategy, and perception-based adaptive step size strategy are designed. Additionally, a multi-objective cost function is introduced to provide smoother trajectories that better comply with dynamic constraints for trajectory tracking. In the local obstacle-avoidance layer, a distributed controller is constructed based on an improved artificial potential field method, integrating collision avoidance control laws derived from a spring-damper model, dynamic obstacle-avoidance laws that account for obstacle velocities, and formation coordination control laws grounded in consensus theory. In the coordination control layer, a real-time local target selection strategy is established to guide the virtual leader to precisely track the global path, and a dual-mode switching mechanism based on environmental complexity is constructed to dynamically adjust the priority between formation maintenance and autonomous obstacle-avoidance tasks. Comparative experimental results show that the proposed DASRRT* algorithm reduces path planning time by an average of 34.78% and shortens path length by 1.15%. Simulation results for formation flight demonstrate that the proposed hierarchical control framework can adaptively adjust control modes in response to changes in environmental complexity, exhibiting strong adaptability to complex environments and a good ability to generalize to various scenes.

Na-ion batteries have been considered promising candidates for stationary energy storage. However, their wide application is hindered by issues such as high cost and insufficient electrochemical performance, particularly for cathode materials. Here, we report a solvent-free mechanochemical protocol for the in-situ fabrication of sodium vanadium fluorophosphates. Benefiting from the nano-crystallization features and extra Na-storage sites achieved in the synthesis process, the as-prepared carbon-coated Na 3 (VOPO 4 ) 2 F nanocomposite exhibits capacity of 142 mAh g −1 at 0.1C, higher than its theoretical capacity (130 mAh g −1 ). Moreover, a scaled synthesis with 2 kg of product was conducted and 26650-prototype cells were demonstrated to proof the electrochemical performance. We expect our findings to mark an important step in the industrial application of sodium vanadium fluorophosphates for Na-ion batteries. The high production cost and poor electrochemical performance of polyanionic cathode hinders their industrial application. Here, the authors report large-scale fabrication of sodium vanadium fluorophosphates and in situ construction of their carbon nanocomposites via a mechanochemical protocol.

Mobile phone addiction has a high detection rate among adolescents and is thought to be related to academic stress. However, the underlying mechanisms in this relation were still unclear. The present study tested the mediating role of psychological distress and the moderating roles of peer alienation and rumination in the relationship between academic stress and mobile phone addiction. A total of 742 middle school students were recruited to complete measures of academic stress, psychological distress, mobile phone addiction, peer alienation, rumination, and demographic variables. Regression-based statistical mediation and moderation were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. The results indicated that academic stress was significantly and positively associated with mobile phone addiction, and this link could be mediated by psychological distress. Moreover, this indirect effect was moderated by both peer alienation and rumination. Specifically, the mediating effect of psychological distress was stronger for adolescents with higher levels of peer alienation or adolescents with higher levels of rumination, as well as those with both higher levels of peer alienation and rumination. The findings of this study enrich our understanding of how and for whom academic stress is correlated with mobile phone addiction. Education experts and parents should pay special attention to adolescents suffering from academic stress, especially those with higher peer alienation and rumination, and help them get rid of mobile phone addiction.