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Osteoarthritis (OA) is significantly associated with diabetes, but how hyperglycemia induces or aggravates OA has not been shown. The synovium plays a critical role in cartilage metabolism and substance exchange. Herein, we intended to investigate whether and how hyperglycemia affects the occurrence and progression of OA by influencing the synovium. In patients with knee OA and diabetes (DM OA), we found a more severe inflammatory response, higher endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) levels, and more advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs) accumulation in the synovium than in patients without diabetes. Subsequently, we found similar results in the DM OA group in a rat model. In the in vitro cocultivation system, high glucose-stimulated AGEs accumulation, ERS, and inflammation in rat fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs), which resulted in chondrocyte degeneration due to inflammatory factors from FLSs. Furthermore, in the synovium of the DM OA group and FLSs treated with high glucose, the expression of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and its regulatory factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α was increased significantly. Inhibitors of HIF-1α, GLUT1 or AGEs receptors attenuated the effect of high glucose on chondrocyte degradation in the FLS-chondrocyte coculture system. In summary, we demonstrated that hyperglycemia caused AGEs accumulation in FLSs via the HIF-1α-GLUT1 pathway, which increases the release of inflammatory factors from FLSs, subsequently inducing chondrocyte degradation and promoting OA progression. Osteoarthritis: clarifying the links to diabetes High blood sugar caused by diabetes can promote the progression of osteoarthritis (OA) by triggering joint-damaging inflammation. Although OA is known to be linked to diabetes, the mechanism was unclear. Liaobin Chen and Hui Wang at Wuhan University in China and coworkers investigated how high blood sugar affects OA progression in the synovium, the membrane surrounding the fluid-filled capsule inside the knee and other joints. The researchers found that the synovium was more inflamed in patients with diabetes and OA than in patients with OA alone. Investigation in a rat model showed that high blood sugar levels caused accumulation of sugar–protein complexes (AGEs) that trigger inflammation, and of a protein that transports sugar (GLUT1). Blocking GLUT1 in cultured cells decreased AGEs accumulation, flagging it as a potential target for developing treatments for knee OA.

China remains the largest nation of marine capture fisheries in the world in the last few decades, at the cost of offshore fisheries degradation by overfishing. Although fisheries regulations have become gradually tightened, the recovering evidences are weak and the catch species compositions are far from satisfactory. To explore better and reasonable countermeasures, besides the “zero growth” policy (i.e. the national total fisheries production limitation), five targets with different ecological traits were selected for stock assessment and rebuilding by Monte Carlo Catch-Maximum Sustainable Yield method. The results showed the control of total rather than species catch could not lead to the recovery of fisheries and maintain community function. Individual species showed different responses to overfishing according to their biological characteristics. High trophic level species can be sensitive to overfishing, and difficult to rebuild stocks after collapse. Pelagic small fish resources increased first but eventually decreased under high fishing pressure. Scientific-based restocking can enhance resource recovery. Besides “zero growth” policy, fisheries management should be further refined, in particular for main economic species based on their biological traits, as well as the support of reliable fisheries statistics and regulation implementation in place. To relieve the conflict between rising fishery products demand and falling catches, aquaculture and seeking resources from the high seas and EEZs are supposed to be successful ways, on the premise of taking full account of ecological health, maritime safety, and food security.

Climate change has the potential to greatly alter species distributions and threatens biodiversity in marine ecosystems. Mapping changes in species distribution patterns under climate change will help facilitate management strategies to maintain ecosystem structure and function. The lizardfish Harpadon nehereus is an aggressive predator that has experienced rapid population growth along the coast of China in recent decades, compressing the ecological niches of other marine species and disrupting food webs. If this species’ range is shifting due to climate change, it could further impact the integrity of ecological communities. To map the distribution of H. nehereus, we developed an ensemble species distribution model and projected the present and future habitat suitability in Chinese coastal waters. Annual mean benthic water temperature was identified as the most important variable affecting the projected distribution of H. nehereus, followed by water depth and salinity. Currently suitable habitats are along the coast from Guangxi Province to the southern Jiangsu Province. As climate changes, the southern portion of its distribution is predicted to recede with habitat losses, and the overall suitable habitat will shift northward. To avoid the potential impacts of H. nehereus redistribution, precautionary management based on species distribution modeling would help to maintain healthy marine ecosystems in the newly invaded areas.

Bombay duck Harpodon nehereus has undergone a dramatic shift from a by-catch fish species to the dominant species in the southeast coast of China. This shift has led to economic growth in the fishery and has had a significant impact on community structure, biodiversity, and resource competition in the ecosystem. Strong hypoxia tolerance may be one of the contributing factors for its population growth. This study compared the transcriptional regulation and alternative splicing in H. nehereus from the normoxic and hypoxic zone near the Yangtze Estuary. Compared with normoxia, the number of alternative splicing events increased in the gill and heart but decreased in the muscle after hypoxia, among which exon skipping was the most prevalent type in different tissues. Enrichment analysis showed that differentially expressed genes and genes with differentially alternative exons were mainly enriched in transmembrane transport and glycerophospholipid metabolic process in gill, cell cycle, and FoxO signaling pathway in heart, as well as cell cycle and reduced metabolic rate in muscle. Key candidate genes may be associated with gill remodeling, elevated heart rate, and muscle angiogenesis function. This study provides valuable genetic clues for evaluating molecular regulation strategies related to hypoxia tolerance in marine fishes.

Diameter at breast height (DBH) is a critical metric for quantifying forest resources, and obtaining accurate, efficient measurements of DBH is crucial for effective forest management and inventory. A backpack LiDAR system (BLS) can provide high-resolution representations of forest trunk structures, making it a promising tool for DBH measurement. However, in practical applications, deep learning-based tree trunk detection and DBH estimation using BLS still faces numerous challenges, such as complex forest BLS data, low proportions of target point clouds leading to imbalanced class segmentation accuracy in deep learning models, and low fitting accuracy and robustness of trunk point cloud DBH methods. To address these issues, this study proposed a novel framework for BLS stratified-coupled tree trunk detection and DBH estimation in forests (BSTDF). This framework employed a stratified coupling approach to create a tree trunk detection deep learning dataset, introduced a weighted cross-entropy focal-loss function module (WCF) and a cosine annealing cyclic learning strategy (CACL) to enhance the WCF-CACL-RandLA-Net model for extracting trunk point clouds, and applied a (least squares adaptive random sample consensus) LSA-RANSAC cylindrical fitting method for DBH estimation. The findings reveal that the dataset based on the stratified-coupled approach effectively reduces the amount of data for deep learning tree trunk detection. To compare the accuracy of BSTDF, synchronous control experiments were conducted using the RandLA-Net model and the RANSAC algorithm. To benchmark the accuracy of BSTDF, we conducted synchronized control experiments utilizing a variety of mainstream tree trunk detection models and DBH fitting methodologies. Especially when juxtaposed with the RandLA-Net model, the WCF-CACL-RandLA-Net model employed by BSTDF demonstrated a 6% increase in trunk segmentation accuracy and a 3% improvement in the F1 score with the same training sample volume. This effectively mitigated class imbalance issues encountered during the segmentation process. Simultaneously, when compared to RANSAC, the LSA-RANCAC method adopted by BSTDF reduced the RMSE by 1.08 cm and boosted R2 by 14%, effectively tackling the inadequacies of RANSAC’s filling. The optimal acquisition distance for BLS data is 20 m, at which BSTDF’s overall tree trunk detection rate (ER) reaches 90.03%, with DBH estimation precision indicating an RMSE of 4.41 cm and R2 of 0.87. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of BSTDF in forest DBH estimation, offering a more efficient solution for forest resource monitoring and quantification, and possessing immense potential to replace field forest measurements.

Golden cuttlefish ( Sepia esculenta ), the most economically important cephalopod in the northern coastal seas of China, had experienced greatly reduced population biomass due to continuous fishing pressure in recent decades. Understanding the trophic ecology and clarifying the spatial distribution of wintering ground can help develop management plans for this species. In this study, the ontogenetic changes in the trophic ecology of S. esculenta in the Qingdao coastal water were determined, and the migration patterns were studied using stable isotope analysis. Cluster analysis based on isotopic values divided S. esculenta with different lengths into groups: 11–20, 21–100, and 121–200 mm. A significant difference in the δ 13 C values between the groups 11–20 mm (−17.10‰) and 21–100 mm (−15.89‰) illustrates an ontogenetic change in the feeding habits. Due to the migratory habits of S. esculenta , the δ 13 C value of the group 121–200 mm (−16.39‰) was lower than that of the group 21–100 mm. The δ 15 N values of S. esculenta were found to increase in length, and there was a clear linear relationship between different S. esculenta groups, suggesting that the wintering ground may locate in the same latitude as the spawning ground (i.e., the middle Yellow Sea). Furthermore, the trophic relationship between S. esculenta and coexisting species was assessed, revealing that the group 11–20 mm of S. esculenta has some overlap of carbon isotope space with other species, suggesting that these species may feed on it as prey. Thus, slightly increasing the length to more than 20 mm may reduce the pressure of being the prey of post-release juveniles of S. esculenta and improve the effect of release.

China has become the largest contributor to marine fisheries in the world with its fishing fleets explosively increasing their fishing effort and resulting catch, but its fishery composition and sustainability have deteriorated. Limited information on fishery exploitation status encumbers effective resource management. In this study, a data-poor Monte Carlo method, the Catch-Maximum Sustainable Yield (CMSY) method, was used to estimate the historical exploited dynamics and current stock status of ten Chinese economic marine fish stocks, including Trichiurus lepturus , Larimichthys crocea , Larimichthys polyactis , Thamnaconus modestus , Scomberomorus niphonius , Ilisha elongate , Decapterus maruadsi , Scomber japonicus , Engraulis japonicus , and Clupea pallasii , which accounted for about 50% of total fish catches in the coastal waters of China and covered five functional groups (i.e., large, medium benthopelagic, large, medium, and small pelagic). Species L. crocea and L. polyactis had been subjected to overfishing since the 1950s. The others showed a decreasing trend in biomass along with the explosively increasing fishing efforts since the 1990s. Benthopelagic fish experienced overfishing pressure about a decade earlier than pelagic species. All the fish stocks investigated in this study were depleted (current biomass lower than the biomass capable of producing maximum sustainable yields, i.e., B < B msy ) in 2019, and most species were still facing high-fishing pressure (current fishing mortality higher than the mortality capable of producing maximum sustainable yields, i.e., F > F msy ). Also, a Schaefer model was used to assess stocks rebuilding status until 2030 under four exploitation scenarios, i.e., fishing mortality equals 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, or 0.95 times F msy . Most species stocks will likely recover to the B msy , which indicates that reduction of fishing pressure is probably the most effective way for fishery recovery.

Globally, marine fisheries have declined under multiple stresses including overfishing, climate change, and habitat degradation. The Min River Estuary, as the largest estuary in southeastern China, has confronted this situation over recent decades. In this study, the dominant species of fish stocks in the Min River Estuary, including Coilia mystus, Cynoglossus abbreviates, Collichthys lucidus, Amblychaeturichthys hexanema, Polydactylus sextarius, Harpodon nehereus, and Secutor ruconius, were evaluated by the length-based Bayesian biomass estimator method (LBB). Outcomes could be grouped into three categories as healthy, showing the lowest exploitation rate (E: 0.31–0.43) and highest relative biomass (B/Bmsy: 1.30–1.90), including S. ruconius, C. mystus, and H. nehereus; overfished, with a medium E (0.50–0.58) and B/Bmsy (0.68–0.79), including A. hexanema and C. abbreviates; and collapsed, with the highest E (0.89–0.92) and lowest B/Bmsy (0.03–0.21), including C. lucidus and P.sextarius. Corresponding imperative countermeasures such as using larger-sized mesh gears and reducing fishing intensity should be deployed according to the current status of each species for sustainable fishery exploitation and fish conservation.

There are still limitations in artificial bone materials used in clinical practice, such as difficulty in repairing large bone defects, the mismatch between the degradation rate and tissue growth, difficulty in vascularization, an inability to address bone defects of various shapes, and risk of infection. To solve these problems, our group designed stereolithography (SLA) 3D-printed calcium silicate artificial bone improved by a calcium sulfate-Cu 2+ delivery system. SLA technology endows the scaffold with a three-dimensional tunnel structure to induce cell migration to the center of the bone defect. The calcium sulfate-Cu 2+ delivery system was introduced to enhance the osteogenic activity of calcium silicate. Rapid degradation of calcium sulfate (CS) induces early osteogenesis in the three-dimensional tunnel structure. Calcium silicate (CSi) which degrades slowly provides mechanical support and promotes bone formation in bone defect sites for a long time. The gradient degradation of these two components is perfectly matched to the rate of repair in large bone defects. On the other hand, the calcium sulfate delivery system can regularly release Cu 2+ in the temporal and spatial dimensions, exerting a long-lasting antimicrobial effect and promoting vascular growth. This powerful 3D-printed calcium silicate artificial bone which has rich osteogenic activity is a promising material for treating large bone defects and has excellent potential for clinical application.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic joints disease characterized by progressive degeneration of articular cartilage due to the loss of cartilage matrix. Previously, we found, for the first time, that an acidic glycan from Angelica Sinensis Polysaccharides (APSs), namely the APS-3c, could protect rat cartilage from OA due to promoting glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis in chondrocytes. In the present work, we tried to further the understanding of ASP-3c's anti-OA activity. Human primary chondrocytes were treated with APS-3c or/and recombinant human interleukin 1β (IL-1β). It turned out that APS-3c promoted synthesis of UDP-xylose and GAG, as well as the gene expression of UDP-sugar synthases (USSs), insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and IGF1 receptor (IGF1R), and attenuated the degenerative phenotypes, suppressed biosynthesis of UDP-sugars and GAG, and inhibited the gene expression of USSs, IGF1 and IGF1R induced by IL-1β. Then, we induced a rat OA model with papain, and found that APS-3c also stimulated GAG synthesis and gene expression of USSs, IGF1 and IGF1R in vivo. Additionally, recombinant human IGF1 and IGF1R inhibitor NP-AEW541 were applied to figure out the correlation between stimulated gene expression of USSs, IGF1 and IGF1R induced by APS-3c. It tuned out that the promoted GAG synthesis and USSs gene expression induced by APS-3c was mediated by the stimulated IGF1 and IGF1R gene expression, but not through directly activation of IGF1R signaling pathway. We demonstrated for the first time that APS-3c presented anti-OA activity through stimulating IGF-1 and IGF1R gene expression, but not directly activating the IGF1R signaling pathway, which consequently promoted UDP-sugars and GAG synthesis due to up-regulating gene expression of USSs. Our findings presented a better understanding of APS-3c's anti-OA activity and suggested that APS-3c could potentially be a novel therapeutic agent for OA.