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A high purity polysaccharide (UELPP-A1) was isolated from the crude polysaccharide of litchi pericarp (UELPP) by column chromatography, and acetylated polysaccharide (AC-UELPP) was obtained by acetylation modification of the crude polysaccharide of litchi pericarp. The physicochemical properties and in vitro antioxidant activity of UELPP-A1 and AC-UELPP were compared. The C/H on UELPP-A1 was assigned by Congo red test, FTIR, 1D and 2D NMR, and its structural characteristics were characterized. The results showed that the total sugar content of neutral UELPP-A1 was significantly increased to 94.15%, and its structure did not have a triple helix structure. In addition, the in vitro antioxidant activity test showed that both polysaccharides had antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner. The enhancement effect of AC-UELPP with the increase of concentration was the most significant ( P  < 0.05). Among them, the hydroxyl radical scavenging activity was stronger than its reducing ability and superoxide anion radical at the same polysaccharide concentration. Acetylation modification can improve the antioxidant activity of UELPP and has further research value for human health care.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are intricate fibrous structures released by neutrophils in response to specific stimuli. These structures are composed of depolymerized chromatin adorned with histones, granule proteins, and cytosolic proteins. NETs are formed via two distinct pathways known as suicidal NETosis, which involves NADPH oxidase (NOX), and vital NETosis, which is independent of NOX. Certain proteins found within NETs exhibit strong cytotoxic effects against both pathogens and nearby host cells. While NETs play a defensive role against pathogens, they can also contribute to tissue damage and worsen inflammation. Despite extensive research on the pathophysiological role of NETs, less attention has been paid to their components, which form a unique structure containing various proteins that have significant implications in a wide range of diseases. This review aims to elucidate the components of NETs and provide an overview of their impact on host defense against invasive pathogens, autoimmune diseases, and cancer.

This study explored how discrepancies between parents' and adolescents' educational expectations influenced adolescents' achievement using a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of 14,041 students (14 years old at baseline). Actual discrepancies (i.e., those between parents' and adolescents' actual educational expectations) and perceived discrepancies (i.e., those between adolescents' perceptions of their parents' educational expectations and adolescents' own) were examined. Achievement was higher when parents actually held higher expectations than adolescents held or when adolescents perceived that their parents' expectations were lower than their own. In contrast, achievement was lower when parents actually held lower expectations than adolescents held or when adolescents believed that their parents' expectations exceeded their own. Implications for identifying adolescents at risk and promoting adaptive parent–child educational expectations are discussed.

In the context of climate change, drought is one of the most limiting factors that influence crop production. Maize, as a major crop, is highly vulnerable to water deficit, which causes significant yield loss. Thus, identification and utilization of drought-resistant germplasm are crucial for the genetic improvement of the trait. Here we report on a high-quality genome assembly of a prominent drought-resistant genotype, CIMBL55. Genomic and genetic variation analyses revealed that 65 favorable alleles of 108 previously identified drought-resistant candidate genes were found in CIMBL55, which may constitute the genetic basis for its excellent drought resistance. Notably, ZmRtn16 , encoding a reticulon-like protein, was found to contribute to drought resistance by facilitating the vacuole H + -ATPase activity, which highlights the role of vacuole proton pumps in maize drought resistance. The assembled CIMBL55 genome provided a basis for genetic dissection and improvement of plant drought resistance, in support of global food security. High-quality genome assembly of a prominent drought-resistant maize germplasm CIMBL55 and genetic variation analyses provide a resource for genetic dissection and result in the improvement of maize drought resistance.

This study reveals the efficient catalytic role of Ca-Fe-based oxygen carriers (Ca2Fe2O5) in biomass chemical looping gasification. With oxygen carrier introduction, the CO yield doubled (0.13 Nm3/kg→0.26 Nm3/kg), with 76.10% selectivity. Steam co-feeding further increased the H2 yield from 0.19 Nm3/kg to 0.72 Nm3/kg, significantly elevating the H2/CO ratio to 2.62. Combined with density functional theory (DFT), the micro-mechanism of reduced oxygen carrier surfaces activating CO2/H2O was elucidated. CO2 (adsorption charge −0.952 |e|) and H2O (adsorption charge −0.612 |e|) chemically adsorb at the CaO(111)/Fe(110) interface, where Fe atoms (charges 0.433 |e|, 0.927 |e|) act as electron donors to drive efficient molecule activation. CO2 undergoes single-step splitting (CO2→CO* + O*), with the desorption energy barrier (Ea = 1.09 eV, 105.17 kJ/mol) determining the reaction rate. H2O splits via two-step cleavage (H2O→HO* + H*→2H* + O*), which is rate-limited by the first step (Ea = 0.42 eV, 40.52 kJ/mol). Simultaneously, the reduced oxygen carrier achieves oxidative regeneration through surface O* lattice incorporation. This work atomically reveals the “electron transfer–oxygen transport” synergy at the Ca-Fe bimetallic interface, establishing a theoretical framework for the directional regulation of the syngas composition and the design of high-performance oxygen carriers.

In recent years, much more emphasis than before has been placed on fire safety regulations by the local and central authorities of China, which makes fire risk assessments more important. In this paper we propose a new fire risk assessment approach for large-scale commercial and high-rise buildings that aims to evaluate the performances of their fire safety systems; this should improve the fire risk management and public safety in those buildings. According to the features of large-scale commercial and high-rise buildings, a fire-risk indexing system was built, and based on it we established a scientific fire risk evaluation system. To this end, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) was used to assign a reasonable weight to each fire risk factor in the evaluation system. In addition, we revised the original scores by analyzing the coupling relationships among the fire risk factors. To validate our system, we selected 11 buildings in Shandong province and collected their fire safety data. Then, we calculated the final scores for the fire safety management of those buildings, and the results show that: (1) our fire risk evaluation system can assign reasonable weights; (2) the proposed evaluation system is comprehensive and has strong interpretability, since it exploits the coupling relationships among the risk factors. The novelty of the proposed approach lies in that it integrates opinions from multiple experts and utilizes coupling relationships among the factors. Further, the feedback from the approach can find not only the weaknesses in fire risk management, but also the potential causes of fires. As a result, the feedback from our assessment can assist the safety chiefs and inspectors with improving fire risk management.

ObjectivesThe aim of this analysis was to investigate the worldwide distribution and trends in the burden of female infertility (FI).Design and settingAnalysis of cross-sectional data from 1990 to 2019 from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019.ParticipantsAdults aged 20–49 years in various geographical regions, Sociodemographic Index (SDI) levels and populations across 204 countries worldwide.Outcome measuresDisability-adjusted life years (DALYs), age-standardised DALY rates and estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) for FI over the research period.ResultsThe global burden of FI, as measured by DALYs and age-standardised DALY rates among adults aged 20–49 years, exhibited an upward trend from 1990 to 2019. Regions such as Tropical Latin America (EAPC: 3.76, 95% CI 2.76 to 4.77), South Asia (EAPC: 1.74, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.48) and Andean Latin America (EAPC: 8.54, 95% CI 6.79 to 10.32) had higher DALYs. The age-standardised DALY rates notably increased in low-middle-SDI and low-SDI countries, with EAPCs of 1.42 (95% CI 0.76 to 2.10) and 1.25 (95% CI 0.30 to 2.21), respectively. Despite lower overall DALYs in high-SDI countries, they experienced the highest EAPC in DALYs (1.57, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.83) during the period 1990–2019. China and India consistently had the highest DALYs for FI globally in both 1990 and 2019, while Africa and Latin America bore a significantly greater burden of the disease compared with other regions.ConclusionThe GBD Study data on FI among adults aged 20–49 years revealed a rising global trend in FI from 1990 to 2019, with notable variations across different regions.

Congenital ptosis may be associated with abnormalities of visual development and function, including amblyopia, strabismus and refractive errors. However, the prevalence estimates of these abnormalities vary widely. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of amblyopia, strabismus and refractive errors in congenital ptosis. Cochrane, Pubmed, Medline, Embase, and Web of Science were searched by July 2017. We used random/fixed effects models based on a proportion approach to estimate the prevalence. Heterogeneity would be considered signifcant if the p values less than 0.1 and/or I 2 greater than 50%. Subgroup analyses, meta-regression analyses and sensitivity analyses were utilized to explore the potential sources of it. A total of 24 studies selected from 3,633 references were included. The highest prevalence was revealed for myopia with 30.2% (95%CI 3.0–69.8%), followed by 22.7% (95%CI 18.5–27.8%) for amblyopia, 22.2% (95%CI 7.8–63.1%) for astigmatism, 19.6% (95%CI 16.5–23.2%) for strabismus, 17.3% (95% CI 13.1–22.9%) for anisometropia and 4.0% for hyperopia (95%CI 1.8–7.1%). Significant heterogeneity was identified across most estimates. Our findings suggest that amblyopia, strabismus and refractive errors in congenital ptosis are present in much higher percentage. This study highlights the importance of early diagnosis and timely treatment of patients with congenital ptosis.

Plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to cope with drought stress. A resilient root system, coupled with appropriate levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), is crucial for optimal growth and increased yield under drought stress. Accumulating studies have shown a strong link between root development, ROS, and drought tolerance. WOX11, as a master regulator of crown root (CR) development in rice, also governs root redox metabolism. However, it remains unknown whether WOX11 modulates ROS homeostasis in roots to facilitate adaptation to drought stress. In this study, we found that WOX11 directly binds to the promoter of the peroxidase gene OsPRX130 , thereby enhancing drought tolerance by regulating CR growth. Notably, OsPRX130 is predominantly expressed in rice roots and its expression is induced by drought stress. Knockout of OsPRX130 inhibited CR growth by reducing ROS levels, ultimately compromising the drought tolerance in rice. Taken together, our findings shed light on the mechanism by which WOX11 mediates ROS accumulation through modulating the class III peroxidase gene OsPRX130 during rice CR development. This provides new insights into the functions of PRX genes during CR development. More importantly, our results deepen our understanding of how WOX11 regulates root development to enhance drought tolerance in rice and provide an alternative breeding strategy using WOX11 to control root system architecture for developing crop varieties with high drought adaptability.

Nitric oxide (NO), a free radical, plays a critical role in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes. Due to its pleiotropic function, it has been widely investigated in various types of cancers and is strongly associated with cancer development. Mounting pieces of evidence show that NO regulates various cancer-related events, which mainly depends on phosphorylating the key proteins in several signaling pathways. However, phosphorylation of proteins modulated by NO signaling pathway may lead to different effects in different types of cancer, which is complex and remains unclear. Therefore, in this review, we focus on the effect of protein phosphorylation modulated by NO signaling pathway in different types of cancers including breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, and neuroblastoma. Phosphorylation of key proteins, including p38 MAPK, ERK, PI3K, STAT3, and p53, modified by NO in various signaling pathways affects different cancer-related processes including cell apoptosis, proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis, and several cancer therapies. Our review links the NO signaling pathway to protein phosphorylation in cancer development and provides new insight into potential targets and cancer therapy.