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PurposeBy calculating the information entropy of the indicator and measuring the amount of information in the data, this paper determines the weight of the indicator according to the impact of the relative change of the indicator on the whole.Design/methodology/approachIn order to study the action mechanism of circular economy development and green finance, based on the entropy method, this paper constructs a system analysis model based on event research.FindingsMoreover, this paper uses the analytic hierarchy process to obtain subjective weights based on expert opinions and then uses the entropy method to obtain objective weights and finally combines the two. In addition, an intelligent model is constructed based on the action mechanism of circular economy development and green finance to improve the system structure.Originality/valueFinally, this paper designs experiments to verify the performance of the system model. The research results show that the system model constructed in this paper meets the actual situation.

Studies on the susceptibility of vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms to coronary artery disease (CAD) reached controversial results. We performed this study for a more accurate evaluation between the VDR polymorphisms and CAD susceptibility. PubMed, Embase, CNKI, Wan Fang, and VIP databases were searched. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to evaluate the associations. Trial sequential analysis (TSA) was introduced to estimate the positive associations. The potential functions of the VDR polymorphisms were analyzed based on the SNPinfo and ENSEMBL databases. Thirteen studies were finally included. In the overall analysis, increased CAD risks were observed in the VDR rs1544410 polymorphism and verified by the TSA; for the rs2228570 and rs731236 polymorphisms, significant associations with high heterogeneity were detected; decreased risk was remarkably observed for the rs7975232 polymorphism. In the subgroup analysis, wide associations with reduced heterogeneity were observed in the rs2228570, rs1544410, and rs731236 polymorphisms. The RNAfold analysis indicated the mutant G allele of the rs1544410 polymorphism was easier to disperse from the DNA double helix structure and may have a potential crucial role in the VDR transcription process. Our analysis supports the role of the rs1544410 polymorphism in the VDR gene as a risk factor for CAD. The VDR rs2228570 and rs731236 polymorphisms were associated with increased CAD risks in the White population. Restrict decreased CAD risk was firstly discovered in the rs7975232 polymorphism. Firstly, the language was restricted to English and Chinese, which will cause the limited number of studies included; secondly, other unknown polymorphisms in VDR polymorphisms could also be associated the CAD susceptibility, and more case-control studies with comprehensive clinical outcomes and GWAS studies were required; thirdly, the rs1544410, rs7975232 and rs731236 polymorphism are in strong LD, haploid factors with CAD risk need to be considered; fourthly, the mechanisms of the VDR polymorphism on the VDR gene or RNA or protein were not discussed enough, further mechanistic studies are required; at last, genetic factor was the one side for CAD susceptibility, the interaction between environmental risk factors should be considered.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has severely impacted global food security. This may increase the risk of supply chain disruption in low-income countries that rely heavily on grain imports. This study used production and trade data for wheat, barley and maize from 1995 to 2021 to construct longitudinal trade networks. On this basis, a cascading failure network model of shock propagation was used to identify the direct or indirect dependence of other countries on grain exported from Russia and Ukraine and the impact caused by trade shocks. The results revealed that the interruption of grain exports from Russia and Ukraine has resulted in an increasing impact on the global grain trade year by year and that the wheat trade is the most vulnerable to shock propagation, but it is also the most resilient. Russia and Ukraine interrupt exports of grain, causing more than 50% reduction in direct imports to 30 countries, including Eritrea, Seychelles, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. A shock propagation model that considers indirect dependence yields divergent results, with lower middle income (LM) countries in North Africa, Southeast Asia and West Asia facing supply shocks from reduced imports because they are unable to fully exploit the trade channels to balance grain supply and demand. Under the COVID-19 pandemic, this indirect dependence on imports is more prominent. It is worth noting that Eastern and Southern European countries often act as intermediaries to spread shocks during cascading failures. In the process of shock propagation, the main suppliers of grain include the United States, Canada, France, Argentina and Brazil. After the outbreak of COVID-19, the import demand faced by Australia increased significantly. We also examined how nodal characteristics relate to shock propagation dynamics and country vulnerability, finding that high import diversity, low import dependence and regional characteristics are effective in buffering countries from supply shocks. This study contributes to our understanding of the external supply risks for grain arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict in a pandemic context, highlights the issue of accessibility in food security and provides trade policy recommendations to mitigate national vulnerability to food insecurity, thereby creating a resilient food trade system.

Experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) is an inflammatory cardiac disease driven by autoantigen-specific CD4+ T cells. Th17 and Treg cells are crucial participants in immune response. A wide variety of immune disorders are associated with Th17/Treg imbalance. MicroRNA-155 (miR-155) is a pivotal regulator of the immune system. However, the modulatory effect of miR-155 on Th17/Treg immune response during EAM is unknown. Our study aims to investigate the potential role of miR-155 on the development of autoimmune myocarditis. In this study, we revealed that miR-155 expression was highly elevated in heart tissue and CD4+ T cells during EAM. Also, we identified a proliferative and functional imbalance of Th17/Treg in EAM, which is due to a more active development of Th17 cells and an increased resistance of Th17 cells to Treg-mediated suppression. MiR-155 inhibition in EAM resulted in attenuated severity of disease and cardiac injury, reduced Th17 immune response, and decreased dendritic cell (DC) function of secreting Th17-polarizing cytokines. Furthermore, CD4+ T cells from miR-155-inhibited EAM mice exhibited reduced proliferation and IL-17A secretion in response to autoantigen. Finally, we confirmed an indispensable positive role of miR-155 on the differentiation of Th17 cells and the DC function of secreting Th17-polarizing cytokines through in vitro studies. These findings demonstrated that miR-155 adversely promotes EAM by driving a Th17/Treg imbalance in favor of Th17 cells, and anti-miR-155 treatment can significantly reduce the autoimmune response thus to ameliorate EAM, suggesting that miR-155 inhibition could be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of autoimmune myocarditis. Key message MiR-155 expression was highly elevated in EAM mice. An imbalance of Th17/Treg existed in EAM mice. MiR-155 inhibition in EAM attenuated disease severity and cardiac injury. MiR-155 inhibition suppressed Th17 immune response in EAM. MiR-155 inhibition reduced DC function of secreting Th17-polarizing cytokines in EAM.

This is an epidemiological study on the gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) and Eimeria coccidia infections in Kazakh sheep and the F1 and F2 generations of Kazakh × Texel sheep crosses. A total of 7599 sheep fecal samples were collected from the Zhaosu County and Nilka County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in the four seasons-spring, summer, autumn, and winter of 2019. The parasite causing the infection was identified by the saturated saline floating method, and the infection intensity was calculated by the modified McMaster method. SPSS19.0 was used to evaluate the differences in the fecal egg count (FEC) of for GIN and the fecal oocyst count (FOC) value of for coccidia per sample. The results showed that there were nine types of sheep GIN infections and Eimeria coccidia in these two counties of Ililocations, with the dominant parasite species of Haemonchus contortus , Trichostrongylus spp., and Ostertagia spp as the predominant parasites in the sheep. Most of the GIN and coccidia infections in these two regions were mild and moderate. The mean log (FEC) of GIN infection in the Zhaosu area was significantly higher than that in the Nilka area, whereas the mean log (FOC) of coccidia infection in Zhaosu was significantly lower than that of Nilka. The mean log (FEC) of GIN infection in the four seasons was the highest in spring, followed by in summer, then in autumn, and the lowest in winter. The mean log (FOC) of coccidia infection was the highest in spring, followed by in autumn, and was the lowest in summer and winter. The mean log (FEC) of GIN infection and log (FOC) of coccidia infection of Kazakh sheep was significantly higher than the F1 generation, which was then significantly higher than the F2 generation of summer. A positive correlation was found between the EPG and OPG levels in the sheep. These results showed that the GIN and coccidia infection intensities of the F1 generation sheep of Kazakh ×Texel crosses were significantly lower than that of Kazakh sheep paving the way for marker-based resistance selection.

Background Glioblastoma is among the most malignant tumors in the central nervous system and characterized by strong invasion and poor prognosis. Fibronectin type III domain-containing 4 (FNDC4) plays various important roles in the human body, including participating in cellular metabolism and inflammatory responses to cardiovascular diseases, influencing immune cells, and exerting anti-inflammatory effects; however, the role of FNDC4 in glioblastoma has not been reported. Methods In this study, bioinformatics databases, including TCGA, CGGA, GTEx, and TIMER, were used to analyze the differential expression of FNDC4 genes and cell survival, in addition to investigating its relationship with immune cell infiltration. Additionally, we overexpressed FNDC4 in glioblastoma cell lines U87 and U251 by lentiviral transfection and detected changes in proliferation, cell cycle progression, and apoptosis. Following collection of monocytes from the peripheral blood of healthy individuals and transformation into M0 macrophages, we performed flow cytometry to detect the polarizing effect of exogenous FNDC4, as well as the effect of FNDC4-overexpressing glioblastoma cells on macrophage polarization in a co-culture system. Results We identified that significantly higher FNDC4 expression in glioblastoma tissue relative to normal brain tissue was associated with worse prognosis. Moreover, we found that FNDC4 overexpression in U87 and U251 cells resulted in increased proliferation and affected the S phase of tumor cells, whereas cell apoptosis remained unchanged. Furthermore, exogenous FNDC4 inhibited the M1 polarization of M0 macrophages without affecting M2 polarization; this was also observed in glioblastoma cells overexpressing FNDC4. Conclusions FNDC4 expression is elevated in glioblastoma, closely associated with poor prognosis, and promoted the proliferation of glioblastoma cells, affected the S phase of tumor cells while inhibiting macrophage polarization.

Poly(vinylphosphonic acid) (PVPA) and polyethylenepolyamine (PEPA) are used as novel intumescent flame retardants to improve the properties of MXene (2D Ti3C2Tx)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposites. We investigated the flame-retardant properties, thermal stability, and mechanical properties of MXene/PVA nanocomposites. The results show that MXene was homogeneously dispersed in the PVA matrix containing PVPA and PEPA. PVPA and PEPA effectively improved the flame-retardant properties of MXene/PVA nanocomposites and they did not obviously change the thermal degradation of the MXene/PVA nanocomposites. Moreover, MXene improved the thermal stability of the PVA matrix. The elongation at break of MXene/PVA nanocomposites reached its maximum when the MXene mass fraction was 1.0 wt.%, regardless of whether PVPA and PEPA were present in the PVA matrix, whereas the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of MXene/PVA nanocomposites increased with the increase in MXene content in the PVA matrix.

Soluble sugar is a major indicator of the intrinsic quality of vegetable soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr. ]. The improvement of soluble sugar content in soybean is very important due to its healthcare functions for humans. The genetic mechanism of soluble sugar in soybean is unclear. In this study, 278 diverse soybean accessions were utilized to identify the quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) for total soluble sugar content in soybean seeds based on a genome-wide association study (GWAS). A total of 25,921 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with minor allele frequencies (MAFs) ≥ 5% and missing data ≤ 10% were selected for GWAS. Totally, thirteen QTNs associated with total soluble sugar content were identified, which were distributed on ten chromosomes. One hundred and fifteen genes near the 200-kb flanking region of these identified QTNs were considered candidate genes associated with total soluble sugar content in soybean seed. Gene-based association analysis and haplotype analysis were utilized to further identify the effect of candidate genes on total soluble sugar content. Totally, 84 SNPs from seventeen genes across four chromosomes were significantly associated with the total soluble sugar content. Among them, three SNPs from Glyma.02G292900 were identified at two locations, and other eighty-one SNPs from sixteen genes were detected at three locations. Furthermore, expression level analysis of candidate genes revealed that Glyma.02G293200 and Glyma.02G294900 were significantly positively associated with soluble sugar content and Glyma.02G294000 was significantly negatively associated with soluble sugar content. Six genes (i.e., Glyma.02G292600, Glyma.02G292700, Glyma.02G294000, Glyma.02G294300, Glyma.02G294400 , and Glyma.15G264200 ) identified by GWAS were also detected by the analysis of differential expression genes based on soybean germplasms with higher and lower soluble sugar content. Among them, Glyma.02G294000 is the only gene that was identified by gene-based association analysis with total soluble sugar content and was considered an important candidate gene for soluble sugar content. These candidate genes and beneficial alleles would be useful for improving the soluble sugar content of soybean.

Phytophthora root and stem rot of soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] caused by Phytophthora sojae is a destructive disease worldwide. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) is one of the most extensively studied enzymes related to plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the molecular mechanism of PAL in soybean in response to P . sojae is largely unclear. Here, we characterize a novel member of the soybean PAL gene family, GmPAL2 . 1 , which is significantly induced by P . sojae . Overexpression and RNA interference analysis demonstrates that GmPAL2.1 enhances resistance to P . sojae in transgenic soybean plants. In addition, the PAL activity in GmPAL2 . 1 -OX transgenic soybean is significantly higher than that of non-transgenic plants after infection with P . sojae , while that in GmPAL2 . 1 -RNAi soybean plants is lower. Further analyses show that the daidzein, genistein and salicylic acid (SA) levels and the relative content of glyceollins are markedly increased in GmPAL2 . 1 -OX transgenic soybean. Taken together, these results suggest the important role of GmPAL2.1 functioning as a positive regulator in the soybean response to P . sojae infection, possibly by enhancing the content of glyceollins, daidzein, genistein and SA.

Background/Aims: Doxorubicin (DOX) is a widely used chemotherapeutic agent for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the acquirement of DOX resistance limits its clinical application for cancer therapy. Mounting evidence has suggested that aberrantly expressed lncRNAs contribute to drug resistance of various tumors. Our study aimed to explore the role and molecular mechanisms of lncRNA X-inactive specific transcript (XIST) in chemoresistance of CRC to DOX. Methods: The expressions of XIST, miR-124, serum and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (SGK1) mRNA in DOX-resistant CRC tissues and cells were detected by qRT-PCR or western blot analysis. DOX sensitivity was assessed by detecting IC50 value of DOX, the protein levels of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and glutathione S-transferase-π (GST-π) and apoptosis. The interactions between XIST, miR-124 and SGK1 were confirmed by luciferase reporter assay, qRT-PCR and western blot. Xenograft tumor assay was used to verify the role of XIST in DOX resistance in CRC in vivo. Results: XIST expression was upregulated and miR-124 expression was downregulated in DOX-resistant CRC tissues and cells. Knockdown of XIST inhibited DOX resistance of CRC cells, as evidenced by the reduced IC50 value of DOX, decreased P-gp and GST-π levels and enhanced apoptosis in XIST-silenced DOX-resistant CRC cells. Additionally, XIST positively regulated SGK1 expression by interacting with miR-124 in DOX-resistant CRC cells. miR-124 suppression strikingly reversed XIST-knockdown-mediated repression on DOX resistance in DOX-resistant CRC cells. Moreover, SGK1-depletion-elicited decrease of DOX resistance was greatly restored by XIST overexpression or miR-124 inhibition in DOX-resistant CRC cells. Furthermore, XIST knockdown enhanced the anti-tumor effect of DOX in CRC in vivo. Conclusion: XIST exerted regulatory function in resistance of DOX possibly through miR-124/SGK1 axis, shedding new light on developing promising therapeutic strategy to overcome chemoresistance in CRC patients.