6-Bromoindirubin-3′-Oxime (6BIO) Suppresses the mTOR Pathway, Promotes Autophagy, and Exerts Anti-aging Effects in Rodent Liver

Liver aging is associated with age-related histopathological and functional changes that significantly enhance the risk of numerous diseases or disorders developing in elderly populations. 6-Bromoindirubin-3′-oxime (6BIO), a potent inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3), has been implicated in various age-related diseases and processes, such as tumorigenesis, neurodegeneration, and diabetes. Recent studies have also revealed that 6BIO increases autophagy in yeast, mammalian cell lines, and dopaminergic neurons, which is one of the classical mechanisms strongly associated with liver aging. However, the impact or the mechanism of action of 6BIO in liver remains entirely unknown. Here, we find that 6BIO reduces oxidative stress, improves lipid metabolism, enhances autophagy, and significantly retards liver aging via modulating the GSK-3β pathway and mTOR pathway. Our findings suggest that 6BIO could be a potential agent to protect the liver in the field of anti-aging pharmacology

20(S)-Protopanaxadiol Inhibits Titanium Particle-Induced Inflammatory Osteolysis and RANKL-Mediated Osteoclastogenesis via MAPK and NF-κB Signaling Pathways

Osteolysis is a principal reason for arthroplasty failure like aseptic loosening induced by Titanium (Ti) particle. It is a challenge for orthopedic surgeons. Recent researches show that 20(S)-protopanaxadiol can inhibit inflammatory cytokine release in vitro. This study aims to assess the effect of 20(S)-protopanaxadiol on Ti particle-induced osteolysis and RANKL-mediated osteoclastogenesis. Micro-CT and histological analysis in vivo indicated the inhibitory effects of 20(S)-protopanaxadiol on osteoclastogenesis and the excretion of inflammatory cytokines. Next, we demonstrated that 20(S)-protopanaxadiol inhibited osteoclast differentiation, bone resorption area, and F-actin ring formation in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, mechanistic studies suggested that the suppression of MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways were found to mediate the inhibitory effects of 20(S)-protopanaxadiol. In conclusion, 20(S)-protopanaxadiol may suppress osteoclastogenesis in a dose- dependent manner and it could be a potential treatment of Ti particle-induced osteolysis

Coatings as the useful drug delivery system for the prevention of implant-related infections

Abstract Implant-related infections (IRIs) which led to a large amount of medical expenditure were caused by bacteria and fungi that involve the implants in the operation or in ward. Traditional treatments of IRIs were comprised of repeated radical debridement, replacement of internal fixators, and intravenous antibiotics. It needed a long time and numbers of surgeries to cure, which meant a catastrophe to patients. So how to prevent it was more important than to cure it. As an excellent local release system, coating is a good idea by its local drug infusion and barrier effect on resisting biofilms which were the main cause of IRIs. So in this review, materials used for coatings and evidences of prevention were elaborated

Defect Detection Method of Phosphor in Glass Based on Improved YOLO5 Algorithm

Phosphor in Glass (PiG) is easy to be stirred unevenly during production and processing, and improper use of instruments and other factors lead to defective products. In this paper, we propose an improved YOLOv5 target detection algorithm. Firstly, the Coordinate Attention (CA) is introduced into the backbone network to enable the network to notice detect targets in a larger range. Secondly, the Bidirectional Feature Pyramid Network (BiFPN) is used to fuse different scale information in the neck part to obtain the output feature map with rich semantic information. At the same time, the weighted bidirectional feature fusion pyramid structure adjusts the contribution of different scale input feature maps to the output by introducing weights. This optimization enhances the feature fusion effect, reduces the loss of feature information in the convolution process, and improves detection accuracy. Then, the GIOU_Loss function is replaced with the EIOU_Loss function to speed up the convergence. Finally, the comparative experiment is carried out with the self-made PiG dataset. The experimental results show that the average accuracy mAP of this method is 12.35% higher than that of the original method (YOLOv5s), with a detection speed is 53.92 FPS, aligning with the actual needs of industrial detection

Multi-factor weighted image fusion method for high spatiotemporal tracking of reservoir drawdown area and its vegetation dynamics

Reservoir drawdown areas (RDAs) with distinct dry-wet cycles and vegetation dynamics have emerged as significant hotspots for carbon-related activities. However, high-resolution spatiotemporal tracking of the variations and vegetation dynamics of RDAs remains challenging because they often change dramatically and are controlled by both human activities and natural factors. Herein, a modified image fusion method was proposed to capture rapid variations in RDAs by integrating impact factor information into the analysis. The capability of the proposed method was tested in the Danjiangkou (DJK) Reservoir as it is the largest artificial freshwater lake in Asia with a highly variable RDA, since it is surrounded by gently sloping plains or hills. The results showed that the modified workflow produced reliable predictions (r=0.83,RMSE=0.097) compared with the original Enhanced Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (ESTARFM) workflow (r=0.60,RMSE=0.195), demonstrating improved capability for mapping water surface changes and vegetation dynamics. Using the proposed method, the 15-d variations in the RDA were derived from 2013 to 2022 with a 30-m resolution. The interannual maximum RDA was estimated to be 278 km2 after the dam was elevated in 2013. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) decreased as inundation frequency (IF) increased. Mean NDVI in the growing season (May–October) decreased by 0.109 (17.6 %) and 0.156 (26.0 %) under 30 %–40 % IF and 60 %–70 % IF, respectively, compared with the vegetation under 0 %–10 % IF, which was referred as “natural” vegetation considering its rare inundation. Moreover, the mean growing season length decreased to only 63 and 19 d for 30 %–40 % IF and 60 %–70 % IF, respectively. Furthermore, 77.3 % of the RDA exhibited a decrease in NDVI, whereas 22.7 % showed an unusual increase, possibly due to the selection of dominant species well-adapted to inundation during vegetation succession. Overall, this study not only proposed a new method for the high spatiotemporal monitoring of RDAs, but also highlighted the importance of variations and vegetation dynamics within RDAs for accurate estimation of their carbon budgets

Combination of Erythromycin and Curcumin Alleviates Staphylococcus aureus Induced Osteomyelitis in Rats

Osteomyelitis is commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Both erythromycin and curcumin can suppress S. aureus growth, but their roles in osteomyelitis are barely studied. We aim to explore the activities of erythromycin and curcumin against chronical osteomyelitis induced by methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Chronicle implant-induced osteomyelitis was established by MRSA infection in male Wistar rats. Four weeks after bacterial inoculation, rats received no treatment, erythromycin monotherapy, curcumin monotherapy, or erythromycin plus curcumin twice daily for 2 weeks. Bacterial levels, bone infection status, inflammatory signals and side effects were evaluated. Rats tolerated all treatments well, with no death or side effects such as, diarrhea and weight loss. Two days after treatment completion, erythromycin monotherapy did not suppress bacterial growth and had no effect in bone infection, although it reduced serum pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6. Curcumin monotherapy slightly suppressed bacterial growth, alleviated bone infection and reduced TNF-α and IL-6. Erythromycin and curcumin combined treatment markedly suppressed bacterial growth, substantially alleviated bone infection and reduced TNF-α and IL-6. Combination of erythromycin and curcumin lead a much stronger efficiency against MRSA induced osteomyelitis in rats than monotherapy. Our study suggests that erythromycin and curcumin could be a new combination for treating MRSA induced osteomyelitis

The Genetic Basis of Phosphorus Utilization Efficiency in Plants Provide New Insight into Woody Perennial Plants Improvement

Soil nutrient restrictions are the main environmental conditions limiting plant growth, development, yield, and quality. Phosphorus (P), an essential macronutrient, is one of the most significant factors that vastly restrains the growth and development of plants. Although the total P is rich in soil, its bio-available concentration is still unable to meet the requirements of plants. To maintain P homeostasis, plants have developed lots of intricate responsive and acclimatory mechanisms at different levels, which contribute to administering the acquisition of inorganic phosphate (Pi), translocation, remobilization, and recycling of Pi. In recent years, significant advances have been made in the exploration of the utilization of P in annual plants, while the research progress in woody perennial plants is still vague. In the meanwhile, compared to annual plants, relevant reviews about P utilization in woody perennial plants are scarce. Therefore, based on the importance of P in the growth and development of plants, we briefly reviewed the latest advances on the genetic and molecular mechanisms of plants to uphold P homeostasis, P sensing, and signaling, ion transporting and metabolic regulation, and proposed the possible sustainable management strategies to fasten the P cycle in modern agriculture and new directions for future studies

Miniaturized and Reconfigurable CPW square ring slot antenna loaded with BST thin film varactors

A novel miniaturized and reconfigurable coplanar waveguide (CPW) square-ring slot antenna is presented in this paper. The miniaturization is achieved via a hybrid approach including ferroelectric varactor loadings, high dielectric constant materials, and tuning stub for impedance matching. For the first time, nine shunt ferroelectric (FE) BST (Ba(1-x)SrxTiO3) thin film varactors are integrated with the CPW antenna structure achieving both antenna miniaturization and reconfiguration at the same time. The size of the miniaturized antenna is reduced to 0.067λ0 0.067λ0 without ground, and 0.1λ0 0.1λ0 with ground. The resonant frequency of the miniaturized antenna can be reconfigured from 5.3 GHz to 5.8 GHz by applying a DC voltage. Measured E-plane and H-plane co-polarized patterns are presented

MicroRNA-29 facilitates transplantation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells to alleviate pelvic floor dysfunction by repressing elastin

Abstract Background Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) is a condition affecting many women worldwide, with symptoms including stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). We have previously demonstrated stable elastin-expressing bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) attenuated PFD in rats, and aim to further study the effect of microRNA-29a-3p regulation on elastin expression and efficacy of BMSC transplantation therapy. Methods We inhibited endogenous microRNA-29a-3p in BMSCs and investigated its effect on elastin expression by RT-PCR and Western blot. MicroRNA-29-inhibited BMSCs were then transplanted into PFD rats, accompanied by sustained release of bFGF using formulated bFGF in poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NP), followed by evaluation of urodynamic tests. Results MicroRNA-29a-3p inhibition resulted in upregulated expression and secretion of elastin in in vitro culture of BMSCs. After co-injection with PLGA-loaded bFGF NP into the PFD rats in vivo, microRNA-29a-3p-inhibited BMSCs significantly improved the urodynamic test results. Conclusions Our multidisciplinary study, combining microRNA biology, genetically engineered BMSCs, and nanoparticle technology, provides an excellent stem cell-based therapy for repairing connective tissues and treating PFD