Urbanisation and health in China.

China has seen the largest human migration in history, and the country's rapid urbanisation has important consequences for public health. A provincial analysis of its urbanisation trends shows shifting and accelerating rural-to-urban migration across the country and accompanying rapid increases in city size and population. The growing disease burden in urban areas attributable to nutrition and lifestyle choices is a major public health challenge, as are troubling disparities in health-care access, vaccination coverage, and accidents and injuries in China's rural-to-urban migrant population. Urban environmental quality, including air and water pollution, contributes to disease both in urban and in rural areas, and traffic-related accidents pose a major public health threat as the country becomes increasingly motorised. To address the health challenges and maximise the benefits that accompany this rapid urbanisation, innovative health policies focused on the needs of migrants and research that could close knowledge gaps on urban population exposures are needed

Current Advances on Structure-Function Relationships of Pyridoxal 5′-Phosphate-Dependent Enzymes

Pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) functions as a coenzyme in many enzymatic processes, including decarboxylation, deamination, transamination, racemization, and others. Enzymes, requiring PLP, are commonly termed PLP-dependent enzymes, and they are widely involved in crucial cellular metabolic pathways in most of (if not all) living organisms. The chemical mechanisms for PLP-mediated reactions have been well elaborated and accepted with an emphasis on the pure chemical steps, but how the chemical steps are processed by enzymes, especially by functions of active site residues, are not fully elucidated. Furthermore, the specific mechanism of an enzyme in relation to the one for a similar class of enzymes seems scarcely described or discussed. This discussion aims to link the specific mechanism described for the individual enzyme to the same types of enzymes from different species with aminotransferases, decarboxylases, racemase, aldolase, cystathionine β-synthase, aromatic phenylacetaldehyde synthase, et al. as models. The structural factors that contribute to the reaction mechanisms, particularly active site residues critical for dictating the reaction specificity, are summarized in this review

Moringa oleifera leaf ethanolic extract benefits cashmere goat semen quality via improving rumen microbiota and metabolome

BackgroundArtificial insemination (AI) is an effective reproductive technique to improve the performance of cashmere goats and prevent the spread of diseases, and the quality of the semen determines the success of AI. The potential of Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MOLP) and Moringa oleifera leaf ethanolic extract (MOLE) to improve semen quality has been reported, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. For the purpose, 18 mature male cashmere goats were randomly assigned into three groups: the control (CON), MOLP, and MOLE groups. The CON group received distilled water orally; the MOLP group was orally treated with 200 mg/kg body weight (BW) MOLP; and the MOLE group was orally treated with 40 mg/kg BW MOLE.ResultsResults showed that MOLE contained long-chain fatty acids and flavonoids. Treatment with MOLP and MOLE increased the activities of the serum catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase (P < 0.05), enhanced the total antioxidant capacity (P < 0.05), and reduced the serum malondialdehyde level (P < 0.05). At the same time, MOLE increased the contents of serum gonadotropin releasing hormone and testosterone (P < 0.05). Moreover, MOLE significantly increased sperm concentration, motility, and viability (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, MOLE raised the Chao1 index (P < 0.05) and altered the composition of the rumen microbiota; it also raised the relative abundance of Treponema (P < 0.05) and Fibrobacter (P < 0.05) and reduced the relative abundance of Prevotella (P < 0.1). Correlation analysis revealed the genus Prevotella was significantly negatively correlated with sperm concentration, as well as sperm motility and viability. Furthermore, MOLE significantly increased the rumen levels of the steroid hormones testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (P < 0.05), as well as the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) alpha-Linolenic acid, gamma-Linolenic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, and 9-S-Hydroperoxylinoleicacid (P < 0.05).ConclusionsOral MOLE supplementation can improve semen quality by increasing the antioxidant capacity and altering the rumen microbiota and metabolites of cashmere goats. Moreover, the MOLP supplementation could enhance the antioxidant capacity of cashmere goats

A flexible dual-mode pressure sensor with ultra-high sensitivity based on BTO@MWCNTs core-shell nanofibers

Wearable flexible sensors have developed rapidly in recent years because of their improved capacity to detect human motion in wide-ranging situations. In order to meet the requirements of flexibility and low detection limits, a new pressure sensor was fabricated based on electrospun barium titanate/multi-wall carbon nanotubes (BTO@MWCNTs) core-shell nanofibers coated with styrene-ethylene-butene-styrene block copolymer (SEBS). The sensor material (BTO@MWCNTs/SEBS) had a SEBS to BTO/MWCNTs mass ratio of 20:1 and exhibited an excellent piezoelectricity over a wide range of workable pressures from 1 to 50 kPa, higher output current of 56.37 nA and a superior piezoresistivity over a broad working range of 20 to 110 kPa in compression. The sensor also exhibited good durability and repeatability under different pressures and under long-term cyclic loading. These properties make the composite ideal for applications requiring monitoring subtle pressure changes (exhalation, pulse rate) and finger movements. The pressure sensor developed based on BTO@MWCNTs core-shell nanofibers has demonstrated great potential to be assembled into intelligent wearable devices

Mechanical response and parametric analysis of a deep excavation structure overlying an existing subway station: A case study of the Beijing subway station expansion

The existing Beijing Pingguoyuan Subway Station was extended through a extension project. The excavation for the extension was located directly above the existing station. Complex interactions exist between the existing structure and the retaining pile wall of the excavation. Based on this project, three-dimensional finite element models were established to investigate the mechanical characteristics of the embedded and non-embedded retaining pile walls. A parametric analysis was performed for both types of pile walls. The stress and deformation characteristics of the retaining pile walls and existing structures were analyzed. The results show that when the bottom of the non-embedded retaining pile walls are connected to the existing structure, the uplift of the existing structure is essentially constant; however, the maximum displacement of the pile is increased by approximately 2.7 times, and the bending moment of the pile is reduced to 57.1% of the connection condition. As the distance between the embedded retaining pile wall and the existing station increases, the uplift of the existing station increases linearly, whereas the soil between the pile and the station exhibits a non-linear increasing trend. The displacement of the embedded retaining pile wall increases as the inner force decreases. When the distance is greater than 4.7 m, the displacement and force of the pile remains essentially unchanged. The effect of the pile embedded depth on the force and deformation of the pile is mainly observed in the lower part of the pile. As the embedded depth increases, the maximum displacement decreases by approximately 16.9%, the maximum bending moment decreases, and the maximum negative bending moment increases. The key contribution of this research is to provide a prediction method for the mechanical behaviors of a expansion project. The findings from the study also provide industry practitioners with a comprehensive guide regarding the specific applications of the construction technology of a deep excavation structure overlying an existing subway station

Dietary selenium supplementation: its impact on growth, microbiota, antioxidant capacity, and immunity in Inner Mongolian cashmere goats

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element in the animal body that plays a crucial role in regulating antioxidant defense, immune response, and reproductive performance, contributing significantly to overall animal health. This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary yeast selenium added to the feed on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immune response, and rumen microbes of Inner Mongolian cashmere goats. A total of 18 male Inner Mongolian cashmere goats (47.1 ± 1.1 kg, 24 months of age) were selected and randomly divided into two groups, the normal feeding group (CON group) and the yeast selenium supplementation group (0.4 mg/d, Se group) (n = 9 in each group) for 30 days of the experiment. The results showed that the average daily weight gain in the Se group was significantly higher than that in the CON group (p < 0.05). In addition, the levels of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), immunoglobulin IgA, and IgG in the blood and semen in the Se group were significantly higher than those in the CON group (p < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with yeast selenium mainly increased the abundance of Bacteroidales_RF16_group, p-251-o5, UCG-004, and UCG-010 in the rumen (p < 0.05). Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that Bacteroidales_RF16_group, Bacteroidales_RCG-004, and Bacteroidales_RCG-010 significantly affected the rumen microbiota and fermentation parameters and significantly increased the antioxidant and immune capacity of plasma and seminal plasma (p < 0.05). This study provides data to support the use of supplemental yeast selenium for the healthy breeding of cashmere goats