Plasma metabonomics of classical swine fever virus-infected pigs

Classical swine fever (CSF) is an infectious disease caused by Classical swine fever virus (CSFV), which is characterized by depression, high fever, extensive skin bleeding, leukopenia, anorexia, alternating constipation, and diarrhea. Hemorrhagic infarction of the spleen is the main characteristic pathological change following CSFV infection. Large-scale outbreaks of CSF are rare in China and are mainly distributed regionally. The clinical symptoms of CSF are not obvious, and show variation from typical to atypical symptoms, which makes diagnosis based on clinical symptoms and pathology challenging. In recent years, the incidence of CSF-immunized pig farms in China has increased and new CSFV gene subtypes have appeared, posing new challenges to the prevention and control of CSF in China. Changes in metabolites caused by viral infection reflect the pathogenic process. Metabonomics can reveal the trace metabolites of organisms; however, plasma metabonomics of CSFV-infected pigs have rarely been investigated. Therefore, we used an established pig CSFV infection model to study changes in plasma metabolites. The results showed significant differences in forty-five plasma metabolites at different time periods after CSFV infection in pigs, with an increase in twenty-five metabolites and a decrease in twenty metabolites. These changed metabolites were mainly attributed to the tricarboxylic acid cycle, amino acid cycle, sugar metabolism, and fat metabolism. Thirteen metabolic pathways changed significantly in CSFV-infected pigs, including tricarboxylic acid cycle, inositol phosphate metabolism, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism,lysine degradation, alanine, aspartate and glutamic acid metabolism, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, β-alanine metabolism, lysine degradation, arginine and proline metabolism, glycerolipid metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism. Among these, changes in fatty acid biosynthesis and metabolism occurred at all time periods post-infection. These results indicate that CSFV infection in pigs could seriously alter metabolic pathways

Compressive mechanical behavior and model of composite elastic-porous metal materials

This work presents the experimental characterization and theoretical modeling of composite elastic-porous metal materials (C-EPMM). C-EPMM is a novel porous metallic damping material made of wire mesh and wire helix. A series of quasi-static compressive experiments were carried out to investigate the stiffness and energy absorption ability of the C-EPMM with different mass ratios. The experimental results show that the mass ratios can significantly affect the stiffness and loss factor of C-EPMM. To efficiently predict the nonlinear mechanical properties of the C-EPMM a theoretical model of C-EPMM was proposed for the first time, the model was based on the manufacturing process. A comparison between the predicted data and the experimental data was conducted. The results show that the theoretical model can accurately predict the mechanical performance of C-EPMM. The conclusions derived from this work can provide a new method for adjusting the mechanical performance of EPMM in applications

Experimental Research on Vibration Reduction of Cantilever Structure in High-Temperature Environments

To reduce the vibration of a cantilever steel plate in high-temperature environments (25°C–500°C), a new composite structure with entangled metallic wire material (EMWM) core was proposed. The damping performance of the EMWM under different temperatures was investigated. The results show that when the temperature does not exceed 260°C, the damping property of the EMWM is not affected by temperature. When the temperature exceeds 260°C, the damping property of the EMWM decreases with the increase of temperature. A thermal-vibration joint test system was set up to verify the energy dissipation mechanism of the composite structure with EMWM core and to research the effect of vibration reduction under different temperatures. The displacement deviation between the baseplate (steel plate) and constraining plate was sufficient to cause frictional energy dissipation of the EMWM core. The thermal-vibration joint test results indicated that the EMWM core had a positive impact on the damping properties of the cantilever structure. Adding EMWM core and constraining plate can significantly increase the damping ratio and reduces the vibration of the cantilever structures under different temperatures. This research is helpful to control the structural vibrations of cantilever structures in high-temperature environments

Functional Characterization of Tea Plant (<i>Camellia sinensis</i> L.) <i>CsCBF2</i> Gene Involved in Multiple Abiotic Stress Response in Tobacco (<i>Nicotiana</i> <i>tabacum</i> L.)

C-repeat binding factors/dehydration responsive element binding factors 1 (CBFs/DREB1s) are a small family of transcription factors that play important roles in plant resistance to various external stresses. However, functional characterization of tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.) CBF gene (CsCBF) was still seldom reported. Here, functional study of the cold-responsive CBF gene (CsCBF2) was done. Results showed that CsCBF2 had conserved AP2 DNA-binding domain and the typical PKK/RPAGRxKFxETRHP and DSAWR signature sequences of CBF/DREB1. Yeast one-hybrid and transcription activation assays revealed that the activation domain of CsCBF2 could activate the reporter gene expression, and the N terminal of CsCBF2 displayed an inhibitory effect. Although CsCBF2 was conserved to bind the C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element (CRT/DRE), intact CsCBF2 protein preferred the CRT cis element. Under normal growth conditions, CsCBF2-overexpressing tobacco plants (CsCBF2-OX) exhibited lighter green leaf color, growth retardation, and dwarfism. Smaller leaf of CsCBF2-OX was only seen in eight weeks after been sown in soil. Under cold, salinity, or drought stress, CsCBF2-OX displayed better growing with longer roots, heavier fresh weight, higher germination rate, and accumulated more proline and sugar contents, but lower electrolyte leakage. The results demonstrated that CsCBF2 enhanced plant tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses

Unleashing the potential: AI empowered advanced metasurface research

In recent years, metasurface, as a representative of micro- and nano-optics, have demonstrated a powerful ability to manipulate light, which can modulate a variety of physical parameters, such as wavelength, phase, and amplitude, to achieve various functions and substantially improve the performance of conventional optical components and systems. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging strong and effective computational tool that has been rapidly integrated into the study of physical sciences over the decades and has played an important role in the study of metasurface. This review starts with a brief introduction to the basics and then describes cases where AI and metasurface research have converged: from AI-assisted design of metasurface elements up to advanced optical systems based on metasurface. We demonstrate the advanced computational power of AI, as well as its ability to extract and analyze a wide range of optical information, and analyze the limitations of the available research resources. Finally conclude by presenting the challenges posed by the convergence of disciplines

Promising Colloidal Rhenium Disulfide Nanosheets: Preparation and Applications for In Vivo Breast Cancer Therapy

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has become an important therapeutic strategy in the treatment of cancer. However, exploring novel photothermal nanomaterials with satisfactory biocompatibility, high photothermal conversion efficiency, and efficient theranostic outcomes, remains a major challenge for satisfying clinical application. In this study, poly-ethylene glycol modified rhenium disulfide (PEG-ReS2) nanosheets are constructed by a simple-liquid phase exfoliation method. The PEG-ReS2 nanosheets were demonstrated to have good solubility, good biocompatibility, low toxicity, and strong capability of accumulating near-infrared (NIR) photons. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, the PEG-ReS2 nanosheets were found to have an excellent photothermal conversion efficiency (PTCE) of 42%. Moreover, the PEG-ReS2 nanosheets were demonstrated to be ideal photothermal transduction agents (PTAs), which promoted rapid cancer cell death in vitro and efficiently ablated tumors in vivo. Interestingly, the potential utility of up-regulation or down-regulation of miRNAs was proposed to evaluate the therapeutic outcomes of PEG-ReS2 nanosheets. The expression levels of a set of miRNAs in tumor-bearing mice were restored to normal levels after PTT therapy with PEG-ReS2 nanosheets. Both down-regulation miRNAs (miR-125a-5p, miR-34a-5p, miR-132-3p, and miR-148b-3p) and up-regulation miRNAs (miR-133a-3p, miR-200c-5p, miR-9-3p, and miR-150-3p) were suggested to be important clinical biomarkers for evaluating therapeutic outcomes of breast cancer-related PTT. This work highlights the great significance of PEG-ReS2 nanosheets as therapeutic nanoagents for cancer therapy