A wheat germ-rich diet preserves bone homeostasis by regulating gut microbiota and plasma metabolites in aged rats

Bone loss caused by ageing has become one of the leading health risk factors worldwide.Wheat germ(WG)is consists of high amounts of bioactive peptides,polyunsaturated fatty acids,and dietary fibre.Currently,WG has been proven to possess strong antioxidant and anti-infl ammatory properties.We recently explored the beneficial effects and relevant mechanisms of a WG-rich diet(2.5%and 5%WG,m/m)on bone homeostasis in aged rats.Our results showed that 5%WG supplementation for 12 months effectively attenuated ageing-induced microstructural damage and differentiation activity changes in the femur.The 5%WG supplementation also signifi cantly increased the levels of total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)(P<0.01),and superoxide dismutase(SOD)(P<0.05),and decreased infl ammatory cytokine levels(tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and interleukin-6(IL-6))(P<0.01).Furthermore,the WG-rich diet reshaped the composition of the gut microbiota,enhancing short-chain fatty acids(SCFAs)-producing microbes and reducing infl ammation-related microbes.In addition,metabolomics analysis showed that 5%WG supplementation improved plasma metabolites related to bone metabolism.Conclusively,our study purports long-term WG-rich diet may preserve bone homeostasis by regulating gut microbiota and plasma metabolites in aged rats.

Diagnostic values of questionnaires of Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey and College of Optometrists Vision Development Quality of Life in the screening of convergence insufficiency

AIM:To compare and analyse the diagnostic efficacy of the College of Optometrists Vision Development Quality of Life Questionnaire(COVD-QOL)and the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey(CISS)in detecting convergence insufficiency and to compare their diagnostic value in clinical applications.METHODS:Using the diagnostic test method,62 adult patients with convergence insufficiency(age:24.74±3.75y)and 62 normal participants(age:23.61±3.13y)who visited the Optometry Clinic of West China Hospital of Sichuan University from April 2021 to January 2023 were included.All subjects completed the CISS and COVD-QOL.Statistical analysis of the sensitivity and specificity of the CISS and COVD-QOL and comparison and joint experimental analysis of their diagnostic efficacy were performed.RESULTS:The sensitivity of the CISS and COVD-QOL for convergence insufficiency was 64.5%and 71.0%,respectively,while the specificity was 96.8%and 67.7%,respectively.Compared to the CISS alone,the combination of the CISS and COVD-QOL demonstrated lower sensitivity and specificity.The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of CISS,COVD-QOL and CISS combined with COVD-QOL were 0.806,0.694 and 0.782,respectively.CONCLUSION:Considering the low sensitivity of the CISS and the low specificity of the COVD-QOL,it is recommended to supplement these questionnaires with other screening tests for the detection of convergence insufficiency.

Approach of water-salt regulation using micro-sprinkler irrigation in two coastal saline soils

This study aimed to investigate whether saline silt and sandy loam coastal soils could be reclaimed by micro-sprinkler irrigation.The experiments were run using moderately salt-tolerant tall fescue grass.Micro-sprinkler irrigation in three stages was used to regulate soil matric potential at a 20-cm soil depth.Continued regulation of soil water and salt through micro-sprinkler irrigation consistently resulted in an increasingly large low-salinity region.The application of the three stages of soil wateresalt regulation resulted in an absence of salt accumulation throughout the soil profile and the conversion of highly saline soils into moderately saline soils.There were increases in the plant height,leaf width,leaf length,and tiller numbers of tall fescue throughout the leaching process.The results showed that micro-sprinkler irrigation in three soil water and salt regulation stages can be used to successfully cultivate tall festuca in highly saline coastal soil.This approach achieved better effects in sandy loam soil than in silt soil.Tall fescue showed greater survival rates in sandy loam soil due to the rapid reclamation process,whereas plant growth was higher in silt soil because of effective water conservation.In sandy loam,soil moisture should be maintained during soil reclamation,and in silt soil,soil root-zone environments optimal for the emergence of plants should be quickly established.Micro-sprinkler irrigation can be successfully applied to the cultivation of tall fescue in coastal heavy saline soils under a three-stage soil wateresalt regulation regime.

Unveiling potential sex-determining genes and sex-specific markers in autotetraploid Carassius auratus

Autotetraploid Carassius auratus is a stable hereditary autotetraploid fish resulting from the hybridization of Carassius auratus red var.(RCC,♀)×Megalobrama amblycephala(BSB,♂),containing four sets of RCC chromosomes.However,the molecular mechanism underlying the determination of sex in this species remains largely unknown.Currently,there lacks a full understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing sex determination and specific molecular markers to differentiate sex in this species.In this study,25,801,677 SNPs(Singlenucleotide polymorphism)and 6,210,306 Indels(insertion-deletion)were obtained from whole-genome resequencing of 100 individuals(including 50 female and 50 male).Further identification confirmed the candidate chromosomes as Chr46B,with the sex-determining region located at Chr46B:22,500,000‒22,800,000 bp.Based on the male-specific insertion(26 bp)within the candidate sex-determining region,a pair of sex-specific molecular markers has been identified.In addition,based on the screening of candidate sex-determining region genes and RT-qPCR validation analysis,ADAM10,AQP9 and tc1a were identified as candidate sex-determining genes.These findings provide a robust foundation for investigating sex determination mechanisms in fish,the evolution of sex chromosomes,and the development of monosex populations.

Quantitative heterogeneity and subgroup classification based on motility of breast cancer cells

Cancer cell motility and its heterogeneity play an important role in metastasis, which is responsible for death of 90% of cancer patients. Here, in combination with a microfluidic technique, single-cell tracking, and systematic motility analysis,we present a rapid and quantitative approach to judge the motility heterogeneity of breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 in a well-defined three-dimensional(3D) microenvironment with controllable conditions. Following this approach,identification of highly mobile active cells in a medium with epithelial growth factor will provide a practical tool for cell invasion and metastasis investigation of multiple cancer cell types, including primary cells. Further, this approach could potentially become a speedy(~ hours) and efficient tool for basic and clinical diagnosis.

A 3D biophysical model for cancer spheroid cell-enhanced invasion in collagen-oriented fiber microenvironment

The process of in situ tumors developing into malignant tumors and exhibiting invasive behavior is extremely complicated.From a biophysical point of view,it is a phase change process affected by many factors,including cell-to-cell,cell-to-chemical material,cell-to-environment interaction,etc.In this study,we constructed spheroids based on green fluorescence metastatic breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 to simulate malignant tumors in vitro,while constructed a three-dimensional(3D)biochip to simulate a micro-environment for the growth and invasion of spheroids.In the experiment,the 3D spheroid was implanted into the chip,and the oriented collagen fibers controlled by collagen concentration and injection rate could guide the MDA-MB-231 cells in the spheroid to undergo directional invasion.The experiment showed that the oriented fibers greatly accelerated the invasion speed of MDA-MB-231 cells compared with the traditional uniform tumor micro-environment,namely obvious invasive branches appeared on the spheroids within 24 hours.In order to analyze this interesting phenomenon,we have developed a quantitative analyzing approach to explore strong angle correlation between the orientation of collagen fibers and invasive direction of cancer cell.The results showed that the oriented collagen fibers produced by the chip can greatly stimulate the invasion potential of cancer cells.This biochip is not only conducive to modeling cancer cell metastasis and studying cell invasion mechanisms,but also has the potential to build a quantitative evaluation platform that can be used in future chemical drug treatments.

Efficient Hierarchical Multi-Server Authentication Protocol for Mobile Cloud Computing

With the development of communication technologies,various mobile devices and different types of mobile services became available.The emergence of these services has brought great convenience to our lives.The multi-server architecture authentication protocols for mobile cloud computing were proposed to ensure the security and availability between mobile devices and mobile services.However,most of the protocols did not consider the case of hierarchical authentication.In the existing protocol,when a mobile user once registered at the registration center,he/she can successfully authenticate with all mobile service providers that are registered at the registration center,but real application scenarios are not like this.For some specific scenarios,some mobile service providers want to provide service only for particular users.For this reason,we propose a new hierarchical multi-server authentication protocol for mobile cloud computing.The proposed protocol ensures only particular types of users can successfully authenticate with certain types of mobile service providers.The proposed protocol reduces computing and communication costs by up to 42.6%and 54.2%compared to two superior protocols.The proposed protocol can also resist the attacks known so far.

浅析通过网格化在线监测提升VOCs管控

VOCs作为炼化企业排放的主要污染物之一,近年来国家针对炼化企业控制VOCs排放出台了一系列的政策、标准,随着炼化行业VOCs综合整治全面完成,如何通过精细化管理实现VOCs进一步减排,为区域环境质量改善助力,成为摆在企业面前的难题,文章通过研究企业在厂区内重点区域和厂界安装网格化VOCs在线监测设备,不断提升VOCs管控水平,进而实质性地降低VOCs排放。

Sustainable development of electroencephalography materials and technology

Electroencephalogram(EEG)is one of the most important bioelectrical signals related to brain activity and plays a crucial role in clinical medicine.Driven by continuously expanding applications,the development of EEG materials and technology has attracted considerable attention.However,systematic analysis of the sustainable development of EEG materials and technology is still lacking.This review discusses the sustainable development of EEG materials and technology.First,the developing course of EEG is introduced to reveal its significance,particularly in clinical medicine.Then,the sustainability of the EEG materials and technology is discussed from two main aspects:integrated systems and EEG electrodes.For integrated systems,sustainability has been focused on the developing trend toward mobile EEG systems and big-data monitoring/analyzing of EEG signals.Sustainability is related to miniaturized,wireless,portable,and wearable systems that are integrated with big-data modeling techniques.For EEG electrodes and materials,sustainability has been comprehensively analyzed from three perspectives:performance of different material/structural categories,sustainablematerials for EEGelectrodes,and sustainable manufacturing technologies.In addition,sustainable applications of EEG have been presented.Finally,the sustainable development of EEG materials and technology in recent decades is summarized,revealing future possible research directions as well as urgent challenges.

T-2毒素对体外培养软骨细胞炎性细胞因子、CD44及整合素的影响

目的观察T-2毒素对体外培养软骨细胞炎性细胞因子、人类白细胞分化抗原(CD)44及整合素表达的影响。方法取1~2日龄SPF级Wistar乳鼠2只制备原代软骨细胞,进行体外培养,采用甲苯胺蓝染色法进行软骨细胞鉴定,细胞增殖/毒性检测试剂盒(CCK-8)法检测不同剂量T-2毒素(0、2、4、6、10、12、20 ng/ml)染毒24、48、72 h对软骨细胞的毒性作用,根据细胞存活率确定终浓度为0(对照)、2、4、6、8 ng/ml的T-2毒素作用48 h为后续实验条件。采用酶联免疫吸附测定(ELISA)法检测细胞上清液白细胞介素(IL)-6、IL-1β、肿瘤坏死因子(TNF)-α及CD44含量;蛋白免疫印迹(Western blot)法检测软骨细胞整合素α5、β1蛋白表达水平。结果在相同作用时间下,不同剂量组间软骨细胞存活率比较,差异均有统计学意义(F=130.759、258.250、123.337,P均<0.01)。作用48 h,不同剂量T-2毒素组软骨细胞上清液中IL-6、IL-1β、TNF-α、CD44含量比较,差异均有统计学意义(F=10.613、4.805、2.943、12.395,P<0.01或<0.05)。其中,2、4、6、8 ng/ml组IL-6含量均高于对照组(P均<0.05);6、8 ng/ml组IL-1β含量均高于对照组和2 ng/ml组,且6 ng/ml组明显高于4 ng/ml组(P均<0.05);6、8 ng/ml组TNF-α含量均低于对照组(P均<0.05);2、4、6、8 ng/ml组CD44含量均低于对照组(P均<0.05)。作用48 h,不同剂量T-2毒素组软骨细胞整合素α5、β1蛋白表达水平比较,差异均有统计学意义(F=4.635、4.376,P均<0.05)。其中,6、8 ng/ml组整合素α5蛋白表达水平均明显低于对照组(P均<0.05),整合素β1蛋白表达水平均明显高于对照组(P均<0.05)。结论T-2毒素可能通过上调IL-6、IL-1β和整合素β1的表达,同时下调TNF-α、CD44和整合素α5的表达,破坏软骨细胞与细胞外基质的平衡,造成软骨细胞损伤。

DON对体外培养软骨细胞炎性细胞因子、CD44、MMP-13及整合素表达的影响

目的观察脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇(DON)对体外培养软骨细胞炎性细胞因子、人类白细胞分化抗原(CD)44、基质金属蛋白酶(MMP)-13、整合素表达的影响。方法提取1~2日龄Wistar乳鼠原代软骨细胞,采用甲苯胺蓝染色法进行软骨细胞鉴定,CCK-8法检测DON(剂量分别为0.0、0.1、0.2、0.4、0.8μg/ml)染毒24、48、72 h软骨细胞增殖情况,根据细胞存活率选取0.00(对照)、0.05、0.10、0.15、0.20μg/ml DON用于后续实验,确定作用时间为48 h。采用酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)法检测细胞培养上清液白细胞介素(IL)-6、IL-1β、肿瘤坏死因子(TNF)-α、CD44及MMP-13含量;蛋白免疫印迹(Western blot)法检测软骨细胞CD44和整合素α2、α5、β1蛋白表达水平。结果随着DON剂量和作用时间增加,软骨细胞存活率逐渐降低,存在浓度和时间依赖性(P均<0.01)。细胞培养上清液IL-6含量组间比较差异有统计学意义(H=13.425,P<0.01),其中0.10μg/ml组[中位数(四分位数间距):256.89(191.02,477.58)pg/ml]显著高于对照组[10.37(0.00,119.13)pg/ml,P<0.05];IL-1β和TNF-α含量组间比较差异无统计学意义(F=0.881、1.317,P均>0.05);0.10、0.15、0.20μg/ml组CD44含量[(0.87±0.21)、(0.85±0.24)、(0.77±0.17)pg/ml]明显低于对照组[(1.06±0.19)pg/ml,P均<0.05];MMP-13含量组间比较差异有统计学意义(F=7.947,P<0.01)。CD44和整合素α2、α5、β1蛋白表达水平组间比较差异有统计学意义(F=5.737、6.562、6.074、4.476,P<0.05或<0.01)。结论DON可能通过增加IL-6,MMP-13,整合素α2、β1表达和抑制CD44、整合素α5表达,破坏细胞与细胞外基质间的平衡,造成软骨损伤。

Challenges and strategies in high-accuracy manufacturing of the world’s largest SiC aspheric mirror

In the process of manufacturing the world’s largest silicon carbide(SiC)aspheric mirror,the primary difficulties are mirror blank preparation,asphere fabrication,and testing,as well as cladding and coating.Specifically,the challenges include the homogeneity of the complicated structure casting,accuracy and efficiency of the fabrication process,print-through effect,fidelity and precision of test procedure,stress and denseness of cladding process,the dynamic range of interferometric measurement,and air turbulence error due to the long optical path.To break through such a barrier of difficulties,we proposed the water-soluble room temperature vanishing mold and gel casting technology,homogeneous microstructure reaction-formed joint technology,nano-accuracy efficient compound fabrication,gravity unloading technology,high-denseness low-defect physical vapor deposition(PVD)Si-cladding technology,test data fusion method,and time-domain averaging method,etc.Based on the proposed technologies and methods,we have accomplished the world’s largest SiC aspheric mirror with a size of φ4.03 m.The impressive performance of the SiC aspheric mirror is validated by the characteristics of the fabricated SiC aspheric mirror.The aerial density of the SiC blank is less than 120 kg/m^(2),surface shape test accuracy is better than 6 nm RMS,thickness inhomogeneity of the cladding layer is less than 5%,and the final surface figure error and roughness are 15.2 nm RMS and 0.8 nm RMS,respectively.

Stitching swing arm profilometer test for large aperture aspherics

We implemented a stitching swing arm profilometer(SSAP) test for the inner and outer regions of a large aspheric surface with a short arm. The SSAP was more capable of improving sampling density of surface and was less sensitive to system error, like vibration noise and air-table noise. Firstly, a calculation model was built to evaluate the sampling density of the SSAP test. Then, sensitivity to system noise was tested when different lengths of arm were used. At the end, an experiment on a 3 m diameter aspheric mirror was implemented, where test efficiency was promoted, and high sampling density was achieved.

不同剂量T-2毒素对BALB/c母鼠及子代小鼠脏器和骨骼的影响

目的观察不同剂量T-2毒素对BALB/c母鼠及子代小鼠脏器和骨骼的影响。方法选择清洁级6周龄BALB/c小鼠雌性60只、雄性30只,雌鼠按体质量采用随机数字表法分为对照组,低、中、高剂量组,每组15只。与雄鼠交配后,各组所得受孕鼠分别为14、10、9、15只,自孕期第0天起饮食干预(饲以含T-2毒素0、600、1200、2400ng/g的饲料)直至子代小鼠成年(6周龄)。观察两代小鼠生长状况、脏器系数(包括心、肝、肾、胸腺、脾、脑),拍摄骨骼x线片并光镜下观察脏器组织(包括肝、胸腺、脾、骺板软骨)病理学改变。结果4组母鼠脏器系数组间比较差异无统计学意义(P均>0.05);骨骼X线片未见异常。雌性子代小鼠心、肝、肾脏器系数组间比较差异元统计学意义(F=0.233、2.196、0.430,P均>0.05),胸腺、脾、脑脏器系数组间比较差异有统计学意义(F=3.683、3.148、4.498,P均<0.05),且中剂量组胸腺系数高于对照组,高剂量组胸腺系数低于其他3组,染毒各组脾脏系数均高于对照组,而脑系数均低于对照组(P均<0.05)。雄性子代小鼠胸腺、脑脏器系数组间比较差异无统计学意义(F=2.447、1.620,P均>0.05),心、肝、肾、脾脏器系数组间比较差异有统计学意义(F=5.339、2.738、11.435、2.872,P均<0.05),且高剂量组心脏系数低于对照组和低剂量组,中、高剂量组肝、肾脏器系数低于对照组和低剂量组,染毒各组脾脏系数均高于对照组(P均<0.05)。染毒组子代小鼠的肝、胸腺、脾、骺板软骨组织均观察到不同程度的病理改变;中、高剂量组子代小鼠的骨骼X线片可见骨骺增生。结论T-2毒素对母鼠未见明显影响,但可造成子代小鼠脏器与骺板软骨损伤,且脏器损伤部位与性别有关。

脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇对关节软骨损伤影响的研究进展

脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇（DON）是由镰刀菌属病原真菌产生的真菌毒素之一，具有很强的细胞毒性，DON对关节软骨损伤的研究集中于探讨大骨节病发病机制。DON可通过抑制软骨细胞增殖、诱导细胞凋亡、影响细胞相关代谢酶等途径，打破软骨细胞与细胞外基质的平衡，最终导致关节软骨的不可逆性损伤。文中作者就DON毒素对软骨的损伤作用进行综述。

Is Bilateral Value Added in Trade between China and EU Countries Efficient?

By applying stochastic frontier analysis,and replacing total export with value added in exports as a more accurate measure of domestic content embodied in exports,we estimate the trade efficiency between China and EU countries and analyze the determinant factors.The results show that the value added in trade between China and EU countries is running at a low level of efficiency,and the trade efficiency has an obvious imbalance between export and import.Our calculation of unexplored trade potential indicates that western EU countries,such as France,Germany,Italy,and Spain together are China 5 top trading partner with the highest unexploited trade potential.Based on the principal component analysis of 14 trading-related variables,trade efficiency determinant results show that the tangible trade infrastructures of both exporter and importer matters most,including airports,container shipping,Internet,and broadband infrastructures.Meanwhile,intangible trade infrastructures,including customs procedures and domestic business environments,has a significant,but smaller influence on trade efficiency.Our important findings shed light on practical trade policymaking to encourage Sino-EU trade collaboration.