The current scholarship on Ku Hung-Ming (1857–1928) as a translator and a historical figure has been constrained by identity politics and has viewed his translations and writings as a passive response to the challenge of the Western powers from a Chinese nationalist, or as a process of Ku's identity-building. This article goes beyond these constraints and recognises Ku as an active critic of Western modernity. By drawing on narrative theory, it investigates Ku's three broad choices regarding his translated Confucian classics—translation directionality, the invocation of Goethe, and the use of language mixing on the title pages and/or in the front matter—to demonstrate that Ku's translation agenda was to critique Western modernity. This article constitutes a paradigm shift in the research on Ku's translation of Confucian classics, and challenges what I call the ‘eccentricity thesis’ in Ku Hung-Ming studies to raise awareness of Ku as a critic of modernity.

The incidence of obesity-related glomerulopathy (ORG) is rising worldwide with very limited treatment methods. Paralleled with the gut–kidney axis theory, the beneficial effects of butyrate, one of the short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) produced by gut microbiota, on metabolism and certain kidney diseases have gained growing attention. However, the effects of butyrate on ORG and its underlying mechanism are largely unexplored. In this study, a mice model of ORG was established with a high-fat diet feeding for 16 weeks, and sodium butyrate treatment was initiated at the 8th week. Podocyte injury, oxidative stress and mitochondria function were evaluated in mice kidney and validated in vitro in palmitic acid-treated-mouse podocyte cell lines. Further, the molecular mechanisms of butyrate on podocytes were explored. Compared with controls, sodium butyrate treatment alleviated kidney injuries and renal oxidative stress in high-fat diet-fed mice. In mouse podocyte cell lines, butyrate ameliorated palmitic acid-induced podocyte damage and helped maintain the structure and function of the mitochondria. Moreover, the effects of butyrate on podocytes were mediated via the GPR43-Sirt3 signal pathway, as evidenced by the diminished effects of butyrate with the intervention of GPR43 or Sirt3 inhibitors. In summary, we conclude that butyrate has therapeutic potential for the treatment of ORG. It attenuates high-fat diet-induced ORG and podocyte injuries through the activation of the GPR43-Sirt3 signalling pathway.

Foodborne diseases are ongoing and significant public health concerns. This study analysed data obtained from the Foodborne Outbreaks Surveillance System of Wenzhou to comprehensively summarise the characteristics of foodborne outbreaks from 2012 to 2022. A total of 198 outbreaks were reported, resulting in 2,216 cases, 208 hospitalisations, and eight deaths over 11 years. The findings suggested that foodborne outbreaks were more prevalent in the third quarter, with most cases occurring in households (30.8%). Outbreaks were primarily associated with aquatic products (17.7%) as sources of contamination. The primary transmission pathways were accidental ingestion (20.2%) and multi-pathway transmission (12.1%). Microbiological aetiologies (46.0%), including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella ssp., and Staphylococcus aureus, were identified as the main causes of foodborne outbreaks. Furthermore, mushroom toxins (75.0%), poisonous animals (12.5%), and poisonous plants (12.5%) were responsible for deaths from accidental ingestion. This study identified crucial settings and aetiologies that require the attention of both individuals and governments, thereby enabling the development of effective preventive measures to mitigate foodborne outbreaks, particularly in coastal cities.

Emotion regulation, as a typical “top-down” emotional self-regulation, has been shown to play an important role in children’s oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) development. However, the association between other self-regulation subcomponents and the ODD symptom network remains unclear. Meanwhile, while there are gender differences in both self-regulation and ODD, few studies have examined whether their relation is moderated by gender. Five hundred and four children (age 6–11 years; 207 girls) were recruited from schools with parents and classroom teachers completing questionnaires and were followed up for assessment six months later. Using moderation network analysis, we analyzed the relation between self-regulation and ODD symptoms, and the moderating role of gender. Self-regulation including emotion regulation, self-control, and emotion lability/negativity had broad bidirectional relations with ODD symptoms. In particular, the bidirectional relations between emotion regulation and ODD3 (Defies) and between emotion lability/negativity and ODD4 (Annoys) were significantly weaker in girls than in boys. Considering the important role of different self-regulation subcomponents in the ODD symptom network, ODD is better conceptualized as a self-regulation disorder. Each ODD symptom is associated with different degrees of impaired “bottom-up” and “top-down” self-regulation, and several of the associations vary by gender.

This research communication screened and identified differentiated expressed genes in bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) upon prolactin (PRL) stimulation. PRL of 5 μg/ml increased β-casein synthesis in BMECs with milk protein synthesis capacity. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A total of 375 DEGs (165 up-regulated and 210 down-regulated) were identified between PRL-stimulated group and the control group. Gene ontology enrichment analysis showed that the up-regulated genes were primarily associated with cell functions, metabolic processes, and biological regulatory processes. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that the up-regulated genes were mainly enriched in JAK-STAT, Rap1, Ras and Notch signaling pathways, which are widely involved in cell proliferation, differentiation and milk component synthesis. This study provides an initial understanding of the changes in gene expression in BMECs with PRL-stimulation, as determined by RNA-seq transcriptomic analysis, thereby enhancing our knowledge of the molecular regulation of lactation metabolism.

Saccharin is a widely used sugar substitute, but little is known about the long-term health effects of saccharin intake. Our study aimed to examine the association between saccharin intake and mortality in diabetic and pre-diabetic population and overweight population from NHANES 1988–1994. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association between saccharin intake and CVD, cancer and all-cause mortality. After multivariable adjustment, increased absolute saccharin intake was associated with the risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR): 1·41, 95 % CI: 1·05, 1·90), CVD mortality (HR: 1·93, 95 % CI: 1·15, 3·25) and cancer mortality (HR: 2·26, 95 % CI: 1·10, 4·45) in diabetic and pre-diabetic population. Among overweight population, higher absolute saccharin intake was associated with the risk of cancer mortality (HR: 7·369, 95 % CI: 2·122, 25·592). Replacing absolute saccharin intake with total sugar significantly reduced all-cause mortality by 12·5 % and CVD mortality by 49·7 % in an equivalent substitution analysis in the diabetic and pre-diabetic population. Aspartame substitution reduced all-cause mortality by 29·2 % and cancer mortality by 30·2 %. Notably, the relative daily intake of saccharin also had similar effects as the absolute intake on all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality in all analyses. This was despite the fact that the relative daily intake in our study was below the Food and Drug Administration limit of 15 mg/kg. In conclusion, our study showed a considerable risk of increased saccharin intake on the all-cause, CVD mortality and cancer mortality.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been shown to play a significant role in oxidative stress across various tissues and cells; however, its role in sperm function remains poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of GYY4137, a slow-releasing H2S compound, on sperm damage induced by H2O2. We assessed the effects of GYY4137 on motility, viability, lipid peroxidation and caspase-3 activity in human spermatozoa in vitro following oxidative damage mediated by H2O2. Spermatozoa from 25 healthy men were selected using a density gradient centrifugation method and cultured in the presence or absence of 10 μM H2O2, followed by incubation with varying concentrations of GYY4137 (0.625–2.5 μM). After 24 h of incubation, sperm motility, viability, lipid peroxidation, and caspase-3 activity were evaluated. The results indicated that H2O2 adversely affected sperm parameters, reducing motility and viability, while increasing oxidative stress, as evidenced by elevated lipid peroxidation and caspase-3 activity. GYY4137 provided dose-dependent protection against H2O2-induced oxidative stress (OS). We concluded that supplementation with GYY4137 may offer antioxidant protection during in vitro sperm preparation for assisted reproductive technology.

Paranosema locustae is an environmentally friendly parasitic predator with promising applications in locust control. In this study, transcriptome sequencing was conducted on gonadal tissues of Locusta migratoria males and females infected and uninfected with P. locustae at different developmental stages. A total of 18,635 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in female ovary tissue transcriptomes, with the highest number of DEGs observed at 1 day post-eclosion (7141). In male testis tissue transcriptomes, a total of 32,954 DEGs were identified, with the highest number observed at 9 days post-eclosion (11,245). Venn analysis revealed 25 common DEGs among female groups and 205 common DEGs among male groups. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genome analyses indicated that DEGs were mainly enriched in basic metabolism such as amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, and immune response processes. Protein–protein interaction analysis results indicated that L. migratoria regulates the expression of immune- and reproductive-related genes to meet the body's demands in different developmental stages after P. locustae infection. Immune- and reproductive-related genes in L. migratoria gonadal tissue were screened based on database annotation information and relevant literature. Genes such as Tsf, Hex1, Apolp-III, Serpin, Defense, Hsp70, Hsp90, JHBP, JHE, JHEH1, JHAMT, and VgR play important roles in the balance between immune response and reproduction in gonadal tissues. For transcriptome validation, Tsf, Hex1, and ApoLp-III were selected and verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Correlation analysis revealed that the qRT-PCR expression patterns were consistent with the RNA-Seq results. These findings contribute to further understanding the interaction mechanisms between locusts and P. locustae.

This study aimed to explore the combined association between the dietary antioxidant quality score (DAQS) and leisure-time physical activity on sleep patterns in cancer survivors. Data of cancer survivors were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) database in 2007-2014 in this cross-sectional study. Weighted multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association of DAQS and leisure-time physical activity on sleep patterns. The combined association was also assessed in subgroups of participants based on age, and use of painkillers and antidepressants. Among the eligible participants, 1,133 had unhealthy sleep patterns. After adjusting for covariates, compared to low DAQS level combined with leisure-time physical activity level <600 MET·min/week, high DAQS level combined with leisure-time physical activity ≥600 MET·min/week was associated with lower odds of unhealthy sleep patterns (OR=0.41, 95%CI: 0.23-0.72). Additionally, the association of high DAQS level combined with high leisure-time physical activity with low odds of unhealthy sleep patterns was also significant in <65 years old (OR=0.30, 95%CI: 0.13-0.70), non-painkiller (OR=0.39, 95%CI: 0.22-0.71), non-antidepressant (OR=0.49, 95%CI: 0.26-0.91) and antidepressant (OR=0.11, 95%CI: 0.02-0.50) subgroups. DAQS and leisure-time physical activity had a combined association on sleep patterns in cancer survivors. However, the causal associations of dietary nutrient intake and physical activity with sleep patterns in cancer survivors needs further clarification.

Previous studies have indicated an association between vitamin D and thyroid- and parathyroid-related diseases. However, it remains unclear whether it is a cause of the disease, a side effect of treatment or a consequence of the disease. The Mendelian randomisation (MR) study strengthens the causal inference by controlling for non-heritable environmental confounders and reverse causation. In this study, a two-sample bidirectional MR analysis was conducted to investigate the causal relationship between serum vitamin D levels and thyroid- and parathyroid-related diseases. Inverse variance weighted, weighted median and MR-Egger methods were performed, the Cochran Q test was used to evaluate the heterogeneity and the MR-PRESSO and MR-Egger intercepts were utilised to assess the possibility of pleiotropy. The Bonferroni-corrected significance threshold was 0·0038. At the Bonferroni-corrected significance level, we found that vitamin D levels suggestively decreased the risk of benign parathyroid adenoma (OR = 0·244; 95 % CI 0·074, 0·802; P = 0·0202) in the MR analyses. In the reverse MR study, a genetically predicted risk of thyroid cancer suggestively increased the risk of elevated vitamin D (OR = 1·007; 95 % CI 1·010, 1·013; P = 0·0284), chronic thyroiditis significantly increased the risk of elevated vitamin D (OR = 1·007; 95 % CI 1·002, 1·011; P = 0·0030) and thyroid nodules was significantly decreased the vitamin D levels (OR = 0·991; 95 % CI 0·985, 0·997; P = 0·0034). The findings might be less susceptible to horizontal pleiotropy and heterogeneity (P > 0·05). This study from a gene perspective indicated that chronic thyroiditis and thyroid nodules may impact vitamin D levels, but the underlying mechanisms require further investigation.

Cross-linguistic interactions are the hallmark of bilingual development. Theoretical perspectives highlight the key role of cross-linguistic distances and language structure in literacy development. Despite the strong theoretical assumptions, the impact of such bilingualism factors in heritage-language speakers remains elusive given high variability in children's heritage-language experiences. A longitudinal inquiry of heritage-language learners of structurally distinct languages – Spanish–English and Chinese–English bilinguals (N = 181, Mage = 7.57, measured 1.5 years apart) aimed to fill this gap. Spanish–English bilinguals showed stronger associations between morphological awareness skills across their two languages, across time, likely reflecting cross-linguistic similarities in vocabulary and lexical morphology between Spanish and English. Chinese–English bilinguals, however, showed stronger associations between morphological and word reading skills in English, likely reflecting the critical role of morphology in spoken and written Chinese word structure. The findings inform theories of literacy by uncovering the mechanisms by which bilingualism factors influence child literacy development.

Species of epiphytic microbiota are closely associated with the fermentation performance of natural forage silage. This study aimed to evaluate the dynamic microbial communities, fermentation parameters, and aerobic stability of Napier grass silage from the same variety and growth period but harvested from three different regions (NGP1, NGP2, and NGP3). After 60 days of ensiling, triplicate silos were opened for sampling and testing aerobic stability. The epiphytic microbiota with higher relative abundances in fresh Napier grass (NGP1, NGP2, and NGP3) were Weissella, Enterobacter, and Lactococcus, respectively. After 60 days of ensiling, NGP3 exhibited higher fermentation quality, indicated by higher lactic acid (LA) concentration and lower pH than that of NGP1 and NGP2. The NH3–N content of all treatments was lower than 100 g/kg total nitrogen. Compared with NGP1 and NGP2 silage, NGP3 silage exhibited a sharp rise in pH and LA consumption during air exposure. After 7 days of air exposure, NGP3 had higher ethanol concentrations and pH. Ruminiclostridium_5, Pediococcus, and Lactobacillus predominated in NGP1, NGP2, and NGP3 silages, respectively, whereas Candida and Monascus predominated in air-exposed NGP3 silage. The bacterial co-occurrence networks from fresh samples to ensiling and air exposure became more complex; however, NGP3 had a higher negative correlation with co-occurrence after air exposure. Different regions had significant effects on the fermentation patterns, bacterial communities, and aerobic stability of Napier grass silage. This was mainly due to variable epiphytic microbiota. Higher fermentation quality of Napier grass silage may also result in accelerated spoilage due to air exposure. Candida and Monascus were primarily responsible for the lower dry matter recovery and higher ethanol contents and air exposure spoilage of Napier grass silage.

Background: Early identification of patients colonized with MDROs can help healthcare facilities improve infection control and treatment. We evaluated whether a model previously validated to predict carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) carriage on hospital admission (area under the curve [AUC]=0.86, Lin et al. OFID 2019) would generalize to predict a patient’s likelihood of CRE and non-CRE MDRO colonization at the time of medical intensive care unit (MICU) admission. Methods: We analyzed data collected previously in a retrospective observational cohort study of patients admitted to Rush University Medical Center’s MICU from 1/2017-1/2018 and screened within the first two days for rectal MDRO colonization. Organisms of interest included CRE, carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales (3GCR-E). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization at admission was determined by routine clinical screening. Each patient’s first MICU admission during the study period was linked to Illinois’ hospital discharge database and assigned a CRE colonization risk probability using the existing model. Model covariates were age, and during the prior 365 days, number of short-term acute care hospitalizations (STACH) and mean STACH length of stay, number of long-term acute care hospitalizations (LTACH) and mean LTACH length of stay, prior hospital admission with an ICD-10 diagnosis code indicating bacterial infection, and current admission to LTACH. Predictive value of the model was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: We analyzed 1237 MICU admissions. MDRO admission prevalence is shown in the Table. The model performed well to predict carriage of healthcare-associated MDROs, including CRE, CRPA, composite CR-MDROs (CRE & CRPA), and VRE. However, the model performed poorly for MDROs with known community reservoirs, including 3GCR-E and MRSA (Table). In general, MDRO admission prevalence increased in parallel with predicted CRE colonization risk (Figure). The number needed to screen (NNS) to detect one healthcare-associated MDRO carrier was inversely related to the CRE colonization risk score. For example, NNS in the total cohort compared to those with CRE risk score of >0.5% was: CRE 111 vs 32 patients, CRPA 333 vs 42 patients, composite CR-MDRO 83 vs 18 patients, and VRE 12 vs 4 patients. However, higher CRE risk score cutoff was inversely related to screening sensitivity. Conclusion: A prediction model using prior healthcare exposure information successfully discriminated patients likely to harbor healthcare-associated MDROs upon MICU admission. Prediction scores generated by a public-health accessible database could be used to target screening/isolation or enact protective measures for high-risk patients.

Tree-ring cellulose is a commonly used material for radiocarbon analysis. Extracting cellulose is labor-consuming and several devices that enable batchwise extraction have been developed. However, these devices bear the risk of sample contamination. The present study describes a new device which improves upon two aspects of currently available devices. First, to prevent cross-sample-contamination, we redesigned the drainage module to enable independent removal of chemical waste from each individual sample funnel. Second, we added covers to the sample funnels to reduce the risk of external contamination. Cellulose purity (i.e., holocellulose) was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. Furthermore, accuracy of the radiocarbon analysis was confirmed by results of 14C-blank samples and samples of known age. In conclusion, while maintaining labor-saving, our modified device significantly reduces the risk of sample contamination during extraction of tree-ring cellulose.

In 2018, an Ionplus 200 kV MIni-CArbon DAting System (MICADAS) accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) was installed at the Laboratory of AMS Dating and the Environment, Nanjing University (NJU-AMS Laboratory), China. The NJU-AMS Laboratory is largely devoted to research on radiocarbon dating and 14C analysis in fields of earth, environmental and archaeological sciences. The laboratory has successfully employed various pretreatment methods, including routine pretreatment of tree rings, buried wood and subfossil wood, seeds, charcoal, pollen concentrates, organic matter, and shells. In this study, operational status of the NJU-AMS is presented, and results of radiocarbon measurements made on different sample types are reported. Measurements on international standards, references of known age, and blank samples demonstrate that the NJU-AMS runs stably and has good reproducibility on measurement of single samples. The facility is capable of measuring 14C in samples with the precision and accuracy that meet the requirements for investigating annual 14C changes, history-prehistory age dating, and Late Quaternary stratigraphic chronology research.