Accumulating evidence suggests that supplementation of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω−3 PUFAs) was associated with reduction in risk of major cardiovascular events. This meta-analysis was to systematically evaluate whether daily supplementation and accumulated intake of ω−3 PUFAs is associated with improved left ventricular (LV) remodeling in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Articles were obtained from Pubmed, Clinical key and Web of Science from inception to January 1 in 2021, and a total of 12 trials involving 2162 participants were eligible for inclusion. The sources of study heterogeneity were explained by I2 statistic and subgroup analysis. Compared with placebo groups, ω−3 PUFAs supplementation improved LV ejection fraction (LVEF) (11 trials, 2112 participants, WMD=2.52, 95%CI 1.25 to 3.80, I2=87.8%) and decreased LV end-systolic volume (LVESV) (5 studies, 905 participants, WMD=−3.22, 95%CI −3.67 to −2.77, I2=0.0%) by using the continuous variables analysis. Notably, the high accumulated ω−3 PUFAs dosage groups (≥600g) presented a prominent improvement in LVEF, while the low and middle accumulated dosage (≤300g and 300-600g) showed no effects on LVEF. In addition, ω−3 PUFAs supplementation decreased the levels of pro-inflammatory mediators including tumor necrosis factor−α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and hypersensitive-c-reactive protein (Hs-CRP). Therefore, the present meta-analysis demonstrated that ω−3 PUFAs consumption was associated with a substantial improvement of LV function and remodeling in patients subjected to CHF. The accumulated dosage of ω-3 PUFAs intake is vital for its cardiac protective role.

Diarrhea caused by pathogens such as enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) is a serious threat to the health of young animals and human infants. Here, we investigated the protective effect of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) on the intestinal epithelium with ETEC-challenge in a weaned piglet model. Twenty-four weaned piglets were randomly divided into three groups: (1) non-ETEC-challenged control (CON), (2) ETEC-challenged control (ECON), and (3) ETEC challenge + 2.5 g/kg FOS (EFOS). On day 19, the CON pigs were orally infused with sterile culture, while the ECON and EFOS pigs were orally infused with active ETEC (2.5 × 109 colony-forming units). On day 21, pigs were slaughtered to collect venous blood and small intestine. Result showed that the pre-treatment of FOS improved the antioxidant capacity and the integrity of intestinal barrier in the ETEC-challenged pigs without affecting their growth performance. Specifically, comparing with ECON pigs, the level of GSH-Px (glutathione peroxidase) and CAT (catalase) in the plasma and intestinal mucosa of EFOS pigs was increased (P<0.05), and the intestinal barrier marked by ZO-1 and plasmatic DAO was also improved in EFOS pigs. A lower level (P<0.05) of inflammatory cytokines in the intestinal mucosa of EFOS pigs might be involved in the inhibition of TLR4/MYD88/NF-κB pathway. The apoptosis of jejunal cells in EFOS pigs was also lower than that in ECON pigs (P<0.05). Our findings provide convincing evidence of possible prebiotic and protective effect of FOS on the maintenance of intestinal epithelial function under the attack of pathogens.

This study aimed to investigate differences in the antimicrobial susceptibility of members of the Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC): subsp. massiliense and subsp. abscessus, and to identify associations between strain genotypes and antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. A total of 383 clinical MABC isolates (subsp. abscessus: n = 218, 56.9%; subsp. massiliense: n = 163, 42.6%; subsp. bolletii: n = 2, 0.5%) were characterised using multilocus variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing and drug susceptibility testing. Most isolates exhibited susceptibility to amikacin, clarithromycin and azithromycin but resistance to cefoxitin and minocycline was statistically more associated with isolates unclustered by VNTR type. The Simpson's diversity indexes of VNTR typing for M. abscessus and M. massiliense isolates were 0.999 and 0.997, respectively. Genotyping of M. abscessus and M. massiliense isolates by VNTR may provide valuable information for predicting resistance phenotype.

Genotyping of lentil plant genetic resources holds the promise to increase the identification and utilization of useful genetic diversity for crop improvement. The International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) lentil reference set plus collection of 176 accessions was genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and 22,555 SNPs were identified. The population structure was investigated using Bayesian analysis (STRUCTURE, k = 3) and principal component analysis. The two methods are in concordance. Genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) using the filtered SNP set and ICARDA historical phenotypic data discovered putative markers for several agronomic traits including days to first flower, seeds per pod, seed weight and days to maturity. The genetic and genomic resources developed and utilized in this study are available to the research community interested in exploring the ICARDA reference set plus collection using GWAS.

Large-eddy simulation of a particle-laden flow over an erodible bed is performed to investigate the effect of heavy, saltating particles on turbulence modulation, using the Eulerian–Lagrangian point-particle approach with two-way coupling. The flow into which the solid particles are introduced is a turbulent open channel flow with particle-free friction Reynolds numbers of 3730 and 4200. The inter-particle collisions are not considered, whereas the particle-bed collisions are described by splashing models. Simulation results show that the addition of particles reduces the mean streamwise fluid velocity. The streamwise fluctuating velocity and Reynolds stress are damped while the vertical and spanwise turbulence intensities are enhanced in the near-bed region. The turbulence intensities and Reynolds stress in the outer layer are apparently increased. These effects become more pronounced as the Reynolds number increases. Correlation scales of the turbulence structures increase in the near-bed region and decrease in the outer region. The modulation mechanism of turbulence is revealed. That is, the range and degree of turbulence enhancement by ascending particles in the near-bed region are much larger than those of turbulence attenuation by descending particles, which results in the redistribution of turbulent kinetic energy from the streamwise to the spanwise and vertical directions. This effect extends to the outer region via saltating particles by forming ‘active’ roughness elements. The premultiplied energy spectra of the streamwise velocity show that the enhancement of outer turbulent kinetic energy by saltating particles occurs in a wide range of wavelengths from the intermediate to very large scale.

To explore the effect of manno-oligosaccharide (MOS) on intestinal health in weaned pigs upon enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli K88 (ETEC) challenge, thirty-two male weaned pigs were randomly assigned into four groups. Pigs fed with a basal diet or basal diet containing MOS (0·6 g/kg) were orally infused with ETEC or culture medium. Results showed that MOS significantly elevated the digestibility of crude protein and gross energy in both ETEC-challenged and non-challenged pigs (P < 0·05). MOS also elevated serum concentrations of IgA and IgM (P < 0·05), but decreased serum concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 (P < 0·05) in ETEC-challenged pigs. Interestingly, MOS increased villus height and the ratio of villus height:crypt depth in duodenum and ileum (P < 0·05). MOS also increased duodenal sucrase and ileal lactase activity in ETEC-challenged pigs (P < 0·05). MOS decreased the abundance of E. coli, but increased the abundance of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Bacillus in caecum (P < 0·05). Importantly, MOS not only elevated the expression levels of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), claudin-1 and GLUT-2 in duodenum (P < 0·05) but also elevated the expression levels of ZO-1, GLUT-2 and L-type amino acid transporter-1 in ileum (P < 0·05) upon ETEC challenge. These results suggested that MOS can alleviate inflammation and intestinal injury in weaned pigs upon ETEC challenge, which was associated with suppressed secretion of inflammatory cytokines and elevated serum Ig, as well as improved intestinal epithelium functions and microbiota.

The FNDC5 gene encodes the fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 that is a membrane protein mainly expressed in skeletal muscle, and the FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism may be associated with liver disease severity in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We investigated the influence of the FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism on the relationship between sarcopenia and the histological severity of NAFLD. A total of 370 adult individuals with biopsy-proven NAFLD were studied. The association between the key exposure sarcopenia and the outcome liver histological severity was investigated by binary logistic regression. Stratified analyses were undertaken to examine the impact of FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism on the association between sarcopenia and the severity of NAFLD histology. Patients with sarcopenia had more severe histological grades of steatosis and a higher prevalence of significant fibrosis and definite non-alcoholic steatohepatitis than those without sarcopenia. There was a significant association between sarcopenia and significant fibrosis (adjusted OR 2·79, 95 % CI 1·31, 5·95, P = 0·008), independent of established risk factors and potential confounders. Among patients with sarcopenia, significant fibrosis occurred more frequently in the rs3480 AA genotype carriers than in those carrying the FNDC5 rs3480 G genotype (43·8 v. 17·2 %, P = 0·031). In the association between sarcopenia and liver fibrosis, there was a significant interaction between the FNDC5 genotype and sarcopenia status (P value for interaction = 0·006). Sarcopenia is independently associated with significant liver fibrosis, and the FNDC5 rs3480 G variant influences the association between sarcopenia and liver fibrosis in patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD.

Solid solution 0.94Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3–6BaTiO3 (NBT–6BT) is considered to be one kind of lead-free piezoelectric materials with excellent electrical properties due to the existence of morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). However, its relatively lower depolarization temperature is a long-standing bottleneck for the application of NBT-based piezoelectric ceramics. In this work, the influence of thermal quenching on depolarization temperature and electrical properties of rare-earth Ho-doped NBT–6BT lead-free ceramics was investigated. It was shown that the relative high piezoelectric performance, as well as an improvement of depolarization temperature (Td), can be realized by thermal quenching. The results showed that the quenching process induced high concentration of oxygen vacancy, giving rise to the change of octahedra mode and enhanced lattice distortion, which is benefit to the temperature stability of piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties. Furthermore, up-conversion photoluminescence (PL) of Ho-doped NBT–6BT could be effectively tuned by the introduction of oxygen vacancy, suggesting a promising potential in optical–electrical multifunctional devices.

The Wulian complex is located on the northern margin of the Sulu orogenic belt, and was formed by collision between the North China Craton (NCC) to the north and South China Craton (SCC) to the south. It consists of the metasedimentary Wulian Group, gneissic granite and meta-diorite. The U–Pb analyses for the detrital zircons from the Wulian Group exhibit one predominant age population of 2600–2400 Ma with a peak at c. 2.5 Ga and several secondary age populations of > 3000, 3000–2800, 2800–2600, 2200–2000, 1900–1800, 1500–1300 and 1250–950 Ma; some metamorphic zircons have metamorphic ages of c. 2.7, 2.55–2.45, 2.1–2.0 and 1.95–1.80 Ga, which are consistent with magmatic-metamorphic events in the SCC. Additionally, the Wulian Group was intruded by the gneissic granite and meta-diorite at c. 0.76 Ga, attributed to Neoproterozoic syn-rifting bimodal magmatic activity in the SCC and derived from partial melting of Archaean continental crust and depleted mantle, respectively. The Wulian Group therefore has tectonic affinity to the SCC and was mainly sourced from the SCC. The detrital zircons have positive and negative ϵHf(t) values, indicating that their source rocks were derived from reworking of both ancient and juvenile crustal rocks. The major early Precambrian crustal growth took place during c. 3.4–2.5 Ga with a dominant peak at 2.96 Ga and several secondary peaks at 3.27, 2.74 and 2.52 Ga. The two oldest zircons with ages of 3307 and 3347 Ma record the recycling of ancient continental crust (> 3.35 Ga) and crustal growth prior to c. 3.95 Ga in the SCC.

Here, we explored the influences of dietary inulin (INU) supplementation on growth performance and intestinal health in a porcine model. Thirty-two male weaned pigs (with an average body weight of 7·10 (sd 0·20) kg) were randomly assigned to four treatments and fed with a basal diet (BD) or BD containing 2·5, 5·0 and 10·0 g/kg INU. After a 21-d trial, pigs were killed for collection of serum and intestinal tissues. We show that INU supplementation had no significant influence on the growth performance in weaned pigs. INU significantly elevated serum insulin-like growth factor-1 concentration but decreased diamine oxidase concentration (P < 0·05). Interestingly, 2·5 and 5·0 g/kg INU supplementation significantly elevated the villus height in jejunum and ileum (P < 0·05). Moreover, 2·5 and 5·0 g/kg INU supplementation also elevated the villus height to crypt depth (V:C) in the duodenum and ileum and improved the distribution and abundance of tight-junction protein zonula occludens-1 in duodenum and ileum epithelium. INU supplementation at 10·0 g/kg significantly elevated the sucrase activity in the ileum mucosa (P < 0·05). INU supplementation decreased the expression level of TNF-α but elevated the expression level of GLUT 2 and divalent metal transporter 1 in the intestinal mucosa (P < 0·05). Moreover, INU increased acetic and butyric acid concentrations in caecum (P < 0·05). Importantly, INU elevated the Lactobacillus population but decreased the Escherichia coli population in the caecum (P < 0·05). These results not only indicate a beneficial effect of INU on growth performance and intestinal barrier functions but also offer potential mechanisms behind the dietary fibre-regulated intestinal health.

A detailed electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) characterization was utilized to investigate abnormal grain growth behavior of nanocrystalline (NC) Au films constrained by a flexible substrate under cyclic loading. Abnormally grown grains (AGGs) in front of about 15 fatigue cracks were picked out to investigate the grain reorientation behavior during abnormal grain growth in the fatigue crack tip in the cyclically deformed thin films. It shows that the AGGs exhibited 〈001〉 orientation along the loading direction, whereas grains grown far away from fatigue cracks had no significant texture change. The cyclic cumulative shear strain was found to play a key role in grain reorientation. A lattice rotation model was proposed to elucidate the grain reorientation mechanism during abnormal grain growth. Such grain reorientation behavior of NC metals was found to provide an intrinsic resistance of the NC metals to fatigue damage.

The effects of flow topology on the subgrid-scale (SGS) kinetic energy flux in compressible isotropic turbulence is studied. The eight flow topological types based on the three invariants of the filtered velocity gradient tensor are analysed at different scales, along with their roles in the magnitude and direction of kinetic energy transfer. The unstable focus/compressing (UFC), unstable node/saddle/saddle (UN/S/S) and stable focus/stretching (SFS), are the three predominant topological types at all scales; they account for at least 75 % of the flow domain. The UN/S/S and SFS types make major contributions to the average SGS flux of the kinetic energy from large scales to small scales in the inertial range. The unstable focus/stretching (UFS) topology makes a contribution to the reverse SGS flux of kinetic energy from small scales to large scales. In strong compression regions, the average contribution of the stable node/saddle/saddle (SN/S/S) topology to the SGS kinetic energy flux is positive and is predominant over those of other flow topologies. In strong expansion regions, the UFS topology makes a major contribution to the reverse SGS flux of the kinetic energy. As the turbulent Mach number increases, the increase of volume fraction of the UFS topological regions leads to the increase of the SGS backscatter of kinetic energy. The SN/S/S topology makes a dominant contribution to the direct SGS flux of the compressible component of the kinetic energy, while the UFS topology makes a dominant contribution to the reverse SGS flux of the compressible component of the kinetic energy.

Risk factors and prevalence of pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) diseases were retrospectively evaluated in 1208 suspected pulmonary TB patients seeking care at the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University between July 2018 and December 2018. Further analysis of 390 culture-positive cases demonstrated that 358 (358/390, 91.8%) were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), 24 (24/390, 6.2%) with NTM and eight (8/390, 2.0%) with both MTB and NTM. M. intracellulare was the most prevalent NTM isolated (16/24, 66.7%), followed by M. abscessus (3/24), M. kansasii (2/24), M. avium (1/24), M. szulgai (1/24) and M. fortuitum (1/24). The difference between NTM and TB case rates for the ⩾65-year-old age group significantly exceeded the difference for the reference group (patients aged 25–44 years) (OR (95% CI): 4.63 (1.03–20.90)). Pulmonary NTM diseases incidence positively correlated with prior TB history (OR (95% CI): 12.92 (3.24–31.82)). Moreover, pulmonary NTM patients were significantly more likely to exhibit underlying bronchiectasis than pulmonary TB patients (OR (95% CI): 18.89 (7.54–47.88)). In conclusion, approximately one-tenth of culture-positive suspected pulmonary TB patients are infected with NTM (most frequently M. intracellulare) in Zhejiang Province, China. The elderly and those with bronchiectasis or a history of TB are at the greatest risk of contracting pulmonary NTM disease.

Evaluation of Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn and Se in humans is challenged by the potentially high within-individual variability of these elements in biological specimens, which are poorly characterised. This study aimed to evaluate their within-day, between-day and between-month variability in spot samples, first-morning voids and 24-h collections. A total of 529 spot urine samples (including eighty-eight first-morning voids and 24-h collections) were collected from eleven Chinese adult men on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 30, 60 and 90 and analysed for these five elements using inductively coupled plasma-MS. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were utilised to characterise the reproducibility, and their sensitivity and specificity were analysed to assess how well a single measurement classified individuals’ 3-month average exposures. Serial measurements of Zn in spot samples exhibited fair to good reproducibility (creatinine-adjusted ICC = 0·47) over five consecutive days, which became poor when the samples were gathered months apart (creatinine-adjusted ICC = 0·33). The reproducibility of Cr, Mn, Fe and Se in spot samples was poor over periods ranging from days to months (creatinine-adjusted ICC = 0·01–0·12). Two spot samples were sufficient for classifying 60 % of the men who truly had the highest (top 33 %) 3-month average Zn concentrations; for Cr, Mn, Fe and Se, however, at least three specimens were required to achieve similar sensitivities. In conclusion, urinary Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn and Se concentrations showed a strong within-individual variability, and a single measurement is not enough to efficiently characterise individuals’ long-term exposures.

Muscle fibre types can transform from slow-twitch (slow myosin heavy chain (MyHC)) to fast-twitch (fast MyHC) or vice versa. Leucine plays a vital effect in the development of skeletal muscle. However, the role of leucine in porcine myofibre type transformation and its mechanism are still unclear. In this study, effects of leucine and microRNA-27a (miR-27a) on the transformation of porcine myofibre type were investigated in vitro. We found that leucine increased slow MyHC protein level and decreased fast MyHC protein level, increased the levels of phospho-protein kinase B (Akt)/Akt and phospho-forkhead box 1 (FoxO1)/FoxO1 and decreased the FoxO1 protein level. However, blocking the Akt/FoxO1 signalling pathway by wortmannin attenuated the role of leucine in porcine myofibre type transformation. Over-expression of miR-27a decreased slow MyHC protein level and increased fast MyHC protein level, whereas inhibition of miR-27a had an opposite effect. We also found that expression of miR-27a was down-regulated following leucine treatment. Moreover, over-expression of miR-27a repressed transformation from fast MyHC to slow MyHC caused by leucine, suggesting that miR-27a is interdicted by leucine and then contributes to porcine muscle fibre type transformation. Our finding provided the first evidence that leucine promotes porcine myofibre type transformation from fast MyHC to slow MyHC via the Akt/FoxO1 signalling pathway and miR-27a.