Diet is an important modifiable lifestyle factor for human health, and plant-rich dietary patterns are associated with lower risk of non-communicable diseases in numerous studies. However, objective assessment of plant-rich dietary exposure in nutritional epidemiology studies remains challenging. This study aimed to develop and evaluate metabolic signatures of the most widely used plant-rich dietary patterns using a targeted metabolomics method comprising of 108 plant food metabolites.

A total of 218 healthy participants from the POLYNTAKE cohort were included, aged 51.5 ± 17.7 years, with 24h urine samples measured using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. The validation dataset employed three sample types to test the robustness of the signature, including 24h urine (ABP cohort, n = 88), plasma (POLYNTAKE cohort, n = 195), and spot urine (TwinsUK cohort, n = 198). Adherence to the plant-rich diet was assessed using a priori plant- rich dietary patterns. A combination of metabolites that evaluates the adherence and metabolic response to a specific diet was identified as metabolic signature. We applied linear regression analysis to select the metabolites significantly associated with dietary patterns (adjusting energy intake), and ridge regression to estimate penalized weights of each candidate metabolite. The correlation between metabolic signature and the dietary pattern was assessed by Spearman analysis (FDR < 0.05).

The metabolic signatures consisting of 42, 22, 35, 15, 33, and 33 predictive metabolites across different subclasses were found to be associated with adherence to Amended Mediterranean Score (A-MED), Original MED (O-MED), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND), healthy Plant-based Diet Index (hPDI) and unhealthy PDI (uDPI), respectively. The overlapping and distinct predictive metabolites across six dietary patterns predominantly consisted of phenolic acids (n = 38), including 14 cinnamic acids, 14 hydroxybenzoic acids, seven phenylacetic acids, and three hippuric acids. Six metabolites were included in all signatures, including two lignans: enterolactone-glucuronide, enterolactone-sulfate, and four phenolic acids: cinnamic acid, cinnamic acid-4'-sulfate, 2'- hydroxycinnamic acid, and 4-methoxybenzoic acid-3-sulfate. The established signatures were robustly correlated with dietary patterns in validation dataset (r = 0.13 - 0.40, FDR < 0.05).

We developed and evaluated a set of metabolic signatures that robustly reflected the adherence and metabolic response to plant-rich dietary patterns, suggesting the potential of these signatures to serve as an objective assessment of free-living eating habits.

We first sequenced and characterised the complete mitochondrial genome of Toxocara apodeme, then studied the evolutionary relationship of the species within Toxocaridae. The complete mitochondrial genome was amplified using PCR with 14 specific primers. The mitogenome length was 14303 bp in size, including 12 PCGs (encoding 3,423 amino acids), 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs, and 2 NCRs, with 68.38% A+T contents. The mt genomes of T. apodemi had relatively compact structures with 11 intergenic spacers and 5 overlaps. Comparative analyses of the nucleotide sequences of complete mt genomes showed that T. apodemi had higher identities with T. canis than other congeners. A sliding window analysis of 12 PCGs among 5 Toxocara species indicated that nad4 had the highest sequence divergence, and cox1 was the least variable gene. Relative synonymous codon usage showed that UUG, ACU, CCU, CGU, and UCU most frequently occurred in the complete genomes of T. apodemi. The Ka/Ks ratio showed that all Toxocara mt genes were subject to purification selection. The largest genetic distance between T. apodemi and the other 4 congeneric species was found in nad2, and the smallest was found in cox2. Phylogenetic analyses based on the concatenated amino acid sequences of 12 PCGs demonstrated that T. apodemi formed a distinct branch and was always a sister taxon to other congeneric species. The present study determined the complete mt genome sequences of T. apodemi, which provide novel genetic markers for further studies of the taxonomy, population genetics, and systematics of the Toxocaridae nematodes.

SiO2 sols were made unstable by addition of Ca2+ ions. The resulting states of instability were classified as gelation, flocculation, and precipitation by means of observation, by checking the Tyndall effects on the supernatant or suspending solution, as appropriate, and by measuring the apparent densities of flocculated mass. The concentrations of free Ca2+ ions left in solution were measured by means of a Ca2+ ion selective electrode. The amounts sorbed onto SiO2 particles were then calculated by material balance. It was found that while the amount sorbed dictates the limit of stability, the SiO2 concentration in the mixture is an important factor deciding the state of instability. Depending on the SiO2 concentration, there were two distinct flocs with the apparent floc density of 6 ± 1 and 12 ± 1 mg SiO2/ml.

The chemistry of Al transformation has been well documented, though little is known about the mechanisms of structural perturbation of Al precipitates by carbonates at a molecular level. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the structural perturbation of Al precipitates formed under the influence of carbonates. Initial carbonate/Al molar ratios (MRs) used were 0, 0.1, and 0.5 after aging for 32 days, then the samples were analyzed by X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR), and chemical analysis. The XRD data were in accord with the FTIR results, which revealed that as the carbonate/Al MR was increased from 0 to 0.1, carbonate preferentially retarded the formation of gibbsite and had relatively little effect on the formation of bayerite. As the carbonate/Al MR was increased to 0.5, however, the crystallization of both gibbsite and bayerite was completely inhibited. The impact of carbonate on the nature of Al precipitates was also evident in the increase of adsorbed water and inorganic C contents with increasing carbonate/Al MR. The Al K- and L- edge XANES data provide the first evidence illustrating the change in the coordination number of Al from 6-fold to mixed 6- and 4-fold coordination in the structural network of short-range ordered (SRO) Al precipitates formed under the increasing perturbation of carbonate. The fluorescence yield spectra of the O K-edge show that the intensity of the peak at 534.5 eV assigned to σ* transitions of Al-O and O-H bonding decreased with increasing carbonate/Al MR. The XANES data, along with the evidence from XRD, FTIR, and chemical analysis showed clearly that carbonate caused the alteration of the coordination nature of the Al-O bonding through perturbation of the atomic bonding and structural configuration of Al hydroxides by complexation with Al in the SRO network of Al precipitates. The surface reactivity of an Al-O bond is related to its covalency and coordination geometry. The present findings were, therefore, of fundamental significance in understanding the low-temperature geochemistry of Al and its impacts on the transformation, transport, and fate of nutrients and pollutants in the ecosystem.

The pulsed jet is a novel and effective active mixing enhancement approach. For the transverse pulsed jet in the supersonic crossflow, the frequency influence is investigated using the three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations coupled with the SST k-ω turbulence model. The averaged flow field properties of the pulsed jet are better than those of the steady jet when considering mixing efficiency and jet penetration depth, especially for the case with the pulsed frequency being 50kHz. The flow field structures of the pulsed jet are connected with the time, with periodic wave structures generating in the flow field and moving downstream. The size of the wave structures and its distance are related to the frequency, namely the size and flow distance are relatively small at 50kHz, and it takes some time for the pulsed jet to establish its influence in the full flow field. At low frequencies, the flow field produces large fluctuations, and this may be detrimental to the stable operation of the engine.

We investigated whether the one-time application of polymer-coated urea (PCU) before transplanting could simultaneously improve the grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of japonica-indica hybrid rice (JIHR) through a field experiment. The local high-yield JIHR cultivar Chunyou-927 was field grown during the rice-growing seasons in 2019 and 2020. The experiment consisted of three treatments: no nitrogen application (0N), application of conventional urea (CU), and the one-time application of PCU. Grain yield was 1.0–1.3 t/ha higher, and agronomic NUE (kg grain yield increase per kg N applied) was 5.2–5.9 kg/kg higher, respectively, under the PCU treatment compared with the CU treatment across the two study years. When compared with the CU treatment, the PCU treatment could (1) improve root morphological trait, (2) reduce redundant vegetative growth during the early growth period, (3) increase matter production during the mid and late growth period, and (4) increase plant activity during the grain-filling period. Overall, our findings indicate that one-time PCU application before transplanting of the JIHR cultivar holds great promise for increasing grain yield and NUE.

The great demographic pressure brings tremendous volume of beef demand. The key to solve this problem is the growth and development of Chinese cattle. In order to find molecular markers conducive to the growth and development of Chinese cattle, sequencing was used to determine the position of copy number variations (CNVs), bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the function of ZNF146 gene, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for CNV genotyping and one-way analysis of variance was used for association analysis. The results showed that there exists CNV in Chr 18: 47225201-47229600 (5.0.1 version) of ZNF146 gene through the early sequencing results in the laboratory and predicted ZNF146 gene was expressed in liver, skeletal muscle and breast cells, and was amplified or overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, which promoted the development of tumour through bioinformatics. Therefore, it is predicted that ZNF146 gene affects the proliferation of muscle cells, and then affects the growth and development of cattle. Furthermore, CNV genotyping of ZNF146 gene was three types (deletion type, normal type and duplication type) by Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR). The association analysis results showed that ZNF146-CNV was significantly correlated with rump length of Qinchuan cattle, hucklebone width of Jiaxian red cattle and heart girth of Yunling cattle. From the above results, ZNF146-CNV had a significant effect on growth traits, which provided an important candidate molecular marker for growth and development of Chinese cattle.

We report the experimental results of the commissioning phase in the 10 PW laser beamline of the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF). The peak power reaches 2.4 PW on target without the last amplifying during the experiment. The laser energy of 72 ± 9 J is directed to a focal spot of approximately 6 μm diameter (full width at half maximum) in 30 fs pulse duration, yielding a focused peak intensity around 2.0 × 1021 W/cm2. The first laser-proton acceleration experiment is performed using plain copper and plastic targets. High-energy proton beams with maximum cut-off energy up to 62.5 MeV are achieved using copper foils at the optimum target thickness of 4 μm via target normal sheath acceleration. For plastic targets of tens of nanometers thick, the proton cut-off energy is approximately 20 MeV, showing ring-like or filamented density distributions. These experimental results reflect the capabilities of the SULF-10 PW beamline, for example, both ultrahigh intensity and relatively good beam contrast. Further optimization for these key parameters is underway, where peak laser intensities of 1022–1023 W/cm2 are anticipated to support various experiments on extreme field physics.

Data from the National Healthcare Safety Network were analyzed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) during 2021. Standardized infection ratios were significantly higher than those during the prepandemic period, particularly during 2021-Q1 and 2021-Q3. The incidence of HAI was elevated during periods of high COVID-19 hospitalizations.

A shock-induced separation loss reduction method, using local blade suction surface shape modification (smooth ramp structure) with constant adverse pressure gradient with the consideration of radial equilibrium effect to split a single shock foot into multiple weaker shock wave configuration, is investigated on the NASA Rotor 37 for promoting aerodynamic performance of a transonic compressor rotor. Numerical investigation on baseline blade and improved one with blade modification on suction side has been conducted employing the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes method to reveal flow physics of ramp structure. The results indicate that the passage shock foot of baseline is replaced with a family of compression waves and a weaker shock foot generating moderate adverse pressure gradient on ramp profile, which is beneficial for mitigating the shock foot and shrinking flow separation region as well. In addition, the radial secondary flow of low-momentum fluids within boundary layer is decreased significantly in the region of passage shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction on blade suction side, which mitigates the mass flow and mixing intensity of tip leakage flow. With the reduction of flow separation loss induced by passage shock, the adiabatic efficiency and total pressure ratio of improved rotor are superior to baseline model. This study herein implies a potential application of ramp profile in design method of transonic and supersonic compressors.

The long-distance stable transport of relativistic electron beams (REBs) in plasmas is studied by full three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Theoretical analysis shows that the beam transport is mainly influenced by three transverse instabilities, where the excitation of self-modulation instability, and the suppression of the filamentation instability and the hosing instability are important to realize the beam stable transport. By modulating the transport parameters such as the electron density ratio, the relativistic Lorentz factor, the beam envelopes and the density profiles, the relativistic bunches having a smooth density profile and a length of several plasma wave periods can suppress the beam-plasma instabilities and propagate in plasmas for long distances with small energy losses. The results provide a reference for the research of long-distance and stable transport of REBs, and would be helpful for new particle beam diagnosis technology and space active experiments.