Search Results (16)

Aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from 2020 to 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic in a typical desert industrial city, Wuhai, was analyzed to investigate aerosol optical properties, origins of different types of aerosols, and the impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown on desert pollution. Results show that annual AOD (500 nm) and Ångström exponent α were 0.36 ± 0.12 and 0.75 ± 0.22 in 2020, 0.30 ± 0.12 and 0.75 ± 0.14 in 2021, and 0.28 ± 0.09 and 0.74 ± 0.19 in 2022, respectively, representing a slightly polluted environment characterized by a mixture of coarse-mode dust aerosols and fine-mode anthropogenic aerosols. Seasonal analysis reveals that the highest AOD primarily occurred in spring due to frequent dust events, while the lowest AOD was observed in winter. Potential Source Contribution Function (PSCF) identified the Alxa Desert as a major potential source during the entire year, and anthropogenic industrial and mining activities in northern Ningxia and southern Inner Mongolia were also important contributors, particularly outside of the winter season. The prevailing wind direction in Wuhai was from the northwest (NW-quadrant), originating from the depopulated desert or Gobi area, accounting for 85.11% in spring, 61.45% in summer, 68.09% in autumn, and 100% in winter. The remaining air masses came from southeastern (SE-quadrant) densely populated areas. Despite the dominance of NW air flows, SE anthropogenic air masses resulted in the highest AOD of 0.47 ± 0.24 in spring, 0.38 ± 0.23 in summer, and 0.32 ± 0.17 in autumn, with corresponding finest particle sizes of 0.83 ± 0.31, 0.91 ± 0.30, and 1.02 ± 0.22 in α. This suggests that anthropogenic influence remains significant even under strict control measures during the COVID-19 lockdown. In winter, the northwest air masses contributed to the highest pollution of 0.49 ± 0.39 (AOD) and finest particle size of 0.90 ± 0.32 (α), likely associated with the coal/straw burning for winter heating. In addition, the particles leading to moderate pollution primarily ranged around 0.2–0.25 µm, and fine particle pollution persists throughout the year. Full article

Dynamic and changeable business scenarios pose significant challenges to the adaptability and verifiability of process models. Despite its widespread adoption as an ISO-standard modeling language, Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) faces inherent limitations in formal semantics and verification capabilities, hindering the mathematical validation of process evolution behaviors under scenario changes. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a collaborative modeling framework integrating BPMN with hierarchical colored Petri nets (HCPNs), enabling the efficient iterative evolution and correctness verification of process change through formal mapping and localized evolution mechanism. First, hierarchical mapping rules are established with subnet-based modular decomposition, transforming BPMN elements into an HCPN executable model and effectively resolving semantic ambiguities; second, atomic evolution operations (addition, deletion, and replacement) are defined to achieve partial HCPN updates, eliminating the computational overhead of global remapping. Furthermore, an automated verification pipeline is constructed by analyzing state spaces, validating critical properties such as deadlock freeness and behavioral reachability. Evaluated through an intelligent AI-driven service scenario involving multi-gateway processes, the framework demonstrates behavioral effectiveness. This work provides a pragmatic solution for scenario-driven process evolution in domains requiring agile iteration, such as fintech and smart manufacturing. Full article

Smart cities are confronted with a variety of disaster threats. Among them, natural fires pose a serious threat to human lives, the environment, and asset security. In view of the fact that existing research mostly focuses on the analysis of accident precursors, this paper proposes a dynamic risk-modeling method based on Stochastic Petri Nets (SPN) and Bayesian theory to deeply explore the evolution mechanism of urban natural fires. The SPN model is constructed through natural language processing techniques, which discretize the accident evolution process. Then, the Bayesian theory is introduced to dynamically update the model parameters, enabling the accurate assessment of key event nodes. The research results show that this method can effectively identify high-risk nodes in the evolution of fires. Their dynamic probabilities increase significantly over time, and key transition nodes have a remarkable impact on the emergency response efficiency. This method can increase the fire prevention and control efficiency by approximately 30% and reduce potential losses by more than 20%. The dynamic update mechanism significantly improves the accuracy of risk prediction by integrating real-time observation data and provides quantitative support for emergency decision making. It is recommended that urban management departments focus on strengthening the maintenance of facilities in high-risk areas (such as fire alarm systems and emergency passages), optimize cross-departmental cooperation processes, and build an intelligent monitoring and early-warning system to shorten the emergency response time. This study provides a new theoretical tool for urban fire risk management. In the future, it can be extended to other types of disasters to enhance the universality of the model. Full article

This experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of pterostilbene (PTE) supplementation in feed on Arbor Acres broilers in terms of serum biochemical parameters, immune and inflammatory responses, antioxidant status, and intestinal morphological structure. For a duration of 42 days, a total of 480 1-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly divided into four groups. Each group was assigned to receive either the basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with 200, 400, or 600 mg/kg of PTE. Each treatment consisted of eight replicates, with 15 chicks per replicate. In comparison with the control group, three PTE treatments significantly increased the lymphocyte transformation rate in the spleen of broilers. The automated biochemical analysis, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and RT-qPCR analysis kits found that 400 mg/kg of PTE significantly increased the serum levels of complement C3, IL-4, and iNOS; reduced the serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and mRNA levels of the genes IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, NLRP3, and IFN-γ; significantly improved the activities of antioxidant enzymes including CAT, GSH-Px, and T-SOD in the jejunum; and significantly reduced the MDA contents in the serum and jejunum of broilers. Nikon microscope observations and ImagePro Plus 6.0 measure results found that 400 mg/kg of PTE supplementation significantly reduced the relative length and weight of the jejunum and improved the jejunal villi structure, resulting in increased intestinal villi, deepened crypt, and an enhanced ratio of villi height to crypt depth (VH/CD). RT-qPCR and Western blot found that dietary PTE also resulted in increased mRNA levels of the genes Claudin-2, Occludin, ZO-1, and Sirt1, and decreased NF-κB protein levels in the jejunum. The results of this study demonstrated that dietary PTE improved the immune function and intestinal health of broilers by reducing inflammation and increasing the antioxidant capacity of the animals. Full article

Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (Mecp2) is an epigenetic modulator and numerous studies have explored its impact on the central nervous system manifestations. However, little attention has been given to its potential contributions to the peripheral nervous system (PNS). To investigate the regulation of Mecp2 in the PNS on specific central regions, we generated Mecp2^fl/flAdvillin^cre mice with the sensory-neuron-specific deletion of the Mecp2 gene and found the mutant mice had a heightened sensitivity to temperature, which, however, did not affect the sense of motion, social behaviors, and anxiety-like behavior. Notably, in comparison to Mecp2^fl/fl mice, Mecp2^fl/flAdvillin^cre mice exhibited improved learning and memory abilities. The levels of hippocampal synaptophysin and PSD95 proteins were higher in Mecp2^fl/flAdvillin^cre mice than in Mecp2^fl/fl mice. Golgi staining revealed a significant increase in total spine density, and dendritic arborization in the hippocampal pyramidal neurons of Mecp2^fl/flAdvillin^cre mice compared to Mecp2^fl/fl mice. In addition, the activation of the BDNF-TrkB-CREB1 pathway was observed in the hippocampus and spinal cord of Mecp2^fl/flAdvillin^cre mice. Intriguingly, the hippocampal BDNF/CREB1 signaling pathway in mutant mice was initiated within 5 days after birth. Our findings suggest a potential therapeutic strategy targeting the BDNF-TrkB-CREB1 signaling pathway and peripheral somasensory neurons to treat learning and cognitive deficits associated with Mecp2 disorders. Full article

Rice is one of the most significant food crops for human sustenance. Every year, many countries around the world hoard enormous amounts of rice to avert emergencies and guarantee food security and sufficiency. As a result, the inventory of aged rice is growing as the number of inventory years rises. Aged rice stored over three years loses its nutritional value and is no longer suitable for human consumption. There is a pressing need to find a solution to effectively utilize aged brown rice produced from aged rice after dehulling. Developing and utilizing aged brown rice as feed is economical and efficient due to its massive resources and rich nutritional content, which will also lessen food waste while resolving the problem of excessive hoarding of aged rice. This review mainly summarizes the nutritional value, application in feed, and nutritional limiting factors of aged brown rice. It provides a theoretical basis for solving the overstock of aged brown rice and the feasibility of using aged brown rice as feed in a cost-effective way. Full article

This experiment aimed to investigate the mitigating effect of CUR on the growth performance and liver and intestinal health of broilers fed AFB1-contaminated diets. In this study, 320 one-day-old healthy male Arbor Acres (AA) broilers were randomly divided into four groups, including the Control group (fed the basal diet), the AFB1 group (fed the AFB1-contaminated diet containing 1 mg/kg AFB1), the AFB1+CUR group (fed the AFB1-contaminated diet with 500 mg/kg CUR), and the CUR group (fed the basal diet containing 500 mg/kg CUR), with eight replicates of ten animals per group and a 28 d experimental period. In terms of the growth performance, the addition of 500 mg/kg CUR significantly improved AFB1-induced significant reductions in the final body weight on day 28 and mean daily gain (p < 0.05) and increased the ratio of the mean daily feed intake to mean daily weight gain in broilers (p < 0.05). In terms of liver health, significant improvements in liver histological lesions occurred in broilers in the AFB1+CUR group compared to the AFB1 group, with significantly higher glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT), and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activities (p < 0.05) and significantly higher levels of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap-1), heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), and NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO-1) gene expression (p < 0.05). In terms of intestinal health, CUR addition significantly increased the relative length of ileum (p < 0.05), significantly elevated the height of ileal villi (p < 0.05), significantly reduced D-Lactate (D-LA) and diamine oxidase (DAO) activities in broiler serum (p < 0.05), significantly increased GSH, CAT, and T-SOD activities in ileal tissues (p < 0.05), and significantly elevated the expression of Nrf2, HO-1, and NQO-1 genes (p < 0.05) compared to the AFB1 group. In conclusion, CUR showed a protective effect against damage to the liver and intestine caused by AFB1 in broilers through the Nrf2 signaling pathway, thereby improving the growth performance of broilers exposed to AFB1. Full article

Corrosion problems are widespread in nature. As one of the most convenient and efficient methods for metal anticorrosion protection, anticorrosive coatings have received increasing attention. With the continuous advancement of science and technology, more novel functional anticorrosion coatings are being extensively researched. This review provides an overview of recent research progress in anticorrosion coatings and functionalized modified materials. Recent methods for performance optimization can be categorized into three main sections: modification by nanoparticles, modification by carbon-based materials, and specific functionalization (barrier effect, passivation, shielding effect, resistivity, self-repair). Through modification, the anticorrosion performance of coatings is significantly enhanced, with impedance levels improving by up to three orders of magnitude. Furthermore, modification imparts additional outstanding features to the coatings, such as high-temperature resistance, thermal conductivity, self-healing, and hydrophobicity. Finally, the future development trend of anticorrosion coatings is proposed, and several reasonable suggestions are put forward for the challenges faced. Full article

Aflatoxin B1 is a contaminant widely found in food and livestock feed, posing a major threat to human and animal health. Recently, much attention from the pharmaceutical and food industries has been focused on curcumin due to its strong antioxidant capacity. However, the therapeutic impacts and potential mechanisms of curcumin on kidney damage caused by AFB1 are still incomplete. In this study, AFB1 triggered renal injury in mice, as reflected by pathological changes and renal dysfunction. AFB1 induced renal oxidative stress and interfered with the Keap1–Nrf2 pathway and its downstream genes (CAT, SOD1, NQO1, GSS, GCLC, and GCLM), as manifested by elevated oxidative stress metabolites and reduced antioxidant enzymes activities. Additionally, AFB1 was found to increase apoptotic cells percentage in the kidney via the TUNEL assay, along with increased expression of Cyt-c, Bax, cleaved-Caspase-3, Caspase-9, and decreased expression of Bcl-2 at the transcriptional and protein levels; in contrast, for mice given curcumin, there was a significant reversal in kidney coefficient, biochemical parameters, pathological changes, and the expression of genes and proteins involved in oxidative stress and apoptosis. These results indicate that curcumin could antagonize oxidative stress and apoptosis to attenuate AFB1-induced kidney damage. Full article

The aim of this study was to explore the mechanism underlying the protective effects of resveratrol against Aflatoxin B1-induced ileum injury in ducks. A corn–soybean meal-basal diet and two test diets (500 mg/kg resveratrol +0.2 mg Aflatoxin B1/kg, 0.2 mg AFB₁/kg) were used in a 10-wk design trial (n = 15 ducks/group). These results showed that the toxicity of Aflatoxin B1 significantly reduced the antioxidant capacity of duck ileum and induced inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and DNA damage in ducks. The expression of genes, including CYP1A2, CYP2A6, and CYP3A4, at the mRNA level was significantly upregulated (p < 0.05) by AFB₁. The level of Nrf2 was suppressed (p < 0.05) and the mRNA and protein level of NF-κB was activated (p < 0.05) in the AFB₁ group. However, supplementation with 500 mg/kg dietary resveratrol in Aflatoxin B1-induced ducks significantly ameliorated these alterations and decreased the mRNA expression of CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 (p < 0.05) and the production of AFB₁-DNA adducts (p < 0.05). The results proved that resveratrol alleviated ileum injury induced by AFB1, decreased the production of AFB₁-DNA adducts by downregulating the expression of CYP1A1 and CYP1A2, and reduced DNA damage and oxidative stress via the Nrf2/ Keap1 and NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathways. Full article

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of dietary resveratrol on the growth performance and anti-inflammatory mechanism in ducks. A total of 280 one-day-old specific pathogen-free male ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos) with an average body weight of 35 ± 1 g were randomly divided into two dietary treatment groups with different supplementation levels of resveratrol for growth performance experiments: R₀ and R₄₀₀ (0 and, 400 mg kg⁻¹ resveratrol, respectively). At the age of 28 days, 16 ducks were selected from each treatment group and divided into four subgroups for a 2 × 2 factorial pathological experiment: R₀; R₄₀₀; R₀ + LPS; R₄₀₀ + LPS, (0 mg kg⁻¹ resveratrol, 400 mg kg⁻¹ resveratrol, 0 mg kg⁻¹ resveratrol, 400 mg kg⁻¹ resveratrol + 5 mg lipopolysaccharide/kg body weight). The results showed that resveratrol significantly improved final body weight and average daily gain (p < 0.01) and alleviated the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response with a reduction in IL-1β and IL-6 in the plasma and the liver (p < 0.05). Resveratrol improved mRNA levels of Nrf2 and HO-1 and decreased the mRNA levels of TLR4 and NF-κB in duck liver (p < 0.05). Dietary resveratrol can improve growth performance and reduce inflammation through the Nrf2/HO-1 and TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathways in duck. Full article

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a mycotoxin widely distributed in animal feed and human food; it represents a serious threat to human and animal health. This study investigates the mechanism by which dietary curcumin protected liver against acute damage caused by AFB1 administration in ducks. One-day-old male ducks (n = 450) were randomly assigned to three groups, the control group, the AFB1 group, and the AFB1 + curcumin group; the first group were fed with basic diet, while the third group was fed basic diet containing 500 mg/kg curcumin. Ducks in the AFB1 group and AFB1 + curcumin group were challenged with AFB1 at the age of 70 days. The results show that AFB1 administration caused liver damage, increased CYP450 content and AFB1-DNA adducts in the liver, and induced oxidative stress and inflammatory response in the liver. Dietary curcumin significantly inhibited the generation of H₂O₂ and MDA in liver, activated the Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway, and suppressed the NLRP3–caspase-1 signaling pathway in the liver of ducks. Conclusively, curcumin in diet could protect duck liver against the generation of AFB1-DNA adducts, toxicity, oxidation stress and inflammatory response induced by AFB1 through regulating the NLRP3–caspase-1 signaling pathways, demonstrating that curcumin is a potential feed additive agent to reduce the serious harmful effects of AFB1 on duck breeding. Full article

The presence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in feed is a serious threat to livestock and poultry health and to human food safety. Resveratrol (Res) is a polyphenolic compound with antioxidant, anti-apoptotic and other biological activities; however, it is not clear whether it can improve AFB1 induced hepatotoxicity. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary Res on liver injury induced by AFB1 and its mechanisms. A total of 270 one-day-old male specific pathogen free (SPF) ducks, with no significant difference in weight, were randomly assigned to three groups: the control group, the AFB1 group and the AFB1 + Res group, which were fed a basic diet, a basic diet and a basic diet containing 500 mg/kg Res, respectively. On the 70th day, the ducks in theAFB1 group and the AFB1+ 500 mg/kg Res group were given 60 μg/kg AFB1 via gavage. When comparing the AFB1 group and the AFB1 + Res group and also with the control group, AFB1 significantly increased liver damage, cytochrome P450 (CYP450) and AFB1-DNA adduct content, increased oxidative stress levels and induced liver apoptosis, which was improved by Res supplementation. In sum, the addition of Res to feed can increase the activity of the II-phase enzyme, activate the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signal pathway, and protect ducks’ livers from the toxicity, oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction induced by AFB1. Full article

This study aimed at examining the effects of curcumin supplementation on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and meat quality of ducks. To investigate these effects, 600 healthy ducks were randomly assigned to four treatment groups with 10 replicates pens, and each pen contained 15 ducks. Ducks were fed a diet containing curcumin at levels of 0, 300, 400, and 500 mg kg⁻¹ in different groups. The results demonstrated that curcumin supplementation is beneficial to the growth performance (p < 0.05) of ducks and antioxidant capacity (p < 0.05) of duck meat. In addition, dietary curcumin raised the meat quality of ducks, improving the meat color, increasing water-holding capacity, and inhibiting lipid and protein oxidation. In conclusion, the present study provides important insights into both the nutrient and qualities of ducks, finding that a dietary inclusion of 400–500 mg/kg of curcumin (kg⁻¹) has the greatest effect. Full article

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a stable toxic metabolite threatening health of human and animal and widely contaminated animal feed and human food. This present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary curcumin on ileum injury in ducks induced by AFB1 administration and explore its underlying mechanisms. Ducks (N = 450, one-day-old male) with a similar weight were randomly assigned to 3 groups, containing the control group, AFB1 group (60 μg AFB1 kg⁻¹ body weight) and curcumin (500 mg curcumin kg⁻¹ diet) + AFB1 group. AFB1 administration markedly increased the ileum damage, AFB1-DNA adducts in the plasma and oxidation stress and inflammation. Adding curcumin into diet protected the ileum against morphology damage induced by AFB1 administration, decreased AFB1-DNA adducts in the plasma and eliminated oxidation stress and inflammation in the ileum of ducks. Anti-oxidation and anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin could protect the ileum against acute damage via activating Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway and inhibiting NF-κB signaling pathway. Conclusively, curcumin was a dietary anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation agent via activating Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway and inhibiting NF-κB signaling pathway to protect ileum against acute damage induced by AFB1 administration. Full article