Search Results (14,342)

Background/Objectives: Physical activity and dietary inflammatory potential are modifiable correlates of depressive symptoms. We examined whether oral microbial dysbiosis—an imbalance in oral microbial community structure—was associated with an integrated lifestyle profile and depressive symptoms in U.S. adults. Methods: We analyzed 6519 adults aged 20–69 years from NHANES 2009–2012. The Integrated Lifestyle Score combined standardized Dietary Inflammatory Index and leisure-time physical activity; higher scores indicated higher dietary inflammatory potential and lower physical activity. Oral dysbiosis was assessed using a study-specific genus-level log-ratio index. Survey-weighted regression models were fitted, and indirect associations were evaluated using 5000 bootstrap resamples. Results: A less favorable lifestyle profile, characterized by higher dietary inflammatory potential and lower leisure-time physical activity, was associated with higher PHQ-9 scores (β = 0.314, 95% CI 0.113–0.515, p = 0.005), greater odds of clinically relevant depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥ 10; OR = 1.355, 95% CI 1.159–1.584, p < 0.001), and greater oral dysbiosis (β = 0.191, 95% CI 0.050–0.331, p = 0.011). Greater oral dysbiosis was associated with higher PHQ-9 scores (β = 0.101, 95% CI 0.059–0.144, p < 0.001) and greater odds of clinically relevant depressive symptoms (OR = 1.069, 95% CI 1.035–1.105, p < 0.001). The indirect association for continuous PHQ-9 was 0.0188 (bootstrap 95% CI 0.0033–0.0402), representing approximately 6.0% of the total association. Conclusions: A less favorable lifestyle profile was associated with greater depressive symptom burden and oral microbial imbalance. Oral dysbiosis statistically accounted for a small proportion of this association. Given the cross-sectional design and study-specific indices, these findings should be interpreted as exploratory rather than causal. Full article

Background/Objectives: As a lifelong chronic condition, diabetes requires self-management, which plays an essential role in slowing disease progression and improving treatment outcomes. This research aimed to investigate whether the quality of chronic care statistically mediates the relationship between eHealth literacy and self-management among adults with diabetes participating in a shared care model. Methods: A cross-sectional design along with convenience sampling was utilized in this study. From March 2025 to March 2026, 332 individuals with diabetes were enrolled from a shared care model at a tertiary hospital in northwestern China. The participants completed the Chinese versions of the three validated instruments, and the data were processed using SPSS 27.0 and PROCESS 4.1. Results: Significant positive correlations were found among the three core variables (all p < 0.01). The mediation model confirmed that the quality of chronic care acted as a partial and statistically significant mediating role in the relationship between eHealth literacy and self-management among adults with diabetes (β = 0.146, 95% CI: 0.114–0.398). Conclusions: This study found that patients with diabetes participating in the shared care model reported relatively favorable self-management capabilities. eHealth literacy was indirectly associated with self-management behaviors through the quality of chronic care. However, given the cross-sectional design of this study, these findings should be interpreted as statistical associations rather than causal evidence, and reverse causality cannot be ruled out. Future longitudinal studies are needed to establish temporal ordering and causal relationships among these variables. Full article

Gallium is a critical metal for high-tech industries, with its global demand surging in recent years. Currently, approximately 90% of primary gallium is extracted from Bayer liquor. Chelating resins such as amidoxime sorbents are widely adopted commercial materials for this purpose. However, gallium recovery from such highly caustic media remains a formidable challenge, as gallium is present at low concentrations while aluminate ions are hundreds of times more abundant, and the medium is rich in competing vanadate ions and humic substances. These interfering components impede both adsorption and desorption cycles, leading to a progressive decline in resin performance and a subsequent increase in operational costs. In recent years, functionalized carbon-based materials have gained significant traction. This growing interest is motivated by the carbon-based materials’ exceptional chemical resilience across both acidic and alkaline environments, tunable surface chemistry, and facile re-functionalization. This mini-review synthesizes recent progress in functionalized carbon-based materials for gallium recovery, with a particular emphasis on their adsorption performance and mechanistic insights. At the end of the paper, major challenges and research gaps are identified, and future research directions are proposed. Full article

Plastid-localized glycerol‑3‑phosphate acyltransferase (ATS1) catalyzes the initial acylation step in the prokaryotic branch of glycerolipid biosynthesis and is pivotal for membrane lipid remodeling. In this study, we investigated the role of Arabidopsis thaliana ATS1 (AtATS1) in salt tolerance using transgenic Brassica napus lines overexpressing AtATS1 and wild-type plants. Under 150 mM salt stress, AtATS1-overexpressing lines exhibited significantly compromised tolerance, characterized by severe growth inhibition and cotyledon abscission compared to wild-type plants. Physiological assays further revealed that despite a hyper-induction of antioxidant enzymes (SOD and POD), the transgenic lines suffered from excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and elevated malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, indicating a failure to maintain redox homeostasis. Transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that AtATS1 overexpression disrupts the stress response by misallocating metabolic resources toward glucosinolate biosynthesis and constitutively repressing the MAPK signaling cascade (including WRKY42, MPK15, and MEKK1). In conclusion, these findings identify AtATS1 as a negative regulator of salt tolerance in B. napus. This study provides new insights into the link between lipid metabolism and abiotic stress responses and highlights the need for careful modulation of glycerolipid biosynthesis when engineering salt-resilient rapeseed varieties. Full article

The process of straw decomposition is highly complex and is regulated by a multitude of interacting factors. However, how the straw return rate influences the metabolic byproducts, extracellular enzymes, and microbial communities during straw decomposition remains an unresolved question. To address this, we integrated straw and soil chemistry, amplicon sequencing, untargeted metabolomics, and enzyme assays across four straw return rates (no return, 1/3, 1/2, and the Full treatment) at 30 and 90 d. Straw mass loss was greatest under the 1/2 return treatment at 90 d, reaching 53.7%, whereas soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N) were highest under the 1/3 return, exceeding the control by 17.6% and 17.2%, respectively. This indicates that decomposition and short-term soil C and N accumulation were decoupled. Microbial communities underwent clear temporal turnover, and hydrolytic enzymes increased from 30 to 90 d and were positively associated with mass loss. In contrast, oxidative enzymes showed no positive association with decomposition. Metabolomic profiles shifted from early-stage labile compounds to later-stage aromatic and phenolic compounds, and straw and soil metabolomes were closely coupled in a stage-specific manner (Procrustes M² = 0.15, p = 0.001; Mantel r = 0.69, p = 0.001). Mantel tests further indicated that the metabolome was significantly associated with return rate and SOC. Partial least squares path modeling revealed that the direct and indirect pathways linking return rate, metabolome, enzymes, and decomposition were reorganized between 30 and 90 d. Overall, straw return rate influenced decomposition through stage-dependent biochemical and microbial changes, and straw mass loss and short-term soil C and N accumulation were decoupled, responding nonlinearly and peaking under different return rates. Full article

To investigate the genetic variation underlying the phenotypic differences between Citrus reticulata ‘Bendizao’ and its seedling mutation cultivar Citrus reticulata ‘Dongjiang Bendizao’, we performed whole-genome resequencing of both cultivars using high-throughput sequencing technology, achieving sequencing depths of 22× and 36×, respectively. Compared to the reference genome, we identified 4,150,080 and 4,081,142 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci in ‘Bendizao’ and ‘Dongjiang Bendizao’, of which only 5.41% and 5.52% were located in exonic regions. Exonic SNPs with nonsynonymous mutations or termination alteration effects yielded 3088 candidate genes. In addition, 664,149 and 627,686 insertions/deletions (InDel) loci were detected in the two cultivars, with only 1.50% and 1.57% in exonic regions, leading to the identification of 1065 genes based on differential exonic InDel loci. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the genetic variations were predominantly enriched in pathways such as RNA polymerase, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and plant–pathogen interaction. qRT-PCR validation of the five selected differentially expressed genes confirmed that three of them were significantly upregulated in ‘Dongjiang Bendizao’ compared with ‘Bendizao’, with fold changes ranging from approximately 4 to 13. Future functional validation of key candidates, including members of the TPS21, E2.1.1.104, RPS2, and CNGC genes, will help elucidate their regulatory networks and facilitate stress-tolerance breeding. Collectively, this study provides insights into the genomic variation between the two cultivars and establishes a theoretical foundation for cultivar identification and genetic improvement of local citrus germplasm. Full article

Ti-35Nb-2Ta-3Zr (TNTZ) β-titanium alloy is attractive for biomedical applications because of its relatively low elastic modulus and composition based on nominally non-cytotoxic alloying elements; however, its surface hardness and intrinsic bioactivity remain limited. In this study, Zn nanoparticles were incorporated into the near-surface region of TNTZ by friction stir processing (FSP), followed by compression plasma flow (CPF) treatment in nitrogen. Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, microhardness testing, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after 60 days of immersion in simulated body fluid were used to characterize the modified layers. CPF treatment produced a distinct surface-modified layer approximately 10–15 μm thick, increased the Zn signal within the upper approximately 11 μm, and generated diffraction peaks assigned to Ti₂N. The fitted β-phase lattice parameter decreased with nominal X-ray penetration depth, and tensile residual stresses were calculated for all CPF-treated conditions. Sample 1 exhibited the highest microhardness at the lowest applied load. After 60 days of immersion, the mean Zn concentration was 261.87 ± 0.0031 μg/L for FSP and 102.41 ± 0.0063 μg/L for FSP + CPF, corresponding to an approximately 60.9% lower mean cumulative Zn concentration after CPF treatment. Electrochemical, tribological, and biological testing is still required to establish corrosion, wear, and biological performance. Full article

Fishing pressure shapes fishery-resource populations, but habitat suitability is often overlooked in spatial management. In this study, we investigated the population dynamics and habitat suitability of the mantis shrimp, Oratosquilla oratoria, in the northern Shandong Peninsula using surveys from 50 coastal stations in May and August 2024, comprising 6504 individuals. The population exhibited negative allometric growth, with modeled growth accelerating around June. Fishing mortality was 1.44 a⁻¹ and the exploitation rate was 0.53. Current F exceeded F_0.1 (0.90 a⁻¹) and was close to F_20% (1.46 a⁻¹), while the length at first capture (L_c = 6.48 cm) was substantially lower than the optimal length at first capture (L_copt = 10.34 cm), indicating substantial fishing pressure and premature capture of small individuals. GAMs provided better in-sample fits than GLMs. Salinity and water depth were important predictors in both seasons, with nitrite nitrogen retained in spring and total phosphorus and pH retained in summer. Model-derived habitat suitability showed seasonal spatial redistribution, and high-suitability areas experienced greater fishing pressure. We therefore propose a preliminary spatially differentiated management scenario, including reduced fishing effort and candidate L_c reference values of 11.89 cm and 8.63 cm for high- and moderate-suitability areas, respectively. Full article

The dissimilar metal welded joints at the safe ends of nuclear primary circuits are highly susceptible to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) initiation in high-temperature, high-pressure water environments. Existing predictive models are predominantly based on homogeneous material assumptions, making it challenging to accurately evaluate the actual failure behavior of welds caused by mechanical property heterogeneity. Consequently, based on the mechanical gradient obtained from hardness tests, this study constructs a finite element model with continuously varying mechanical properties to quantitatively investigate SCC behavior under different crack characteristics. The analysis demonstrates that mechanical heterogeneity significantly influences the crack tip mechanical fields: When the crack is located proximal to the sub-interface (d = 1 mm), the severe mechanical mismatch induces a sharp increase in creep strain, resulting in a peak SCC propagation rate approximately 14.6% higher than those at d = 3 mm. Furthermore, extending the crack length at the weld center (a/W from 0.45 to 0.60) expands the plastic strain zone along the propagation direction, driving an approximately 43.6% increase in the crack growth rate. The heterogeneous model, accounting for the local mechanical gradient, can more accurately reveal the influence laws of crack position and length on SCC propagation behavior, providing theoretical support for improving life prediction accuracy and in-service inspections. Full article

Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clustering is a key driver of metastatic progression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we performed single-cell proteomic sequencing on CTC clusters and individual CTCs isolated from lung cancer patients, identifying 912 proteins in total, of which 246 were significantly upregulated in clusters versus single CTCs. Enrichment analyses revealed a prominent involvement of lipid and cholesterol metabolism pathways. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) emerged as a central hub, exhibiting marked upregulation in CTC clusters. Functional experiments showed that cholesterol supplementation promoted cluster formation in NSCLC cell lines and accelerated metastatic dissemination in vivo, whereas APOE depletion impaired clustering capacity. Mechanistically, we identified USF2 as a potential transcriptional regulator of APOE through direct binding to the promoter, as supported by Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and reporter assays. Clinical validation in a cohort of 75 lung cancer patients demonstrated that elevated APOE expression was strongly associated with advanced pathological grade, distant metastasis, and poor survival. Taken together, these findings establish a novel USF2–APOE–cholesterol axis that governs CTC clustering and metastatic progression, positioning APOE as both a prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC metastasis. Full article

The Yinchuan Basin is situated at the leading edge of the latest northeastward expansion of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Sedimentary sequences at basin margins are crucial for understanding basin–mountain coupling relationships, yet systematic studies remain scarce. Here, we present a comprehensive sedimentological, paleomagnetic, whole-rock major and trace element, carbon–oxygen isotope, and detrital zircon U–Pb geochronological analysis of ZK01 Borehole (203 m) from the Kushui River area in the southern basin. Multi-proxy reconstruction reveals that Quaternary climate evolution can be divided into five stages: (1) Early Pleistocene (~2.58–1.77 Ma) alluvial fan-lacustrine alternations with high-amplitude climatic fluctuations, responding to orbitally-driven monsoon precipitation changes; (2) late Early Pleistocene (~1.77–0.78 Ma) stable lacustrine environment with sustained warm–humid conditions and subdued wet–dry oscillations; (3) Middle Pleistocene Climate Transition (MPT, ~0.9–0.6 Ma), marked by positive δ¹³C shifts, heavier δ¹⁸O values, and peak CIA values, indicating intensified chemical weathering in the catchment despite regional warming–drying; (4) Late Pleistocene (~0.16–0.12 Ma) extreme arid alluvial fan phase, with decreased CIA, recording a major dry event; and (5) post-last interglacial (~0.12 Ma–present) shallow lake recovery, with gradual enrichment of all proxies. Detrital zircon U–Pb age spectra show multi-peak characteristics (200–300 Ma, 400–500 Ma, etc.), consistent with upper Yellow River sediments. From the Late Pliocene to the Quaternary, the 200–300 Ma component increased while Precambrian components decreased. Provenance evolution indicates the Yellow River has been the primary sediment carrier, with increasing young components linked to the far-field effects of the Kunlun-Huanghe Movement, revealing tectonic uplift-driven headward erosion and provenance changes. We conclude that Quaternary environmental evolution of the Yinchuan Basin was jointly controlled by orbital-scale monsoon climate and episodic tectonic uplift of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau margin, with Yellow River integration further reshaping the basin’s drainage pattern. Full article

The Ankyrin-repeat proteins (ANKs) play a key role in plant development and in response to abiotic stress. This research identified family members of the ANK genes in Sorghum bicolor at the whole-genome level, analyzed their sequence characteristics, evolutionary relationships, and expression patterns, and provided a scientific basis for elucidating the functionality of SbANK genes and for salt-tolerant breeding. Using bioinformatics methods, this study conducted a comprehensive identification of the SbANK gene family, analyzing its physicochemical properties, domain composition, chromosomal distribution, colinearity relationships, promoter cis-acting elements, and conserved protein motifs. Transcriptomic data and qRT-PCR were used to detect changes in their expression under salt stress. A total of 186 ANK family members were identified in the Sorghum bicolor genome, classified into 13 subfamilies and unevenly distributed across 10 chromosomes. Intra-species colinearity analysis revealed 7 pairs of duplicated genes, while inter-species colinearity analysis showed that S. bicolor and Oryza sativa share 88 pairs of orthologs, far exceeding the number found in ‌Arabidopsis thaliana (11 pairs). Promoter analysis indicated that SbANK genes are enriched with cis-acting elements associated with hormone responses (particularly MeJA elements, accounting for 51.7%) and stress responses (particularly anaerobic-inducible elements, accounting for 60.9%). Transcriptomic expression analysis revealed that SbANK genes exhibit distinct tissue specificity, with the ANK-IQ subfamily highly expressed in leaves and the ANK-M subfamily showing the most widespread response under salt stress. Expression levels of the 10 candidate genes showing the most significant responses to salt stress were analyzed using qRT-PCR. The results indicated that SbANK91, SbANK135, and SbANK136 were significantly upregulated under 200 mmol/L NaCl treatment. The SbANK family is distinguished by a large number of member genes and structural diversity, with the ANK-M subfamily being the primary group responding to salt stress. SbANK91, SbANK135, and SbANK136 are identified as putative candidate genes for salt stress responses. Full article

More than 40 tons of cumulative gold resources have been identified in the Mailong–Walega gold field, East Kunlun Orogenic Belt (EKO). However, further exploration has been limited by the unclear mineralization prospectivity in depth. This study integrates field structural analysis with primary geochemical halo data to address this issue. Three deformation events are recognized: pre-mineralization N–S compression (D1) producing E–W folds and cleavage; syn-mineralization NNW–SSE compression (D2) generating NNE- to NW-trending conjugate faults hosting gold ore bodies; post-mineralization N–S extension (D3) forming W–E-trending brittle normal faults. The sinistral-normal nature of the major syn-mineralization NNE-trending faults indicates that ore bodies therein should plunge toward the north. Primary geochemical halo analysis of the Au VIII ore body in the Mailong segment reveals a well-developed axial zoning sequence of Cu–W–Sn–Hg–As–Ag–Sb–Au–Pb–Mo–Zn. The superposition of deep-level frontal and rear halos, and an increasing ratio of low- to high-temperature elements, suggest concealed mineralization at depth. The structural and geochemical data collectively indicate that the area north of exploration line 76, at an elevation of approximately 3600 m, is another potential mineralization center of the Au VIII ore body. Full article

To address the unclear microscopic mechanisms of water huff-n-puff in tight reservoirs under the influence of salinity, a visual physical model for microscopic flow in fracturing fluid displacement was constructed. It was clarified that the fluid displacement mechanism during fracturing fluid displacement is jointly governed by three mechanisms: pressure differential displacement, capillary force imbibition, and ion osmosis, which breaks through the traditional understanding only considering “fracturing fluid displacement and imbibition for energy supplementation.” Through multi-method and multi-scale approaches, the microscopic mobilization mechanism of fracturing fluid displacement under the influence of salinity was elucidated, and the main controlling factors were analyzed. The results indicate that reducing the salinity of injected water can enhance oil recovery, and the recovery factor increases with reservoir permeability, shut-in time, and injection pressure. Reservoir permeability and injected water salinity have a greater impact on the performance of water huff-n-puff, followed by shut-in time and injection pressure. Although low-salinity water flooding tends to induce viscous fingering, which reduces the sweep efficiency of the injected water, it enhances capillary imbibition, effectively stripping residual oil from low-permeability matrices and dead-end pores, thereby ultimately improving oil recovery. This study provides theoretical support for enhancing recovery in tight oil reservoirs using fracturing fluid displacement. Full article

Accurate monitoring of photosynthetic phenotypes is fundamental for breeding high photosynthetic-efficiency wheat cultivars, and UAV remote sensing provides an effective approach for their large-scale identification. However, single photosynthetic parameters are limited in comprehensively evaluating crop photosynthetic efficiency. This study integrated multiple photosynthetic phenotypic parameters using principal component analysis (PCA) and the CRITIC objective weighting method (PCA-CRITIC) to construct a Comprehensive High Photosynthetic-Efficiency Phenotypic Index (CHPPI) for winter wheat. Concurrently, multispectral vegetation indices (MSVI), RGB vegetation indices (RGBVI), texture features (TF), and their combination, Comprehensive Multispectral-Visible-Texture Features (CMVTF), were extracted from UAV multimodal remote sensing data. Based on these features, four feature selection methods, namely PCC, VIP, SPA, and UVE, were evaluated in combination with five machine learning algorithms, including KNN, DT, SVR, RF, and XGBoost, to precisely estimate the CHPPI across key growth stages. The results demonstrated that the CHPPI exhibited significant cultivar variations across growth stages. Cultivars SH06144 and Liangxing19 consistently maintained high photosynthetic efficiency levels. The fused feature set CMVTF derived from multimodal remote sensing data outperformed individual feature categories, and the feature subset selected by the UVE method most significantly enhanced model accuracy. Regarding algorithms, the ensemble-based XGBoost and RF models markedly surpassed traditional machine learning algorithms. Specifically, the CMVTF-UVE-XGBoost model achieved the optimal comprehensive performance, yielding an R² of 0.862, an RMSE of 0.032, and an MAE of 0.027 on the testing set, with its spatial distribution estimations highly consistent with measured values. This study provides robust technical support for the rapid and large-scale screening of high photosynthetic-efficiency wheat breeding materials. Full article