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Enhanced silk production and pupal weight in Bombyx mori through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated circadian Clock gene disruption
The domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, is crucial for global silk production, which is a significant economic activity supporting millions of livelihoods worldwide. Beyond traditional silk production, the growing demand for insect larvae in cosmetics, biomedical products, and animal feed underscores the need to enhance B. mori productivity. This study investigates the role of the circadian clock gene Clock in B. mori using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis to establish the ClkΔ29 knock-out mutant strain. Dysregulation of the circadian clock in ClkΔ29 was demonstrated by altered temporal transcriptional profiles of core circadian clock genes in adult heads and disrupted circadian-controlled behaviors, including adult eclosion and egg hatching rhythms under constant darkness. By analysing larval development timing, as well as the weights of late instar larvae, pupae, and cocoon components in ClkΔ29 mutants and in ClkΔ1922 silkworms (carrying an independently generated Clk- null allele), we showed that CLK contributes to physiological processes regulating B. mori development and growth. Importantly, ClkΔ29 mutants reared on a standard sericulture diet exhibited significant increases in key economic traits, with silk production increasing by up to 7%, and pupal weight increasing by up to 25% compared to wild-type controls. This study highlights the potential of circadian clock gene manipulation to significantly enhance sericultural productivity. Future research should focus on elucidating the molecular mechanisms driving these phenotypes and determining whether they result from circadian clock functions or pleiotropic effects of B. mori Clk. These findings provide a foundation for advancing sustainable sericulture and developing new commercial applications for silkworm-derived products.
Metacognitive strategies improve self-regulation skills in expert sports coaches
A study of Chinese enterprises’ business models to determine the impact of dynamic capabilities on innovation and performance
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can gain a competitive advantage by implementing business model innovation (BMI), which is characterized as irreversible changes to a company’s business model. However, BMI is often associated with high risk, uncertainty, and ambiguity. In this study, the effectiveness of BMI on improving SME performance is examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on data collected from 330 Chinese SMEs. The purpose of this paper is to examine how enterprise risk management (ERM), organizational agility (OA), and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) affect SME performance. The results reveal that ERM, OA, and EO all have a positive impact on efficiency-centered BMI and SME performance; efficiency-centered BMI mediates this pathway. Building on dynamic capabilities theory, this paper combines ERM, OA, and EO into one framework to assess their impact on SME performance. Additionally, a case study is presented to provide suggestions for making decisions about BMI implementation.
Multi task opinion enhanced hybrid BERT model for mental health analysis
Comparative analysis of developmental outcomes in very preterm infants: BSID-II versus Bayley-III German norms
Introduction After the release of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, third edition (Bayley-III), US norms, an overestimation of outcome was observed. But, the conformity between the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, second edition (BSID-II), and the Bayley-III German norms is unknown. This retrospective analysis aimed to compare outcomes of very preterm infants tested with BSID-II and Bayley-III German norms. Methods Infants born from November 2007 to July 2018 were included. Exclusion criteria were death or missing outcome. Infants underwent testing with either BSID-II until December 2013 or Bayley-III from January 2014 onward, at 12 and/or 24 months. BSID-II Mental Developmental Index (MDI) was compared to Bayley-III cognitive score and a combined Bayley-Score (CB-III) consisting of the cognitive and language composite score. BSID-II Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) was compared to Bayley-III motor composite score. Abnormal outcomes were defined as scores <85 (delay) or <70 (impairment). Results 649 infants were included. At 12 months, the Bayley-III cohort achieved higher scores in all domains compared to the BSID-II cohort (all p<0.05), with lower rates of motor delay in the Bayley-III cohort (p<0.001). At 24 months, only Bayley-III motor composite scores were higher than the BSID-II PDI (p<0.001). Rates of cognitive impairment were higher in the Bayley-III cohort (p = 0.013). Interpretation Our findings indicate that the Bayley-III German norms effectively identify children needing interventions, particularly at 24 months corrected age. This supports both clinical application and scientific comparability with the BSID-II.
Orbital angular momentum light interacted with double quantum dot-metal nanoparticle hybrid structure under spontaneous coherence
Abstract This work studies the generation of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) beam in the double quantum dot-metal nanoparticle (DQD-MNP) system under the application of the OAM beam. First, an analytical model is derived to attain the relations of probe and generated fields as a distance function in the DQD-MNP system under OAM applied field and spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) components. The calculation here is of material property; it differs from others by calculating energy states of the DQDs and the computation of the transition momenta between quantum dot (QD)-QD and QD-wetting layer (WL) transitions. The orthogonalized plane wave (OPW) calculates QD-WL transitions and their momenta. The momentum calculation is essential to specify the Rabi frequency of the input field. Such characteristics are not used in earlier models. The results show that SGC is vital in increasing the generated field. The signal field generated in the DQD-MNP system doubles that from the DQD system alone. So, the DQD-MNP system is preferred to the DQD system. The generated field in the DQD-MNP for the strong coupling DQD-MNP system is higher than that for the weak coupling. Increasing the distance separating the DQD-MNP reduces the generated field. Higher OAM number reduce the generated field at a long distance in the device. The model is then extended to study the effect of incoherent pumping ( $$\:{R}_{inc}$$ ) and the relations are modified to cover this part. The results show that $$\:{R}_{inc}$$ reduces the generated field. While the results that compare the weak and strong coupling appear for the first, others compare well to the literature.
Measuring self-reliance and wellbeing among forcibly displaced women enrolled in a gender-focused economic empowerment program: A protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial in Colombia
Colombia currently hosts nearly three million Venezuelan refugees and migrants and is home to seven million internally displaced Colombians. For forcibly displaced populations in Colombia, and especially for women, gender-based violence (GBV) poses a threat during transit and in their new homes where xenophobia, lack of accessible and adequate services, limited safe economic opportunities, and lack of information on access to services, further increase risk. The dearth of livelihood opportunities also affects forcibly displaced populations, especially women. This study will conduct a randomized-controlled trial (RCT) of HIAS’ Entrepreneurship School with Gender Lens (ESGL), a program that targets forcibly displaced GBV survivors and women at-risk to help them develop business ideas, access needed support for the prevention of and response to GBV, and improve overall self-reliance. The RCT will be conducted within three cities in Colombia; approximately 80 eligible participants will be enrolled in each city and randomized to a treatment or control arm. Survey questionnaires will be administered to participants at baseline, eight months following baseline (endline), and 3–4 months after endline. Outcomes of interest include household self-reliance, mental health, resilience, empowerment, utilization of GBV services, and social support.
Petrophysical assessment of the Hammam Faraun, Matulla and Nubia Reservoirs in the Ashrafi Oil Field, Gulf of Suez
Abstract The Hammam Faraun, Matulla, and Nubia formations in the Ashrafi oil field, in the southern Gulf of Suez, Egypt, are key hydrocarbon reservoirs with significant economic importance. These formations, characterized by their favorable reservoir properties and structural settings, play a crucial role in oil and gas accumulation. Their study provides valuable insights into regional petroleum systems and guides exploration and production activities. The Ashrafi Oil Field is one of the most complex and important areas due to its intricate geological framework, which closely resembles that of the Red Sea. Its proximity to the Red Sea further emphasizes its significance. Therefore, the findings from this study can serve as a valuable analogy for understanding the geology of the Red Sea. This study presents a comprehensive structural interpretation and petrophysical evaluation of the Hammam Faraun, Matulla, and Nubia formations by examining well log data and seismic lines, the research quantifies essential petrophysical parameters that characterize the reservoir properties and hydrocarbon potential of these formations. The Hammam Faraun Member exhibits effective porosity values ranging from 0.15 to 0.25 and water saturation levels between 0.23 and 0.67, indicating a significant capacity for hydrocarbon storage, especially in the northern region where net pay thickness can reach up to 60 ft. The Matulla Formation shows effective porosity values between 0.10 and 0.20, with water saturation levels ranging from 0.31 to 0.41 and net pay thickness varying from 51 to 269 ft, highlighting its substantial hydrocarbon reserves. In contrast, the Nubia Formation, characterized by its uniform sandstone composition, has an effective porosity of approximately 0.18 and a consistent water saturation level of about 0.24, with net pay thicknesses between 72 and 155 ft, marking it as an important target for hydrocarbon exploration. Also, the resulting structural interpretation reveals a series of normal faulted structures, including horsts, half-grabens, and step faults. These faults extend across the area, primarily trending northeast-southwest (clysmic trend), with minor northwest-southeast faults perpendicular to the major faults, creating a complex fault network. Integrating this structures with petrophysical parameters such as shale volume, effective porosity, and hydrocarbon saturation provides critical insights into reservoir quality, informing future exploration and production strategies. The study further underscores the lateral variations in water saturation and net pay thickness across the formations, which are closely linked to facies changes. This thorough analysis enhances our understanding of the geological framework and serves as a vital resource for optimizing hydrocarbon recovery and guiding exploration initiatives in the Ashrafi Oil Field. The findings underline the potential of these formations as significant contributors to the region’s hydrocarbon resources, emphasizing the necessity for ongoing exploration and development efforts. Additionally, the insights gained from this research can facilitate the implementation of advanced recovery techniques, ensuring the efficient utilization of hydrocarbon resources while addressing the challenges associated with reservoir management in the Gulf of Suez region and the Red sea.
The cellular response of lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation in keratoconus human corneal fibroblasts to RB-PDT: Insights into cytokines, chemokines and related signaling pathways
Purpose Rose Bengal Photodynamic Therapy (RB-PDT) offers dual therapeutic benefits by enhancing corneal stiffness and providing antibacterial activity, presenting significant potential for patients with keratoconus complicated by keratitis. Our purpose was to assess the effect of rose bengal photodynamic therapy (RB-PDT) on the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, as well as on extracellular matrix (ECM)-related molecules, in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation of keratoconus human corneal fibroblasts (KC-HCFs). Additionally, the involvement of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathways which are downstream of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathway were examined. Methods KC-HCFs were stimulated with varying concentrations of LPS (0–10 μg/ml), which was followed by RB-PDT. The expression levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8, interferon alpha 2 (IFNA2), IFNB1, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 4 (CCL-4), collagen I, collagen V, lysyl oxidase (LOX), transforming growth factor β 1(TGF-β1) were measured using qPCR, ELISA, or western blot. The activation of the NF-κB and MAPK pathways was assessed using qPCR and western blot. Results In LPS-induced inflammation of KC-HCFs, the expression of IL-6 was further amplified by the treatment with RB-PDT (p = 0.001). However, the activation of the MAPK and NF-κB pathways did not increase following RB-PDT. Additionally, RB-PDT reduced the transcription of collagen I and collagen V (p≤0.03), while the transcription of LOX and TGF-β1 secretion remained unchanged in KC-HCFs exposed to LPS. Conclusion In LPS-induced inflammation of KC-HCFs treated with RB-PDT, despite the increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, the activation of the TLR4 signaling pathways is lacking. RB-PDT may have no adverse effects on corneal scar formation of keratoconus corneas in the short term.
Epigenetic modulation of social cognition: exploring the impact of methylation in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and oxytocin receptor genes across sex
Impact of Chlorella vulgaris and probiotic supplementation on performance, immunity and intestinal microbiota of broiler chickens
Chlorella vulgaris has antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as the probiotic that is important for keeping the intestinal microbiota balanced. The objective was to test the impact of supplementation with microalgae and/or probiotics on broiler chickens’ performance, immunity, and intestinal microbiota. The experimental design was in randomized blocks in a 4x2 factorial scheme, with four levels of inclusion of C. vulgaris (0; 0.25; 0.50 and 1%) associated or not with a commercial probiotic with five replications of 26 chickens per experimental unit. The results showed that probiotics improved feed conversion. Probiotics increased the productivity index only at 0.25% C. vulgaris supplementation. There was a reduction in spleen weight at 42 days of age in chickens fed with probiotics, but the different treatments did not alter serum antibodies. Sampling age had a significant impact on richness addressed by the number of observed genera and diversity addressed by the Shannon index. The most abundant phylum in the chicken intestinal tract was Firmicutes followed by Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. Bifidobacterium spp. was found in animals receiving 1% microalgae and probiotics on day 42, suggesting that this genus has benefited from microalgae supplementation. It is concluded that the probiotic and C. vulgaris have the potential to improve performance without causing major changes in the immunity and cecal microbiota.
A new method for assessing the health status of aerospace equipment based on a belief rule base with balanced accuracy and complexity
Political participation and voluntary associations : A hypergraph case study
Civic organizations, ranging from interest groups to voluntary associations, significantly influence policy formation in representative democracies. This work presents a local case study that examines the relationship between voluntary associations and local political institutions in a village with nearly two thousand residents. Traditionally, sociologists’ approaches have focused on individual characteristics such as age, gender, or socio-professional status. In this study, we analyze social interactions between members of organizations modeled through a hypergraph. Specifically, we model interactions as hyperedges that correspond to activities proposed by organizations and involve the individuals who participate in those activities. Our analysis reveals a community-based structure, where members of similar types of organizations tend to interact more frequently. To quantify ‘political participation,’ we introduce an interaction-based measure that extends degree centrality. We also introduce the ‘diversity coefficient’ as an extension of degree centrality to capture an individual’s ability to participate in activities composed of members from different communities. Among other centrality measures, we find that the diversity coefficient is the most significant factor in explaining political participation among members of associations.
The southern house mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus in Abu Dhabi, UAE, is developing resistance to deltamethrin insecticide
“Energetics of the outer retina II: Calculation of a spatio-temporal energy budget in retinal pigment epithelium and photoreceptor cells based on quantification of cellular processes”
The outer retina (OR) is highly energy demanding. Impaired energy metabolism combined with high demands are expected to cause energy insufficiencies that make the OR susceptible to complex blinding diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Here, anatomical, physiological and quantitative molecular data were used to calculate the ATP expenditure of the main energy-consuming processes in three cell types of the OR for the night and two different periods during the day. The predicted energy demands in a rod dominated (perifovea) area are 1.69 x 10 13 ATP/s/mm 2 tissue in the night and 6.53 x 10 12 ATP/s/mm 2 tissue during the day with indoor light conditions. For a cone-dominated foveal area the predicted energy demands are 6.41 x 10 12 ATP/s/mm 2 tissue in the night and 6.75 x 10 12 ATP/s/mm 2 tissue with indoor light conditions during daytime. We propose the likely need for diurnal/circadian shifts in energy demands to efficiently stagger all energy consuming processes. Our data provide insights into vulnerabilities in the aging OR and suggest that diurnal constraints may be important when considering therapeutic interventions to optimize metabolism.
Characteristics of different lipid droplet-mitochondrial contacts patterns during lipid droplet metabolism in T2DM-induced MASLD
A frustratingly easy way of extracting political networks from text
This study demonstrates the use of GPT-4 and variants, advanced language models readily accessible to many social scientists, in extracting political networks from text. This approach showcases the novel integration of GPT-4’s capabilities in entity recognition, relation extraction, entity linking, and sentiment analysis into a single cohesive process. Based on a corpus of 1009 Chilean political news articles, the study validates the graph extraction method using ‘legislative agreement’, i.e., the proportion of times two politicians vote the same way. It finds that sentiments identified by GPT-4 align with how frequently parliamentarians vote together in roll calls. Comprising two parts, the first involves a linear regression analysis indicating that negative relationships predicted by GPT-4 correspond with reduced legislative agreement between two parliamentarians. The second part employs node embeddings to analyze the impact of network distance, considering both with and without sentiment, on legislative agreements. This analysis reveals a notably stronger predictive power when sentiments are included. The findings underscore GPT-4’s versatility in political network analysis.
Knowledge, attitude and practice towards multiple myeloma among medical staff in Enshi Region
Integrated in silico and in vitro exploration of the anti-VEGFR-2 activities of a semisynthetic xanthine alkaloid inhibiting breast cancer
This study presents T-1-NBAB, a new compound derived from the natural xanthine alkaloid theobromine, aimed at inhibiting VEGFR-2, a crucial protein in angiogenesis. T-1-NBAB’s potential to interacts with and inhibit the VEGFR-2 was indicated using in silico techniques like molecular docking, MD simulations, MM-GBSA, PLIP, essential dynamics, and bi-dimensional projection experiments. DFT experiments was utilized also to study the structural and electrostatic properties of T-1-NBAB. Computational analysis was performed to predict the ADME-Tox profiles of T-1-NBAB. After semisynthesis, the in vitro results showed that T-1-NBAB effectively inhibits VEGFR-2, with an IC50 of 0.115 μM, compared to sorafenib’s 0.0591 μM. In vitro tests also demonstrated significant activity of T-1-NBAB against breast cancer cell lines MCF7 and T47D, with IC50 values of 16.88 μM and 61.17 μM, respectively, and high selectivity. Importantly, T-1-NBAB induced early and late apoptosis in MCF7 cells, indicating its potential as a strong anticancer agent. Additionally, T-1-NBAB reduced the migration and healing abilities of MCF7 cells, suggesting it could be a promising anti-angiogenic agent. Overall, these findings suggest that T-1-NBAB is a promising lead compound for further research as a potential treatment for breast cancer.