Alternative Platform Research Articles

A self-amplifying RNA RSV prefusion-F vaccine elicits potent immunity in pre-exposed and naïve non-human primates.

Newly approved subunit and mRNA vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) demonstrate effectiveness in preventing severe disease, with protection exceeding 80% primarily through the generation of antibodies. An alternative vaccine platform called self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) holds promise in eliciting humoral and cellular immune responses. We evaluate the immunogenicity of a lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-formulated saRNA vaccine called SMARRT.RSV.preF, encoding a stabilized form of the RSV fusion protein, in female mice and in non-human primates (NHPs) that are either RSV-naïve or previously infected. Intramuscular vaccination with SMARRT.RSV.preF vaccine induces RSV neutralizing antibodies and cellular responses in naïve mice and NHPs. Importantly, a single dose of the vaccine in RSV pre-exposed NHPs elicits a dose-dependent anamnestic humoral immune response comparable to a subunit RSV preF vaccine. Notably, SMARRT.RSV.preF immunization significantly increases polyfunctional RSV.F specific memory CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells compared to RSV.preF protein vaccine. Twenty-four hours post immunization with SMARRT.RSV.preF, there is a dose-dependent increase in the systemic levels of inflammatory and chemotactic cytokines associated with the type I interferon response in NHPs, which is not observed with the protein vaccine. We identify a cluster of analytes including IL-15, TNFα, CCL4, and CXCL10, whose levels are significantly correlated with each other after SMARRT.RSV.preF immunization. These findings suggest saRNA vaccines have the potential to be developed as a prophylactic RSV vaccine based on innate, cellular, and humoral immune profiles they elicit.

Ally or traitor: the dual role of p62 in caspase-2 regulation.

Caspase-2 is a unique and conserved cysteine protease that is involved in several cellular processes, including different forms of cell death, maintenance of genomic stability, and the response to reactive oxygen species. Despite advances in caspase-2 research in recent years, the mechanisms underlying its activation remain largely unclear. Although caspase-2 is activated in the PIDDosome complex, its processing could occur even in the absence of PIDD1 and/or RAIDD, suggesting the existence of an alternative platform for caspase-2 activation. Here, we show that caspase-2 undergoes ubiquitination and interacts with scaffolding protein p62/sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1) under normal conditions and in response to DNA damage. p62 promotes proteasomal but not autophagic caspase-2 degradation as well as its dimerization and activation that triggers the caspase cascade and, subsequently, cell death. Inhibition of p62 expression attenuates cisplatin-induced caspase-2 processing and apoptosis. Notably, the ZZ domain of p62 is critical for caspase-2 binding, whereas the UBA domain is seemingly required to stabilize the p62-caspase-2 complex. Thus, we have uncovered the dual role of p62 in regulating caspase-2 activity: it can foster the degradation of caspase-2 in the proteasome or facilitate its activation by acting as a scaffold platform.

The Effect of Internet-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation on Anxiety, Depression, and Quality of Life Among Patients With Ischemic Heart Disease

Background Internet-based cardiac rehabilitation (IBCR) is an innovative, alternative platform used in current practice for the secondary prevention of ischemic heart disease (IHD). The impact of IBCR on anxiety, depression, and quality of life (QoL) in patients with IHD remains inconclusive. Objective To explore the effect of IBCR on anxiety, depression, and QoL among patients with IHD. Methods Five databases (Embase, CINAHL, Medline, Cochrane, and Web of Science) and additional resources were searched to identify studies published between January 2014 and March 2024. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and the Critical Appraisal Skills Program checklist were used. Two reviewers independently assessed study quality, eligibility, and data extraction. RevMan (version 5.3) software was used for the meta-analysis. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023387666). Results Thirteen randomized controlled trials were included across 9 countries. A total of 2256 participants, with a mean age ranging from 55 to 63 years, the majority being men (73%), were identified. IBCR did not significantly reduce anxiety (P = .22) or depression (P = .44) or increase QoL (P = .21) compared with usual care. Intervention was delivered mainly via smartphones. Physical activities and risk factor management were mostly used, and behavioral changes less likely occurred. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was mostly used. Conclusions IBCR was comparable to the effects of usual care in cardiac rehabilitation. Theory-driven interventions with larger and diverse sample sizes, and longer durations across different regions, are recommended for reliable findings.

Nucleus-Targeting Photosensitizers Enhance Neutrophil Extracellular Traps for Efficient Eradication of Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infections.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are web-like complexes of DNA and proteins that are extruded by activated neutrophils and play critical roles as major components of the innate immune response against pathogen invasion. However, some microbes have developed strategies to evade NET attacks, leading to impaired immune defenses and persistent infections. In this study, an engineered neutrophil strategy for enhancing the antibacterial activity of NETs is developed. A nucleus-targeting photosensitizer (NCP) with strong reactive oxygen species production and a strong DNA-binding capacity is synthesized. NCP-loaded neutrophils are subsequently constructed via direct incubation of NCP with neutrophils, and the NCP is closely inserted into the nucleus DNA. Upon activation by bacteria-related toxins, NCP-coupled NETs can be released rapidly, actively trapping bacteria and providing a high local concentration of NCP around them. Both in vitro and in vivo results revealed that NCP-coupled NETs can effectively eradicate various multidrug-resistant bacteria and biofilms through photodynamic therapy, overcome bacterial immune evasion, and promote tissue recovery from severe wound infections. This design can significantly strengthen NET function, providing a non-antibiotic alternative platform for treating bacterial infectious diseases.

Trending extinctions: online interest in recently extinct animals

AbstractHalf of all species are predicted to face extinction by the end of the century. Despite this, awareness of certain species' extinctions remains surprisingly muted, highlighting the need to improve and quantify public awareness. We explore the connection between biodiversity loss and public awareness by quantifying the changes in online interest on Twitter (now known as X) and Wikipedia both before and after the extinctions of eight species and following their reclassification in the IUCN Red List. Our findings reveal that extinction announcements generally spike online interest for most species, albeit briefly on Twitter (i.e. tweets and retweets about species), while Wikipedia (i.e. article pageviews of species) exhibits a more prolonged interest. IUCN reports were generally not associated with increased interest. Coordinated media coverage, especially when aligned with broader environmental narratives and key events, enhanced the impact of extinction announcements. On Twitter, spatially we observed a shift from local to global interest of users following extinction. We also found a small subset of influential users on Twitter, including content creators and media organisations, who disproportionately shaped conservation discussions. Environmentally oriented individuals and organisations also play a significant role, collectively comprising a third of the top retweeted users. Overall, these results highlight the need for conservation bodies, such as the IUCN, to engage more directly both with media organisations and content creators in order to drive public interest for conservation efforts, especially for less charismatic species. The tragedy of species extinction necessitates such efforts to ensure sustained and meaningful public awareness. Our findings also show that while social media outlets can generate global interest quickly, which may drive public discussions regarding ongoing extinctions and potential future de‐extinctions, this is likely to be short‐lived, underscoring the importance of alternative platforms such as Wikipedia, which can foster longer‐term engagement.

Pivoting B2B Platform Business Models: From Platform Experimentation to Multi-Platform Integration to Ecosystem Envelopment

The landscape of digital servitization in the manufacturing sector is evolving, marked by a strategic shift from traditional product-centric to platform business models (BMs). Manufacturing firms often employ a blend of approaches to develop business-to-business (B2B) platforms, leading to significant reconfigurations in their BMs. However, manufacturing firms frequently encounter failures in their B2B platform development initiatives, leading them to abandon the initial efforts and/or pivot to alternative platform strategies. Therefore, this study, through an in-depth case study of a leading wind turbine manufacturer, articulates a three-phase pivoting framework for B2B platform BMs with corresponding platform development and strategic orientation. Initially, a manufacturer focused on asset-based product sales, supplemented by asset maintenance services, follows an emergent platformization strategy, characterized by the rise of multiple, independent B2B platforms catering to diverse functions. Next, focusing on the imposed customer journey strategy, the firm shifts towards an imposed and strategic multi-platform integration into an all-encompassing platform supported by artificial intelligence (AI), signaling a maturation of the platform BM to combine the wide range services into an energy-performance-based contract. Finally, the last step of the firm’s platform BM evolution consists of a deliberate open platform strategy to external stakeholders and enveloping its offerings in a broader platform ecosystem. The study showcases advanced AI applications that process wind farm, wind turbine, and blade data, signifying a transformative leap toward value capture via platform ecosystem. The paper advances B2B platform BMs and digital servitization literature, highlighting a progressive approach's efficacy and strategic pivoting.

Optimisation of coumaric acid production from aromatic amino acids in Kluyveromyces marxianus

Yeasts are attractive hosts for the production of heterologous products due to their genetic tractability and relative ease of growth. While the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a powerful workhorse of the biotechnology industry, the species has metabolic limitations and it is critical that we develop alternative platforms that will facilitate the development of bioprocesses that rely on sustainable feedstocks. In this study, we used synthetic biology tools to construct coumaric acid–producing strains of Kluyveromyces marxianus, a yeast whose physiological traits render it attractive for biotechnology applications. Coumaric acid is a building block in the synthesis of many different families of aromatics and is a key precursor for the synthesis of complect phenylpropanoid molecules, including many flavours and aromas. The starting point for this work was a K. marxianus chassis strain that has increased flux towards the synthesis of tyrosine and phenylalanine, the aromatic amino acids that can serve as starting points for coumaric acid synthesis. Following principles of synthetic biology, a modular approach was taken to identify the best solution to different metabolic possibilities and these were then combined in different ways. For the first step, it was established that the route from phenylalanine was superior to that from tyrosine and the combined overexpression of PlPAL, AtC4H and AtCPR1 delivered the highest yield of coumaric acid. Next, it was established that while Pdc5 and Aro10 both had phenylpyruvate decarboxylase activity, inactivation of ARO10 was sufficient to prevent flux loss in the pathway. Since phenylalanine is the starting point, efforts were made to improve efficiency of its production. It was found that glutamate was a preferred nitrogen source for coumaric acid production, and this knowledge was used to engineer a strain that overexpressed S. cerevisiae GDH1 and delivered higher yields of coumaric acid. Ultimately, this strategy led to the development of strains that has yields of up to 48mg coumaric acid /g glucose. Strains were evaluated in bioreactors to investigate the effects of different process parameters. These analyses indicated that engineered strains face some redox balance challenges and further work will be required overcome these to develop strains that can perform well under industrial conditions.

The Application of an Augmented Reality Offline System for Rural Tourism Development at Pa’ Lungan, Bario

The development of rural tourism is one of the Malaysian government’s primary priorities for improving the socioeconomic and living conditions of the local community. Therefore, new ideas for assisting the rural population’s growth and economy through tourism must be explored. This article examines the application of augmented reality (AR) offline systems in improving this issue. It aims to review the planning, implementation, and effectiveness of the Interactive Digital Map (ID-MAP) as part of a rural tourism project in Pa’ Lungan, Bario, Sarawak. The study is carried out through a practical visual approach and analysed through observational, experiential and reflection approaches. The analysis elaborates on one of the main themes contained in the ID-MAP, which is linked to the famous tourist attraction of Pa’ Lungan – a megalithic rock called Batuh Ritung. The outcome was initially presented through an exhibition that applied digital information delivery using AR applications. As a result, an offline system was developed to assist locals in efficiently promoting tourism sites. This serves as an alternative platform that can verify the eligibility of tourist spots based on the existing digital and interactive multimedia systems, which are vital components in developing the smart village concept with Bario as a case study. Thus, this research has opened new interdisciplinary research opportunities and can be considered an alternative method to visual-based research, especially to stimulate the tourism industry and inform stakeholders and academics on the future of rural tourism.

Total Mesorectal Excision with New Robotic Platforms: A Scoping Review.

Colorectal surgery is one of the specialties that have significantly benefited from the adoption of robotic technology. Over 20 years since the first robotic rectal resection, the Intuitive Surgical Da Vinci system remains the predominant platform. The introduction of new robotic systems into the market has enabled the first documented total mesorectal excision (TME) using alternative platforms. This scoping review aimed to assess the role and adoption of these emerging robotic systems in performing TME for rectal cancer surgery. Methods: A comprehensive search of the Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases was conducted up to August 2024, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Results: Thirty-six studies were included in the review. The majority of rectal surgical procedures were performed using eight different robotic platforms. Intraoperative, short-term, and functional outcomes were generally favorable. However, pathological results were frequently incomplete. Several studies identified the lack of advanced robotic instruments as a significant limitation. Conclusions: The quality of the resected specimen is critical in rectal cancer surgery. Although TME performed with new robotic platforms appears to be feasible and safe, the current body of literature is limited, particularly in the assessment of pathological and long-term survival outcomes.

Long-term Immunity of a Microneedle Array Patch of SARS-CoV-2 S1 Protein Subunit Vaccine Irradiated by Gamma Rays in Mice.

COVID-19 vaccines effectively prevent symptomatic infection and severe disease, including hospitalization and death. However, unequal vaccine distribution during the pandemic, especially in low- and middle-income countries, has led to the emergence of vaccine-resistant strains. This underscores the need for alternative, safe, and thermostable vaccine platforms, such as dissolved microneedle array patches (MAP) delivering a subunit vaccine, which eliminate the need for cold chain and trained healthcare personnel. This study demonstrates that the SARS-CoV-2 S1 monomer with RS09, a TLR-4 agonist peptide, serves as an optimal protein subunit immunogen. This combination stimulates a stronger S1-specific immune response, resulting in binding to the membrane-bound spike on the cell surface and ACE2-binding inhibition, compared to the monomer S1 alone or trimer S1, regardless of RS09. MAP delivery of the rS1RS09 subunit vaccine elicited higher and longer-lasting immunity compared to conventional intramuscular injection. S1-specific IgG levels remained significantly elevated for up to 70 weeks post-administration. Additionally, different doses of 5, 15, and 45 μ g of MAP vaccines induced robust and sustained Th2-prevalent immune responses, suggesting a dose-sparing effect and inducing significantly high neutralizing antibodies against the Wuhan, Delta, and Omicron variants at 15 and 45 μ g dose. Moreover, gamma irradiation as a terminal sterilization method did not significantly affect immunogenicity, with irradiated vaccines maintaining comparable efficacy to non-irradiated ones. The stability of MAP vaccines was evaluated after long-term storage at room temperature and refrigeration for 19 months, showing minimal protein degradation. Further, after an additional one-month of storage at elevated temperature (42°C), rS1RS09 in both non-irradiated and irradiated MAP degraded less than 3%, while the liquid subunit vaccine degraded over 23%. Overall, these results indicate that gamma irradiation sterilized MAP-rS1RS09 vaccines maintain stability during extended storage without refrigeration, supporting their potential for mass production and widespread use in global vaccination efforts.

Correction to: Circular Makerspaces as Alternative Employment Platforms for Circular Jobs

Correction to: Circular Makerspaces as Alternative Employment Platforms for Circular Jobs

Altmetric.com or PlumX: Does it matter?

AbstractAltmetric.com and PlumX are two prominent tools for collecting alternative metrics data. This study has two main objectives: first, to evaluate how the choice between Altmetric.com and PlumX affects the results of alternative metrics analysis, and second, to investigate the social impact of ‘hot papers’ through the alternative metrics data provided by these platforms. We employed a descriptive and exploratory approach, gathering common alternative metrics from 4236 hot papers using both Altmetric.com and PlumX. The data collected included various alternative metrics such as policy mentions, Mendeley readers, Wikipedia mentions, blog mentions, Facebook mentions, and news mentions, in addition to citation counts from Scopus. We conducted descriptive statistics and inferential analyses to examine the relationships between citations and alternative metrics, as well as to compare the data obtained from both platforms. Our findings indicate that PlumX has broader coverage of hot papers compared to Altmetric.com. While the mean and individual values of alternative metrics differ between the two platforms, the median and geometric mean are similar. Both Altmetric.com and PlumX demonstrate that publications with higher citation counts tend to receive more online attention. Notably, all alternative metrics for Immunology and Chemistry showed statistically significant differences between the two platforms, whereas in Mathematics, alternative metrics (with the exception of Mendeley readers) did not exhibit significant differences. The findings suggest that researchers should be aware of potential variations in data captured by different alternative metrics platforms. Additionally, interpreting alternative metrics data requires caution, considering the research fields and the specific platform used.

Participatory Renewal of Historic Districts Based on Bayesian Network

Public participation is a requirement for contemporary urban governance in China, especially in the protection planning of historic districts. In the rapid development stage, many historic districts have lost their functional positioning in cities and are gradually disappearing due to outdated facilities and services. Previous studies have pointed out that protecting historic and cultural districts requires the joint efforts of multiple stakeholders. Integrating multiple stakeholders’ interests and needs is a complex problem in related research fields and planning practices. The traditional forms of public participation, such as questionnaire surveys, interviews, and symposiums, have the problem of high time costs for collection and analysis. At the same time, the information has been translated multiple times, making it challenging to avoid misunderstandings and errors. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an alternative platform for public participation in the renewal of China’s historic districts. Taking Houzaimen Street in Jinan City as an example, this paper uses the Bayesian network to establish a spatial evaluation model of historic districts. Our aims are to translate natural semantics into the design semantics of the architectural field, accurately locate the spatial problems of the historic district, and provide targeted improvement measures. In this paper, a public feedback channel for Houzaimen Street is established to provide a reference for the renewal of the historic district and the advancement of public participation.

Strain-modulated antiferromagnetic Chern insulator in NiOsCl$_6$ monolayer

Abstract Recently, Chern insulators in an antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase have been suggested theoretically and predicted in a few materials. However, the experimental observation of two-dimensional AFM quantum anomalous Hall effect is still a challenge to date. In this work, we propose that an AFM Chern insulator can be realized in a two-dimensional monolayer of NiOsCl$_6$ modulated by a compressive strain. Strain modulation is accessible experimentally and used widely in predicting and tuning topological nontrivial phases. With first-principles calculations, we have investigated the structural, magnetic and electronic properties of NiOsCl$_6$. Its stability has been confirmed through molecular dynamical simulations, elasticity constant and phonon spectrum. It has a collinear AFM order, with opposite magnetic moments of 1.3 $\mu_B$ on each Ni/Os atom, respectively, and the Néel temperature is estimated to be 93 $K$. In the absence of strain, it functions as an AFM insulator with a direct gap with spin-orbital coupling included. Compressive strain will induce a transition from a normal insulator to a Chern insulator characterized by a Chern number $C = 1$, with a band gap of about 30 meV. This transition is accompanied by a structural distortion. Remarkably, the Chern insulator phase persists within the 3$\%$-10$\%$ compressive strain range, offering an alternative platform for the utilization of AFM materials in spintronic devices.

Value of institutional repositories and their role in ethical scholarly communication

An institutional repository (IR) serves as an open access digital repository to showcase the academic output of that institute’s faculty members, staff, and students. The IR is important for scientifically peripheral countries whose research output is poorly represented on major bibliographic databases. IRs may function on a voluntary basis, in which academics are encouraged – rather than mandated – to self-archive copies of their work, either published papers, theses, conference proceedings, or other scholarly output. IRs can thus serve as a proxy metric to highlight institutes’ productivity. However, absent a mandatory archival requirement, content in IRs may be skewed, and absent motivational objectives, only conscientious academics will practice self-archival. Conversely, mandatory archival might be met with resistance, especially if free, viable and sustainable alternatives exist, such as academic social networking sites (e.g., ResearchGate) or preprint servers. Thus, investment in the creation of an IR will need to offer greater value and benefit than these alternative platforms. Not all output by an institute’s academics may be scholarly, such as publications in predatory venues, or publication of pseudoscience, fake science or fraudulent science. IR managers, including librarians, will thus also need to faithfully represent retracted and grey literature. These latter challenges might discourage institutions from establishing an IR, or might demotivate the maintenance of existing IRs because ethical scholarly communication ultimately requires the recognition and archival of both scholarly and unscholarly output.

Twenty years of MSPs: Technologies and Perspectives

Mission-Specific Platforms (MSPs) have been important members of the scientific ocean drilling family for two decades, operating alongside their impressive siblings JOIDES Resolution and D/V Chikyu. Over this time, 10 MSP expeditions were implemented in 7 different oceans and seas. These MSPs capitalised on alternative platforms and methods, and enabled the scientific community to access new geographical areas and new geological targets that could not be drilled by the JOIDES Resolution or Chikyu. Offshore heave-compensated wireline coring, onshore-mining-style wireline coring, remote seafloor drilling and giant piston coring have all featured on MSP expeditions. Equally diverse were the environments in which these technologies were deployed, from the ice-covered Arctic Ocean to the tropical seas of the Great Barrier Reef, and from the shallow waters of the Yucatan shelf to the ultra-deep hadal depths of the Japan Trench. In this paper we reflect on the diverse technologies of MSPs, how they increased scientific ocean drilling capability in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (2003−2013) and International Ocean Discovery Program (2013–2024), and the scientific achievements that they enabled.

Circular Makerspaces as Alternative Employment Platforms for Circular Jobs

AbstractTransitioning towards a circular economy requires holistic consideration encompassing environmental, economic, and social dimensions. This perspective paper explores circular makerspaces as innovative platforms for fostering social integration and creating employment opportunities within the circular economy, as makerspaces can offer a more inclusive alternative to traditional employment platforms. They have the potential to unveil unrecognised talents, bridge access to under-utilised human capital, and act as pivotal conduits to a decent and inclusive circular labour force. Drawing insights from the European Horizon 2020 project: Pop-Machina, this perspective paper emphasizes the importance of collaborative efforts among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to unlock the full transformative potential of circular makerspaces. By prioritizing the social aspect of sustainability and leveraging the network of circular makerspaces, circular makerspaces can unlock unexplored human capital, provide employment opportunities and cultivate inclusive, sustainable communities, while highlighting their potential for societal empowerment and innovation. Finally, this perspective paper underscores the need for ongoing research and collaboration to comprehensively understand and evaluate the role of circular makerspaces in the inclusive circular labour market, ensuring that the social dimension remains central to sustainable development endeavours and informing effective policy making.This project focused on the gene PFKFB3, a pivotal regulator of the Warburg effect, which facilitates enhanced glycolysis in cancer cells, including MCF7 human breast cancer lines. The objective was to investigate the effects of PFKFB3 knockout on the metabolic profile and proliferative capacity of MCF7 cells, hypothesizing that disruption of this gene would significantly impair cellular energy production and, consequently, cell growth. Through the application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology, PFKFB3 was specifically targeted and knocked out, followed by a meticulous process of selection to enrich for cells bearing the knockout. Growth assays, particularly MTT, were conducted to evaluate the impact of PFKFB3 deletion on cell proliferation. Contrary to expectations preliminary results indicated no significant difference in the growth rates between PFKFB3-knockout and control groups. This outcome suggests possible metabolic flexibility within MCF7 cells, allowing them to bypass the blockade of one glycolytic pathway—a concept supported by current understandings of cancer metabolism. Despite the lack of expected growth inhibition, this study provides critical insights into the adaptability of cancer cells to metabolic interventions and highlights the importance of targeting multiple metabolic pathways. Future directions will consider exploring the combined knockout of PFKFB3 and other glycolytic genes to overcome the metabolic resilience of cancer cells, thereby offering a more effective strategy for crippling cancer cell energy supplies.

A novel cytoprotective organ perfusion platform for reconstructing homeostasis of DCD liver while alleviating IRI injury

AbstractPump is a vital component for expelling the perfusate in small animal isolated organ normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) systems whose flexible structure and rhythmic contraction play a crucial role in maintaining perfusion system homeostasis. However, the continuous extrusion forming with the rigid stationary shaft of the peristaltic pumps can damage cells, leading to metabolic disorders and eventual dysfunction of transplanted organs. Here, we developed a novel biomimetic blood‐gas system (BBGs) for preventing cell damage. This system mimics the cardiac cycle and features an adjustable inspiratory‐to‐expiratory (IE) ratio to mitigate acidosis caused by continuous oxygen inhalation. In our study, adipose stem cells (ADSCs) were cultured within the circulatory system for 10 min, 2, and 4 h. Compared to the peristaltic pump, the BBGs significantly reduced cell apoptosis and morphological injury while enhancing cell proliferation and adhesion. Additionally, when the supernatant from ADSCs was introduced to LPS‐induced macrophages for 24 h, the BBGs group demonstrated a more pronounced anti‐inflammatory effect, characterized by reduced M1 macrophage expression. Besides, with isolated rat livers from donation after circulatory death (DCD) perfusion with ADSCs for 6 h by the BBGs, we detected fewer apoptotic cells and a reduced inflammatory response, evidenced by down‐regulated TNF‐α expression. The development of BBGs demonstrates the feasibility of recreating physiological liquid–gas circulation in vitro, offering an alternative platform for isolated organ perfusion, especially for applications involving cell therapy.

Risk evaluation of livestream e-commerce platforms based on expert trust networks and CODAS

As an emerging e-commerce model, livestream e-commerce (LEC) has presented novel opportunities for the advancement of the retail industry. While retailers reap the benefits by this platform, they also encounter challenges associated with platform risks. This paper aims to propose a novel hybrid model to address the risks inherent in livestream e-commerce platforms (LECPs) evaluation problems. Firstly, the paper makes use of q-Rung orthopair fuzzy (q-ROF) trust network (TN) to handle the intricate and uncertain evaluation environment of LECPs and utilizes combinative distance-based assessment (CODAS) to rank the alternative platforms. Secondly, considering that experts have different levels of familiarity with different indicator, a q-ROF-TN matrix between experts is established for each indicator to ascertain their respective weights, which adds robustness to the evaluation process. Thirdly, the dual feedback mechanism is designed to enhance group consensus that attempts to ensure that the evaluation process is collaborative and considers diverse expert opinions, leading to more reliable outcomes. Finally, a set of evaluation indicators is constructed covering various aspects like capital flow management capability and public domain traffic support, and the level of risk of the four LECPs is evaluated using the proposed method. Furthermore, the reliability and effectiveness of the proposed evaluation model are validated through sensitivity analysis and comparative study.

Exploring protein N-glycosylation in the green microalga Dunaliella salina

N-glycosylation is a major post-translational modification of proteins that has a crucial influence on cell targeting, activity, and half-life. This process starts in the endoplasmic reticulum where an oligosaccharide precursor is added to the newly synthesized protein and continues in the Golgi apparatus where the N-linked carbohydrate sequences are processed. Importantly, the most approved recombinant pharmaceutical proteins (so-called biologics) are glycoproteins mainly currently produced in mammalian cells which is a lengthy, costly, and complex process. Today, several microalgae such as the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and the green microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella vulgaris, and Dunaliella salina are considered as efficient and eco-friendly alternative platforms for the production of biologics. However, unlike for C. reinhardtii, C. vulgaris, and P. tricornutum, there is to date no data reported regarding the protein N-glycosylation pathway in D. salina. Here, we first investigated the protein N-glycosylation in this green microalga by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. These analyses showed that proteins from D. salina are N-glycosylated with Man5GlcNAc2 oligomannoside. Using genome mining approaches, we then identified genes encoding proteins involved in the N-glycosylation pathways in D. salina. Genetic similarities and phylogenetic relationships of the putative sequences with homologues from C. reinhardtii, P. tricornutum, and humans were investigated. These data revealed that in D. salina the biosynthesis of nucleotide sugars and N-glycan biosynthesis share mainly similarities with the GnT I-independent pathway of C. reinhardtii that gives rise to the synthesis of a non-canonical oligomannoside Man5GlcNAc2. Although an α(1,3)-fucosyltransferase is identified in the D. salina genome, impairment of the cytosolic GDP-Fuc biosynthesis prevents the Golgi fucosylation of N-glycans. Taken together, these data demonstrated that proteins from D. salina are homogeneously N-glycosylated with a non-canonical Man5GlcNAc2.