Large bone defects remain a significant clinical challenge due to the limitations of autografts and allografts, prompting interest in bioactive scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. This study aimed to develop and evaluate electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds composed of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polylactic acid (PLA), incorporating titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂) and melatonin (Mel), to enhance their osteogenic differentiation potential. PCL/PLA, PCL/PLA/TiO₂, PCL/PLA/Mel, and PCL/PLA/TiO₂/Mel scaffolds were fabricated via electrospinning and characterized for morphology, fiber diameter, and mechanical properties. Biological performance was evaluated using adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) through MTT assay, calcium content, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and osteogenic gene expression. TEM confirmed uniform TiO₂ nanoparticle distribution without agglomeration. All scaffolds exhibited continuous cylindrical fibers without defects. TiO₂ incorporation reduced tensile strength but increased elongation, while melatonin enhanced tensile strength. MTT assays confirmed biocompatibility and higher proliferation in TiO₂- and Mel-containing scaffolds. Calcium content and ALP activity were significantly higher in TiO₂- and/or Mel-modified scaffolds, with the PCL/PLA/TiO₂/Mel group showing the most significant osteogenic differentiation potential. Gene expression analysis revealed upregulated osteopontin, osteonectin, and osteocalcin in TiO₂- and Mel-containing scaffolds. Co-incorporation of TiO₂ nanoparticles and melatonin into electrospun PCL/PLA scaffolds synergistically enhances osteogenic differentiation and may serve as a promising strategy for bone tissue regeneration.

Saline-alkaline soils pose significant constraints to sustainable wheat production through impaired nutrient cycling and reduced crop productivity. While straw return and biostimulants are recognized management strategies, their combined effects on soil nutrient dynamics and yield-quality relationships remain poorly understood.

Background/Objectives: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a prevalent metabolic disorder for which there are limited pharmacotherapies. Sodium rutin (NaR), a soluble flavonoid derivative, has shown beneficial metabolic effects, but its role in NAFLD remains unclear. This study investigates whether NaR ameliorates high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD and insulin resistance through promoting hepatic lipophagy. Methods: Male mice aged 8 weeks old were fed a HFD for 12 weeks with/without NaR supplementation. Body weight was measured every week. After 12 weeks of treatment, GTT and ITT were performed to assess insulin resistance. Then, the tissues were collected and hepatic histology, serum biochemistry, and markers of autophagy and senescence were assessed. Results: NaR treatment significantly attenuated HFD-induced weight gain, reduced visceral fat and liver weights, and ameliorated hepatic steatosis and vacuolization. NaR improved serum lipid profiles; lowered alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase levels; and reduced hepatic cellular senescence. NaR enhanced hepatic autophagy, evidenced by decreased p62 levels, increased LC3-II/LC3-I ratio, and enhanced colocalization of lipid droplets with LC3 and LAMP1 in vivo and in vitro. These changes were accompanied by improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Conclusions: NaR effectively alleviates HFD-induced NAFLD and insulin resistance by activating hepatic lipophagy. These findings support NaR as a promising multi-targeted therapeutic candidate for NAFLD.

Soil nutrient loss and infertility in rocky desertification areas severely constrain ecological restoration. Exploring the impacts of external field remediation technologies on soil quality in these regions may offer novel strategies for soil enhancement and ecosystem recovery. This study conducted a three-month experiment to investigate the impact of continuous electric (ET, 20 V) and magnetic (MT, 200 mT) field treatments on soil nutrients, enzyme activities, and bacterial communities in simulated moderate and severe rocky desertification soils. Results showed that although an overall declining trends in total contents of key soil nutrients (Total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total potassium), both electric and magnetic field treatments effectively mitigated the decreases of total nitrogen and potassium content (with the exception of total phosphorus) in rocky desertification soils, while improving their available contents compared to the control (CK). Electric field application significantly reduced the pH of moderate and severe rocky desertification soils through electrolysis, shifting the soil from alkaline (pH 7.69 and 7.73, respectively) to slightly acidic (pH 6.71 and 6.37, respectively); Both electric and magnetic field treatments enhanced urease and sucrase activities in moderately and severely rocky desertified soils. Compared to the CK, the increases were 21.92%, 4.46%, 5.70%, and 66.43% in moderately rocky desertified soil, and 10.06%, 42.15%, 20.66%, and 0.93% in severely rocky desertified soil, respectively. Their effects on phosphatase and catalase activities varied with the degree of rocky desertification. However, in severely rocky desertified soil, both treatments significantly increased phosphatase and catalase activities by 19.55%, 24.63%, 61.07%, and 38.05% compared to the CK, respectively. Furthermore, both electric and magnetic treatments significantly reduced bacterial α-diversity (chao1, ACE, Shannon, Simpson, and Pielou J indices) but optimized community structure by enriching dominant phyla with specific ecological functions, such as Pseudomonadota (7.63-41.10%), Bacteroidota (13.52-69.29%), and Verrucomicrobiota (38.26-104.81%). Functional prediction revealed that the abundances of dominant pathways (such as chemoheterotrophy, aerobic chemoheterotrophy, and nitrogen fixation) was enhanced following both treatments. Mantel analysis further indicated strengthened correlations among soil nutrients, enzyme activities, and bacterial communities, particularly under magnetic field treatment. These findings demonstrate that electric and magnetic field applications effectively facilitate nutrient cycling, stimulate enzyme activities, and optimize microbial community structure, thereby improving soil ecological functions and overall quality in rocky desertification regions, highlighting their potential for ecological restoration in karst areas.

Continuous cropping obstacles in watermelon are closely linked to rhizosphere microbial imbalance, posing a major threat to the sustainability of the industry in Xinjiang. Exogenous additives are widely used to regulate soil health, yet comprehensive comparisons of their mechanisms and effects remain limited. In this study, a field experiment was conducted under continuous watermelon cropping conditions in Xinjiang to evaluate the impact of eight treatments, including chemical fertilizer (NPK) alone and its combination with organic fertilizer (NPKM), glucose (NPKG), oxalic acid (NPKOA), amino acids (NPKGA), citric acid (NPKCA), and acetic acid (NPKAA), with unfertilized soil as the control (CK). Treatment effects were assessed through soil physicochemical analysis, fruit quality evaluation, and high-throughput sequencing (16S rRNA and ITS). Among all treatments, NPKM showed the greatest improvement in soil fertility, increasing soil organic matter by 13.91%, total nitrogen by 23.08%, and single fruit weight by 35.75% compared to CK. NPKGA also enhanced fruit weight (+33.06% vs. CK) and increased catalase activity, while oxalic acid exhibited the strongest activation of alkaline phosphatase. Microbiome analysis revealed that NPKM and NPKAA significantly reshaped both bacterial and fungal community structures. NPKM enriched beneficial taxa such as unclassified Chitinophagaceae and Lophotrichus, whereas NPKCA enriched the biocontrol bacterium Pseudomonas chlororaphis. Soil organic matter and total nitrogen were identified as key environmental drivers, showing significant positive correlations with core bacterial genera (Dokdonella) and negative correlations with the pathogenic fungus Alternaria. Collectively, this study elucidates the distinct mechanisms of various additives by linking treatment-specific microbial shifts to key soil factors and crop performance, providing a theoretical and technical framework for mitigating watermelon continuous cropping obstacles through rhizosphere environmental regulation.

Cultivation of perennial mixtures has emerged as an efficient way to produce a large amount of forage, supporting a sustainable livestock industry. The stability and sustainability of forage production is largely controlled by soil health. However, variation in soil health in perennial mixtures still needs further investigation under diverse conditions. Clarifying the relationships between soil physicochemical properties and microbial community is of great importance in better understanding soil health in perennial cultivated grasslands. The effects of mixing combination of alfalfa with timothy or smooth bromegrass on soil health were evaluated through comparing soil nutrients, enzyme activities, microbial community, and forage yield in alfalfa-grass mixtures and corresponding monocultures after seven years of establishment. Mixtures significantly increased forage dry matter yield by 61.39% and 1188.29% in the alfalfa-timothy mixture compared with alfalfa and timothy monocultures, respectively, and by 54.36% and 736.38% in the alfalfa-smooth bromegrass mixture compared with alfalfa and smooth bromegrass monocultures, respectively. Mixtures enhanced soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and ammonium nitrogen contents, and urease activity, but reduced microbial alpha diversity. Beneficial taxa, such as Bacillus, Paenibacillus, and Mortierella, were enriched. Soil nitrate nitrogen was identified as a key driver influencing bacterial functional composition, while soil organic carbon, ammonium nitrogen, water, alkaline phosphatase, and sucrase exhibited significant effects on fungal functional composition. This study demonstrated that alfalfa-grass mixtures enhance system productivity by improving soil physicochemical properties and reconstructing soil microbial community. It provides a theoretical basis from the viewpoint of soil health for establishing and managing sustainable cultivated grasslands.

Fish oil (FO) has been shown to confer beneficial effects on hepatic diseases in both humans and animals. This study aimed to investigate whether dietary fish oil (FO) supplementation alleviates deoxynivalenol (DON)-induced liver injury by modulating the ferroptosis signaling pathway in weaned piglets. Twenty-four weaned piglets were allocated to a 2 × 2 factorial design, with the main factors consisting of dietary treatment (5% corn oil or 5% FO supplementation) and DON exposure (basal diet or diet contaminated with 4 mg/kg DON). After 21 days of dietary treatment, piglets were euthanized for collection of blood and liver samples. Dietary FO significantly attenuated DON-induced hepatic structural damage and inflammatory infiltration. Specifically, FO supplementation reduced the activities of aspartate transaminase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), as well as the AST/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio following DON exposure. Dietary FO also decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in both the liver and serum, lowered hepatic 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) level and Fe[2+] content, and increased hepatic glutathione (GSH) content. Moreover, dietary FO ameliorated ultrastructural liver damage induced by DON. Furthermore, DON significantly downregulated the mRNA levels of multiple genes associated with iron metabolism and ferroptosis, including heat shock protein beta-1 (HSPB1), acyl-CoA synthetase long chain family member 4 (ACSL4), and arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase (ALOX15), and upregulated the mRNA levels of transferrin (TF), ferritin heavy chain (FTH), solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11), and transferrin receptor 1 (TFR1). Dietary FO counteracted these alterations by decreasing the mRNA of SLC7A11, TFR1, FTH, and TF after DON exposure. Finally, FO significantly decreased the protein expression of SLC7A11, iron-responsive element-binding protein 2 (IREB2), and FHT1 and increased the GPX4 protein expression following DON exposure. These findings suggest that FO may ameliorate DON-induced liver injury in weaned piglets, possibly through suppressing the ferroptosis signaling pathway.

The increasing contamination of aquatic ecosystems by agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, such as abamectin (ABA), poses significant risks to fish and human health through bioaccumulation. Thereby, in the current study, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were chronically exposed to 0.012 mg/L of ABA for six weeks. Concurrently, dietary supplementation with curcumin (CUR) at 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg was administered to evaluate its protective effects against ABA-induced toxicity. ABA significantly decreased growth performance, while inducing severe behavioral alterations and cardiac damage, including necrosis, hemorrhage, and inflammatory infiltration. It triggered oxidative stress by decreasing antioxidants (superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT), increasing inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), and disruption of nrf2, keap 1, ho-1, and nqo1. ABA-induced immune dysfunction and inflammation which were linked to NLRP3 inflammasome stimulation, demonstrated as enhanced alkaline phosphatase (AKP), acid phosphatase (ACP) and altered transcription and translation of il-10, il-1β, tgf-β1, tnf-α, asc, caspase1, nlrp3, and nf-κb. It caused apoptosis by dysregulating gene and protein level of fas, p53, bcl2, bax, and caspases. It disrupted autophagic flux by inhibiting mTOR signaling, resulting in increased expression of lc3ii, p62 and atg5; and decreased akt and mtor level. ABA residues were detected in heart tissues (P < 0.01), and total hazard quotient (THQ) indicated potential human health risks due to bioaccumulation. Integrated biomarker response (IBR) analysis and molecular docking further confirmed the exposure risk of ABA. However, CUR co-treatment effectively attenuated these toxic effects and molecular interactions. Collectively, it highlighted the possible risks for human health, emphasizing its toxicological impact whereas protective role of CUR in mitigating ABA-induced cardiotoxicity suggests a promising strategy for reducing pesticide-related health hazards in aquaculture and environmental toxicology.

Phytoremediation of arsenic (As)-contaminated soils is often hindered by As toxicity, low bioavailability, and the limited growth rate and biomass of remediator plants. To address this, we investigated the synergistic effects of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) and the phosphate-solubilizing strain P-1 on enhancing As phytoremediation efficiency using Sedum lineare-a stress-tolerant species. Our results demonstrated that both individual and combined applications significantly improved S. lineare's physiological performance, alleviating As-induced growth inhibition. The EBR+P-1 co-treatment exhibited the strongest effects, increasing biomasses (shoot and root dry weight by 66. 7 % and 62.5 %, respectively) and total As accumulation (97.3 %) compared to the control. This treatment also enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase and catalase), reduced oxidative stress markers (reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde), and decreased bioavailable As in soil. Partial Least Squares Path Modeling identified antioxidant defense and nutrient uptake as key drivers of As tolerance. Crucially, EBR application uniquely restructured the rhizosphere microbiome, enriching stress-tolerant (Flavobacterium) and metal-mobilizing taxa (Patescibacteria), which correlated with improved soil enzyme activities (alkaline phosphatase, sucrase) and contributed significantly to plant resilience and As mobilization. These findings demonstrate that the combined use of EBR and strain P-1, leveraging novel microbiome engineering, offers a highly effective strategy for enhancing S. lineare-based As phytoremediation. It provides a practical approach for the sustainable remediation of moderately to heavily As-contaminated soils, especially in mining-affected or industrial wasteland areas.

Bees are essential pollinators facing increasing anthropogenic threats, particularly pesticide exposure. Flupyradifurone has sublethal impacts on non-Apis bees that remain poorly understood. This study incorporates Neotropical stingless bees as model organisms and uses field-realistic concentrations to evaluate physiological stress through enzymatic biomarkers, including acetylcholinesterase (AChE), carboxylesterase (CaE-3), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glucose oxidase (GOX), and glutathione reductase (GR) in larvae of Apis mellifera, Melipona scutellaris, and Scaptotrigona postica. In A. mellifera, only AChE activity decreased at the highest concentration. In M. scutellaris, AChE activity decreased at both concentrations, while GR increased at the lowest. S. postica was the most affected, showing increased GST and G6PDH at both concentrations and elevated ALP at the highest. These results reveal species-specific physiological responses, with stingless bees exhibiting more pronounced stress, highlighting the need to include native species in risk assessment frameworks.