Search

The acquisition of agricultural land is a crucial aspect of survival for numerous rural communities, serving as a fundamental tool for combating poverty and food insecurity and promoting equitable sustainable economic progress. The expropriation of land offers a promising prospect for remedying past inequities and promoting both economic progress and food sufficiency. Limited research has examined the association between land expropriation and food security, livelihood shocks, and the well-being of rural households worldwide. Therefore, this research explores the implications of land expropriation on food security, livelihood shocks, and well-being of land lost rural communities. The data were collected from 384 farmers selected through stratified sampling techniques using face-to-face surveys in rural China. The data were analyzed using descriptive and logit regression models. The descriptive findings showed that land expropriation has detrimental effects on the livelihood, food security, and well-being of the farmers. Furthermore, these impacts are more harmful among land-expropriated households with a lower educational level, a large family size, and women farmers in less developed rural communities. The econometric results evinced that gender, age, education level, marital status, family size, and negative changes in income all significantly affect the impact of land expropriation on the food security of farmers. Similarly, the findings revealed that farmers with lower education levels were more likely to be affected by land loss as compared to farmers with medium and high education levels. Farmers with complete land loss were 1.70 times more likely to suffer livelihood shocks than those with partial land loss. The results also evinced that the well-being of all farmers was not affected equally, and some farmers' well-being was affected more than others due to various socioeconomic backgrounds. Therefore, this study suggests the implementation of public policies that provide support to farmers who have been marginalized due to land acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, also known as hereditary motor sensory neuropathy, is a group of rare genetically heterogenous diseases characterized by progressive muscle weakness and atrophy, along with sensory deficits. Despite extensive pre-clinical and clinical research, no FDA-approved therapy is available for any CMT type. We previously identified C1ORF194, a novel causative gene for CMT, and found that both C1orf194 knock-in (I121N) and knockout mice developed clinical phenotypes similar to those in patients with CMT. Encouraging results of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy have stimulated the use of AAVs as vehicles for CMT gene therapy. Here, we present a gene therapy approach to restore C1orf194 expression in a knockout background. We used C1orf194-/- mice treated with AAV serotype 9 (AAV9) vector carrying a codon-optimized WT human C1ORF194 cDNA whose expression was driven by a ubiquitously expressed chicken β-actin promoter with a CMV enhancer. Our preclinical evaluation demonstrated the efficacy of AAV-mediated gene therapy in improving sensory and motor abilities, thus achieving largely normal gross motor performance and minimal signs of neuropathy, on the basis of neurophysiological and histopathological evaluation in C1orf194-/- mice administered AAV gene therapy. Our findings advance the techniques for delivering therapeutic interventions to individuals with CMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of cultural capital has long been applied to explain academic achievement. This qualitative study investigated first-year students in higher vocational colleges and, taking this low cultural capital group as an example, explored how cultural capital has affected their past teacher–student interactions. Participants described their experience of interacting with their teachers. We found that these students primarily experienced authoritative and laissez-faire teacher–student interactions. Students' embodied and institutionalized cultural capital profoundly affected different aspects of the teacher–student interaction. In modern China, vocational and academic education are of the same status, so teachers should modify their evaluations based solely on academic achievement. When interacting with students, teachers should be more understanding and interact in a more student-centred way. Teacher training programmes should also be reformed, and training for teachers in general and vocational schools should be distinguished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Charcot–Marie–Tooth (CMT) disease is the most frequent hereditary motor sensory neurological disease. GJB1 gene is the second most frequent cause of CMT, accounting for approximately 10% of CMT cases worldwide. We identified a large Han family with X‐linked CMT disease. Methods: In this study, the probands and his mother underwent electrophysiological examinations and other family members were assessed retrospectively. Whole‐exome sequencing, Sanger sequencing, and SNP array linkage analysis were performed to find and confirm the variant. The functional effect of the identified variant was further investigated in HEK293 cells and MCF‐7 cells by minigene splicing assay. Results: The affected individuals had some clinical symptoms including symmetric atrophy and progressive weakness of the distal muscles in their twenties. Electrophysiological examinations result in peripheral nerve injury of the upper and lower limbs. Whole‐exome sequencing identified a novel hemizygous deletion mutation (NM_000166: c.‐16‐8_‐14del) in the GJB1 gene. SNP array linkage analysis and co‐segregation analysis confirmed this mutation. Minigene splicing assay verified that this mutation leads to the activation of cryptic splicing sites in exon 2 which results in the deletion of exon 2. Conclusion: Our study provides theoretical guidance for prenatal diagnosis and subsequent fertility of this family. This result expands the spectrum of mutations in GJB1 known to be associated with CMTX and contributes to the diagnosis of CMT and clinical genetic counseling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutrophils constitute a considerable proportion of all leukocytes found in tumors and are essential for promoting tumor growth. In this issue, Linde et al. demonstrate that an antibody cocktail therapy consisting of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody, and tumor-binding antibody can boost the anti-tumor activity of neutrophils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The virtual synchronous generator (VSG) improves the robustness of the inverter-interfaced distributed generator (IIDG) against instability by introducing a virtual inertia. However, the transient response of the active power and the angular frequency conflict with each other for the IIDG with fixed inertia control. It is necessary to adopt adaptive control to improve overall performances of power and frequency as the operating condition changes. This paper analyzes the impact of the inertia on power and angular frequency. A dual-adaptivity inertia control strategy is proposed to offer a responsive and stable frequency support and also achieve the balance between power regulation and frequency regulation according to different operating conditions. The principle of parameter design is given to obtain the range of adaptivity. Quantitative assessment considering the cumulative effect of the output deviation and its duration is also presented to evaluate the proposed strategy intuitively. The strategy is further verified based on PSCAD/EMTDC and a hardware-in-loop experiment platform based on RTDS. Results confirm that the proposed strategy not only achieves rapid frequency response with slight dynamic deviations under disturbances but also strikes a balance between the frequency and power and leads to improved overall control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous studies have revealed that a dominant mutation in vacuolar protein sorting 4B (VPS4B), a member of the AAA ATPase family, causes dentin dysplasia type I. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the roles of VPS4B in human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) and to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this study, we found that VPS4B was highly expressed in the dental pulp cells of the mouse molar tooth germ, and the expression of VPS4B increased significantly during the odontoblastic differentiation of hDPSCs. VPS4B downregulation inhibited the proliferation, migration, and odontoblastic differentiation of hDPSCs. Moreover, treatment with lithium chloride, an agonist of the Wnt-β-catenin signalling pathway, partially reversed the VPS4B knockdown-driven suppression of proliferation and of odontoblastic differentiation of hDPSCs. Collectively, our findings indicate that VPS4B, via Wnt-β-catenin signalling, acts as a regulator of the proliferation and differentiation of hDPSCs. Our results suggest potential therapeutic avenues for dentin formation and regenerative endodontics in patients with dentin dysplasia type I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cause of cancer-related deaths in Asia and Africa. Developing effective and non-invasive biomarkers of HCC for individual patients remains an urgent task for early diagnosis and convenient monitoring. Analyzing the transcriptomic profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from both healthy donors and patients with chronic HBV infection in different states (i.e. HBV carrier, chronic hepatitis B, cirrhosis, and HCC), we identified a set of 19 candidate genes according to our algorithm of dynamic network biomarkers. These genes can both characterize different stages during HCC progression and identify cirrhosis as the critical transition stage before carcinogenesis. The interaction effects (i.e. co-expressions) of candidate genes were used to build an accurate prediction model: the so-called edge-based biomarker. Considering the convenience and robustness of biomarkers in clinical applications, we performed functional analysis, validated candidate genes in other independent samples of our collected cohort, and finally selected COL5A1 , HLA-DQB1 , MMP2 , and CDK4 to build edge panel as prediction models. We demonstrated that the edge panel had great performance in both diagnosis and prognosis in terms of precision and specificity for HCC, especially for patients with alpha-fetoprotein-negative HCC. Our study not only provides a novel edge-based biomarker for non-invasive and effective diagnosis of HBV-associated HCC to each individual patient but also introduces a new way to integrate the interaction terms of individual molecules for clinical diagnosis and prognosis from the network and dynamics perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is a histone methyltransferase, which targets histone H3 lysine 27. Studies have reported that EZH2 is involved in the development of several types of tumor, including ovarian cancer. p16, a well‑known cell cycle regulator, has been demonstrated to be a tumor suppressor gene in a variety of malignant cells. However, the regulatory association between EZH2 and p16 in ovarian cancer remains to be fully elucidated. The present study aimed to determine whether EZH2 is involved in the development of ovarian cancer by regulating the expression of p16. An EZH2 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) lentiviral vector was constructed and used for transducing A2780 and SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell lines. The expression levels of EZH2 and p16 in the ovarian cancer cells were detected using a reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses, respectively. The function of the inhibition of EZH2 in cell proliferation and migration were determined using a CCK‑8 assay and Transwell assay. In addition, a nude mouse xenograft model was used to determine the function of EZH2 and p16 in the formation of ovarian cancer in vivo. The results revealed that the inhibition of EZH2 increased the expression of p16, and suppressed the proliferation and migration capabilities of ovarian cancer in vitro. The downregulated expression of EZH2 suppressed ovarian tumor formation in vivo. The results of the study revealed that p16 was negatively regulated by EZH2 in ovarian cancer, and that p16 and EZH2 are important in the tumorigenesis of ovarian cancer. EZH2 and p16 represent potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of ovarian cancer and as targets for ovarian cancer gene therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method and application of measuring the soot volume fraction, H2O concentration, and its temperature simultaneously in an ethylene/air premixed flame environment based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy technique is presented in this article. Only one distributed feedback diode laser with a center wavelength at 1397.83 nm combined with a scanned-wavelength direct absorption spectroscopy technique was used during measurements. The attenuation of laser intensity caused by soot extinction and H2O gas absorption after transmitting through the flame region was detected and distinguished, respectively. Soot volume faction was inferred from the light extinction with Rayleigh limit assumption. The absorption signals of two H2O spectral lines were acquired during one scanning, thus both the H2O concentration and its temperature can be retrieved. Measurements have been taken in ethylene/air premixed flat flames on a standard bronze McKenna burner at different cold-gas velocities (5.9 cm/s and 4.4 cm/s) and equivalence ratios (φ= 2.3, 2.1, and 1.9). The gradient tendencies of soot volume fraction, H2O concentration, and temperature along the vertical direction and the variations in different flames were well demonstrated. The results were in good agreement with the values measured using other techniques and studies. The proposed method is proved to be suitable and accurate for measuring oot volume fraction together with gas concentration and temperature. This multipurpose measuring method with high accuracy exhibits great potential in combustion diagnostics and soot study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]