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AbstractThe impact of land use on water quality is spatially scale-dependent. Exploring the relationship between land use pattern and river water quality provides an important basis for water quality safety and land planning. This study explores the effect of land use patterns on surface water quality using land use data and water quality data of 16 sampling points in the middle reach of the Huai River. It investigates the water quality status of the middle reach of the Huai River and the relationship between land use patterns and water quality indices at 100, 500, and 1000 m and watershed scales utilising Spearman correlation, redundancy analysis (RDA), and multiple linear regression analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the water pollutants in the middle reach of the Huai River are mainly total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that the impact of land use patterns on water quality is significant on watershed scales. Spearman correlation indicated that water quality and land use showed significant correlation differences, the building land was positively correlated with TP, TN and NH3-N, the cultivated land was positively correlated with TN, and the grassland was negatively correlated with TP and NH3-N. This studies have revealed that building land acts as a 'source’ of pollutants, grassland purifies the load of TP and NH3-N, and forest land has the effect of interception and deposition of pollutants. The results can provide important information for land use planning and water quality protection measures at multiple spatial scales.

Free trial is a widely used business strategy that takes advantage of information asymmetry. However, evidence on what we can learn and how rapidly we can learn from a free trial of health care is limited. This study evaluates the effect of a free trial of eyeglasses on children’s 8 items of perception related to eyeglasses use. An evaluation was conducted alongside a cluster-randomized controlled trial involved 832 myopic children from northwest rural China. A total of 428 myopic children from 42 schools were randomized to receive free eyeglasses, and 404 myopic children from 42 schools were randomized as control group. We find that the perceived costs and benefits of eyeglasses use and the perceived timing of wearing eyeglasses at the appropriate time can be learned from a free trial of eyeglasses. Compared with the control group in the long run, 5.6 percentage points more children in treatment group agreed that wearing eyeglasses was attractive, 16.5 percentage points more children agreed that wearing eyeglasses is helpful to academic performance, and 7.9 percentage points more children agreed that children with vision problems should wear eyeglasses. Due to the effects of a free product and the time to learning from experience, the magnitude of the impact of a free trial changed over time. We also find that the indirect experience, such as a vision protection course, cannot change children’ perceptions about the cost or benefits of eyeglasses use. The findings imply that children can learn significantly from the experience of a free trial of eyeglasses. A free trial is an effective strategy to solve the information asymmetry problem for health care. The first pair of eyeglasses of children can be one-off subsidized to trigger demand for eyeglasses use.

Abstract Calf Spleen Extractive Injection (CSEI), extracted from the spleen of healthy cows (within 24 hours of birth), is a small-peptide-enriched extraction and often used as an ancillary agent in cancer therapy. This study evaluated the hematopoietic function of CSEI and its underlying mechanisms, principally in CHRF, K562 cells, BMNCs and a mouse model of cyclophosphamide (CTX)-induced hematopoietic suppression. CSEI promoted the proliferation and differentiation of CHRF and K562 cells, activated hematopoietic- and proliferation-related factors RSK1p90, ELK1 and c-Myc, and facilitated the expression of differentiation- and maturation-related transcription factors GATA-1, GATA-2. In the mice with hematopoietic suppression, 3 weeks of CSEI administration enhanced the bodyweights and thymus indices, suppressed the spleen indices and strongly elevated the production of HSPCs, neutrophils and B cells in bone marrow, ameliorated bone marrow cellularity, and regulated the ratio of peripheral blood cells. Proteome profiling combined with ELISA revealed that CSEI regulated the levels of cytokines, especially G-CSF and its related factors, in the spleen and plasma. Additional data revealed that CSEI promoted phosphorylation of STAT3, which was stimulated by G-CSF in both mice spleen and cultured BMNCs. Taken together, CSEI has the potential to improve hematopoietic function via the G-CSF-mediated JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

The expansion of intercultural interaction between countries and cultures requires the training of modern specialists who know both foreign languages and intercultural communication. However, in the training of translators, there is a lack of authentic material offered by the native speakers of the corresponding language and culture. The purpose of the article is to suggest strategies for teaching the translation of advertising texts and anthroponyms in the Russian-Chinese discourse. The methodological basis of the research is the theory of skopos considering translation as a practical type of activity, as well as a comparative analysis of anthroponyms. As a result of the research, there proposed strategies for translating advertising texts (working with linguistic forms, cultural content, adding and omitting information, combining these strategies) and anthroponyms (using transliteration from Russian into Chinese, it is necessary not only to choose suitable Chinese hieroglyphs but also take into account their meanings, special cases). Comparing Russian and Chinese names, an important difference is found: transliterating Russian names, a person’s gender information can be expressed through Chinese hieroglyphs but this effect cannot be achieved when transliterating Chinese names. Russian-Chinese discourse has a strong cultural connotation, reflecting the unique way of people’s life. The task of the translator is to reproduce not only the formal but also the cultural information of the original text. The novelty of the work is determined by the need to research the Sino-Tibetan language group in order to improve the methodology of teaching translation and intercultural communication as a practical activity.

BACKGROUND: Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), a semi-synthetic derivative of artemisinin, has recently shown antitumor activity in various cancer cells. Apo2 ligand or tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (Apo2L/TRAIL) is regarded as a promising anticancer agent, but chemoresistance affects its efficacy as a treatment strategy. Apoptosis induced by the combination of DHA and Apo2L/TRAIL has not been well documented, and the mechanisms involved remain unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we report that DHA enhances the efficacy of Apo2L/TRAIL for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. We found that combined therapy using DHA and Apo2L/TRAIL significantly enhanced apoptosis in BxPC-3 and PANC-1 cells compared with single-agent treatment in vitro. The effect of DHA was mediated through the generation of reactive oxygen species, the induction of death receptor 5 (DR5) and the modulation of apoptosis-related proteins. However, N-acetyl cysteine significantly reduced the enhanced apoptosis observed with the combination of DHA and Apo2L/TRAIL. In addition, knockdown of DR5 by small interfering RNA also significantly reduced the amount of apoptosis induced by DHA and Apo2L/TRAIL. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that DHA enhances Apo2L/TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells through reactive oxygen species-mediated up-regulation of DR5.

Introduction and Objectives: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance, indicating functional cure or resolved chronic hepatitis B (CHB), remains difficult to achieve via nucleos(t)ide analogue monotherapy. We investigated whether metformin add-on therapy could help achieve this goal in entecavir-treated patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative CHB. Patients and Methods: Patients with HBeAg-negative CHB who met eligibility criteria (entecavir treatment for > 12 months, HBsAg < 1000 IU/mL) were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive 24 weeks of either metformin (1000 mg, oral, once a day) or placebo (oral, once a day) add-on therapy. The group allocation was blinded for both patients and investigators. Efficacy and safety analyses were based on the intention-to-treat set. The primary outcome, serum HBsAg level (IU/mL) at weeks 24 and 36, was analysed using mixed models. Results: Sixty eligible patients were randomly assigned to the metformin (n = 29) and placebo (n = 31) groups. There was no substantial between-group difference in the HBsAg level at week 24 (adjusted mean difference 0.05, 95% confidence interval -0.04 to 0.13, p = 0.278) or week 36 (0.06, -0.03 to 0.15, p = 0.187), and no significant effect of group-by-time interaction on the HBsAg level throughout the trial (p = 0.814). The occurrence of total adverse events between the two groups was comparable (9 [31.0%] of 29 vs. 5 [16.1%] of 31, p = 0.227) and no patient experienced serious adverse events during the study. Conclusion: Although it was safe, metformin add-on therapy did not accelerate HBsAg clearance in entecavir-treated patients with HBeAg-negative CHB.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the inseparable relation between culture and language and the implementation of instructional strategies for teaching second language through culture to enhance students' linguistic comprehension. Language is not only the product of culture, but also is the symbol of culture (Gleason, 1961). Culture must be incorporated outright as an essential component of second language learning and teaching. Only after cultural issues become an inherent part of the language curriculum and instruction, can students be successful in their target language learning. Second language teachers, therefore, should pay more attention to the diversities of cultures, identify key cultural items in every aspect when they design a language curriculum, and apply appropriate teaching strategies to learning activities in order to help students to bridge the culture gaps.

This study developed a facile, highly sensitive technique for extracting and quantifying barbiturates in serum samples. This method combined ultrasound and surfactant‐assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction with poly(ethylene oxide)‐mediated stacking in capillary electrophoresis. Factors influencing the extraction and stacking performance, such as the type and volume of extraction solvents, the type and concentration of surfactant, extraction time, salt additives, sample matrix, solution pH, and composition of the background electrolyte, were carefully studied and optimized to achieve the optimal detection sensitivity. Under the optimized extraction (injecting 140 μL C2H4Cl2 into 1 mL of sample with pH 4 (5 mM sodium phosphate containing 0.05 mM Tween 20 and sonication for 1 min) and separation conditions (150 mM tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane‐borate with pH 8.5 containing 0.5% (m/v) poly(ethylene oxide)), the limits of detection (signal‐to‐noise ratio = 3) of five barbiturates ranged from 0.20 to 0.33 ng/mL, and the calculated sensitivity improvement ranged from 868‐ to 1700‐fold. The experimental results revealed excellent linearity (R2 > 0.99), with relative standard deviations of 2.1%–3.4% for the migration time and 4.3%–5.7% for the peak area. The recoveries of the spiked serum samples were 97.1% –110.3%. Our proposed approach offers a rapid and practical method for quantifying barbiturates in biological fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the characteristics and contribution of dissolved organic matter (DOM) components released from agricultural waste to water and to control the exogenous input of DOM in the water environment. The EEMs-PARAFAC (three-dimensional fluorescence-parallel factor) method was used to analyse the grass surrounding Anfeng Pond. The extracts of stems, rice straws, and fallen leaves were used to extract DOM in the agricultural waste for analysis. The results showed that three components were separated from the grass stems, rice straws, and leaves, which were C1-type tryptophan, C2 visible-light region (fulvic acid-like), and C3-like humic acid (humic acid-like) components. Among them, the DOM of the leaf leachate mainly contributed the C2 visible light region (fulvic acid-like) components to the water body, and the DOM of the leaching solution of the grass stems and rice straw mainly contributed the C1-like tryptophan and C3-like humic acid components to the water body. Through principal component analysis, the DOM components of the grass stem and rice straw extracts showed similar characteristics; C1 and FI showed a significant (p<0.05) positive correlation, while C2 and C3 showed a very significant (p<0.01) positive correlation with FI and HIX index, respectively. The three components were significantly positively correlated with NO3-N. C3 was significantly positively correlated with NH4+-N. The management measures of agricultural wastes should be strengthened to reduce the transport of DOM produced by agricultural wastes to the water environment way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposed a straightforward synthesis of copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) with an emission wavelength of 496 nm and a quantum yield of 2.2% by directly using pepsin as a template with low toxicity NaBH4 and ascorbic acid as reducing agents. The chemical composition and optical properties of the pepsin‐stabilized CuNCs (pepsin‐CuNCs) were well‐characterized by spectroscopy‐related techniques. The pepsin‐CuNCs retained the fluorescence intensity at neutral pH, at 37°C, and in high salinity, proving their suitability in biological systems. Although the pepsin‐CuNCs remained only half of the initial fluorescence intensity after 24 days due to air oxidation, their storage stability was comparable to that of CuNCs reported in the literature. Given that the absorption peaks of hemoglobin overlap the excitation and emission wavelengths of pepsin‐CuNCs, this feature allowed pepsin‐CuNCs to serve as a luminescence turn‐off sensor for sensing hemoglobin through the inner‐filter effect process. The pepsin‐CuNC probe provided a fast (within 1 min) platform for hemoglobin detection with a dynamic quantitative range of 0.1–10 μM and a detection limit of 70 nM. Importantly, the proposed probe was well‐suited to detect hemoglobin in nearly undiluted human urine, demonstrating its great potential for the clinical diagnosis of trace hemoglobin in urine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a triple-readout probe for colorimetric, fluorescent, and fluorescence-lifetime sensing of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) through the hydrolyzed ascorbic acid phosphate (AAP)–mediated formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on Ag+-deposited MoS2 quantum dots (QDs). Ag+ ions were self-assembled on a monolayer MoS2 QD surface through the formation of Ag–S bonds. When ALP hydrolyzed AAP in an alkaline buffer, the resultant ascorbic acid (AA) triggered the reduction of the bound Ag+ ions into AgNPs on the MoS2 QD surface. The resultant AgNPs induced an efficient fluorescence quenching of the MoS2 QDs through simultaneous static and dynamic quenching processes, generated an intense surface plasmon resonance peak, and triggered a reduction in the fluorescence lifetime of the MoS2 QDs. Electron microscopy and spectroscopic techniques revealed the successful fabrication of Ag+-deposited MoS2 QDs and the ALP-mediated formation of AgNPs on the MoS2 QD surface. The linear quantification ranges for ALP were 0.05–2.5, 0.1–4, and 1–4 units L−1 in the fluorescent, colorimetric, and fluorescence-lifetime detection modes, respectively. In addition, the proposed probe integrated with an ALP-linked sandwich immunoassay exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity for the fluorescence sensing of rabbit immunoglobulin G with a detection limit of 8 pg mL−1 and linear range of 25–1000 pg mL−1. The sensitivity of the probe is comparable to those of previously reported immunoassays involving ultrasensitive electrochemical detection, hydrogen evolution reactions, or electron spin resonance. The probe integrated with the sandwich assay serves as a promising platform for the detection of target proteins in clinical samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]