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Irisin was initially discovered as a novel hormone-like myokine released from skeletal muscle during exercise to improve obesity and glucose dysfunction by stimulating the browning of white adipose tissue. Emerging evidence have indicated that irisin also affects brain function. FNDC5 mRNA and FNDC5/irisin immunoreactivity are present in various regions of the brain. Central irisin is involved in the regulation of neural differentiation and proliferation, neurobehavior, energy expenditure and cardiac function. Elevation of peripheral irisin level stimulates hippocampal genes related to neuroprotection, learning and memory. In this brief review, we summarize the current understanding on neuronal functions of irisin. In addition, we discuss the pros and cons for this molecule as a potential messenger mediating the crosstalk between skeletal muscle and central nervous system during exercise.

Chinese kitchen environment is usually hot and humid in summer and cold in winter, while housewife spends considerable time there. This investigation developed a new ventilation system for Chinese kitchens to improve thermal comfort level. To assess the thermal performance of the ventilation system, 32 cooks were asked to prepare the same dishes in the kitchen with or without the system in summer in Changsha, China. The assessment was carried out by subjective questionnaire survey on thermal sensation vote (TSV) and objective on-site measurements of the indoor air temperature and cook’s skin temperature. The indoor air temperature was measured at different locations in the kitchen. The skin temperature was measured at 18 body parts of the cooks. The results show that the thermal environment in the kitchen was non-uniform and local thermal sensation had a great influence on the whole body sensation. Without the new ventilation system, the cooks complained that the hottest parts were thorax, head and face areas. Reasonably good correlation existed between the cooks’ skin temperatures and their thermal sensation votes. The increase of cooks’ skin temperature with the ventilation system was lower than that without the ventilation system. TSV was improved with the new ventilation system.

Thermal environment in residential kitchen in China is transient and non-uniform and with strong radiation asymmetry from gas stove. Due to the complexity of kitchen thermal environment, it is not sure if previous thermal comfort models can accurately predict the thermal comfort in residential kitchens. In order to evaluate if existing thermal comfort models can be applied for Chinese kitchens, this investigation conducted human subject tests for 20 cooks when preparing dishes in a kitchen. The study measured skin temperatures of the cooks and environmental parameters and used questionnaires to obtain their thermal sensation votes at the same time. The actual thermal sensation votes were compared with the predicted ones by four thermal comfort models: predicted mean vote (PMV) model, dynamic thermal sensation (DTS) model, the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) model, and the transient outdoor thermal comfort model from Lai et al. The results showed that all the models could predict the trend of the thermal sensations but with errors. The PMV model overpredicted the thermal sensations. The UCB and Lai’s models showed a slower change in thermal sensation votes (TSV) after turning on the stove. The DTS model was more accurate than the others in predicting the mean thermal sensation, but with a large variation in predicting individual thermal sensation votes. A better thermal comfort model should be developed for Chinese residential kitchens.

Abstract Background The arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus regulates food intake. Ankyrin repeat and SOCS box containing protein 4 (Asb-4) is expressed in neuropeptide Y and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus, target neurons in the regulation of food intake and metabolism by insulin and leptin. However, the target protein(s) of Asb-4 in these neurons remains unknown. Insulin receptor substrate 4 (IRS4) is an adaptor molecule involved in the signal transduction by both insulin and leptin. In the present study we examined the colocalization and interaction of Asb-4 with IRS4 and the involvement of Asb-4 in insulin signaling. Results In situ hybridization showed that the expression pattern of Asb-4 was consistent with that of IRS4 in the rat brain. Double in situ hybridization showed that IRS4 colocalized with Asb-4, and both Asb-4 and IRS4 mRNA were expressed in proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons within the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. In HEK293 cells co-transfected with Myc-tagged Asb-4 and Flag-tagged IRS4, Asb-4 co-immunoprecipitated with IRS4; In these cells endogenous IRS4 also co-immunoprecipitated with transfected Myc-Asb-4; Furthermore, Asb-4 co-immunoprecipitated with IRS4 in rat hypothalamic extracts. In HEK293 cells over expression of Asb-4 decreased IRS4 protein levels and deletion of the SOCS box abolished this effect. Asb-4 increased the ubiquitination of IRS4; Deletion of SOCS box abolished this effect. Expression of Asb-4 decreased both basal and insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of AKT at Thr308. Conclusions These data demonstrated that Asb-4 co-localizes and interacts with IRS4 in hypothalamic neurons. The interaction of Asb-4 with IRS4 in cell lines mediates the degradation of IRS4 and decreases insulin signaling.

Online learning has become more popular in higher education since it adds convenience and flexibility to students' schedule. But, it has faced difficulties in the retention of the continuity of students and ensure continual growth in course. Dropout is a concerning factor in online course continuity. Therefore, it has sparked great interest among educators and researchers to offer many models and strategies to reduce online course students' dropout by analyzing students' behavior and their individual and academic information. However, online education platforms still face challenges of high dropout rate and the difficulty of accurate prediction to reduce it. The key aim of the present study is to construct a predictive model to early predict students who are at-risk of dropout. This model is useful to the course instructors to make effective and timely interventions. We have noticed that dropout prediction is basically a sequence labeling or time series prediction problem. For these reasons, we proposed two models; the Logistic Regression by adding a regularization term and the Input-Output Hidden Markov Model (IOHMM). Results showed that the proposed models achieved an accuracy of 84% compared to the baseline of Machine Learning Models for prediction of the students at-risk of dropping out.

Designing efficient, economical bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting is important and challenging. This paper demonstrates a cobalt-based electrocatalyst modified with stable ceria (CeO2) and adjustable copper metal/oxide (Cu/CuO) to regulate electrochemical reconfigurations during the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Theoretical calculations reveal that CeO2 substantially impacts the electronic configuration and D-band center of catalysts. Surprisingly, CeO2 moves the D-band center of cobalt oxyhydroxide closer to the Fermi level but shifts the D-band center of cobalt hydroxide away from the Fermi level. Therefore, CeO2 optimizes the adsorption energy of the intermediates and boosts the OER activity, while reducing the ability of absorbed hydrogen atoms to bond with the catalyst and enhancing the electron-donor performance of the catalyst in the HER. Furthermore, the presence of Cu/CuO dramatically improves the catalytic activity. Hence, the utilization of CeO2 and CuO/Cu in cobalt-based nanosheet arrays enhances catalytic efficiency in overall water splitting. The overpotentials are only 94 mV and 246 mV (@10 mA cm−2) for the HER and OER, respectively, superior to those of pure cobalt-based catalysts. This study presents an innovative approach to developing efficient overall water splitting catalysts and offers insights into future developments in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between sublingual microcirculation and the prognosis of sepsis. Data sources: The PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases were searched to identify studies published from January 2003 to November 2023. Study selection: Clinical studies examining sublingual microcirculation and the prognosis of sepsis were included. Data extraction: Sublingual microcirculation indices included the microvascular blood index (MFI), total vascular density (TVD), perfusion vascular density (PVD), perfusion vascular vessel (PPV), and heterogeneity index (HI). Prognostic outcomes included mortality and severity. Funnel plots and Egger's test were used to detect publication bias. The ability of the small vessel PPV (PPVs) to predict sepsis-related mortality was analyzed based on the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve, pooled sensitivity, and pooled specificity. Data synthesis: Twenty-five studies involving 1750 subjects were included. The TVD (95% CI 0.11-0.39), PVD (95% CI 0.42-0.88), PPV (95% CI 6.63-13.83), and MFI (95% CI 0.13-0.6) of the survival group were greater than those of the nonsurvival group. The HI in the survival group was lower than that in the nonsurvival group (95% CI −0.49 to −0.03). The TVD (95% CI 0.41-0.83), PVD (95% CI 0.83-1.17), PPV (95% CI 14.49-24.9), and MFI (95% CI 0.25-0.66) of the nonsevere group were greater than those of the severe group. Subgroup analysis revealed no significant difference in TVD between the survival group and the nonsurvival group in the small vessel subgroup. The area under the SROC curve (AUC) was 0.88. Conclusions: Sublingual microcirculation was worse among patients who died and patients with severe sepsis than among patients who survived and patients with nonsevere sepsis. PPV has a good predictive value for the mortality of sepsis patients. This study was recorded in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42023486349). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]