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Understanding the stability mechanism of surface micro/nanobubbles adhered to gasevolving electrodes is essential for improving the efficiency of water electrolysis, which is known to be hindered by the bubble coverage on electrodes. Using molecular simulations, the diffusion-controlled evolution of single electrolytic nanobubbles on wettability-patterned nanoelectrodes is investigated. These nanoelectrodes feature hydrophobic islands as preferential nucleation sites and allow the growth of nanobubbles in the pinning mode. In these simulations, a threshold current density distinguishing stable nanobubbles from unstable nanobubbles is found. When the current density remains below the threshold value, nucleated nanobubbles grow to their equilibrium states, maintaining their nanoscopic size. However, for the current density above the threshold value, nanobubbles undergo unlimited growth and can eventually detach due to buoyancy. Increasing the pinning length of nanobubbles increases the degree of nanobubble instability. By connecting the current density with the local gas oversaturation, an extension of the stability theory for surface nanobubbles [Lohse and Zhang, Phys. Rev. E 91, 031003(R) (2015)] accurately predicts the nanobubble behavior found in molecular simulations, including equilibrium contact angles and the threshold current density. For larger systems that are not accessible to molecular simulations, continuum numerical simulations with the finite difference method combined with the immersed boundary method are performed, again demonstrating good agreement between numerics and theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of giant cystic meconium peritonitis (GCMP) in pregnancies following artificial reproductive techniques is rare. We report the first case of GCMP following in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer in China. A 32-year-old woman with a history of bilateral salpingectomy due to ectopic pregnancy attended our in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer program. Meconium peritonitis, polyhydramnios, bowel dilatation, and intra-abdominal calcification were detected by ultrasound at 33 weeks of gestation. Cesarean section due to scarred uterus was performed at 35+1 weeks of gestation. A normal female infant with a distended abdomen was delivered. Emergency laparotomy was performed on the female infant because of the presence of a giant abdominal mass. A 0.2-cm perforation was found in the ileum. Enterostomy could not be performed due to the heavy adhesion. Prenatal diagnosis of meconium peritonitis is possible through careful ultrasonographic examination, and prognosis can be improved through early surgical intervention and intensive postoperative support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral streptococci are gram-positive facultative anaerobic bacteria that are normal inhabitants of the human oral cavity and play an important role in maintaining oral microecological balance and pathogenesis. Transposon mutagenesis is an effective genetic manipulation strategy for studying the function of genomic features. In order to study cariogenic related genes and crucial biological element genes of oral Streptococcus, transposon mutagenesis was widely used to identify functional genes. With the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology and the development of transposon random mutation library construction methods, transposon insertion sequencing (TIS) came into being. Benefiting from highthroughput advances in NGS, TIS was able to evaluate the fitness contribution and essentiality of genetic features in the bacterial genome. The application of transposon mutagenesis, including TIS, to oral streptococci provided a massive amount of valuable detailed linkage data between genetic fitness and genetic backgrounds, further clarify the processes of colonization, virulence, and persistence and provides a more reliable basis for investigating relationships with host ecology and disease status. This review focuses on transposon mutagenesis, including TIS, and its applicability in oral streptococci. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is a potential pathogenic bacteria of dental caries. However, the level of S. mutans is low in some children with severe early childhood caries (SECC) Aim: To evaluate the effect of S. mutans level on dental microbiome and cariogenesis. Methods: The oral microbiota was compared between caries-free group (CF) and SECC group.16S rRNA gene sequencing was used for S. mutans level bacterial community analysis. The candidate bacteria that were closely related with S. mutans abundance were identified and confirmed by absolute quantitative real-time PCR in clinical dental plaque samples from CF and SECC groups. Results: Through in-depth analysis of dental plaque microorganism, Leptotrichia, Selenomonas and Prevotella_7 were found in the S. mutans-low group (p < 0.05) and Porphyromonas, Selenomonas_3 were found in the S. mutans-high group (p < 0.05). Through quantitative real-time PCR, Leptotrichia, Selenomonas and Prevotella_7 were identified as the potential biomarkers of SECC when S. mutans was at a low level. Conclusion: Leptotrichia, Selenomonas and Prevotella_7 are identified as potential biomarkers in SECC with a low abundance or without S. mutans. Our study may shed light on the understanding of caries occurrence in SECC with low abundance of S. mutans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an earlier study, we had demonstrated ameliorative effects of Dendrobium nobile Lindl. on dyslipidemia and fatty liver in mouse fed a high fat diet. In the present study, we have examined the effect of D. nobile on the lipid metabolism in normal healthy rats after intragastric treatment for four times a day for five days. The treatment followed a metabolomics analysis of the plasma samples for metabolites by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy and the expression levels of genes for lipid metabolism. The metabolite profiles were substantially altered by D. nobile. Through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways enrichment analysis, metabolic pathways were ranked first in terms of the number of referenced metabolites. There were 112 metabolites that were changed significantly in the pathways. The results revealed that D. nobile increased the content of epoxy-octadecenoic acids in plasma more than 19-folds. Moreover, the expression of genes Cyp1a2, Cyp2e1, Cyp2j2, Cyp3a1, Pparγ, Lpl, Acsl1, and Hmgcs2 were all induced in D. nobile treatment group (P < 0.05). Our results supported that D. nobile has a significant role in regulating lipid metabolism in healthy rats. Therefore, it is tempting to speculate that D. nobile would be beneficial in protecting human against the disorders of lipid metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Periodontal disease and oral cancer are common health hazards. Epidemiological investigations show that smoking, periodontal disease and oral cancer are closely related. Tobacco is one of the major risk factors for periodontitis and oral cancer. METHODS A systematic literature review was performed. To identify relevant studies, the following online databases were searched using specific keywords: PubMed, Web of Science and CNKI. RESULTS Tobacco not only possesses an addictive effect, but it aggravates periodontal disease by promoting the invasion of pathogenic bacteria, inhibiting autoimmune defense, aggravating the inflammatory reaction, and aggravating the loss of alveolar bone. According to current evidence, tobacco significantly aggravates the development and progression of periodontal disease and oral cancer, and periodontal disease may be related to the prevalence of oral cancer. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians should strongly recommend that smokers undertake a strategy to stop smoking to avoid the exacerbation of nicotine-related periodontal disease and to reduce the incidence of oral cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Previous studies of neuropathic pain have suggested that the P2X4 purinoceptor (P2X4R) in spinal microglia is essential for maintaining allodynia following nerve injury. However, little is known about its role in inflammatory soupinduced trigeminal allodynia, which closely mimics chronic migraine status. Here, we determined the contributions of P2X4R and related signaling pathways in an inflammatory soup-induced trigeminal allodynia model. Methods: P2X4R gene and protein levels in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis were analyzed following repeated dural inflammatory soup infusions. p38, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, excitatory amino acid transporter 3, c-Fos, and calcitonin gene-related peptide protein levels in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis, as well as trigeminal sensitivity, were assessed among the different groups. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect protein localization and expression in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis. Results: Repeated inflammatory dural stimulation induced trigeminal hyperalgesia and the upregulation of P2X4R. Immunofluorescence revealed that P2X4R was expressed in trigeminal nucleus caudalis microglial cells. Blockage of P2X4R produced an anti-nociceptive effect, which was associated with an inhibition of inflammatory soup-induced increases in p38, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, excitatory amino acid transporter 3, c-Fos, and calcitonin gene-related peptide protein levels. The tyrosine receptor kinase B antagonist ANA-12 reversed trigeminal allodynia and the upregulation of excitatory amino acid transporter 3, c-Fos, and calcitonin gene-related peptide, whereas the agonist 7,8-dihydroxyflavone exacerbated these effects. Double immunostaining indicated that p38 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor were mainly expressed in microglial cells, whereas excitatory amino acid transporter 3 was primarily expressed in trigeminal nucleus caudalis neurons. Conclusions: These data indicate that microglial P2X4R is involved in the regulation of excitatory amino acid transporter 3 via brain-derived neurotrophic factor-tyrosine receptor kinase B signaling following repeated inflammatory dural stimulation. Microglial P2X4R activation and microglia-neuron interactions in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis may play a role in the pathogenesis of migraine chronicity, and the modulation of P2X4R activation might be a potential therapeutic strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) is the active form of vitamin D, which is responsible for reducing the risk for diabetes mellitus (DM), decreasing insulin resistance, and improving insulin secretion. Previous studies have shown that 1,25(OH)2D3 inhibited the activity of FoxO1, which has been implicated in the regulation of glucose metabolism. However, its function and mechanism of action in DMinduced energy disorders and also in bone development remains unclear. Here, using in vitro and in vivo approaches including osteoblast-specific, conditional FoxO1-knock-out mice, we demonstrate that 1,25(OH)2D3 ameliorates abnormal osteoblast proliferation in DM-induced oxidative stress conditions and rescues the impaired glucose and bone metabolism through FoxO1 nuclear exclusion resulting from the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling. Using alizarin red staining, alkaline phosphatase assay, Western blot, and real-time qPCR techniques, we found that 1,25(OH)2D3 promotes osteoblast differentiation and expression of osteogenic phenotypic markers (i.e. alkaline phosphatase (1), collagen 1 (COL-1), osteocalcin (OCN), and osteopontin (OPN)) in a high-glucose environment. Moreover, 1,25(OH)2D3 increased both total OCN secretion and levels of uncarboxylated OCN (GluOC) by phosphorylating FoxO1 and promoting its nuclear exclusion, indicated by Western blot and cell immunofluorescence analyses. Taken together, our findings confirm that FoxO1 is a key mediator involved in glucose homeostasis and indicate that 1,25(OH)2D3 improves glucose metabolism and bone development via regulation of PI3K/Akt/FoxO1/OCN pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR) has been widely used in various applications for its distributed measurement capability of dynamic disturbance along the entire sensing fiber. Commonly, the sensing system is considered to be only sensitive to the phase change and capable of detecting multiple vibration events. In application, once any of the vibration events leads to a local birefringence change, the polarization evolution of the signal will be disturbed along the following fiber, which will result in the generation of polarization-related noise and the failure of identification for multipoint vibration events. We will reveal the polarization-dependence of Φ-OTDR both theoretically and experimentally. To suppress the polarizationdependence of Φ-OTDR, an orthogonal-state of polarization pulse pair method has been proposed, making the sensing system purely phase-sensitive. The experiment result has shown that maximum noise suppression ratio of 11.2 dB and mean noise suppression ratio of 4.9 dB could be achieved, which confirmed the validity of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Imaging of the lymphatic system is difficult because of its structural and anatomical characteristics, and the conventional diagnostic method, radionuclidebased imaging, has the disadvantage of poor resolution. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has been shown the capability of depicting lymphatic channels in lymphedema recently. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the imaging of MR lymphangiography (MRL) in diagnosis of limb lymphedema and its possible role in the microsurgical management of lymphedema. Methods A total of 710 patients with primary lymphedema (n =378), secondary lymphedema (n =332), were enrolled in the study. Contrast-enhanced lymphangiography was performed with 3.0 T MR unit (Philips Medical Systems, Best, The Netherlands) after intracutaneously injection of gadobenate dimeglumine. Kinetic of enhanced lymph flow within lymphatics and lymph nodes as well as the morphological abnormalities of lymphatic system were evaluated. Results MRL was able to display the detailed anatomical changes in the vessels and nodes. In primary lymphedema, there are three major types of lymphatic system malformation: (1) only lymph nodes affected, (2) only lymph vessels affected, and (3) both lymph vessels and lymph nodes affected. In secondary lymphedema MRL clearly demonstrated tortuous and dilated collecting lymphatics in lymphedemtous limbs.MRL also provided information concerning the functional status of lymph transport in lymphatic vessels and nodes by real-time visualization of enhanced lymph flow in lymphatic channels and within lymph nodes. Conclusion Contrast MRL was capable of evaluating the anatomical and functional status of lymphatic vessels and lymph nodes in lymphedematous limb. This new imaging shows good potential for use in the diagnosis and surgical management of lymphedema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluxes of resource subsidy across ecosystems can affect consumer-community dynamics in recipient systems. Bracken Cave is an unusual ecosystem because of the magnitude of allochthonous input of guano that is produced by the largest bat population in the world--a colony of more than 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis). Research on the guano-subsidy ecosystems dynamics of Bracken Cave is limited, but imperative to our understanding and conservation of this extraordinary ecosystem. The objectives of this study are to determine the quantity and quality of guano deposition across seasons and its effect on the macroinvertebrate community and to examine the effect of the cave's habitat characteristics, such as distance from entrances and depth within the guano substrate, on the macroinvertebrate abundance and taxon richness at Bracken Cave. Core samples of guano and macroinvertebrates were collected at increasing distances within the cave on a monthly basis. Guano from the core samples was analyzed with respect to C, N, and P to determine guano quality variations. In addition, pitfall trap sampling was employed to supplement the macroinvertebrate core sampling. An estimated dry weight total of 50,500 kg of guano was deposited on the 3078 m² of floor from August 2009 to August 2010, with the highest rate recorded in September 2009 and the lowest in January-March 2010. Variations in guano deposits with respect to seasonality do not have a significant effect on macroinvertebrate abundance and richness. On the other hand, habitat characteristics significantly affected the macroinvertebrate abundance and richness in the cave. Macroinvertebrate abundance decreased with increasing depth within the guano substrate. Carbon concentrations were significantly higher in the top layers of guano, while nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations were not significantly different with respect to guano depth. Results from pitfall-trap sampling indicated that macroinvertebrate richness was significantly higher near cave entrances. This study indicates that the invertebrate community at Bracken Cave was relatively stable and experienced few seasonal fluctuations, but was shaped by the micro-habitat characteristics of distance from entrances and depth within the guano substrate. The bats and the nutrients that they contribute play a central role as productivity donors to the bottom-up dynamics of one of the most unusual cave ecosystems in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. Capacitive gate transient noise has been problematic for the high-speed single photon avalanche photodiode (SPAD), especially when the operating frequency extends to the gigahertz level. We proposed an electro-optic modulator based gate transient noise suppression method for sine-wave gated InGaAs/InP SPAD. With the modulator, gate transient is up-converted to its higher-order harmonics that can be easily removed by low pass filtering. The proposed method enables online tuning of the operating rate without modification of the hardware setup. At 250 K, detection efficiency of 14.7%was obtained with 4.8 x 10-6 per gate dark count and 3.6% after-pulse probabilities for 1550-nm optical signal under 1-GHz gating frequency. Experimental results have shown that the performance of the detector can be maintained within a designated frequency range from 0.97 to 1.03 GHz, which is quite suitable for practical high-speed SPAD applications operated around the gigahertz level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the changes in the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness associated with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) were examined by Cirrus high definition-optical coherence tomography (OCT), and the correlation between the RNFL thickness and the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was evaluated. A cross-sectional study was performed. Sixty-eight eyes from patients with LHON and 30eyes from healthy individuals were scanned. Affected eyes were divided into 5groups according to disease duration: Group1, ≤3months; group2, 4-6months; group3, 7-9months; group4, 10-12months; and group 5, >12months. The RNFL thickness of the temporal, superior, nasal and inferior quad¬rants and the 360° average were compared between the LHON groups and the control group. The eyes in groups1 and2 were observed to have a thicker RNFL in the superior, nasal and inferior quadrants and a higher 360°-average RNFL thick¬ness compared with those of the control group (P<0.05), the RNFL was observed to be thinner in the temporal quadrant in groups1 and2. The eyes in groups3 and4 showed a thinner RNFL in the temporal (P=0.001), superior and inferior (both P<0.05) quadrants, and a lower 360°-average RNFL thickness as compared with controls (P=0.001). No significant correlation was identified between BCVA and RNFL thickness. RNFL thickness was observed to undergo a unique process from thickening to thinning in the patients with LHON. Changes in different quadrants occurred at different time periods and the BCVA was not found to be correlated with RNFL thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrilimine generated by photolysis of diaryltetrazole in aqueous phase under mild conditions was trapped by nucleophiles including amines and thioalcohols. The representative products were characterized, while products with all 20 natural amino acids and a peptide were observed by MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy. Competitive studies showed that this reaction also occurred in the presence of acrylamide. These results provided new information for understanding the potential side reactions when tetrazole-alkene pairs were used as a bioorthogonal reaction in labeling proteins and related studies in buffered systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional logistics prediction is the key step in regional logistics planning and logistics resources rationalization. Since regional economy is the inherent and determinative factor of regional logistics demand, it is feasible to forecast regional logistics demand by investigating economic indicators which can accelerate the harmonious development of regional logistics industry and regional economy. In this paper, the PSO-RBFNN model, a radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) combined with particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, is studied. The PSO-RBFNN model is trained by indicators data in a region to predict the regional logistics demand. And the corresponding results indicate the model's applicability and potential advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The center of the light stripe must be extricated accurately to implement 3D measurement with line structured-light. However, the intensity and shape of the light stripe may be different with surface changes of the object. It makes the setting of universal threshold very difficult. In this paper, a light stripe extrication method based symmetry is proposed. This method identifies the light stripe through analyzing the localized phase pattern obtained by wavelet transform. The contrast experiments results show that the proposed method which has a dimensionless property, is insensitive to the light stripe's changes and has a good performance against noise and scattering. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

BackgroundForkhead Box P1 (FOXP1) has been described as both a tumour suppressor candidate and a potential oncogene. The aim of this study is to identify new prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic target structures for the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsThe expression of FOXP1 mRNA in HCC was characterised using real-time PCR and 20 pairs of fresh frozen HCC tissues and corresponding non-cancerous tissues. FOXP1 protein expression in HCC was confirmed using immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray chip. Finally, FOXP1 expression was correlated with conventional clinicopathological features of HCC and patient outcome.ResultsThe expression of FOXP1 mRNA and protein in HCC cells was much higher than in normal hepatic cells (Z=2.315, p=0.021 and χ2=28.071, 95% CI 0.233 to 0.480, p<0.001, individually). The comparison of clinicopathological characteristics and immunohistochemistry by χ2test analysis showed that the high expression of FOXP1 in HCC was related to large tumour diameter (χ2=6.210, p=0.013), high serum α-fetoprotein levels (χ2=6.920, p=0.031) and later stage grouping with tumour node metastasis classification (χ2=6.714, p=0.035). Kaplan–Meier survival and Cox regression analysis showed that high FOXP1 expression (HR=2.182, 95% CI 1.146 to 4.154, p=0.018) and regional lymph node metastasis (HR=2.326, 95% CI 1.037 to 5.217, p=0.041) were independent prognosis factors.ConclusionsFrom this investigation the authors elucidated for the first time that the correlation of high FOXP1 expression correlates with an aggressive malignant phenotype and may constitute a novel prognostic factor for HCC. These results also support a role for FOXP1 as an oncogene in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: MiR-106b-25 cluster, hosted in intron 13 of MCM7, may play integral roles in diverse processes including immune response and tumorigenesis. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs999885, is located in the promoter region of MCM7. Methods: We performed a case-control study including 1300 HBV-positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases, 1344 HBV persistent carriers and 1344 subjects with HBV natural clearance to test the association between rs999885 and the risk of HBV persistent infection and HCC. We also investigated the genotype-expression correlation between rs999885 and miR- 106b-25 cluster in 25 pairs of HCC and adjacent non-tumor liver tissues. Results: Compared with the HBV natural clearance subjects carrying rs999885 AA genotype, those with AG/GG genotypes had a decreased risk of chronic HBV infection with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 0.79 [95% confidence intervals (CIs) = 0.67- 0.93]. However, the AG/GG genotypes were significantly associated with an increased HCC risk in HBV persistent carriers (adjusted OR = 1.25, 95% CIs = 1.06-1.47). Expression analysis revealed that the expression level of miR-106b-25 cluster was significantly higher in AG/GG carriers than those in AA carriers in non-tumor liver tissues. Conclusions: These findings indicate that the A to G base change of rs999885 may provide a protective effect against chronic HBV infection but an increased risk for HCC in HBV persistent carriers by altering the expression of the miR-106b-25 cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf detritus in streams fills dual resource roles as habitat and as food. Unless retained by some structural component, detritus gets transported to downstream reaches out of the local system. Low gradient sandy-bottomed streams retain leaf detritus via burial in sand, but this mechanism of retention limits the availability of detritus as a resource for the benthic community. We hypothesized that burial of leaf litter in sand would impact invertebrate colonization by reducing density and richness on leaf litter. We conducted a short-term experiment (i.e., 2 wk) in a sandy-bottom stream in which leaves were subject to either burial in sandy substrate, exposure to the water column, or a sequential combination of both. Results showed that 2 wk burial of leaf litter significantly impacted the colonization of benthic invertebrates. Burial or exposure status of leaves at the time of collection represented the major factor influencing invertebrate abundances on leaf litter. Leaves exposed to the water column had the highest abundance of invertebrates, dominated by collector-gatherers, that suggests the primary role of leaf litter as refugia in this system. Burial of leaf litter in sand had a significantly negative effect on invertebrate colonization of leaf litter. Furthermore, no difference existed in invertebrate colonization on leaf litter that had never been buried versus leaf litter that had been buried for 1 wk and then exposed and collected alter a week in the water column. This suggests short-term burial of leaf litter does not influence colonization by invertebrates once leaf litter is exposed to the water column. The results of this study suggest that the benthic colonization on newly exposed leaf litter is rapid, potentially due to a lack of habitat structure availability in the sandy-bottomed stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biofixation of carbon dioxide (CO2) by marine microalgae cultivation has been regarded as one of the potential to diminish the greenhouse effect and produce the biomass. To compare and select the high efficiency cultivation mode, the effect of two different cultivation modes on the performances of growth and CO2 biofixation from air for energy marine microalgae Chlorella sp. was determined in this work. In one mode the microalga was cultivated using static (open) method and in the other mode it was cultivated using aerated (closed) method. It was found that, under the experimental conditions, the specific growth rate and CO2 fixation rate of the aerated (closed) cultivation were 0.5121 (d-1) and 1.3784g CO2/l d, and are 1.78 and 5.39 times that of the static (open) cultivation, respectively. In addition, the effects of pH value and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration of the culture medium were analyzed and compared in two cultivation modes. The result indicates the aerated (closed) mode can effectively enhance the performance on microalgal growth and CO2 biofixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-ecosystem subsidies, such as terrestrial invertebrates and leaf litter falling into water as resources for aquatic communities, can vary across environmental gradients. We examined whether the effect of terrestrial subsidy inputs on benthic invertebrates was mediated by resident coastal cutthroat trout ( Oncorhynchus clarki) in two representative streams. We experimentally manipulated the input rates (reduced, ambient) of terrestrial subsidies (terrestrial invertebrates and leaf litter) as well as the presence or absence of cutthroat trout in the two streams. The hypothesis that the reduction of terrestrial subsidies to the stream influences benthic invertebrate assemblages was supported by experimental results. The treatments of terrestrial subsidy reduction and cutthroat trout presence had a significant negative effect on benthic invertebrate community biomass and shredder biomass in East Creek with high natural terrestrial subsidy input and small amount of large wood in channel. In contrast, results from Spring Creek with low subsidy input and large amount of large wood in channel showed that only the terrestrial subsidy reduction significantly reduced the biomass of shredders. The effects of the terrestrial subsidy input and trout predation on benthic invertebrate communities varied between the two streams. Our results indicate that a subsidy effect on benthic communities can vary between nearby streams differing in canopy and habitats. This study, with the major finding of highly context-dependent effects of spatial subsidies, suggests that the interplay of resource subsidies and predators on invertebrate community assemblages can be site-specific and context-dependent on habitat features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East River (Dong Jiang), a major tributary of the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang, the second largest river in China by discharge), is situated in southern China, which has the highest rates of urbanization and development on Earth. The East River also provides 80% of Hong Kong’s water supply. However, there have been no ecological studies to examine the combined impacts of changes in land use and water quality degradation on this river ecosystem. We tested the hypothesis that land-use disturbance and water quality degradation would significantly reduce benthic biodiversity in the East River by investigating macroinvertebrate community composition and relating it to data on water quality and catchment condition. The percentage of total impervious area within each catchment (%TIA—an indicator of land-use disturbance) was negatively related to a composite water quality index—the ERWQI—we developed for the East River. Modeling by partial least squares projection to latent structures (PLS) showed that family richness and relative abundance index (RAI) of macroinvertebrates were strongly influenced by both %TIA and ERWQI. Multi-response permutation procedure (MRPP) tests showed highly significant differences in family richness composition and RAI of macroinvertebrates among sites in the upper, middle, and lower course of the East River. MRPP also revealed differences in the family richness composition of nighttime drift samples between upper and middle site groups. Abundance (individuals m−3) and total family richness of drifting macroinvertebrates at each site were positively related to %TIA (range: 1.0–8.5%), while drift biomass was negatively related to dissolved oxygen and positively related to total suspended solids. Thus, human disturbances associated with land-use changes (increasing %TIA) and nutrient inputs severely degraded ecosystem integrity and the water quality of the East River and thereby reduced aquatic biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA encoding facilitates the construction and screening of large chemical libraries. Here, we describe general strategies for the stepwise coupling of coding DNA fragments to nascent organic molecules throughout individual reaction steps as well as the first implementation of high-throughput sequencing for the identification and relative quantification of the library members. The methodology was exemplified in the construction of a DNA-encoded chemical library containing 4,000 compounds and in the discovery of binders to streptavidin, matrix metalloproteinase 3, and polyclonal human lgG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisms through phenotypic plasticity can cope with multiple changed environmental conditions. Theory predicts that animals in streams and rivers should be able to balance demands of the needs to obtain food efficiently and to adjust response to hydrodynamic variability. This study examined effects of variations in food availability and current velocity on the feeding structure and growth rate of Simulium noelleri blackfly larvae. The larvae developed larger labral fans and more rays under slow current and low food regimes than in fast current and high food conditions. In both fast and slow current regimes, growth rates were higher and development periods to the final-instar stage were shorter in high food treatments. The estimated flux rates of food particles through labral fans under high food treatments for both fast and slow current regimes were higher than those under low food treatments. Although both food and current velocity appeared to have selected for flexibility of feeding structure and growth rate, food availability was a more important factor for phenotypic and developmental plasticity than current velocity. The results indicate a strong link between environmental changes in food availability and current velocity, phenotypic plasticity, and growth rate of S. noelleri. This study suggests that plasticity of ecomorphs with macroevolutionary significance may play a role in the early evolutionary stages of blackfly larvae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate distance learning variables and their possible contributions to successful distance learning receptivity. The variables used in this study included gender, age, computer experience, learning style, and students taking an educational technology (EDTC) course and students taking a statistics (non-EDTC) course. Failing to reject the first 4 null hypotheses indicated that gender, age, computer experience and learning style were not contributing factors in distance learning receptivity. This study revealed that those taking EDTC courses showed higher distance learning receptivity than did non-EDTC students. The results suggest that technology orientation is a necessity in increasing students' distance learning receptivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To dissect the enzyme inhibitory properties of the immunosuppressive cyclic undecapeptide cyclosporin A (CsA) and gain access to monospecific, non-calcineurin-inhibiting CsA derivatives, [D-Ser8]CsA was subjected to modifications at the D-Ser side chain. Thus, we modified a CsA residue flanking the calcineurin (CAN) and cyclophilin 18 (Cyp18) binding domains of CsA instead of the residues of the CAN binding domain in order to develop a new specificity-determining site within the cyclic peptide. The [O-(NH2(CH2)5NHC(O)CH2)-D-Ser8]CsA (derivative 9), with an amino group on a tether, exhibits CsA-like inhibition of the peptidyl prolyl cis/trans isomerase activity of Cyp18 with an IC50 value of 3.2 nM, whereas the CaN inhibition by the Cyp18-derivative 9 complex is completely abolished. Consequently, this compound is not able to inhibit the proliferation and cytokine production of activated T cells. Structure-activity relationship studies with a series of [D-Ser8]CsA derivatives indicate that the positively charged side chain is an essential requirement for Cyp18-derivative 9 to be ineffective on CaN. Upon protecting the amino group in derivative 9 with the photolabile moiety 2-nitroveratryloxycarbonyl (NVOC), the Cyp18-[O-(NVOCNH(CH2)5NHC(O)CH2)-D-Ser8]CsA (derivative 11) complex exhibits strong CAN inhibition and shows potent immunosuppressive activity. In stimulated T cells pretreated with derivative 11, a remarkable recovery of transcriptional activation of the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) has been achieved through light irradiation, as assessed with a NFAT reporter gene assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interference between species from different functional groups may influence ecosystem functioning and biological diversity. This study tested whether interactions between predacious cutthroat trout and an omnivorous signal crayfish modified the crayfish's trophic and engineering effects within a detrital-based, stream benthic community. We show in a trough experiment that omnivorous crayfish through their trophic and engineering roles enhance detritus decomposition, reduce particulate organic matter (POM) accumulation, and diminish diversity in leaf packs. In crayfish troughs by day 30, leaf dry weight loss was 1·8-fold greater, whereas POM trapped in leaf packs was 80% less, than of those in controls, and the abundance, biomass and tax on richness of benthos in leaf packs were lower than those in controls. Predatory cutthroat trout did not affect those variables and did not interfere with the crayfish. Crayfish and cutthroat trout both decreased fine material sedimentation in the troughs. Thus, with no interference from cutthroat trout, the signal crayfish acted as ecosystem processors and engineers, and strongly influenced detrital processing, benthic diversity, and the accumulation of POM and fine sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy and nutrient subsidies transported across ecosystem boundaries are increasingly appreciated as key drivers of consumer-resource dynamics. As purveyors of pulsed marine-derived nutrients (MDN), spawning salmon are one such cross-ecosystem subsidy to freshwaters connected to the north Pacific. We examined how salmon carcasses influenced detrital processing in an oligotrophic stream. Experimental manipulations of MDN inputs revealed that salmon carcasses indirectly reduced detrital processing in streams through temporarily decoupling the detrital resource-consumer relationship, in which detrital consumers shifted their diet to the high-nutrient resource, i.e. salmon carcasses. The average decomposition rate of alder leaves with salmon carcass addition was significantly lower than that without the carcass, which was associated with lower abundance and biomass of detritivorous Trichoptera on the carcass-treated leaves. There were generally larger in size Trichopteran detritivores on the carcasses than on leaves. These results imply that cross-boundary MDN subsidies indirectly retard the ecosystem processing of leaf litter within the short term, but may enhance those food-limited detritivorous consumers. Because unproductive freshwaters in the Pacific northwest are highly dependent upon the organic matter inputs from surrounding forests, this novel finding has implications for determining conservation and management strategies of salmon-related aquatic ecosystems, in terms of salmon habitat protection and fisheries exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the minimal structural requirements for Pin1 substrate recognition. Application of the panel of peptides; Use of direct UV-visible spectrophotometric detection of prolyl isomerization; Observation of weak competitive inhibition of Pin1.

1. Blackfly species richness and community structure were analysed at fifty-six sites in northern Sweden in two seasons. The sites were situated in a wide range of streams and rivers from small springbrooks, bog streams and lake-outlet streams to medium-sized forest rivers and large rivers draining montane regions. 2. Thirty-nine blackfly species were found, with between two and thirteen species per site. Neither species richness nor abundance could be related to the environmental variables measured. 3. An analysis of labral fan size of blackflies indicated a clear trend for the prevalence of larvae with small fans in large rivers and larvae with larger fan size in small streams. Similarly, fan size related to current velocities so that large fans were associated with slow current velocities and small fans with high velocities. 4. A strong relationship existed between species composition and habitat, as seen in ordination by non-metric multidimensional scaling. The relationship found between fan size and habitat size-related variables, such as channel width, depth, velocity and substratum particle size, along with longitude and altitude, in partial least squares regression analysis offered an explanation of the species composition-habitat relationship. 5. In addition to testing that distributions of blackfly larvae reflect morphological traits, we tested two general hypotheses pertaining to distribution patterns: (a) that blackfly communities show bimodal distributions; and (b) that their distributions are nested. Neither of these two hypotheses was supported by our observations. However, widespread blackfly species were locally more abundant than those found at relatively few sites, thus showing a positive abundance-occupancy relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effects of different ecological processes on larval blackfly in regulated and unregulated rivers in northern Sweden. Influence of the changes in water flow (hydraulic disturbance) on blackfly larvae; Analysis of the reduction of predation pressure and competition; Application of the results on conservation ecology.

Reversible and non-invasive photoswitching of the immunosuppressive effect of a drug would be a very valuable tool for precisely regulating the immune system. Using a combination of protein borrowing and two-photon photoisomerization, we designed and synthesized derivatives of cyclosporin A. Here we demonstrate photoswitching of the local conformation within small molecules, which we used to modulate inhibitory potencies for cyclophilin, influence ternary and quaternary complex formations and regulate T-cell transcriptional activation in situ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instability of a thin liquid film on a solid surface is studied both by molecular dynamics simulations (MD) and a stochastic thin-film equation (STF), which models thermal fluctuations with white noise. A linear stability analysis of the STF allows us to derive a power spectrum for the surface fluctuations, which is quantitatively validated against the spectrum observed in MD. Thermal fluctuations are shown to be critical to the dynamics of nanoscale films. Compared to the classical instability mechanism, which is driven by disjoining pressure, fluctuations (a) can massively amplify the instability, (b) cause the fluctuation wavelength that is dominant to evolve in time (a single fastest-growing mode does not exist), and (c) decrease the critical wavelength so that classically stable films can be ruptured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leakage light of an electro-optic modulator induced by its finite extinction ratio (ER) may degrade the performance of the Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer (BOTDR) sensing system, especially for long distance measurement. A novel configuration of a modulator based on a synchronous optical switch is presented. Experimental results have shown that the performance of the sensing system can be obviously improved with the proposed high ER modulator. At the end of a 48.5 km sensing fibre, the maximum uncertainty of temperature measurement has been reduced from 5.2 to 0.8°C with a 25 m spatial resolution after making an improvement in the ER from 35 to 65 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As anionic biopolymers, oligonucleotides can have biological functions independent from their roles as the medium for the storage and flow of genetic information. In this paper, we investigated the interaction betweenDNAand the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα). Although various forms ofDNAbind toTNFα with low-Mdissociation constants, the interaction stabilizes the trimeric form of TNFα and enhances its cytotoxic effect. Based on this mechanism, a photoswitchable TNFα (TNFα-2-nitroveratryloxycarbonyl) has been designed whose sensitivity to DNA-mediated up-regulation of TNFα activity can be tuned by light irradiation. The mechanism described in this study represents a general model to understand the involvement of nonspecific interactions among biomolecules in regulating their biological functions. Because the interaction is not DNA sequence-specific, the resulting effect should be considered for oligonucleotide-based therapeutics in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An erbium-doped fiber ring laser with embedded Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is constructed and experimentally demonstrated for strain and refractive index (RI) measurement. The MZI consists of a segment of thin-core fiber sandwiched between two single-mode fibers and acts as both the sensing component as well as a bandpass filter to select the lasing wavelength. The strain sensitivity of ~-0.97 pm∕με and RI sensitivity of ∼44.88 nm∕RIU are obtained in the range of 0 to 1750 με and 1.3300 to 1.3537, respectively. The high-optical signal-to-noise ratio of >50 dB and narrow 3-dB bandwidth of <0.11 nm obtained indicate that the fiber ring laser sensor is promising for high-precision strain and RI measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronic headache (CrH) occurs commonly in the population, and chronic migraine (CM) accounts for much of the CrH. Diagnostic criteria for CM remain controversial, and this could lead to undertreatment of CM. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical profiles of CM and to field test the International Classification of Headache Disorders-3β criteria (ICHD-3β) and Expert Opinion criteria (EO) for CM application. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of CrH patients in our headache clinic during the period. Eligible patients were selected from CrH population based on Silberstein and Lipton criteria (S-L) for CM, and meanwhile fulfilled with migraine days at least 8 days/month. Then we evaluated the characteristics of clinic profiles and outcomes between patients diagnosed CM using ICHD-3β and EO criteria. Field tested the CM criteria Of ICHD-3β and EO. Results: In a total of 710 CrH patients , 261 (36.8 %) were recruited with CM based on both S-L criteria and fulfilled at least 8 migraine days/month. Be understandable, all the 261 patients met the EO criteria, and only 185 (70.9 %) met ICHD-3β for CM. For the 76 patients who met EO but not ICHD-3β, 70 had atypical migraine attacks (probable migraine, PM), and another 6 had typical migraine attacks but less than a total history of 5 attacks. Although 173 (66.3 %) were concurrent with medication overuse, just one patient overused triptans and none used ergot agents. Clinical features were not significantly different between the ICHD-3β and EO criteria groups (P > 0.05), and neither were outcomes of prophylaxis (P = 0.966). Total migraine prophylaxis effectiveness was 73 %. Conclusion: Migraine-specific analgesics are rarely used in China, permitting patients with PM to avail themselves of “migraine days” is a reasonable accommodation for this difficult condition. In our hands, use of the new EO criteria for diagnosis of CM increases the sensitivity and maintains the specificity of decision making, and therefore should be adopted in CM management practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the study "Use of the Fix and Flap Approach to Complex Open Elbow Injury: The Role of the Free Anterolateral Thigh Flap." He describes the current concepts in the management of elbow trauma and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the free anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap as a preferred option for soft-tissue reconstruction. He argues that despite presenting only a small number of cases, the results of the study are promising and encourage the use of the ALT flap.

α-Fluorinated chalcones were prepared and evaluated for their cell growth inhibitory properties against six human cancer cell lines. The most potent chalcone 4c demonstrated excellent selective toxicity against cancer cells versus normal human cells, with IC50 values at nanomolar concentration ranges against 5 cancer cell lines. A further study revealed that 4c could bind to the colchicine site of tubulin, disrupt the cell microtubule networks, and effectively inhibit tubulin polymerisation. Cellular-based mechanism studies elucidated that 4c arrested MGC-803 cell cycle at G2/M phase. In addition, 4c dose-dependently caused Caspase-induced apoptosis of MGC-803 cells through mitochondrial dysfunction. Notably, compound 4c was found to inhibit the HUVECs tube formation, migration, and invasion in vitro. Furthermore, our data suggested that treatment with 4c significantly reduced MGC-803 cells metastasis and proliferation in vitro. Overall, this work showed that chalcone hybrid 4c is a potent inhibitor of tubulin assembly with prominent anti-angiogenesis and anti-cancer properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Friedel-Crafts method synthesis of chiral ethers from various acetals and naphthols catalyzed by chiral Brønsted acids with acetic acid as an effective additive is described. We found that the chiral phosphoric acid (R)-TRIP could efficiently catalyze the asymmetric Friedel--Crafts reaction of naphthols with acetals affording chiral ethers in good enantioselectivity and yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality inspection process is usually carried out after first processing of the raw materials such as cutting and milling. This is because the parts of the materials to be used are unidentified until they have been trimmed. If the quality of the material is assessed before the laser process, then the energy and efforts wasted on defected materials can be saved. We proposed a new production scheme that can achieve quantitative quality inspection prior to primitive laser cutting by means of three-dimensional (3-D) vision measurement. First, the 3-D model of the object is reconstructed by the stereo cameras, from which the spatial cutting path is derived. Second, collaborating with another rear camera, the 3-D cutting path is reprojected to both the frontal and rear views of the object and thus generates the regions-of-interest (ROIs) for surface defect analysis. An accurate visual guided laser process and reprojection-based ROI segmentation are enabled by a global-optimization--based trinocular calibration method. The prototype system was built and tested with the processing of raw duck feathers for high-quality badminton shuttle manufacture. Incorporating with a two-dimensional wavelet-decomposition--based defect analysis algorithm, both the geometrical and appearance features of the raw feathers are quantified before they are cut into small patches, which result in fully automatic feather cutting and sorting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying Ethosomal Gels (EGs) in transdermal drug delivery systems has evoked considerable interest because of their good water-solubility and biocompatibility. However, there has not been an explicit description of applying EGs as a vehicle for hypertrophic scars treatment. Here, a novel transdermal EGs loaded with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU EGs) was successfully prepared and characterized. The stability assay in vitro revealed that 5-FU EGs stored for a period of 30 days at 4 ± 1 °C had a better size stability than that at 25 ± 1 °C. Furthermore, using confocal laser scanning microscopy, EGs labeled with Rhodamine 6 G penetrated into the deep dermis of the hypertrophic scar within 24 h in the rabbit ear hypertrophic model suggested that the EGs were an optional delivery carrier through scar tissues. In addition, the value of the Scar Elevation Index (SEI) of 5-FU EGs group in the rabbit ear scar model was lower than that of 5-FU Phosphate Buffered Saline gel and Control groups. To conclude, these results suggest that EGs delivery system loaded 5-fluorouracil is a perfect candidate drug for hypertrophic scars therapy in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exceptional elastic resilience of some protein materials underlies essential biomechanical functions with broad interest in biomedical fields. However, molecular design of elastic resilience is restricted to amino acid sequences of a handful of naturally occurring resilient proteins such as resilin and elastin. Here, we exploit non-resilin/elastin sequences that adopt kinetically stabilized, random coil-dominated conformations to achieve near-perfect resilience comparable with that of resilin and elastin. We also show a direct correlation between resilience and Raman-characterized protein conformations. Furthermore, we demonstrate that metastable conformation of proteins enables the construction of mechanically graded protein materials that exhibit spatially controlled conformations and resilience. These results offer insights into molecular mechanisms of protein elastomers and outline a general conformation-driven strategy for developing resilient and functional protein materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron vanadates are attractive anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) because of their abundant resource reserves and high capacities. However, their practical application is restricted by the aggregation of materials, sluggish reaction kinetics, and inferior reversibility. Herein, Fe2VO4 nanoparticles are anchored on the ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) nanorods to assemble 3D Fe2VO4@CMK-3 composites, by solvothermal treatment and subsequent calcination. The resulting composites provide abundant active sites, high electrical conductivity, and excellent structural integrity. The pseudocapacitive-controlled behavior is the dominating sodium storage mechanism, which facilitates a fast charge/discharge process. The Fe2VO4@CMK-3 composites exhibit stable sodium-ion storage (219 mAh g-1 under 100 mA g-1 after 300 cycles), good rate performance (144 mAh g-1 at 3.2 A g-1), and excellent cycling performance (132 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 with capacity retention of 96.4% after 800 cycles). When coupled with a NaNi1/3Fe1/3Mn1/3O2 cathode, the sodium-ion full cell displays excellent cycling stability (94 mAh g-1 after 500 cycles at 500 mA g-1). These findings point to the potential of Fe2VO4@CMK-3 for application as anodes in SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Little is known about the sensate recovery of skin grafts over free non-neurotized muscle flaps. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of free gracilis muscle flaps and meshed skin grafts without nerve coaptation. Methods Thirteen consecutive patients with a median age of 55 years (range, 21-70 years) who underwent lower extremity reconstruction between September 2014 and October 2016 were included. Complications, flap contour, skin perception, and sensate recovery were assessed. Results All flaps survived completely. In one patient, wound dehiscence and infection occurred 1 month after surgery. After a median follow-up of 14 months (range, 10-51 months), a satisfactory contour and skin perception were achieved. The Semmes-Weinstein (SW) monofilament test (154.8±22 g) and static two-point discrimination (2-PD) (12.6±0.7 mm) showed intermediate recovery compared to the surrounding site (41% and 76%, respectively). There was an intermediate correlation between flap size and sensate recovery (2-PD: r=0.27, P=0.36; SW test: r=0.45, P=0.12). Vibration sensation recovered to 60%, whereas thermal sensation remained poor (19% at 5°C and 25% at 25°C). Conclusions Finer sensation could be partially restored. However, thermal sensation remained poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) is one of the most effective and durable therapies for morbid obesity and its related complications. Although bile acids (BAs) have been implicated as downstream mediators of VSG, the specific mechanisms through which BA changes contribute to the metabolic effects of VSG remain poorly understood. Here, we confirm that high fat diet-fed global farnesoid X receptor (Fxr) knockout mice are resistant to the beneficial metabolic effects of VSG. However, the beneficial effects of VSG were retained in high fat diet-fed intestine- or liver-specific Fxr knockouts, and VSG did not result in Fxr activation in the liver or intestine of control mice. Instead, VSG decreased expression of positive hepatic Fxr target genes, including the bile salt export pump (Bsep) that delivers BAs to the biliary pathway. This reduced small intestine BA levels in mice, leading to lower intestinal fat absorption. These findings were verified in sterol 27-hydroxylase (Cyp27a1) knockout mice, which exhibited low intestinal BAs and fat absorption and did not show metabolic improvements following VSG. In addition, restoring small intestinal BA levels by dietary supplementation with taurocholic acid (TCA) partially blocked the beneficial effects of VSG. Altogether, these findings suggest that reductions in intestinal BAs and lipid absorption contribute to the metabolic benefits of VSG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifunctional nanomedicines featuring high drug loading capacity, controllable drug release and real-time self-monitoring are attracting increasing attention due to their potential to improve cancer therapeutic efficacy. Herein, a new kind of Fe3O4@C-based nanoparticles modified with isoreticular metal organic frameworks (IRMOF-3), folic acid (FA) and detachable polyethylene glycol (PEG) under tumor microenvironment was developed. The core-shell structured Fe3O4@C was synthesized via the one-pot solvothermal reaction and the IRMOF-3 layers were coated on the outer shell of Fe3O4@C through layer-by-layer coating method. The FA and PEG were conjugated on the surface of nanoparticles by reacting with the amine groups provided by IRMOF-3. The as-synthesized nanoparticles showed stable photothermal effect, superparamagnetic properties and blue fluorescence characteristic under 360 nm irradiation. The in vitro experiments showed that the drug loaded nanoparticles exhibit pH-dependent drug release property, and PEGylation was proved effective in suppressing burst drug release (only 8.0% of drugs were released within 95 h). The confocal laser scanning microscopy study revealed that the as-synthesized nanoparticles could serve as a cell imaging agent and the cell internalization can be significantly enhanced after FA modified. The IRMOF-3 modified nanoparticles showed negligible cytotoxicity and the drug loaded nanoparticles showed pH/photothermal-stimuli enhanced cytotoxicity in vitro. It is believed that the present smart drug delivery platforms will hold great potential in imaging guided drug delivery and cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competition was launched on the data science competition platform, Kaggle, in the spring of 2020 to address the spread of the invasive Killer Shrimp through applying machine learning (ML) to online data. Kaggle is specifically designed as a platform for data scientists from anywhere "to solve predictive modeling problems through data competitions". [Extracted from the article]

Adrian Bumann, Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), adrian.bumann@chalmers.se Robin Teigland, Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), robin.teigland@chalmers.se Jannes Germishuys, Combine AB (Sweden), jurie.germishuys@combine.se Benedikt Ziegler, Combine AB (Sweden), benedikt.ziegler@combine.se Martin Mattson, Medins Havs och Vattenkonsulter AB (Sweden), martin.mattsson@medinsab.se Eddie Olsson, RISE- Research Institutes of Sweden (Sweden), eddie.olsson@ri.se Robert Rylander, RISE- Research Institutes of Sweden (Sweden), robert.rylander@ri.se Markus Lindh, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (Sweden), markus.lindh@smhi.se Yixin Zhang, University of Gothenburg (Sweden), yixin.zhang@ait.gu.se Torsten Linders, University of Gothenburg (Sweden), torsten.linders@gu.se Background. Recent advances in data science and artificial intelligence (AI) along with the increasing availability of free marine and other data online are improving the possibility to tackle these challenges. [Extracted from the article]