Search

Based on a field investigation conducted in May 2019, the spatial distribution characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in sediments of Wuli Lake in the Taihu Lake basin were analyzed using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy and three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy. The results showed that: (1) The overall water quality of West Wuli Lake was significantly better than that of East Wuli Lake. The water transparency, measured in Secchi depth (SD), of West Wuli Lake was higher than that of East Wuli Lake, while the suspended solids (SS), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) were higher in East Wuli Lake than in West Wuli Lake. (2) The spatial distribution of a(350), M and SR values of DOM in surface sediment in Wuli Lake differed; a(350) values were highest in the northwestern part of Wuli Lake, while M and SR values were highest in the eastern part. The mean value of SR in Wuli Lake was 2.12 ± 0.67, indicating that the DOM contained more authigenic humus; the mean M value was less than 3.5, indicating that the proportion of humic acid was higher than that of fulvic acid. (3) The ranges of the biogenic index (BIX), the humic index (HIX) and the fluorescence index (FI) of surface sediments in Wuli Lake were 0.64~0.85, 3.79~4.84 and 1.72~1.84, respectively, indicating that surface sediments in Wuli Lake were characterized by authigenic sources, and the humic components of DOM in sediments were characterized by a dual contribution from terrestrial and endogenous sources.

The systematic training of metacognitive strategies in teaching Chinese as a foreign language, cultivating learners’ autonomous learning ability, and improving the effectiveness of teaching Chinese as a foreign language is of great significance for realizing the overall goal of teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Therefore, this paper designs a model based on CDIO to guide the teaching of data structures and algorithms, which emphasizes students’ hands-on ability, advocates learning in use, students’ autonomous learning, and teamwork. Taking massive online open courses(MOOC ) and small private online courses ( SPOC) learning data as a sample, hidden Markov algorithm and data mining technology are used to establish a student learning behavior evaluation model to evaluate students’ learning behavior in real-time. Meanwhile, teachers adjust the teaching content according to the evaluation results and enhance students’ learning performance and improve teaching quality.

Alzheimer's disease (ad), the leading cause of dementia, is characterized by the accumulation of beta-amyloid peptides (Aβ). However, whether Aβ itself is a key toxic agent in ad pathogenesis and the precise mechanism of Aβ-elicited neurotoxicity are still debated. Emerging evidence demonstrates that the Aβ channel/pore hypothesis could explain Aβ toxicity, because Aβ oligomers are able to disrupt membranes and cause edge-conductivity pores that may disrupt cell Ca2+ homeostasis and drive neurotoxicity in ad. However, all available data to support this hypothesis have been collected from “in vitro” experiments using high concentrations of exogenous Aβ. It is still unknown whether Aβ channels can be formed by endogenous Aβ in ad animal models. Here we report an unexpected finding of the spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in aged 3XTg ad mice but not in age-matched wild-type (WT) mice. These spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations are sensitive to extracellular Ca2+, ZnCl2, and the Aβ channel blocker Anle138b, suggesting that these spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in aged 3XTg ad mice are mediated by endogenous Aβ-formed channels.

Background Environmental noise is becoming increasingly recognized as an urgent public health problem, but the quality of current studies needs to be assessed. To evaluate the significance, validity and potential biases of the associations between environmental noise exposure and health outcomes. Methods We conducted an umbrella review of the evidence across meta-analyses of environmental noise exposure and any health outcomes. A systematic search was done until November 2021. PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase and references of eligible studies were searched. Quality was assessed by AMSTAR and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). Results Of the 31 unique health outcomes identified in 23 systematic reviews and meta-analyses, environmental noise exposure was more likely to result in a series of adverse outcomes. Five percent were moderate in methodology quality, the rest were low to very low and the majority of GRADE evidence was graded as low or even lower. The group with occupational noise exposure had the largest risk increment of speech frequency [relative risk (RR): 6.68; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.41–13.07] and high-frequency (RR: 4.46; 95% CI: 2.80–7.11) noise-induced hearing loss. High noise exposure from different sources was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (34%) and its mortality (12%), elevated blood pressure (58–72%), diabetes (23%) and adverse reproductive outcomes (22–43%). In addition, the dose–response relationship revealed that the risk of diabetes, ischemic heart disease (IHD), cardiovascular (CV) mortality, stroke, anxiety and depression increases with increasing noise exposure. Conclusions Adverse associations were found for CV disease and mortality, diabetes, hearing impairment, neurological disorders and adverse reproductive outcomes with environmental noise exposure in humans, especially occupational noise. The studies mostly showed low quality and more high-quality longitudinal study designs are needed for further validation in the future.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) and target mRNAs are associated with different frequencies of microsatellite instability. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to elucidate the profiles of miRNAs and target mRNAs expression and their associations with the phenotypic hallmarks of microsatellite instability in colorectal cancers (CRC) by integrating transcriptomic, immunophenotype, methylation, mutation, and survival data. METHODS: Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) and mRNAs (DEmRNAs) were screened out and then the miRNA-mRNA regulatory pairs were identified through two databases. We verified that the expression levels were detected in 40 microsatellite instable (MSI) and 40 microsatellite stable (MSS) CRC samples and used the logistic regression and the Cox regression method to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of negative regulatory pairs respectively. RESULTS: The best diagnostic model that combines miR-31-5p, PLAGL2, miR-361-5p, and RAB27B, which were associated with immune microenvironment, tumor mutation burden (TMB), and overall DNA methylation, could significantly predict microsatellite instability in colon tissues. MiR-31-5p and RAB27B could also predict the overall survival of MSS CRCs. CONCLUSION: This study generated a predictive model of the combination of miRNAs and mRNAs to distinguish MSI versus MSS CRCs and elaborated their potential molecular mechanisms and biological functions.

This study aimed to provide preliminary evidence on feasibility of the inaugural use of teleconsultation between acute hospitals and primary care for acute wound management in Singapore. Post-surgical patients with carbuncle wounds, perianal abscess wounds or surgical abdominal dehiscence wounds were recruited from an acute hospital. Instead of receiving their follow up care at the acute care tertiary hospital, patients were given the option to receive their care at primary care facilities instead, supported by teleconsultation wound services provided by wound care nurses from the hospital. The following outcome measures were collected: number of care sessions required (until wound healed), readmissions or referrals back to hospital, cost (patient's and healthcare provider's perspective), patients' and nurses' satisfaction. In total, 18 patients were recruited and completed the study (teleconsult group = 5; tertiary care clinic group = 13). The mean age (SD) of patients were 63.2 (SD 11.5) years old in the teleconsult group and 47.9 years old (SD 11.5) in the tertiary care clinic group. There were 7 female (54%), and 6 male (46%) in the tertiary care clinic group whereas teleconsult group consisted of male only (n = 5). Most had carbuncle wounds (teleconsult group: n = 4; 80%); tertiary care clinic group: (n = 10; 77%). For patients with carbuncle wounds, the average number of care sessions required were 21 and 33 for the tertiary care clinic and teleconsult respectively. None of the patients in the teleconsult group were referred back to the tertiary care hospital. All 16 nurses (n = 6 from acute care hospital, n = 10 from polyclinics) who participated in the feedback survey cited convenience, ease of tracking wound sizes, and closer collaboration between the acute care and primary care nurses as advantages of the service. Wound teleconsultation is feasible and potentially cost savings for patients with acute complex wounds.

Wastewater reclamation and reuse is an increasing global project, while the reclamation treatment on wastewater does not completely remove all pollutants in water. The residual pollutants in reclaimed water would cause potential risk on human health and ecosystem safety during the long-term use. It is impossible to analyze and control all pollutants one by one in practice, therefore, identification and control of priority pollutants will be efficient strategy to ensure the safe use of reclaimed water. An integrated three-step methodology for identifying priority pollutants in reclaimed water was proposed in this study. First, a comprehensive literature survey on the occurrence of pollutants in reclaimed water was conducted, and a dataset DPR for pollutants occurrence in reclaimed water was established, containing 1,113 pollutants. Second, 611 chemicals that had been recommended as hazardous pollutants for various water bodies in previous literatures were summarized, and a dataset DHP for hazardous pollutants in water was obtained. Third, meta-analysis on these two datasets (DPR and DHP) was performed, a new dataset DHPR for hazardous pollutants in reclaimed water was established, including 265 candidates. Finally, 59 substances out of dataset DHPR were identified as priority pollutants for reclaimed water based on their recommendation frequency. It is expected that this synthetical methodology will provide powerful support for scientific evaluating and managing water pollution and ensuring safe use of reclaimed water.

A sensitive immune recognition-based MOF-MRS sensor for the detection of Cd2+.

This work demonstrates a feasible strategy for the synthesis of new zeolite-like framework materials. With the strategy of using two different supertetrahedral clusters as secondary building units, two new heterometallic zeolite-like frameworks with isomeric structures but tunable topologies were first made. Besides, the porous nature and the proton conduction performance of the new materials were further studied.

Copper-based halide perovskites have shown great potential in lighting and photodetection due to their excellent photoelectric properties, good stability and lead-free nature. However, as an important piece of copper-based perovskites, the synthesis and application of RbCu2I3 have never been reported. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of high-quality RbCu2I3 microwires (MWs) by a fast-cooling hot saturated solution method. The prepared MWs exhibit an orthorhombic structure with a smooth surface. Optical measurements show the RbCu2I3 MWs have a sharp ultraviolet absorption edge with 3.63 eV optical band gap and ultra-large stokes shift (300 nm) in photoluminescence. The subsequent photodetector based on a single RbCu2I3 MW shows excellent ultraviolet detection performance. Under the 340 nm illumination, the device shows a specific detectivity of 5.0 × 109 Jones and a responsivity of 380 mA·W−1. The synthesis method and physical properties of RbCu2I3 could be a guide to the future optoelectronic application of the new material.

The infusion of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) potentially improves clinical symptoms, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. We conducted a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled (29 patients/group) phase II clinical trial to validate previous findings and explore the potential mechanisms. Patients treated with umbilical cord-derived MSCs exhibited a shorter hospital stay (P = 0.0198) and less time required for symptoms remission (P = 0.0194) than those who received placebo. Based on chest images, both severe and critical patients treated with MSCs showed improvement by day 7 (P = 0.0099) and day 21 (P = 0.0084). MSC-treated patients had fewer adverse events. MSC infusion reduced the levels of C-reactive protein, proinflammatory cytokines, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and promoted the maintenance of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. To explore how MSCs modulate the immune system, we employed single-cell RNA sequencing analysis on peripheral blood. Our analysis identified a novel subpopulation of VNN2+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor-like (HSPC-like) cells expressing CSF3R and PTPRE that were mobilized following MSC infusion. Genes encoding chemotaxis factors — CX3CR1 and L-selectin — were upregulated in various immune cells. MSC treatment also regulated B cell subsets and increased the expression of costimulatory CD28 in T cells in vivo and in vitro. In addition, an in vivo mouse study confirmed that MSCs suppressed NET release and reduced venous thrombosis by upregulating kindlin-3 signaling. Together, our results underscore the role of MSCs in improving COVID-19 patient outcomes via maintenance of immune homeostasis.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) capable of post-transcriptionally regulating mRNA expression are essential to tumor occurrence and progression. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to find negatively regulatory miRNA-mRNA pairs in prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD). METHODS: Combining The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) RNA-Seq data with Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) mRNA/miRNA expression profiles, differently expressed miRNA/mRNA (DE-miRNAs/DE-mRNAs) were identified. MiRNA-mRNA pairs were screened by miRTarBase and TarBase, databases collecting experimentally confirmed miRNA-mRNA pairs, and verified in 30 paired prostate specimens by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The diagnostic values of miRNA-mRNA pairs were measured by receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve and Decision Curve Analysis (DCA). DAVID-mirPath database and Connectivity Map were employed in GO/KEGG analysis and compounds research. Interactions between miRNA-mRNA pairs and phenotypic features were analyzed with correlation heatmap in hiplot. RESULTS: Based on TCGA RNA-Seq data, 22 miRNA and 14 mRNA GEO datasets, 67 (20 down and 47 up) miRNAs and 351 (139 up and 212 down) mRNAs were selected. After screening from 2 databases, 8 miRNA (up)-mRNA (down) and 7 miRNA (down)-mRNA (up) pairs were identified with Pearson’s correlation in TCGA. By external validation, miR-221-3p (down)/GALNT3 (up) and miR-20a-5p (up)/FRMD6 (down) were chosen. The model combing 4 signatures possessed better diagnostic value. These two miRNA-mRNA pairs were significantly connected with immune cells fraction and tumor immune microenvironment. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic model containing 2 negatively regulatory miRNA-mRNA pairs was established to distinguish PRADs from normal controls.

Background and Purpose: Berberine, a natural isoquinoline alkaloid, exhibits a variety of pharmacological effects but the pharmacological targets and mechanisms are remained elusive. Here, we report a novel finding that berberine inhibits acetylcholine (ACh)-induced Ca2+ oscillations which may underlie the pathogenesis of the L-arginine-induced mouse model of acute pancreatitis (AP). Experimental approach: Patch-clamp recordings and confocal Ca2+ imaging were applied in acute dissociated pancreatic acinar cells prepared from CD1 mice to examine the effects of berberine on ACh-induced Ca2+ oscillations. The L-arginine-induced acute pancreatitis mouse model was used to evaluate the protective effects of berberine against pathological changes. Key Results: Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings showed that berberine (from 0.1 to 10 µM) reduced ACh-induced Ca2+ oscillations in a concentration-dependent manner, and this inhibition was also depended on ACh concentrations. The inhibitory effect of berberine neither occurred in intracellular targets nor extracellular cholecystokinin (CCK) receptors, chloride (Cl-) channels, and store-operated Ca2+ channels. Together, the results demonstrate that berberine directly inhibits M3 muscarinic receptors, which is further confirmed by the evidence of the interaction between berberine and M3 receptors in acinar cells. In a L-arginine AP model, berberine eliminates the ACh-induced Ca2+ oscillations, the elevation of pancreatic amylase and pulmonary myeloperoxidase, and improves acinar cell pathological injury. Conclusions and Implications: We provide novel evidence that berberine inhibits M3 receptors, in turn eliminates ACh-induced Ca2+ oscillations and L-arginine-enhanced Ca2+ signaling, which underlie the protective effects of berberine on pancreatic acinar cells against pathological changes in an acute pancreatitis model.

MicroRNA (miRNA) function via base-pairing with complementary sequences within mRNA molecules. This study aims to identify critical miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs contributing to lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) pathogenesis.MiRNA and mRNA microarray and RNA-sequencing datasets were downloaded from gene expression omnibus (GEO) and the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) databases. Differential miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) and mRNAs (DE-mRNAs) were screened by the GEO2R tool and R packages. DAVID, DIANA, and Hiplot tools were used to perform gene enrichment analysis. The pairs of miRNA-mRNA were screened from the experimentally validated miRNA-target interactions databases (miRTarBase and TarBase). External validation was carried out in 30 pairs of LUAD tissues by quantitative reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The diagnostic value of the miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and decision curve analysis (DCA). Biological function assay was were also performed to confirm the function of miRNA-mRNA axis in LUAD progression. The study also performed the clinical, survival and tumor-associated phenotypic analysis of miRNA-mRNA pairs.A total of 7 miRNA and 13 mRNA expression datasets from GEO were analyzed, and 11 DE-miRNAs (5 down-regulated and 6 up-regulated in LUAD tissues) and 128 DE-mRNAs (30 up-regulated and 98 down-regulated in LUAD tissues) were identified. The pairs of miR-1-3p(down) and CENPF(up) and miR-126-5p(down) and UGT8(up) were verified in the external validation cohort (30 LUAD vs. 30 NC) using qRT-PCR. Areas under the ROC curve of the two miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs panel were 0.973 in TCGA-LUAD and 0.771 in the external validation. The DCA also showed that the miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs had an excellent diagnostic performance distinguishing LUAD from normal controls. The expression of the regulation pairs is different in different ages, TNM stages, and gender. The overexpression of miR-1-3p and miR-126-5p significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration of LUAD cells. Correlation analysis showed that CENPF correlated with prognosis and tumor immunity.The research identified potential miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs, providing a new idea for exploring the genesis and development of LUAD.

In this paper, we propose a novel design of a hybrid mobile robot with controllable stiffness and deformable shape. Compared to conventional mobile agents, our system can switch between rigid and compliant phases by solidifying or melting Field's metal in its structure and, thus, alter its shape through the motion of its active components. In the soft state, the robot's main body can bend into circular arcs, which enables it to conform to surrounding curved objects. This variable geometry of the robot creates new motion modes which cannot be described by standard (i.e., fixed geometry) models. To this end, we develop a unified mathematical model that captures the differential kinematics of both rigid and soft states. An optimised control strategy is further proposed to select the most appropriate phase states and motion modes needed to reach a target pose-shape configuration. The performance of our new method is validated with numerical simulations and experiments conducted on a prototype system. The simulation source code is available at https://github.com/Louashka/2sr-agent-simulation.git}{GitHub repository.

Estradiol regulates thyroid function, and chloride channels are involved in the regulation of thyroid function. However, little is known about the role of chloride channels in the regulation of thyroid functions by estrogen. In this study, the effects of estrogen on chloride channel activities in human thyroid Nthy-ori3-1 cells were therefore investigated using the whole cell patch-clamp technique. The results showed that the extracellular application of 17β-estradiol (E2) activated Cl− currents, which reversed at a potential close to Cl− equilibrium potential and showed remarkable outward rectification and an anion permeability of I− > Br− > Cl− > gluconate. The Cl− currents were inhibited by the chloride channel blockers, NPPB and tamoxifen. Quantitative Real-time PCR results demonstrated that ClC-3 expression was highest in ClC family member in Nthy-ori3-1 cells. The down-regulation of ClC-3 expression by ClC-3 siRNA inhibited E2-induced Cl− current. The Cl− current was blocked by the estrogen receptor antagonist, ICI 182780 (fulvestrant). Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and not estrogen receptor beta was the protein expressed in Nthy-ori3-1 cells, and the knockdown of ERα expression with ERα siRNA abolished E2-induced Cl− currents. Estradiol can promote the accumulation of ClC-3 in cell membrane. ERα and ClC-3 proteins were partially co-localized in the cell membrane of Nthy-ori3-1 cells after estrogen exposure. The results suggest that estrogen activates chloride channels via ERα in normal human thyroid cells, and ClC-3 proteins play a pivotal role in the activation of E2-induced Cl− current.

Cross-modal hashing encodes heterogeneous multimedia data into compact binary code to achieve fast and flexible retrieval across different modalities. Due to its low storage cost and high retrieval efficiency, it has received widespread attention. Supervised deep hashing significantly improves search performance and usually yields more accurate results, but requires a lot of manual annotation of the data. In contrast, unsupervised deep hashing is difficult to achieve satisfactory performance due to the lack of reliable supervisory information. To solve this problem, inspired by knowledge distillation, we propose a novel unsupervised knowledge distillation cross-modal hashing method based on semantic alignment (SAKDH), which can reconstruct the similarity matrix using the hidden correlation information of the pretrained unsupervised teacher model, and the reconstructed similarity matrix can be used to guide the supervised student model. Specifically, firstly, the teacher model adopted an unsupervised semantic alignment hashing method, which can construct a modal fusion similarity matrix. Secondly, under the supervision of teacher model distillation information, the student model can generate more discriminative hash codes. Experimental results on two extensive benchmark datasets (MIRFLICKR-25K and NUS-WIDE) show that compared to several representative unsupervised cross-modal hashing methods, the mean average precision (MAP) of our proposed method has achieved a significant improvement. It fully reflects its effectiveness in large-scale cross-modal data retrieval.