Inflammation is a tissue response to a variety of harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, irritants, and injuries, and can eliminate insults and limit tissue damage. However, dysregulated inflammation is ...recognized as a cause of many human diseases, exemplified by organ fibrosis and cancer. In this regard, inflammation-promoted fibrosis is commonly observed in human lung diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and pneumoconiosis. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a type of nanomaterials with unique properties and various industrial and commercial applications. On the other hand, certain forms of CNTs are potent inducers of inflammation and fibrosis in animal lungs. Notably, acute inflammation is a remarkable phenotype elicited by CNTs in the lung during the early acute phase post-exposure; whereas a type 2 immune response is evidently activated and dominates during the late acute and chronic phases, leading to type 2 inflammation and lung fibrosis. Numerous studies demonstrate that these immune responses involve distinct immune cells, various pathologic factors, and specific functions and play crucial roles in the initiation and progression of inflammation and fibrosis in the lung exposed to CNTs. Thus, the mechanistic understanding of the immune responses activated by CNTs has drawn great attention in recent years. This article reviews the major findings on the cell signaling pathways that are activated in immune cells and exert functions in promoting immune responses in CNT-exposed lungs, which would provide new insights into the understanding of CNT-induced lung inflammation and inflammation-driven fibrosis, the application of CNT-induced lung inflammation and fibrosis as a new disease model, and the potential of targeting immune cells as a therapeutic strategy for relevant human lung diseases.
Engineering non‐noble metal–based electrocatalysts with superior water oxidation performance is highly desirable for the production of renewable chemical fuels. Here, an atomically thin ...low‐crystallinity Fe–Mn–O hybrid nanosheet grown on carbon cloth (Fe–Mn–O NS/CC) is successfully synthetized as an efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst. The synthesis strategy involves a facile reflux reaction and subsequent low‐temperature calcination process, and the morphology and composition of hybrid nanosheets can be tailored conveniently. The defect‐rich Fe–Mn–O ultrathin nanosheet with uniform element distribution enables exposure of more catalytic active sites; moreover, the atomic‐scale synergistic action of Mn and Fe oxide contributes to an enhanced intrinsic catalytic activity. Therefore, the optimized Fe–Mn–O hybrid nanosheets, with lateral sizes of about 100–600 nm and ≈1.4 nm in thickness, enable a low onset potential of 1.46 V, low overpotential of 273 mV for current density of 10 mA cm−2, a small Tafel slope of 63.9 mV dec−1, and superior durability, which are superior to that of individual MnO2 and FeOOH electrode, and even outperforming most reported MnO2‐based electrocatalysts.
A defect‐rich Fe–Mn–O hybrid ultrathin nanosheet obtained by simple reflux and low‐temperature calcination route exhibits superior oxygen evolution reaction activity at alkaline media. The ultrathin nanosheets of ≈1.4 nm thick make it possible to expose more catalytic active sites; moreover, the atomic‐scale synergistic action of Mn and Fe oxide and defect‐rich structure contributes to an enhanced intrinsic catalytic activity.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Self‐assembly of luminescent moieties into porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has generated many luminescent platforms for probing volatile organic molecules (VOMs). However, most of those ...explored thus far have only been based on the luminescence intensity of one transition, which is not efficient for probing different VOMs. We have synthesized a luminescent MOF material containing 1D nanotube channels, and further developed a luminescent dye@MOF platform to realize the probing of different VOMs by tuning the energy transfer efficiency between two different emissions. The dye@MOF platform exhibits excellent fingerprint correlation between the VOM and the emission peak‐height ratio of ligand to dye moieties. The dye@MOF sensor is self‐calibrating, stable, and instantaneous, thus the approach should be a very promising strategy to develop luminescent materials with unprecedented practical applications.
Got the glow: A 3D coordination network with large hexagonal nanotube channels based on 1D infinite rod‐shaped metal‐carboxylate chains is reported. This material can absorb Rhodamine B dye into its pores to form a luminescent platform for visually probing different small molecules.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The construction direction of Japanese teaching evaluation system based on hybrid teaching mode is to give full feedback to teaching process, diversify evaluation subjects and evaluation methods, and ...obtain comprehensive and objective evaluation results. Compared with most similar studies, more EEG data of teachers’ emotional stress relief and healthy people in Japanese teaching process were collected, and a large number of features were extracted. An experiment of teachers’ emotional stress relief recognition in Japanese teaching process based on EEG signal was designed. The feature selection algorithm was used to screen the EEG feature combinations of teachers’ emotional stress relief and healthy subjects, and the classification experiment was carried out to verify the difference. Finally, this paper uses the feature selection algorithm of tree model and the random forest model classifier to establish the recognition model of teachers’ emotional stress discharge in Japanese teaching process based on EEG signals and achieves the effect of more accurate recognition of teachers’ emotional stress discharge in Japanese teaching process. First, the connotation, value, and influencing factors of teachers’ emotion management ability are logically integrated and systematically expounded. Second, based on emotional psychology, emotional intelligence theory, psychotherapy theory, and management theory, teachers’ emotional management ability is constructed according to the three-dimensional structure theory of intelligence and information processing theory. It is constructed from three dimensions: object dimension (teachers themselves, students, and students), content dimension (positive and negative emotions), and operational dimension (emotional perception, emotional understanding, emotional expression, and emotional regulation).
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
This paper proposes a hierarchical active balancing architecture for the series-connected lithium-ion batteries. The key point of the architecture is that by grouping the battery string into ...different packs and introducing the top layer, the coupled influence among the cells in different packs is eliminated, which reduces the required balancing time and the energy loss. The repeated charging and discharging problem is avoided, which is beneficial for increasing the state-of-health. Moreover, the proposed architecture can lower the current rating of the balancing circuits, which helps decrease the required cost and improve the system efficiency. On the basis of the architecture, a balancing control using the state-of-charge of each cell is proposed to achieve the balance for all the cells. Furthermore, to deliver the energy from one pack to any other pack bidirectionally, a multidirectional multiport converter along with the current control method is proposed to serve as the top layer. This converter is different from the conventional three-port converter as it can achieve the arbitrary current flow direction control for any number of ports. The experimental results based on 24 series-connected 200-Ah lithium-ion batteries verified the benefits of the proposed architecture and the balancing circuits. After balancing, 4.1% of the total energy of the battery string is saved. Compared to the conventional adjacent cell-to-cell architecture, the proposed architecture can decrease the balancing time and the energy loss during the balancing process by 27.6% and 44.0%, respectively. In addition, the current rating and the cost of the balancing circuits in the proposed architecture is only 37.5% and 11.5% of that in other references.
The emergence of a novel avian-origin influenza A virus strain (H7N9) causing severe human disease in China has raised serious concerns. In this report, key clinical and virologic features of this ...outbreak are presented.
Sporadic human infections with avian influenza A viruses, which usually occur after recent exposure to poultry, have caused a wide spectrum of illness, ranging from conjunctivitis and upper respiratory tract disease to pneumonia and multiorgan failure. Low pathogenic avian influenza A (H7N2, H7N3, H9N2, or H10N7)
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virus infections have caused lower respiratory tract illness that is mild (conjunctivitis or uncomplicated influenza-like illness) to moderate in severity. Most human infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (H7) viruses have resulted in conjunctivitis (H7N3) or uncomplicated influenza illness, but one case of fatal acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was reported . . .
Abstract Tremendous information is hidden in the light curve of a gamma-ray burst (GRB). Based on Compton Gamma Ray Observatory/Burst And Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) data, Hakkila found a ...majority of GRBs can be characterized by a smooth, single-peaked component superposed with a temporally symmetrical residual structure, i.e., a mirror feature for the fast-varying component. In this study, we conduct a similar analysis on the same data, as well as on Fermi/Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor data. We obtained a similar conclusion, which is that most GRBs have this symmetrical fast-varying component. Furthermore, we chose an alternative model to characterize the smooth component and used a three-parameter model to identify the residual, i.e., the fast component. By choosing 226 BATSE GRBs based on a few criteria, we checked the time-symmetrical feature and time-translational feature for the fast components and found the ratio is roughly 1:1. We propose that both features could come from the structure of the ejected shells. In the future, the Square Kilometre Array might be able to observe the early radio emission from the collision of the shells.
Long non-coding (lnc) RNAs are non-coding RNAs longer than 200 nt. lncRNAs primarily interact with mRNA, DNA, protein, and miRNA and consequently regulate gene expression at the epigenetic, ...transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational, and post-translational levels in a variety of ways. They play important roles in biological processes such as chromatin remodeling, transcriptional activation, transcriptional interference, RNA processing, and mRNA translation. lncRNAs have important functions in plant growth and development; biotic and abiotic stress responses; and in regulation of cell differentiation, the cell cycle, and the occurrence of many diseases in humans and animals. In this review, we summarize the functions and mechanisms of lncRNAs in plants, humans, and animals at different regulatory levels.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Background Irisin is a novel exercise-induced myokine involved in the regulation of adipose browning and thermogenesis. In this study, we investigated the potential role of irisin in ...cerebral ischemia and determined whether irisin is involved in the neuroprotective effect of physical exercise in mice. Materials and Methods The middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was used to produce cerebral ischemia in mice. First, the plasma irisin levels and changes in expression of the irisin precursor protein FNDC5 in skeletal muscle were determined post ischemic stroke. Second, the association between plasma irisin levels and the neurological deficit score, brain infarct volume, or plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β in mice with MCAO were evaluated. Third, the therapeutic effect of irisin on ischemic brain injury was evaluated in vivo and in vitro. Recombinant irisin was injected directly into the tail vein 30 min after the MCAO operation, and then the effects of irisin treatment on brain infarct volume, neurological deficit, neuroinflammation, microglia activation, monocyte infiltration, oxidative stress and intracellular signaling pathway activation (Akt and ERK1/2) were measured. Irisin was also administered in cultured PC12 neuronal cells with oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD). Finally, to assess the potential involvement of irisin in the neuroprotection of physical exercise, mice were exercised for 2 weeks and an irisin neutralizing antibody was injected into these mice to block irisin 1 h before the MCAO operation. Results The plasma irisin concentration and intramuscular FNDC5 protein expression decreased after ischemic stroke. Plasma irisin levels were negatively associated with brain infarct volume, the neurological deficit score, plasma TNF-α and plasma IL-6 concentrations. In OGD neuronal cells, irisin protected against cell injury. In mice with MCAO, irisin treatment reduced the brain infarct volume, neurological deficits, brain edema and the decline in body weight. Irisin treatment inhibited activation of Iba-1+ microglia, infiltration of MPO-1+ monocytes and expression of both TNF-α and IL-6 mRNA. Irisin significantly suppressed the levels of nitrotyrosine, superoxide anion and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) in peri-infarct brain tissues. Irisin treatment increased Akt and ERK1/2 phosphorylation, while blockade of Akt and ERK1/2 by specific inhibitors reduced the neuroprotective effects of irisin. Finally, the exercised mice injected with irisin neutralizing antibody displayed more severe neuronal injury than the exercised mice injected with control IgG. Conclusion Irisin reduces ischemia-induced neuronal injury via activation of the Akt and ERK1/2 signaling pathways and contributes to the neuroprotective effect of physical exercise against cerebral ischemia, suggesting that irisin may be a factor linking metabolism and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
This short paper discusses language and globalization in the context of COVID-19. The pandemic has important impacts on people across the globe, and in particular the absence of face-to-face ...interaction results in new forms of communication and may lead to new ways of language change. This paper revisits sociolinguistics and globalization, and discusses challenges brought about by COVID-19 and its containment measures. The pandemic generates particularly discourses, especially from those who are affected the most. This paper includes a vignette of such discourses to show that mobility and inequality remain key issues in the current stage of globalization.
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