AbstractThis case study presents an investigation on building settlement induced by dewatering for a deep excavation constructed in a deposit in Tianjin, China. The excavation site is located in the ...Tianjin urban center, around which there are many existing buildings. Geological conditions at the site involve a multiaquifer system with one phreatic aquifer over three confined aquifers. To maintain the stability of the bottom of the excavation, a cutoff wall was used to block groundwater seepage with large diameter wells to lower the groundwater level. Field instrumentation was installed during construction to monitor (1) the quantity of withdrawn groundwater, (2) the groundwater head, and (3) the settlement of surrounding buildings. The field observations yielded the following results and implications: (1) pumping of groundwater could lead to large building settlement and a large area of ground settlement; (2) most of the settlement caused by dewatering did not rebound; (3) the cutoff wall played a significant role in reducing the building settlement during dewatering; and (4) the dewatering-on-demand procedure should be implemented during excavation.
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are a unique class of non-digestible carbohydrates present in the mother milk, which play a key role in the development of infant gut microbiota, epithelial barrier ...and immune function. The deficiency of HMOs in the bovine milk-based infant formula has been widely recognized as a major culprit for the much higher incidence of immune disorders of formula-fed infants. This report was to give an up-to-date review on the structure characteristics of HMOs and the possible mechanisms, and strategies for their cellular uptake, and metabolism by the gut bacteria and the associated effects on the infant gut microbiome, and immune function. Most previous studies have been carried out in animals or in vitro model systems on the utilization strategies for HMOs in infant bacteria and their roles in infant microbiome, and gut immune function. A few HMO molecules have been synthesized artificially and applied in infant formulas.
•HMOs have diverse structures mostly composed of five sugar residues with a DP of 3–32.•HMOs play important roles in development of infant microbiome and immune function.•HMOs are degraded extra-/intra-cellularly and utilized selectively by infant gut bacteria.•A few HMOs have been synthesized and applied in infant formula milk.•Much more effort is needed to understand the function and mechanism of HMOs in infant health.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•We consider pricing and product-bundling strategies for competing platforms.•We investigate the impacts of installed base, mixed bundling, and competition.•The platforms with installed base and ...competition will charge the same fees.•The mixed product-bundling strategy is a dominant equilibrium solution.•We also provide insights on the value of the mixed-bundling strategy.
We consider pricing and product-bundling strategies for two competing platforms with two groups of agents, customers and sellers (independent content developers). In this paper, two such groups are required to pay the platforms fixed (subscription) fees to gain access; each platform also produces its own integrated content. We investigate the impacts of installed base, mixed bundling, and competition on the platforms’ pricing and product-bundling strategies. We find that in the presence of both installed base and competition, each platform will charge sellers the same fee, regardless of whether the unbundling or mixed-bundling strategy is chosen. However, if the mixed-bundling strategy is used, the prices charged to customers may be higher relative to the unbundling equilibrium. Importantly, our results reveal that the mixed product-bundling strategy can be used as a strategic competitive tool for the competing platforms to seize more market share and induce the platforms to subsidize customers who buy the bundle by charging customers who only access the platforms (without bundling) a higher price. Moreover, we find that the proposed mixed product-bundling strategy is a dominant equilibrium solution for two competing platforms. We also show that under certain conditions, the mixed-bundling strategy can always bring larger value for both platforms if the intrinsic value of the integrated content (the fractions of the installed base) becomes smaller (higher) relative to the unbundling strategy. These results offer valuable implications for relevant practices.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This paper proposed a series of simple equations to calculate the head difference at the two sides of waterproof curtain. The barrier effect of waterproof curtain is considered from two situations ...with respect to without barrier case: (i) groundwater head difference below the barrier and (ii) groundwater head difference by convergence into the opening. The solution for the first situation can be derived from hydraulic analyses and the second situation can be obtained using a numerical analysis. The final groundwater head difference is the sum of these two situation according to the superposition principal. In the proposed equations, the head difference is expressed as a function of the inserted depth of the barrier into confined aquifer, the ratio of the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer, the thickness of the aquifer, and hydraulic gradient under normal conditions. Finally, the proposed equation was applied to a field case to verify the validity of the proposed approach. Compared with the field data, the results show that the proposed method is reasonable.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
To systematically review the epidemiologic relationship between periodontitis and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Four electronic databases were searched up until December 2018. The manual search ...included the reference lists of the included studies and relevant journals. Observational studies evaluating the relationship between T2DM and periodontitis were included. Meta-analyses were conducted using STATA.
A total of 53 observational studies were included. The Adjusted T2DM prevalence was significantly higher in periodontitis patients (OR = 4.04, p = 0.000), and vice versa (OR = 1.58, p = 0.000). T2DM patients had significantly worse periodontal status, as reflected in a 0.61 mm deeper periodontal pocket, a 0.89 mm higher attachment loss and approximately 2 more lost teeth (all p = 0.000), than those without T2DM. The results of the cohort studies found that T2DM could elevate the risk of developing periodontitis by 34% (p = 0.002). The glycemic control of T2DM patients might result in different periodontitis outcomes. Severe periodontitis increased the incidence of T2DM by 53% (p = 0.000), and this result was stable. In contrast, the impact of mild periodontitis on T2DM incidence (RR = 1.28, p = 0.007) was less robust.
There is an evident bidirectional relationship between T2DM and periodontitis. Further well-designed cohort studies are needed to confirm this finding. Our results suggest that both dentists and physicians need to be aware of the strong connection between periodontitis and T2DM. Controlling these two diseases might help prevent each other's incidence.
Obesity is associated with biological dysfunction in skeletal muscle. As a condition of obesity accompanied by muscle mass loss and physical dysfunction, sarcopenic obesity (SO) has become a novel ...public health problem. Human fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) plays a therapeutic role in metabolic diseases. However, the protective effects of FGF19 on skeletal muscle in obesity and SO are still not completely understood. Our results showed that FGF19 administration improved muscle loss and grip strength in young and aged mice fed a high‐fat diet (HFD). Increases in muscle atrophy markers (FOXO‐3, Atrogin‐1, MuRF‐1) were abrogated by FGF19 in palmitic acid (PA)‐treated C2C12 myotubes and in the skeletal muscle of HFD‐fed mice. FGF19 not only reduced HFD‐induced body weight gain, excessive lipid accumulation and hyperlipidaemia but also promoted energy expenditure (PGC‐1α, UCP‐1, PPAR‐γ) in brown adipose tissue (BAT). FGF19 treatment restored PA‐ and HFD‐induced hyperglycaemia, impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance (IRS‐1, GLUT‐4) and mitigated the PA‐ and HFD‐induced decrease in FNDC‐5/irisin expression. However, these beneficial effects of FGF19 on skeletal muscle were abolished by inhibiting AMPK, SIRT‐1 and PGC‐1α expression. Taken together, this study suggests that FGF19 protects skeletal muscle against obesity‐induced muscle atrophy, metabolic derangement and abnormal irisin secretion partially through the AMPK/SIRT‐1/PGC‐α signalling pathway, which might be a potential therapeutic target for obesity and SO.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The role of TELO2‐interacting protein 1 (TTI1) in the progression of several types of cancer has been reported recently. The aim of this study was to estimate the expression and potential value of ...TTI1 in non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The expression of TTI1 and its prognostic value in NSCLC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were analyzed. To verify the bioinformatics findings, a tissue microarray containing 160 NSCLC and paired peritumoral tissues from NSCLC patients was analyzed by immunohistochemistry for TTI1. Subsequently, the roles of TTI1 in NSCLC cells were investigated in vivo by establishing xenograft models in nude mice and in vitro by transwell, CCK‐8, wound healing, and colony formation assays. In addition, quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction and western blot were applied to explore the underlying mechanism by which TTI1 promotes tumor progression. Finally, the relationship between TTI1 and Ki67 expression level in NSCLC was probed, and Kaplan–Meier and Cox analyses were performed to assess the prognostic merit of TTI1 and Ki67 in NSCLC patients. We found that the expression of TTI1 was significantly upregulated in NSCLC tissues compared to paired peritumoral tissues, which coincides with the bioinformatics findings from the TCGA and GEO databases. TTI1 was highly expressed in NSCLC patients with large tumors, advanced tumor stage, and lymphatic metastasis. In addition, the prognostic analysis identified TTI1 as an independent indication for poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. In vitro, upregulation of TTI1 in NSCLC cells could facilitate cell invasion, metastasis, viability, and proliferation. Mechanistically, our study verified that TTI1 could regulate mTOR activity, which has a pivotal role in human cancer. Consistently, the expressions of TTI1 and Ki67 had a positive relationship in NSCLC cells and tissues. Notably, patients with overexpression of TTI1 or Ki67 had a shorter overall survival rate and a higher disease‐free survival rate compared to patients with low expression of TTI1 or Ki67, and the combination of TTI1 and Ki67 was an independent parameter predicting the prognosis and recurrence of NSCLC patients. We conclude that TTI1 promotes NSCLC cell proliferation, metastasis, and invasion by regulating mTOR activity, and the combination of TTI1 and Ki67 is a valuable molecular biomarker for the survival and recurrence of NSCLC patients.
Our study demonstrated for the first time that TTI1 could promote NSCLC cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis in vitro, and boost NSCLC cell progression in vivo. The study also demonstrated an independent prognostic role of TTI1 in NSCLC. In terms of mechanism, TTI1 could regulate the mTOR signaling pathway. The expression of TTI1 and KI67 had a positive correlation in NSCLC and combination of TTI1 and KI67 is a valuable biomarker for predicting the survival and recurrence of patients with NSCLC.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
ABSTRACT
Diabetes nephropathy (DN) is characterized by abnormal interactions between kidney‐infiltrating macrophages and glomerular mesangial cells. Recently, a novel cell‐cell communication mediated ...by exosomes has gained attention. Exosomes are membrane‐bound vesicles that contain a variety of molecules such as proteins, lipids, DNA, mRNA, and microRNAs. Exosomes play an important role in the pathogenesis of DN. In this study, we show that high glucose (HG) led to increased excretion of exosomes from macrophages. Mesangial cells took up exosomes in vitro, which resulted in the activation and proliferation of mesangial cells and the secretion of extracellular matrix and inflammatory cytokines. In addition, C57BL/6 mice injected with exosomes from HG‐treated macrophages showed morphologic and functional changes. We then showed that exosomes from HG‐treated TGF‐β1 knockdown macrophages induced less extracellular matrix and fewer inflammatory factors in mesangial cells compared with vector control. Our findings suggest that TGF‐β1 mRNA in exosomes serves a role between macrophages and mesangial cells by activating the TGF‐β1/ mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 pathway.—Zhu, Q.‐J., Zhu, M., Xu, M.‐X., Meng, X.‐M., Wu, Y.‐G. Exosomes from high glucose‐treated macrophages activate glomerular mesangial cells via TGF‐β1/Smad3 pathway in vivo and in vitro. FASEB J. 33, 9279–9290 (2019). www.fasebj.org
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Combined enzymatic and ultrasonic treatment was evaluated for efficient extraction of pectin from sisal waste in comparison with other extraction methods. The sequential treatment with enzyme ...(Celluclast 1.5 L) followed by ultrasound of sisal waste attained a much higher pectin yield of 31.1% than the ultrasound followed by enzyme, 14.6%. The pectin yield attained with the combined enzymatic/ultrasonic extraction was also higher than enzymatic extraction (9.4%), ultrasonic extraction (11.9%) and acidic extraction (5.8%). The pectin attained using the combined enzymatic/ultrasonic extraction (PEU) exhibited a higher galacturonic acid content (62.88%) and a higher degree of esterification (49.64%), indicating a better preserved polymer chain than that using acidic extraction (PA). PEU had a higher molar mass (7.65 × 105 g/mol) and a lower Mw/Mn than PA. Meanwhile, all sisal pectins showed the similar sugar composition regardless of the extraction methods according to FT-IR analysis. The results of rheological test showed that PEU in water turned from gel to liquid with increasing angle-frequency, while PA remained in a gel state. Compared with PA, the viscoelastic properties of PEU were more sensitive to temperature changes. SEM observation of the sisal residues after pectin extraction revealed a synergistic effect of the enzymatic and ultrasonic treatment on the solid structure, which may be contributable to the improved pectin extraction efficiency. The results from the present study suggest that the combination of enzymatic and ultrasonic extraction is an efficient process strategy for production of high quality pectins.
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•Sisal waste is an attractive feedstock for pectin production.•Combined enzymatic/ultrasonic extraction greatly promoted the sisal pectin yield.•Sisal pectin from combined enzymatic/ultrasonic extraction exhibited high galacturonic acid content.•The enzymatic and ultrasonic treatment has a synergistic effect on pectin extraction.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
The aberrant expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been reported frequently in specific cancers, including high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). The purpose of the present study was to ...explore the clinical significance and underlying mechanisms of a significantly dysregulated lncRNA (NEAT1) in HGSOC. Our results showed that elevated NEAT1 expression in human HGSOC specimens correlated with a poor prognosis. Functional experiments demonstrated that knockdown of NEAT1 significantly prohibited ovarian cancer cell proliferation and invasion in vitro and restrained tumor growth in vivo. LIN28B was identified by bioinformatics analysis along with experimental evidence as a direct actor that enhanced NEAT1 stability. A rescue functional assay confirmed that the LIN28B/NEAT1 axis contributed to oncogenic functions in ovarian cancer cells. Moreover, gene expression profile data and dual luciferase reporter assay results demonstrated that NEAT1 functioned as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-506 to promote cell proliferation and migration. Taken together, our results showed that NEAT1, stabilized by LIN28B, promoted HGSOC progression by sponging miR-506. Thus, NEAT1 can be regarded as a vital diagnostic biomarker for HGSOC and a therapeutic target.
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