In this study, fluidization of granular activated carbon (GAC) by the recirculation of a bulk suspension through an anaerobic fluidized bed membrane bioreactor (AFMBR) and biogas sparging from the ...bottom of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (G-AnMBR) for treating low-strength wastewater were compared to investigate organic removal and fouling rate. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency obtained by both the AFMBR and G-AnMBR exceeded 90 %, and the proportion of methane in the biogas produced was 60 % at the same hydraulic retention time (HRT). In the AFMBR, the transmembrane pressure (TMP) gradually increased, but a rapid TMP jump was not observed during operational period. In the G-AnMBR, the TMP increased rapidly as the biogas flowrate was 2 and 3 L/min (LPM) at 8 h of HRT while the TMP below 0.1 bar was maintained over 90 d at 4 LPM. Our results also indicated that organic micropollutants, such as Bisphenol A (BPA), Sulfamethoxazole (SMX), and Methylparaben (MeP), were removed by AFMBR almost completely. However, the G-AnMBR showed relatively low SMX and MeP removal efficiencies of 47.6 % and 74.9 %, respectively. The estimated energy required to operate the G-AnMBR was 1.37 kW h/m3, while it was only 0.06 kW h/m3 for AFMBR.
Using a non-stationary Generalized Extreme Value statistical method, we calculate selected extreme daily temperature and precipitation indices and their 20 year return values from the CMIP5 and CMIP6 ...historically forced climate models. We evaluate model performance of these indices and their return values in replicating similar quantities calculated from gridded land based daily observations. We find that at their standard resolutions, there are no meaningful differences between the two generations of models in their quality of simulated extreme daily temperature and precipitation.
•Myosteatosis, excessive fat in muscle, is an emerging distinct disease entity and increases with aging.•Myosteatosis is most widely diagnosed by evaluation of muscle radiodensity on ...CT.•Heterogeneity in diagnosis of myosteatosis which needs to be standardized.•Negative impact of myosteatosis on survival and complications on various diseases.•Further research is needed regarding molecular mechanism of myosteatosis on mortality.
Myosteatosis, which is excessive fat infiltration in the skeletal muscle, is now considered a distinct disease from sarcopenia. Advances in imaging technique have made muscle parameters an evaluable biomarker, and many studies have proved association between myosteatosis and aging or disease process. However, the diagnosis and clinical impact of myosteatosis have not been well established. Thus, we aim to provide a systematic summary with a qualitive review of 73 eligible studies regarding these issues. First, the most widely used modality to diagnose myosteatosis is abdominal computed tomography, based on evaluation of the muscle radiodensity of the total abdominal muscle area predominantly at the L3 vertebral level. However, there was significant heterogeneity in the diagnostic methods and cutoff values used to diagnose myosteatosis (32 different cutoff values among 73 studies). Second, the clinical impact of myosteatosis on prognosis was very straightforward, and most studies have shown a negative impact of myosteatosis on overall survival and complications related to underlying diseases. However, the mechanism of the myosteatosis on mortality has not been explored well, and metabolic dysfunction (i.e. insulin resistance, systemic inflammation) would be a possible explanation. Providing systemic review of current issues can elucidate future directions for developing standardized diagnosis and management of myosteatosis.
Many climate models struggle with a poor simulation of the Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO), especially its propagation across the Maritime Continent (MC). This study quantitatively evaluates the ...robustness of MJO propagation over the MC in climate models that participated in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and Phase 6 (CMIP6) with a newly developed MC propagation metric. The results show that the CMIP6 models simulate MJO propagation over the MC more realistically than the CMIP5 models. Lower free‐tropospheric moisture budget analysis highlights that the greater horizontal moisture advection is responsible for the enhanced MJO propagation over the MC. The increase in horizontal moisture advection in the CMIP6 models is mainly attributed to the steeper horizontal mean state moisture gradient around the MC, which is associated with the reduction of the equatorial dry bias.
Plain Language Summary
The Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO), planetary‐scale eastward propagating tropical convective cloud clusters coupled with large‐scale circulation, is the dominant mode of intraseasonal variability in the tropics and thereby influences a wide range of weather and climate phenomena. Unfortunately, however, many contemporary climate models struggle to simulate a realistic MJO propagation across the Maritime Continent, and this common bias had persisted over the previous generations of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). We show that, in the newly released CMIP Phase 6 (CMIP6) models, the simulation of the MJO propagation is significantly improved when compared to their predecessors—CMIP Phase 5 (CMIP5) models. The improvement in the MJO simulation is mainly due to the reduction of the dry bias that many CMIP5 models exhibit over the Indo‐Pacific Warm Pool region.
Key Points
A metric indicating the robustness of MJO propagation across the MC is developed and applied to 30 CMIP5 and 34 CMIP6 models
CMIP6 models represent MJO propagation over the MC more realistically than the CMIP5 models
The improvement in MJO propagation is due to the steepening of the mean state moisture gradient around the MC
Understanding the causal impact that clinical risk factors have on healthcare-related costs is critical to evaluate healthcare interventions. Here, we used a genetically-informed design, Mendelian ...Randomization (MR), to infer the causal impact of 15 risk factors on annual total healthcare costs. We calculated healthcare costs for 373,160 participants from the FinnGen Study and replicated our results in 323,774 individuals from the United Kingdom and Netherlands. Robust causal effects were observed for waist circumference (WC), adult body mass index, and systolic blood pressure, in which a standard deviation increase corresponded to 22.78% 95% CI: 18.75-26.95, 13.64% 10.26-17.12, and 13.08% 8.84-17.48 increased healthcare costs, respectively. A lack of causal effects was observed for certain clinically relevant biomarkers, such as albumin, C-reactive protein, and vitamin D. Our results indicated that increased WC is a major contributor to annual total healthcare costs and more attention may be given to WC screening, surveillance, and mitigation.
High‐entropy alloys refer to near‐equimolar alloys of five or more elements and are receiving attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties. In electrocatalysis, they serve as active ...sites in multiple elements, favoring the optimized adsorption/desorption property toward the target reaction. High‐entropy nanomaterials (HENMs) are attractive candidates as electrocatalysts by taking advantage of a high surface‐to‐volume ratio and tailored composition. This review begins with the concept of high‐entropy materials and various strategies for designing electrocatalysts. Then, the recent advances in HENMs as electrocatalysts for various applications (water‐splitting reaction, carbon dioxide reduction reaction, alcohol oxidation reaction, etc.) are introduced with their catalytic performances. Finally, based on the current status of HENMs for electrocatalysis, the challenging aspects and the future insight of HENMs for advanced electrocatalysis are discussed and proposed.
High‐entropy nanomaterials (HENMs) are attracting attention in the field of electrocatalysis because of their remarkable advantages. This review introduces the recent development of HENMs for electrocatalysis and various design strategies such as composition control, morphology control, and computational approach. The current challenges of HENMs as electrocatalysts are provided, and perspectives toward advanced electrocatalysis using high‐entropy materials are suggested.
The role of adipocytes in cancer microenvironment has gained focus during the recent years. However, the characteristics of the cancer-associated adipocytes (CAA) in human breast cancer tissues and ...the underlying regulatory mechanism are not clearly understood. We reviewed pathology specimens of breast cancer patients to understand the morphologic characteristics of CAA, and profiled the mRNA and miRNA expression of CAA by using indirect co-culture system in vitro. The CAAs in human breast cancers showed heterogeneous topographic relationship with breast cancer cells within the breast microenvironment. The CAAs exhibited the characteristics of de-differentiation determined by their microscopic appearance and the expression levels of adipogenic markers. Additionally, the 3T3-L1 adipocytes indirectly co-cultured with breast cancer cells showed up-regulation of inflammation-related genes including Il6 and Ptx3. The up-regulation of IL6 in CAA was further observed in human breast cancer tissues. miRNA array of indirectly co-cultured 3T3-L1 cells showed increased expression of mmu-miR-5112 which may target Cpeb1. Cpeb1 is a negative regulator of Il6. The suppressive role of mmu-miR-5112 was confirmed by dual luciferase reporter assay, and mmu-miR-5112-treated adipocytes showed up-regulation of Il6. The transition of adipocytes into more inflammatory CAA resulted in proliferation-promoting effect in ER positive breast cancer cells such as MCF7 and ZR-75-1 but not in ER negative cells. In this study, we have determined the de-differentiated and inflammatory natures of CAA in breast cancer microenvironment. Additionally, we propose a miRNA-based regulatory mechanism underlying the process of acquiring inflammatory phenotypes in CAA.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
As sarcopenia research has been gaining emphasis, the need for quantification of abdominal muscle on computed tomography (CT) is increasing. Thus, a fully automated system to select L3 slice and ...segment muscle in an end-to-end manner is demanded. We aimed to develop a deep learning model (DLM) to select the L3 slice with consideration of anatomic variations and to segment cross-sectional areas (CSAs) of abdominal muscle and fat. Our DLM, named L3SEG-net, was composed of a YOLOv3-based algorithm for selecting the L3 slice and a fully convolutional network (FCN)-based algorithm for segmentation. The YOLOv3-based algorithm was developed via supervised learning using a training dataset (n = 922), and the FCN-based algorithm was transferred from prior work. Our L3SEG-net was validated with internal (n = 496) and external validation (n = 586) datasets. Ground truth L3 level CT slice and anatomic variation were identified by a board-certified radiologist. L3 slice selection accuracy was evaluated by the distance difference between ground truths and DLM-derived results. Technical success for L3 slice selection was defined when the distance difference was < 10 mm. Overall segmentation accuracy was evaluated by CSA error and DSC value. The influence of anatomic variations on DLM performance was evaluated. In the internal and external validation datasets, the accuracy of automatic L3 slice selection was high, with mean distance differences of 3.7 ± 8.4 mm and 4.1 ± 8.3 mm, respectively, and with technical success rates of 93.1% and 92.3%, respectively. However, in the subgroup analysis of anatomic variations, the L3 slice selection accuracy decreased, with distance differences of 12.4 ± 15.4 mm and 12.1 ± 14.6 mm, respectively, and with technical success rates of 67.2% and 67.9%, respectively. The overall segmentation accuracy of abdominal muscle areas was excellent regardless of anatomic variation, with CSA errors of 1.38-3.10 cm
. A fully automatic system was developed for the selection of an exact axial CT slice at the L3 vertebral level and the segmentation of abdominal muscle areas.
Both extrinsic signaling and intrinsic regulation are critical for maintaining cellular homeostasis, and their dysregulation is often associated with tumorigenesis and human diseases. This report ...outlines three distinct C. elegans tumor models resulting from mutations in conserved extrinsic signaling pathways (e.g., Notch signaling) and intrinsic RNA-binding proteins (e.g., GLDs and PUF). These models highlight how C. elegans Notch signaling and RNA-binding proteins contribute to tumor initiation, progression, and suppression, depending on the cellular context. Therefore, in addition to targeting oncogenic signaling pathways, directing attention toward RNA-binding proteins holds great potential for a tumor-type-specific therapy approach. Tumor cells display abnormal growth and division, avoiding the natural process of cell death. These cells can be benign (non-cancerous growth) or malignant (cancerous growth). Over the past few decades, numerous in vitro or in vivo tumor models have been employed to understand the molecular mechanisms associated with tumorigenesis in diverse regards. However, our comprehension of how non-tumor cells transform into tumor cells at molecular and cellular levels remains incomplete. The nematode C. elegans has emerged as an excellent model organism for exploring various phenomena, including tumorigenesis. Although C. elegans does not naturally develop cancer, it serves as a valuable platform for identifying oncogenes and the underlying mechanisms within a live organism. In this review, we describe three distinct germline tumor models in C. elegans, highlighting their associated mechanisms and related regulators: (1) ectopic proliferation due to aberrant activation of GLP-1/Notch signaling, (2) meiotic entry failure resulting from the loss of GLD-1/STAR RNA-binding protein, (3) spermatogenic dedifferentiation caused by the loss of PUF-8/PUF RNA-binding protein. Each model requires the mutations of specific genes (glp-1, gld-1, and puf-8) and operates through distinct molecular mechanisms. Despite these differences in the origins of tumorigenesis, the internal regulatory networks within each tumor model display shared features. Given the conservation of many of the regulators implicated in C. elegans tumorigenesis, it is proposed that these unique models hold significant potential for enhancing our comprehension of the broader control mechanisms governing tumorigenesis.
We aimed to investigate the clinical factors affecting the therapeutic effectiveness of the sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor empagliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We ...reviewed the medical records of 374 T2DM patients aged between 20 and 75 years who were prescribed empagliflozin 10 mg or 25 mg as add-on therapy for more than 90 consecutive days. Changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) from baseline levels and the reduction in body weights of the study participants were assessed. We found that younger patients (≤ 50 years), patients with the highest levels of HbA1c (>9%) at baseline, patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of >90 mL/min/1.73 m2, and patients with a shorter duration of T2DM (< 10 years) were more likely to exhibit a better glycemic response. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that a shorter duration of T2DM, higher baseline levels of HbA1c, and higher eGFR were positively associated with HbA1c reduction. Higher BMI and lower HbA1c levels were predictors of a more significant reduction in body weight among patients taking empagliflozin. The glucose-lowering effect of empagliflozin was more evident in T2DM patients with higher baseline HbA1c levels, better renal function, and shorter duration of T2DM.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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