Osteoarthritis is a common disease character with progressive destruction of cartilage. MicroRNA (miR)-140-3p was validated as a biomarker for osteoarthritis. However, the mechanism by which ...miRNA-140-3p regulates osteoarthritis remains unclear. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the potential function of miRNA-140-3p during the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. MiRNA-140-3p expression in tissue and CHON-001 chondrocyte cells was determined with quantitative real time (qRT)-PCR. In vitro osteoarthritis model was established by treatment of the chondrocyte cells CHON-001 with interleukin (IL)-1β. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were measured with cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) and Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) apoptosis assay, respectively. Protein expressions were evaluated using Western blot. The target gene of miR-140-3p was predicted using Targetscan and miRDB. MiR-140-3p was downregulated in knee tissue from patients with osteoarthritis. IL-1β inhibited the proliferation of CHON-001 cells via inducing apoptosis. In addition, IL-1β significantly inhibited the expressions of collagen II and aggrecan and increased the level of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)13. However, the effects of IL-1β could be ameliorated by the addition of miR-140-3p mimics. Moreover, luciferase reporter assay demonstrated CXCR4 as a target gene of miR-140-3p. IL-1β-induced upregulation of CXCR4 could be blocked by miR-140-3p mimics. Our study indicated that miR-140-3p could suppress the progression of osteoarthritis by directly targeting CXCR4. Therefore, miR-140-3p might serve as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of osteoarthritis.
Adaptive radiations provide unique opportunities to test whether and how recent ecological and evolutionary diversification of host species structures the composition of entire bacterial communities. ...We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing of faecal samples to test for differences in the gut microbiota of six species of Puerto Rican Anolis lizards characterized by the evolution of distinct ‘ecomorphs’ related to differences in habitat use. We found substantial variation in the composition of the microbiota within each species and ecomorph (trunk‐crown, trunk‐ground, grass‐bush), but no differences in bacterial alpha diversity among species or ecomorphs. Beta diversity analyses revealed subtle but significant differences in bacterial composition related to host phylogeny and species, but these differences were not consistently associated with Anolis ecomorph. Comparison of a trunk‐ground species from this clade (A. cristatellus) with a distantly related member of the same ecomorph class (A. sagrei) where the two species have been introduced and are now sympatric in Florida revealed pronounced differences in the alpha diversity and beta diversity of their microbiota despite their ecological similarity. Comparisons of these populations with allopatric conspecifics also revealed geographic differences in bacterial alpha diversity and beta diversity within each species. Finally, we observed high intraindividual variation over time and strong effects of a simplified laboratory diet on the microbiota of A. sagrei. Collectively, our results indicate that bacterial communities are only weakly shaped by the diversification of their lizard hosts due to the strikingly high levels of bacterial diversity and variation observed within Anolis species.
A novel stimulus-responsive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoprobe has been developed for sensitive glutathione (GSH) detection based on manganese dioxide (MnO
2
) core and silver/gold ...nanoparticles (Ag/Au NPs). The MnO
2
core is not only capable to act as a scaffold to amplify the SERS signal via producing “hot spots”, but also can be degraded in the presence of the target and thus greatly enhance the nanoprobe sensitivity for sensing of GSH. This approach enables a wide linear range from 1 to 100 µM with a 2.95 µM (3σ/m) detection limit. Moreover, the developed SERS nanoprobe represents great possibility in both sensitive detection of intracellular GSH and even can monitor the change of intracellular GSH level when the stimulant occurs. This sensing system not merely offers a novel strategy for sensitive sensing of GSH, but also provides a new avenue for other biomolecules detection.
Graphical Abstract
The gut microbiome impacts host health and fitness, in part through the diversification of gut metabolic function and pathogen protection. Elevations in glucocorticoids (GCs) appear to reduce gut ...microbiome diversity in experimental studies, suggesting that a loss of microbial diversity may be a negative consequence of increased GCs. However, given that ecological factors like food availability and population density may independently influence both GCs and microbial diversity, understanding how these factors structure the GC-microbiome relationship is crucial to interpreting its significance in wild populations. Here, we used an ecological framework to investigate the relationship between GCs and gut microbiome diversity in wild North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). As expected, higher GCs predicted lower gut microbiome diversity and an increase in metabolic taxa. Surprisingly, but in line with prior empirical studies on wild animals, gastrointestinal pathogens decreased as GCs increased. Both dietary heterogeneity and an upcoming food pulse exhibited direct effects on gut microbiome diversity, whereas conspecific density and reproductive activity impacted diversity indirectly via changes in host GCs. Our results provide evidence of a gut-brain axis in wild red squirrels and highlight the importance of situating the GC-gut microbiome relationship within an ecological framework.
Our understanding of gut microbiota has been limited primarily to findings from human and laboratory animals, but what shapes the gut microbiota in nature remains largely unknown. To fill this gap, ...we conducted a comprehensive study of gut microbiota of a well-studied North American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) population. Red squirrels are territorial, solitary, and live in a highly seasonal environment and therefore represent a very attractive system to study factors that drive the temporal and spatial dynamics of gut microbiota.
For the first time, this study revealed significant spatial patterns of gut microbiota within a host population, suggesting limited dispersal could play a role in shaping and maintaining the structure of gut microbial communities. We also found a remarkable seasonal rhythm in red squirrel's gut microbial composition manifested by a tradeoff between relative abundance of two genera Oscillospira and Corpococcus and clearly associated with seasonal variation in diet availability. Our results show that in nature, environmental factors exert a much stronger influence on gut microbiota than host-associated factors including age and sex. Despite strong environmental effects, we found clear evidence of individuality and maternal effects, but host genetics did not seem to be a significant driver of the gut microbial communities in red squirrels.
Taken together, the results of this study emphasize the importance of external ecological factors rather than host attributes in driving temporal and spatial patterns of gut microbiota in natural environment.
Abstract
Objectives
This study constructed a nomogram based on grayscale ultrasound features and real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) parameters to predict thyroid cancer.
Methods
Clinical data of ...217 thyroid nodules of 201 patients who underwent grayscale ultrasound, real-time SWE, and thyroid function laboratory examination in Ma’anshan People’s Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The subjects were divided into a benign nodule group (106 nodules) and a malignant nodule group (111 nodules). The differences in grayscale ultrasound features, quantitative parameters of real-time SWE, and laboratory results of thyroid function between benign and malignant thyroid nodules were analyzed. We used a chi-square test for categorical variables and a
t
-test for continuous variables. Then, the independent risk factors for thyroid cancer were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Based on the independent risk factors, a nomogram for predicting thyroid cancer risk was constructed using the RMS package of the R software.
Results
Multivariate logistic regression showed that the grayscale ultrasound features of thyroid nodules were the shape, margin, echogenicity, and echogenic foci of the nodules,the maximum Young’s modulus (SWE-max) of thyroid nodules, and the ratio of thyroid nodule and peripheral gland (SWE-ratio) measured by real-time SWE were independent risk factors for thyroid cancer (all
p
< 0.05), and the other variables had no statistical difference (
p
> 0.05). Based on the shape (OR = 5.160, 95% CI: 2.252–11.825), the margin (OR = 9.647, 95% CI: 2.048–45.443), the echogenicity (OR = 6.512, 95% CI: 1.729–24.524), the echogenic foci (OR = 2.049, 95% CI: 1.118–3.756), and the maximum Young’s modulus (SWE-max) (OR = 1.296, 95% CI: 1.140–1.473), the SWE-ratio (OR = 2.001, 95% CI: 1.403–2.854) of the thyroid nodule to peripheral gland was used to establish the related nomogram prediction model. The bootstrap self-sampling method was used to verify the model. The consistency index (C-index) was 0.979, ROC curve was used to analyze the nomogram scores of all patients, and the AUC of nomogram prediction of thyroid cancer was 0.976, indicating that the nomogram model had high accuracy in the risk prediction of thyroid cancer.
Conclusions
The nomogram model of grayscale ultrasound features combined with SWE parameters can accurately predict thyroid cancer.
The traditional portfolio theory has relied heavily on historical asset returns while ignoring future information. Based on ensemble learning and maximum Sharpe ratio portfolio theory, this paper ...proposes a two-stage portfolio optimization method by considering asset forecast information, aiming to improve the performance and robustness of a portfolio. In the first stage, concerning the underlying asset selection, we integrate six individual prediction models using the ensemble learning method to forecast the future return of assets where the assets with higher potential returns are selected for portfolio optimization. In the second stage, we propose a novel investment strategy by combining the forecasted returns of selected assets with the maximum Sharpe ratio portfolio model. In the empirical analysis, we employ the constituent stocks of the China Securities Index 300 (CSI 300) to test the out-of-sample performance of the proposed strategy with several traditional portfolio strategies, including minimum variance portfolio strategy, traditional maximum Sharpe ratio portfolio strategy, 1/N portfolio strategy, and CSI 300 index. Our analytical results show that (1) compared to individual forecasting models, the ensemble learning method is more accurate in forecasting stock returns, and (2) the proposed portfolio strategy largely outperforms most of its competitors in terms of the Sharpe ratio, Sortino ratio, Omega ratio, and Calmar ratio. This indicates that the proposed two-stage portfolio optimization method is of potential to construct a promising investment strategy due to its trade-off between historical and future information of assets.
Collecting water from the air could alleviate freshwater shortages in arid regions such as remote and inland areas. However, it is challenging to prepare adsorption materials that have high ...adsorption and desorption performance using straightforward synthesis routes for water harvesting applications. In this paper, a polydopamine (PDA)@Sodium polyacrylamide carboxymethyl cellulose (PAM-CMCNa)-calcium chloride (CaCl
2
) composite aerogel (PDCA) with a vertical channel was prepared by salt template method and photopolymerization for atmospheric water collection (AWH). The designed vertical channel promotes the rapid transport of water molecules from the atmosphere to the interior of the hydrogel through capillary action. During this process, the hydrogel further expands to prevent the leakage of the internal salt solution, which effectively improves the water vapor adsorption and desorption by hydrogel. Experimental results showed that the hydrogel can absorb 2.78 g/g of water at 90% relative humidity (RH), where 56.3% of the captured water can be desorbed within 60 min of exposure under 1.0 sun light intensity. After 10 adsorption-desorption cycles, the PDCA still possesses excellent water sorption performance. The indoor water collection test showed that the water collection performance reached 2.143 kg/kg day at 90% RH and 25°C adsorption for 12 h and desorption for 6 h. The proposed method for the preparation of PDCA composites can achieve high water harvesting performance over a wide humidity range to enable solar-driven clean water production in remote areas.
To introduce a new knotting technique for vascular anastomosis, which was different from the conventional knotting methods, is the aim of this study. A microsurgeon learned this technique and ...practiced on gauze, and then he used this new technique to perform vascular anastomosis. The times that he spent with this new technique and conventional method were recorded and compared. After this new technique was applied, the speed of vascular anastomosis was reduced compared with conventional method, and the difference showed statistical significance. This new knotting technique can avoid the adherence of the suture to the soft tissue during knotting and can be knotted rapidly and continuously. In particular, the surgeon can perform this technique without the help of an assistant.
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