In the evolving field of educational technology, knowledge mapping has emerged as a pivotal tool for university English education. This study examines its role in building a theoretical resource base ...to enhance the efficiency of organizing, accessing, and utilizing teaching materials. This research constructs a knowledge graph for English teaching resources by employing a seven-step process to create a domain ontology and an enhanced TF-IDF algorithm for keyword extraction. Results show the knowledge graph significantly boosts information retrieval accuracy and user satisfaction. The experimental group reported a 25% increase in learning efficiency, a 30% enhancement in the quality of learning outcomes, and a 12.63% rise in average grades, outperforming the control group. The findings suggest knowledge mapping substantially benefits the development of a theoretical resource base for university English teaching, improving teaching and learning quality.
Senescent astrocytes have been implicated in the aging brain and neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD). Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is an antioxidant derivative from a ...traditional Chinese herbal medicine Astragalus membraneaceus Bunge and exerts anti-inflammatory and longevity effects and neuroprotective activities. However, its effect on astrocyte senescence in PD remains to be defined.
Long culture-induced replicative senescence model and lipopolysaccharide/1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (LPS/MPP
)-induced premature senescence model and a mouse model of PD were used to investigate the effect of AS-IV on astrocyte senescence in vivo and in vitro. Immunocytochemistry, qPCR, subcellular fractionation, flow cytometric analyses, and immunohistochemistry were subsequently conducted to determine the effects of AS-IV on senescence markers.
We found that AS-IV inhibited the astrocyte replicative senescence and LPS/MPP
-induced premature senescence, evidenced by decreased senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity and expression of senescence marker p16, and increased nuclear level of lamin B1, and reduced pro-inflammatory senescence-associated secretory phenotype. More importantly, we showed that AS-IV protected against the loss of dopamine neurons and behavioral deficits in the mouse model of PD, which companied by reduced accumulation of senescent astrocytes in substantia nigra compacta. Mechanistically, AS-IV promoted mitophagy, which reduced damaged mitochondria accumulation and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species generation and then contributed to the suppression of astrocyte senescence. The inhibition of autophagy abolished the suppressive effects of AS-IV on astrocyte senescence.
Our findings reveal that AS-IV prevents dopaminergic neurodegeneration in PD via inhibition of astrocyte senescence through promoting mitophagy and suggest that AS-IV is a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases such as PD.
The critical behaviors of the steered quantum coherence (SQC) in the transverse field XY model with Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya (DM) interaction are explored. It is found that there is an inflexion for the ...SQC at the critical field of quantum phase transition (QPT) for two long‐distance spins, and there is a divergence for the derivative of the SQC with respect to the magnetic field at the critical field of QPT for any two spins in the chain. Moreover, SQC shows distinct behaviors in different phase regions of the model, which is also a signature of the QPT. Furthermore, the SQC method is robust in studying quantum criticality even under environmental coupling.
Quantum phase transitions (QPTs) in the transverse field XY model with Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interaction is studied by steered quantum coherence (SQC). It is shown that both the inflexion of the SQC and the divergence of its first‐order derivative succeed in detecting the QPT. The distinct behaviors of SQC in different phase regions are also a signature of QPT.
A new species of Liobagrus is unearthed in the Nan‐Jiang flowing into the Jialing‐Jiang of the upper Chang‐Jiang basin in which currently recognized Chinese congeners have a concentrated ...distribution. This small‐sized (less than 100.0 mm LS) torrent fish belongs to the species group defined by the presence of a smooth posterior edge of the pectoral‐fin spine and upper and lower jaws of equal length or a lower jaw slightly longer than the upper jaw in length. It is distinct from Liobagrus aequilabris and Liobagrus formosanus by the presence of a pectoral‐fin spine extending short of (vs. beyond) the vertical through the dorsal‐fin origin, maxillary barbels reaching the middle of the pectoral fin (vs. pectoral‐fin insertion or slightly beyond), 17–19 anal‐fin rays (vs. 15–16 in L. formosanus), 39–41 (vs. 35–37 in L. aequilabris) post‐Weberian vertebrae and the pectoral‐fin spine length 3.6%–7.4% of LS (vs. 7.6–10.5 in L. aequilabris). It differs from Liobagrus marginatoides by the presence of upper and lower jaws of equal length (vs. a lower jaw slightly longer than the upper jaw in length) and a rounded or unevenly rounded (vs. subtruncate) caudal fin. The validity of the new species is confirmed by its monophyly recovered in a cytochrome b gene‐based phylogenetic analysis and its significant genetic distance with sampled congeneric species.
Organophosphate insecticides have been widely used in agriculture to control insect pests and raised growing problems including insecticide resistance. According to recent studies, microbial ...symbionts play important roles in developing insecticide resistance. The bean bug Riptortus pedestris is a notorious pest of leguminous crops, harbouring diverse microorganisms in their insect midguts. However, the potential biological roles of many gut‐associated bacteria are largely unknown. In this study, we isolated a bacterial strain from the midgut of R. pedestris and identified it as Serratia marcescens based on its morphological characteristics and the phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence. A halo of phosphorus‐solubilizing bacteria was observed on a medium containing lecithin and an organophosphorus insecticide dimethoate. Subsequently, the microbial degradation of dimethoate was determined using Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectroscopy (GC–MS). Further analysis indicated that the S. marcescens contained organophosphorus‐degrading MBL‐fold metallo‐hydrolase gene. Additionally, we discovered that the bacterium could colonize the insect midgut stably and enhance the host survivorship when exposed to dimethoate. Our results revealed that an insect gut‐associated bacterium could degrade organophosphorus compounds, thereby reducing related insecticide toxicity to the insect hosts. These findings provided further insights into the host‐microbiota interactions underpinning the development of insecticide resistance.
Objective
Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) is a pivotal factor for HBV-induced hepatitis. Herein, we sought to investigate HBx-mediated NLR pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation ...and pyroptosis under oxidative stress.
Methods
The effect of HBx on the NLRP3 inflammasome was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunofluorescence in hepatic HL7702 cells. Pyroptosis was evaluated by western blotting, lactate dehydrogenase release, propidium iodide staining, and transmission electron microscopy. NLRP3 expression in the inflammasome from liver tissues was assessed by immunohistochemistry.
Results
In hydrogen peroxide (H
2
O
2
)-stimulated HL7702 cells, HBx triggered the release of pro-inflammatory mediators apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-18, and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1); activated NLRP3; and initiated pro-inflammatory cell death (pyroptosis). HBx localized to the mitochondria, where it induced mitochondrial damage and production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mitoROS). Treatment of HL7702 cells with a mitoROS scavenger attenuated HBx-induced NLRP3 activation and pyroptosis. Expression levels of NLRP3, ASC, and IL-1β in liver tissues from patients were positively correlated with HBV DNA concentration.
Conclusions
The NLRP3 inflammasome was activated by elevated mitoROS levels and mediated HBx-induced liver inflammation and hepatocellular pyroptosis under H
2
O
2
-stress conditions.
Recently, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been extensively investigated as fluorescence chemsensors due to their tunable porosity, framework structure and photoluminescence properties. In this ...paper, a well-known Zr(
iv
)-based MOF, UiO-66-NH
2
was demonstrated to have capability for detection of
l
-lysine (Lys) and
l
-arginine (Arg) selectively from common essential amino acids in aqueous media
via
a fluorescence turn-on mechanism. Further investigation reveals its high sensitivity and strong anti-interference properties. Moreover, the possible mechanism for sensing Lys and Arg was explored by FT-IR and
1
H-NMR, and the results indicate that the enhancement of the fluorescence could be ascribed to the adsorption of Lys/Arg and the hydrogen bonding interactions between Lys/Arg and the amino group of UiO-66-NH
2
. The difference of the sensing capacity and sensitivity between UiO-66 and UiO-66-NH
2
revealed that the amino group plays an essential role in the sensing performance. This work presents a unique example of the functional group dependent sensing properties of MOFs.
The amino group of UiO-66-NH
2
was demonstrated to play an important role in selective fluorescence turn-on sensing of lysine and arginine.
The association between metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and disease progression in patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are unclear.
To explore the association ...between MAFLD and the severity of COVID-19 by meta-analysis.
We conducted a literature search using PubMed, EMBASE, Medline (OVID), and MedRxiv from inception to July 6, 2020. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) and Stata 14.0 were used for quality assessment of included studies as well as for performing a pooled analysis.
A total of 6 studies with 1,293 participants were included after screening. Four studies reported the prevalence of MAFLD patients with COVID-19, with a pooled prevalence of 0.31 for MAFLD (95CI 0.28, 0.35, I2 = 38.8%, P = 0.179). MAFLD increased the risk of COVID-19 disease severity, with a pooled OR of 2.93 (95CI 1.87, 4.60, I2 = 34.3%, P = 0.166).
In this meta-analysis, we found that a high percentage of patients with COVID-19 had MAFLD. Meanwhile, MAFLD increased the risk of disease progression among patients with COVID-19. Thus, better intensive care and monitoring are needed for MAFLD patients infected by SARS-COV-2.
In the current study, a Pramipexole-loaded wound dressing was produced via electrospinning of cellulose acetate solution. Pramipexole was added to cellulose acetate solution at 3, 5, and 10% w/w ...concentrations and then electrospun. The produced wound dressings were studied regarding their physicochemical and biological properties. Results of cell viability assay and cytoprotection studies showed that cellulose acetate wound dressings containing 3% w/w Pramipexole had significantly higher cell viability compared with other concentrations. The wound healing potential of dressings incorporated with 3% drug was studied in a rat model of diabetic wound. Study showed that the cellulose acetate/3% Pramipexole scaffolds had significantly higher percentage of wound closure, epithelial thickness, and collagen deposition compared with drug-free dressings and control group. Gene expression study showed that the drug-loaded wound dressings could reduce oxidative stress and alleviate inflammation at significantly higher extent compared with other groups.
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