Blockchain as an emergent decentralized digital technology has been widely explored in many sectors to remedy the deficiencies of centralized solutions It has been recognized that blockchain ...technology has great potential to facilitate business activities spanning the whole life cycle of a building project in the construction industry, such as better communication or understanding, documents sharing, stage transition and quality endorsement. A comprehensive review of the literature regarding the application of blockchain in the construction domain found that there are few studies and applications of blockchain in construction practices, and most of the current research involves qualitative studies only. In this paper, we aim to explore the feasibility of applying both public blockchain and private blockchain technologies in the construction industry using two industry cases. Two business process cases (i.e., Case 1 and Case 2) were selected and used to drive the blockchain-based software system architecture design. The proposed architectures were demonstrated using Hyperledger Fabric (a private, permissioned and open source blockchain platform) and Ethereum (a public blockchain platform) respectively, to reflect the different requirements of the two use cases. This pilot study also illustrates the process, benefits, and challenges of adopting private and public blockchain technologies in construction domain. This research provides insights to researchers and practitioners regarding the adoption of blockchain technology, especially in construction industry.
•Feasibility of applying both public blockchain and private blockchain in the construction industry using two real cases;•Demonstration of blockchain architectures with Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum;•Discussions on blockchain application situations, interface and information integration, and project supervision;•Blockchain application framework in construction industry.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the latest web evolution that incorporates billions of devices that are owned by different organisations and people who are deploying and using them for their own ...purposes. IoT-enabled harnessing of the information that is provided by federations of such IoT devices (which are often referred to as IoT things) provides unprecedented opportunities to solve internet-scale problems that have been too big and too difficult to tackle before. Just like other web-based information systems, IoT must also deal with the plethora of Cyber Security and privacy threats that currently disrupt organisations and can potentially hold the data of entire industries and even countries for ransom. To realise its full potential, IoT must deal effectively with such threats and ensure the security and privacy of the information collected and distilled from IoT devices. However, IoT presents several unique challenges that make the application of existing security and privacy techniques difficult. This is because IoT solutions encompass a variety of security and privacy solutions for protecting such IoT data on the move and in store at the device layer, the IoT infrastructure/platform layer, and the IoT application layer. Therefore, ensuring end-to-end privacy across these three IoT layers is a grand challenge in IoT. In this paper, we tackle the IoT privacy preservation problem. In particular, we propose innovative techniques for privacy preservation of IoT data, introduce a privacy preserving IoT Architecture, and also describe the implementation of an efficient proof of concept system that utilises all these to ensure that IoT data remains private. The proposed privacy preservation techniques utilise multiple IoT cloud data stores to protect the privacy of data collected from IoT. The proposed privacy preserving IoT Architecture and proof of concept implementation are based on extensions of OpenIoT - a widely used open source platform for IoT application development. Experimental evaluations are also provided to validate the efficiency and performance outcomes of the proposed privacy preserving techniques and architecture.
The plasma matrix is a kind of autologous blood conduct. It has been widely used in maxillofacial tissue regeneration, skin cosmetology and some other fields. Recently, to preserve the dental pulp as ...well as the teeth, pulp regeneration therapy and apical surgery have become increasingly important as well as the applications of bioactive materials. As a kind of autologous bioactive material, the plasma matrix has some natural advantages as it is easy to obtain and malleable. The plasma matrix can be used in the following cases: ①pulp revascularization of young permanent teeth with open apical foramina that cannot stimulate apical bleeding; ② apical barrier surgery with bone defects and large area perforation repair with bone defects or root sidewall repair surgery; ③ apical surgeries of teeth with large area of apical lesions, with or without periodontal diseases. The plasma matrix is a product derived from our blood, and there are no obvious contraindications for its use. Several systematic reviews have show
Cardiomyocyte apoptosis in response to inflammation is a primary cause of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Nuclear factor erythroid 2 like 2 (Nrf2) reportedly plays an important role in ...myocardial IRI, but the underlying mechanism remains obscure. Expression data from the normal heart tissues of mice or heart tissues treated with reperfusion for 6 h after ischemia (IR6h) were acquired from the GEO database; changes in biological function and infiltrating immune cells were analyzed. The binding between the molecules was verified by chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing. Based on confirmation that early myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (myocardial ischemia/reperfusion for 6 hours, IR6h) promoted myocardial apoptosis and inflammatory response, we found that Nrf2, cooperating with Programmed Cell Death 4, promoted transcription initiation of C-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 3 (Ccl3) in myocardial tissues of mice treated with IR6h. Moreover, Ccl3 contributed to the high signature score of C-C motif chemokine receptor 1 (Ccr1)-positive macrophages. The high signature score of Ccr1-positive macrophages leads to the release of pro-inflammatory factors interleukin 1 beta and interleukin 6. This study is the first to elucidate the damaging effect of Nrf2
remodeling of the immune microenvironment in early myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, which provides us with new perspectives and treatment strategies for myocardial ischemia-reperfusion.
Compounds released by mungbean roots potentially represent an enormous source of nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) in mungbean-oat intercropping systems. In this study, an in situ experiment was conducted ...using a 15N - 13C double stem-feeding method to measure N and C derived from the rhizodeposition (NdfR and CdfR) of mungbean and their transfer to oats in an intercropping system. Mungbean plants were sole cropped (S) or intercropped (I) with oat. The plants were labeled 5 weeks after planting and were harvested at the beginning of pod setting (Ip and Sp) and at maturity (Im and Sm). More than 60% and 50% of the applied 15N and 13C, respectively, were recovered in each treatment, with 15N and 13C being quite uniformly distributed in the different plant parts. NdfR represented 9.8% (Sp), 9.2% (Ip), 20.1% (Sm), and 21.2% (Im) of total mungbean plant N, whereas CdfR represented 13.3% (Sp), 42.0% (Ip), 15.4% (Sm), and 22.6% (Im) of total mungbean plant C. When considering the part of rhizodeposition transferred to associated oat, intercropping mungbean released more NdfR and CdfR than mungbean alone. About 53.4-83.2% of below-ground plant N (BGP-N) and 58.4-85.9% of BGP-C originated from NdfR and CdfR, respectively. The N in oats derived from mungbean increased from 7.6% at the pod setting stage to 9.7% at maturity, whereas the C in oats increased from 16.2% to 22.0%, respectively. Only a small percentage of rhizodeposition from mungbean was transferred to oats in the intercropping systems, with a large percentage remaining in the soil. This result indicates that mungbean rhizodeposition might contribute to higher N and C availability in the soil for subsequent crops.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background Chronic intermittent hypoxia ( CIH ) is a distinct pathological mechanism of obstructive sleep apnea ( OSA ), which is recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. ...The aims of this study were to ascertain whether CIH induces atrial fibrillation ( AF ), to determine whether cardiac sympathetic denervation ( CSD ) can prevent it and suppress blood pressure, and to explore the potential molecular mechanisms involved. Methods and Results Sixty Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: sham, CSD , CIH , CIH + CSD . The rats were exposed either to CIH 8 hours daily or normoxia for 6 weeks. Cardiac pathology and structure were analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin staining and echocardiogram. ECG, blood pressure, body weight, and blood gas were recorded. Connexin 43 and tyrosine hydroxylase were detected by western blot, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence. CIH induced atrial remodeling, and increased AF inducibility. CSD treatment reduced postapneic blood pressure rises and AF susceptibility, which could attenuate CIH -associated structural atrial arrhythmogenic remodeling. In addition, CIH -induced sympathetic nerve hyperinnervation and CSD treatment reduced sympathetic innervation, which may affect CIH -induced AF -associated sympathovagal imbalance. Connexin 43 was specifically downregulated in CIH , whereas CSD treatment increased its expression. Conclusions These results suggested CIH induces atrial remodeling, increases AF inducibility, results in sympathetic nerve hyperinnervation, and decreases connexin 43 expression, but CSD treatment reduces AF susceptibility, postapneic blood pressure increase, sympathetic innervation, and the alteration of Cx43, which may be a key point in the genesis of CIH -induced AF .
Three-dimensional (3D) technology has gained wide acceptance in dentistry. It has been used for treatment planning and surgical guidance. This case report presented a novel treatment approach to ...remove cortical bone and root-end during periapical surgery with the help of Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), Computer Aided Design (CAD) and three-dimensional (3D) printing technology.
A 37-year-old female patient presented with a large periapical lesion of left maxillary lateral incisor and canine was referred for microsurgical endodontic surgery. The data acquired from a preoperative diagnostic CBCT scan and an intra-oral scan was uploaded into surgical planning software and matched. A template that could be used to locate root-ends and lesion areas was virtually designed based on the data and was fabricated using a 3D printer. With the guidance of the template, the overlying cortical bone and root-end were precisely removed by utilizing a trephine with an external diameter of 4.0 mm. The patient was clinically asymptomatic at a six-month follow-up review. One year after the surgery, the lesion was healing well and no periapical radiolucency was observed on radiographic examination.
The digitally designed directional template worked in all aspects to facilitate the periapical surgery as anticipated. The root-ends were accurately located and resected. The surgical procedure was simplified, and the treatment efficiency was improved. This technique minimized the damage and reduced iatrogenic injury.
Glioma (GBM) is the most prevalent malignancy worldwide with high morbidity and mortality. Exosome-mediated transfer of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) has been reported to be associated with human ...cancers, containing GBM. Meanwhile, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) play a vital role in mediating the immunosuppressive environments in GBM.
This study is designed to explore the role and mechanism of exosomal (Exo) lncRNA AGAP2-AS1 on the MDSC pathway in GBM.
AGAP2-AS1, microRNA-486-3p (miR-486-3p), and Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1) levels were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were detected by 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU), flow cytometry, and Transwell assays. E-cadherin, Vimentin, CD9, CD81, and TGF-β1 protein levels were examined using Western blot. Exosomes were detected by a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Binding between miR-486-3p and AGAP2-AS1 or TGF-β1 was predicted by LncBase or TargetScan and then verified using a dual-luciferase reporter assay.
AGAP2-AS1 was highly expressed in GBM tissues and cells. Functionally, AGAP2-AS1 absence or TGF-β1 knockdown repressed tumor cell growth and metastasis. Furthermore, Exo-AGAP2-AS1 from GBM cells regulated TGF-β1 expression via sponging miR-486-3p in MDSCs. Exo-AGAP2-AS1 upregulation facilitated GBM cell growth and metastasis via the MDSC pathway.
Exo-AGAP2-AS1 boosted GBM cell development partly by regulating the MDSC pathway, hinting at a promising therapeutic target for GBM treatment.
•AGAP2-AS1 knockdown suppressed GBM cell development.•Exosomal AGAP2-AS1 regulated TGF-β1 secretion via miR-486-3p in MDSCs.•Exosomal AGAP2-AS1 overexpression boosted GBM cell development via MDSCs.
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