Math anxiety (MA) has been suggested to decrease the math performance of students. However, it remains unclear what factors moderate this relationship. The aim of this research was to explore the ...link between MA and math performance. Studies that explored the math anxiety-performance link, conducted from 2000 to 2019 (84 samples,
= 8680), were identified and statistically integrated with a meta-analysis method. The results indicated a robust negative math anxiety-performance link. Furthermore, regarding the analysis of moderator variables, this negative link was stronger in the studies that involved Asian students, but this link was the weakest in the studies that involved European students. Moreover, this negative link was stronger in the studies within a senior high school group, whereas it was the weakest in the studies within an elementary group. Finally, this negative link was strongest among studies that used a custom test and studies that assessed problem-solving skills. Potential explanations and implications for research and practice are discussed.
Important tasks in cavity quantum electrodynamics include the generation and control of quantum states of spatially separated particles distributed in different cavities. An interesting question in ...this context is how to prepare entanglement among particles located in different cavities, which are important for large-scale quantum information processing. We here consider a multi-cavity system where cavities are coupled to a superconducting (SC) qubit and each cavity hosts many SC qubits. We show that all intra-cavity SC qubits plus the coupler SC qubit can be prepared in an entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state, by using a single operation and without the need of measurements. The GHZ state is created without exciting the cavity modes; thus greatly suppressing the decoherence caused by the cavity-photon decay and the effect of unwanted inter-cavity crosstalk on the operation. We also introduce two simple methods for entangling the intra-cavity SC qubits in a GHZ state. As an example, our numerical simulations show that it is feasible, with current circuit-QED technology, to prepare high-fidelity GHZ states, for up to nine SC qubits by using SC qubits distributed in two cavities. This proposal can in principle be used to implement a GHZ state for an arbitrary number of SC qubits distributed in multiple cavities. The proposal is quite general and can be applied to a wide range of physical systems, with the intra-cavity qubits being either atoms, NV centers, quantum dots, or various SC qubits.
The utility of natural products for identifying anticancer agents has been highly pursued in the last decades and over 100 drug molecules in clinic are natural products or natural product-derived ...compounds. Natural products are believed to be able to cover unexplored chemical space that is normally not occupied by commercially available molecule libraries. However, the low abundance and synthetic intractability of natural products have limited their applications in drug discovery. Recently, the identification of biologically relevant fragments derived from biologically validated natural products has been recognized as a powerful strategy in searching new biological probes and drugs. The spirocyclic oxindoles, as privileged structural scaffolds, have shown their potential in designing new drugs. Several anticancer drug candidates such as SAR405838, RO8994, CFI-400945 and their bioisosteres are undergoing clinical trials or preclinical studies. To highlight the significant progress, we focus on illustrating the discovery of SAR405838, RO8994, CFI-400945 and their bioisosteres for cancer therapy using substructure-based strategies and discussing modes of action, binding models and preclinical data.
E‐cadherin (E‐cad) plays important roles in tumorigenesis as well as in tumor progression, invasion and metastasis. This protein exists in two forms: a membrane‐tethered form and a soluble form. ...Full‐length E‐cad is membrane tethered. As a type I transmembrane glycoprotein, E‐cad mainly mediates adherens junctions between cells and is involved in maintaining the normal structure of epithelial tissues. Soluble E‐cad (sE‐cad) is the extracellular fragment of the protein that is cleaved from the membrane after proteolysis of full‐length E‐cad. The production of sE‐cad undermines adherens junctions, causing a reduction in cell aggregation capacity; furthermore, sE‐cad can diffuse into the extracellular environment and the blood. As a paracrine/autocrine signaling molecule, sE‐cad activates or inhibits multiple signaling pathways and participates in the progression of various types of cancer, such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer, by promoting invasion and metastasis. This article briefly reviews the role of sE‐cad in tumorigenesis and tumor progression and its significance in clinical therapeutics.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a serious threat to global health. SARS-CoV-2 infects host cells ...primarily by binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, which is coexpressed in alveolar type 2 cells and gut epithelial cells. It is known that COVID-19 often presents with gastrointestinal symptoms and gut dysbiosis, mainly characterized by an increase in opportunistic pathogens and a decrease in beneficial commensal bacteria. In recent years, multiple studies have comprehensively explored gut microbiota alterations in COVID-19 and highlighted the clinical correlation between dysbiosis and COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 causes gastrointestinal infections and dysbiosis mainly through fecal-oral transmission and the circulatory and immune pathways. Studies have shown that the gut microbiota and its metabolites can regulate the immune response and modulate antiviral effects. In addition, the gut microbiota is closely related to gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea, a common gastrointestinal symptom among COVID-19. Therefore, the contribution of the gut microbiota in COVID-19 should not be overlooked. Strategies targeting the gut microbiota
probiotics, prebiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation should be considered to treat this patient population in the future. However, the specific alterations and mechanisms as well as the contributions of gut microbiota in COVID-19 should be urgently further explored.
Inhibitory effects of the identified peptides (RR, LR and GK) and drug Sitaglipin.
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•Spirulina platensis protein had anti-diabetes activities in IR cell model.•Anti-diabetes peptides ...were identified from S. platensis for the first time.•11 anti-diabetes peptides were identified from S. platensis protein.•LRSELAAWSR displayed the best activities on and DPP-IV.
In this study, ultrasound coupled with subcritical water (USW) technology was employed to extract S. platensis protein, and its inhibitory effect on three enzymes (α-amylase, α-glucosidase and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-IV)) was evaluated. Subsequently, using insulin resistant-HepG2 cell model, the data presented that the USW-extracted protein significantly (p < 0.01) increased glycogen content, hexokinase and pyruvate kinase activities. Then, 11 peptides were identified from intact protein or the HPLC-separated protein fractions by LC-MS/MS. After in silico prediction, 3 peptides (GVPMPNK, RNPFVFAPTLLTVAAR and LRSELAAWSR) were synthesized, and their α-amylase, α-glucosidase and DPP-IV inhibition activities were validated. Among them, LRSELAAWSR displayed the medium activity on α-amylase (IC50 = 313.6 μg/mL), but the best activities on α-glucosidase (IC50 = 134.2 μg/mL) and DPP-IV (IC50 = 167.3 μg/mL). In summary, for the first time, anti-diabetes peptides were identified from Spirulina platensis, which are useful for functional food additives and pharmaceuticals against type 2 diabetes.
The identification of novel anticancer agents with high efficacy and low toxicity has always been an intriguing topic in medicinal chemistry. The unique structural features of spirooxindoles together ...with diverse biological activities have made them promising structures in new drug discovery. Among spirooxindoles, CFI-400945 holds its promise as the first potent PLK4 inhibitor, the fumarate of CFI-400945 has entered phase I clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors. However, questions remain as to whether PLK4 is the only relevant therapeutic target for CFI-400945. To highlight this significant progress of CFI-400945 in last two years, this review centers on the identification from a focused kinase library, structural optimizations and strategies involved, structure-activity relationships, modes of action, target validation, chemical synthesis and, more importantly, the kinase selectivity between PLK4 and other targets.
The ELISA assay of a focused kinase library yielded the indolinone as PLK4 inhibitor. Extensive modifications generated CFI-400945, which has entered phase I clinical trials for cancer therapy. However, the kinase selectivity is the major concern that needs to be further investigated. Display omitted
•Spirooxindoles are promising scaffolds in drug discovery.•CFI-400945 has entered phase І clinical trials for cancer therapy.•The kinase selectivity of CFI-4009345 needs to be further explored.
A wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) free-space optical (FSO)-underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) integrated system with a channel ...capacity of 100 Gb/s is proposed and attainably demonstrated. Analytic results reveal that 1.8-GHz 405-nm blue-violet-light and 1.7-GHz 450-nm blue-light laser diodes (LDs) with two-stage light injection and optoelectronic feedback techniques are competently adopted for 100 Gb/s PAM4 signal transmission through a 500-m free-space transmission with 5-m clear ocean underwater link. Combining dual-wavelength WDM scenario with PAM4 modulation, the channel capacity of FSO-UWOC integrated systems is significantly enhanced with an aggregate transmission rate of 100 Gb/s (25 Gbaud PAM4/wavelength × 2 wavelengths). With doublet lenses in FSO, laser beam reducer and transmissive spatial light modulator in UWOC, a sufficiently low bit error rate of 10 −9 and acceptable PAM4 eye diagrams are acquired. This demonstrated 100 Gb/s PAM4 FSO-UWOC integrated system with a WDM scenario is advantageous for the enhancement of a high-speed optical wireless link with long-reach transmission.
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