An inexpensive and portable device for monitoring personal ozone exposure is described and its performance characterized. The device is built from commercially available components, exhibits time ...resolution of approx. 60s, and highest analytical sensitivity under 100ppbv ozone. The sensor has been employed to provide insights into ozone exposure for 8 volunteers living in Lubbock, Texas during the winter months of 2015. Consistent with previous literature, the results indicate the volunteers were exposed to highest levels of ozone when outdoors during daylight hours. Exposure to ozone indoors was typically only a fraction (0.3–0.7) of the dose observed during times spent outdoors. The sensing system described requires minimal technical skills to assemble and use at a cost of approximately $150 USD per unit (see Table 1). The device's batteries provide power for 8–10h on a single charge and the sensor can be re-used many times after recharging the battery pack. A major advantage of the sensor over chromogenic filters for exposure monitoring is the collection of time-series data that allows users to better understand when and where individuals are exposed to highest ozone concentrations. The device may prove useful for industries requiring a low-cost solution to monitor employee exposure to ozone for specific work environments.
Abstract
Background
Gastric cancer (GC), as one of the most common malignancies across the globe, is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Though a large body of research has been ...conducted to develop the therapeutic methods of GC, the survival rate of advanced patients is still poor. We aimed to dig into the potential regulatory mechanism of GC progression.
Methods
Bioinformatics tools and fundamental assays were performed at first to confirm the candidate genes in our study. The functional assays and mechanism experiments were conducted to verify the regulatory mechanisms of the genes underlying GC progression.
Results
Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) SND1 intronic transcript 1 (SND1-IT1) is highly expressed in exosomes secreted by GC cells. SND1-IT1 was verified to bind to microRNA-1245b-5p (miR-1245b-5p) through competitive adsorption to promote ubiquitin specific protease 3 (USP3) messenger RNA (mRNA) expression. SND1-IT1 was validated to recruit DEAD-box helicase 54 (DDX54) to promote USP3 mRNA stability. SND1-IT1 induces malignant transformation of GES-1 cells through USP3. USP3 mediates the deubiquitination of snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (SNAIL1).
Conclusions
Exosome-mediated lncRNA SND1-IT1 from GC cells enhances malignant transformation of GES-1 cells via up-regulating SNAIL1.
Graphical Abstract
Frequent oil spill accidents and industrial wastewater discharge has always been one of the most severe worldwide environmental problems. To cope with this problem, many fluorine-containing and ...high-cost materials with superwettability have been extensively applied for oil-water separation, which hinders its large-scale application. In this work, a novel human hair fiber (HHF)-polymerized octadecylsiloxane (PODS) fiber was fabricated with a facile one-pot dip-coating synthesis approach, inspired by the self-assembly performance and hydrophobicity of OTS modification. The benefits of prominent hydrophobic/lipophilic behavior lie in the low surface energy, and a rough PODS coating was rationally adhered on the surface of HHF. Driven solely by gravity and capillary force, the HHF-PODS showed excellent oil/water separation efficiency (> 99.0%) for a wide range of heavy and light oil/water mixtures. In addition, HHF-PODS demonstrated durability toward different harsh environments like alkaline, acid, and salty solutions.
Abstract
Recently, a diagnostic helical CT is integrated into a linear accelerator, called uRT-linac 506c, whose CT scanning dataset can be directly used to do simulation. This novel structure ...provides a possibility for online adaptive radiotherapy. For adaptive radiotherapy, the carbon fiber couch is an essential external device for supporting and positioning patients. And the effect on dose attenuation and distribution caused by a couch is inevitable and vital for precise treatment. In this research, the couch equipped with uRT-linac 506c was evaluated on the radiation dosimetry effect. The treatment couch equipped on the uRT-linac 506c accelerator was evaluated, and its effect on the attenuation, surface dose and dose buildup were measured for different phantom positions (offset = 0 cm, offset = + 10 cm and offset = − 10 cm, respectively) and different gantry angles. Since uRT-linac 506c is exclusively capable to provide diagnostic CT scanning data with real relative electron density (RED), this CT scanning data of the couch can be used directly in uRT-TPS to design plans. This scanned couch dataset was designated as the model A. The model B was a dummy structure of a treatment couch inserted with artificially preset RED. The dose calculation accuracy of these two models was compared using PB, CC, and MC on uRT-TPS. With the effect of carbon fiber couch, the surface dose was increased at least 97.94% for 25 × 25 cm
2
field and 188.83% for 10 × 10 cm
2
field, compared with those without. At different phantom positions (offset = 0, + 10, − 10 cm), the attenuation for 6 MV photon beam at gantry angle 180° were 4.4%, 4.4%, and 4.3%, respectively, and varied with changes of gantry angle. There do exists dose deviation between measurement and TPS calculation with the involvement of treatment couch, among the three algorithms, MC presented the least deviation, and the model A made less and steadier deviation than the model B, showing promising superiority. The attenuation, surface dose, and buildup effects of the carbon fiber couch in this study were measured similarly to most counterparts. The dose deviation calculated based on the couch dataset scanned by the diagnostic helical CT was smaller than those based on a dummy couch. This result suggests that an accelerator equipped with a diagnostic CT, which can help reduce the dose deviation of the carbon fiber couch, is a promising platform for online adaptive radiotherapy.
•NSO compounds in a series of migrated crude oils were characterized by FT-ICR MS.•Effect of oil migration distance on composition of acidic NSOs was studied.•With increasing migration distance, the ...NSOs showed consistent variation.•Our study indicates the potential for developing new migration indices.
The acidic and neutral NSO compounds in a series of Duvernay-sourced oils in Canada, which are believed to have migrated extensively over relatively long distances such as along the Rimbey-Meadowbrook reef trends, were characterized by negative-ion electrospray (ESI) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Heteroatomic compounds were characterized according to their class (number of nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur heteroatoms), degree of aromaticity rings plus double bonds (DBE) and carbon number distribution. The N1, N1O1, N1O2, N1S1, O1 and O2 classes were identified in Duvernay-sourced oils. With increasing migration distance, the relative abundance of O2, N1O1 and N1O2 showed a significant decrease, while the O1 class increased from <10% to nearly 30% of the total. With increasing migration along the Rimbey-Meadowbrook reef trend, pyrrolic nitrogen compounds (N1 class) shows an enrichment of alkylcarbazoles (DBE=9) relative to alkylbenzocarbazoles (DBE=12), and of higher homologous relative to the lower homologous. O1 compounds show a relative enrichment of those with low DBE values. Additionally, the N1O1 and N1S1 compounds show a relative enrichment of those with high DBE values, and of higher homologues compared to the lower homologues, indicating great potential for developing new migration indices.
Actin polymerizes and forms filamentous structures (F-actin) in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. It also exists in the nucleus and regulates various nucleic acid transactions, particularly through ...its incorporation into multiple chromatin-remodeling complexes. However, the specific structure of actin and the mechanisms that regulate its polymeric nature inside the nucleus remain unknown. Here, we report the crystal structure of nuclear actin (N-actin) complexed with actin-related protein 4 (Arp4) and the helicase-SANT–associated (HSA) domain of the chromatin remodeler Swr1. The inner face and barbed end of N-actin are sequestered by interactions with Arp4 and the HSA domain, respectively, which prevents N-actin from polymerization and binding to many actin regulators. The two major domains of N-actin are more twisted than those of globular actin (G-actin), and its nucleotide-binding pocket is occluded, freeing N-actin from binding to and regulation by ATP. These findings revealed the salient structural features of N-actin that distinguish it from its cytoplasmic counterpart and provide a rational basis for its functions and regulation inside the nucleus.
Migrated hydrocarbons occur commonly in liquid-rich source rock reservoirs and can distort analytical results of programed pyrolysis. Disregarding the effect may result in unreliable data ...interpretation and inappropriate hydrocarbon generation kinetics. This paper proposes a method based on kerogen kinetics for characterizing the impacts, estimating the severity and subsequently minimizing the effects by removal of the migrated components from the oil-stained samples through a numerical approach. The restored hydrocarbon pyrograms are then used for recalculation of relevant Rock-Eval parameters and proper construction of generation kinetic models. The proposed methods and workflow were applied to the source rock samples from the Qianjiang Formation, a confined source rock system imbedded in salt layers, where contamination from migrated hydrocarbons is common. An additional Rock-Eval dataset consisting of whole-rock samples and post-solvent extracted replicates was used to validate the methods. The validation results show that the proposed numerical approach is a cost-effective alternative to the traditional laboratory solution.
•Migrated hydrocarbons in source rock reservoir distort analytical results of Rock-Eval pyrolysis.•Disregarding the effect results in unreliable data interpretation, overestimation of generation potential and inappropriate kinetics.•New method removes effectively the migrated hydrocarbons from pyrograms, providing a cost-effective alternative for additional post-solvent extracted experiment
Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is a highly versatile and flexible process for rapid manufacturing of complex sheet metal parts. In the ISF process, efficient and accurate prediction of part ...thickness variation is still a challenging task, which is especially true for the multi-pass ISF process. The Sine law equation and the finite element method (FEM) are the two commonly used conventional prediction methods. However, these approaches are either with limited accuracy or very time consuming. For the multi-pass ISF process, the thickness prediction is even more challenging since two or more forming steps are involved. Focusing on the thickness prediction of multi-stage ISF process, this work proposes a thickness prediction model based on the geometrical calculation of intermediate shapes of the formed part and backward tracing of nodal points of the forming tool. By developing this method, the thickness distribution can be calculated through the predicted nodal displacement in the ISF process. To verify the proposed model, four different geometrical shapes, i.e., conic, parabolic conic, non-axisymmetric, and hemispherical parts, are physically formed by using a NC ISF machine. The geometric shapes and the detailed thickness distributions of the formed parts are carefully measured and compared with the prediction model developed. Good agreements between the analytical predictions, and the experimental results are obtained. This indicates the effectiveness and robustness of the developed thickness prediction approach.
Collaborative innovation has become an innovation paradigm to improve innovation performance and firms’ economic output. However, there is relatively little research investigating stakeholders’ ...drivers for engaging in collaborative innovation and the relative importance of drivers in infrastructure megaprojects. This research aims to address this gap by identifying the drivers for collaborative innovation and their relative importance in the context of infrastructure megaprojects. We adopt the literature review and questionnaire survey methods to identify drivers, the Relative Importance Index to rank them, and exploratory factor analysis to group them. The results show that 18 drivers are grouped into 6 dimensions. Their rankings are as follows: responding to project and clients’ requirements, improving efficiency, gaining rewards, learning, responding to competition, responding to environmental changes. The research contributes to stakeholders’ drivers to engage in collaborative innovation and the relative importance of drivers in the context of infrastructure megaprojects. Identifying and prioritizing stakeholders’ drivers can provide practitioners with suggestions on managing the collaborative innovation process in infrastructure megaprojects.
A lower prevalence of dental caries (hereafter termed "caries") has been observed in children with dental extrinsic black stain (EBS).
We investigated the epidemiologic characterization of EBS and ...explored the possible role of the oral microbiome (OM) and gut microbiome (GM) in EBS formation and caries prevention. In an epidemiologic survey, 2,675 children aged 3-6 years were included. Thirty-eight of these children (7 children had both caries and EBS, 10 had EBS only, 11 had caries only, and 10 were healthy children) were recruited for 16S rRNA sequencing and collection of samples of supragingival plaque and feces. Collected plaque samples were divided into four groups: BCP (EBS+, caries+), BP (EBS+, caries-), CP (EBS-, caries+), and P (EBS-, caries-). Fecal samples were also divided into four groups: BCF (EBS+, caries+), BF (EBS+, caries-),
(EBS-, caries+), and F (EBS-, caries-).
EBS was observed in 12.10% of this population. Children with EBS had a significantly reduced prevalence of caries and a lower mean value of decayed-missing-filled teeth (dmft;
< 0.01). According to analyses of dental plaque, the P group had the most complex microbiome. The BCP group exhibited greater operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness but a reduced evenness compared with the BP group, and the CP group showed greater OTU richness than the BP group. At the genus level, higher abundance of
and
species was observed in the BCP group. Higher abundance of
and
species was observed in the BP group compared with P and CP groups, respectively (
< 0.05).
species were significantly more common in P and CP groups than in BP groups, whereas
and
species were more common in the CP group (
< 0.05). With regard to the GM, the
group exhibited greater OTU diversity than the BF group. The GM in the BCF group exhibited the most complex relationships across all fecal groups. GM groups could be distinguished by various unique biomarkers, such as
and
species in the BCF group,
and
species in the
group,
species in the BF group, and
species in the F group. Our results suggest that EBS is a possible protective factor against early-childhood caries. Dental plaque and the GM may be relevant to EBS in primary dentition.
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