The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic severely affected the disease management of patients with chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study aimed to assess the ...effect of telemedicine management of diabetes in obese and overweight young and middle-aged patients with T2DM during the COVID-19 pandemic. A single-center randomized control study was conducted in 120 obese or overweight (body mass index BMI greater than or equal to 24 kg/m.sup.2) young and middle-aged patients (aged 18-55 years) with T2DM. Patients were randomly assigned to the intervention (telemedicine) or control (conventional outpatient clinic appointment) group. After baseline assessment, they were home isolated for 21 days, received diet and exercise guidance, underwent glucose monitoring, and followed up for 6 months. Glucose monitoring and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores were evaluated at 22 days and at the end of 3 and 6 months. Ninety-nine patients completed the 6-month follow-up (intervention group: n = 52; control group: n = 47). On day 22, the fasting blood glucose (FBG) level of the intervention group was lower than that of the control group (p < 0.05), and the control group's SDS increased significantly compared with the baseline value (p < 0.05). At the end of 3 months, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and FBG levels in the intervention group decreased significantly compared with those in the control group (p < 0.01). At the end of 6 months, the intervention group showed a significant decrease in postprandial blood glucose, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels as well as waist-to-hip ratio compared with the control group (p < 0.05); moreover, the intervention group showed lower SDS scores than the baseline value (p < 0.05). Further, the intervention group showed a significant reduction in BMI compared with the control group at the end of 3 and 6 months (p < 0.01). Telemedicine is a beneficial strategy for achieving remotely supervised blood glucose regulation, weight loss, and depression relief in patients with T2DM.
CBA has emerged as a prominent pedagogical approach aimed at intertwining assessment within the instructional process, effectively fostering student learning. In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) ...education, CBA has garnered considerable attention, given its potential to enhance language learners' engagement, speaking proficiency, and willingness to communicate. This mixed-method research study delves into the impact of Classroom-Based Assessment (CBA) on the speaking performance, engagement, and willingness to communicate of undergraduate Chinese EFL learners. The study involved 90 Chinese EFL learners in the quantitative phase and 25 in the qualitative phase. Data collection comprised three questionnaires and an interview checklist. The data analysis employed inferential statistics (t-tests) for the quantitative data and thematic analysis for the qualitative insights. The findings of this study reveal that CBA exerts a significant influence on language learners' engagement, speaking abilities, and willingness to communicate. The quantitative results, as indicated by t-tests, indicate noteworthy improvements in these key aspects when CBA is integrated into the classroom environment. Moreover, the qualitative phase of the study, employing thematic analysis, uncovered five distinct ways through which CBA impacts the main variables under investigation. This research elucidates the multifaceted influence of CBA on undergraduate Chinese EFL learners. It not only demonstrates the quantitative impact on engagement, speaking skills, and willingness to communicate but also offers valuable qualitative insights into the diverse ways through which CBA enhances the language learning experience. These findings underscore the significance of integrating CBA into EFL classrooms as a potent tool for optimizing learner outcomes.
As a crucial period of development, adolescence builds the foundation of how a person would become. Peer relationship is considered to be a vital part of adolescents’ interpersonal relationships, ...which naturally contributes to shaping a psychological well-being for them. This review primarily pays attention to the role played by peer relationship. Peer relationship serves as a shaping factor of adolescents’ behaviors as adolescents tend to mirror how their peers behave. Meanwhile, peer relationship can work with adult support, such as teacher relationships and parental relationships, and thus benefit adolescents’ psychological well-being in a further way. Moreover, gender difference should not be neglected when discussing the role played by peer relationship in the psychological well-being of adolescents. In respect of the influence of stressful life events, girls’ peer relationship quality is more affected than boys’ is. Concerns about this review may be that not enough studies on the field of adolescents’ psychological well-being are reviewed and different results may thus not be considered. For future research, the role of peer relationship in other age groups’ psychological well-being (middle-aged and elderly) can be studied.
Arabidopsis thaliana cryptochrome 2 (CRY2) mediates light control of flowering time. CIB1 (CRY2-interacting bHLH 1) specifically interacts with CRY2 in response to blue light to activate the ...transcription of FT (Flowering Locus T). In vitro, CIB1 binds to the canonical E-box (CACGTG, also referred to as G-box) with much higher affinity than its interaction with non-canonical E-box (CANNTG) DNA sequences. However, in vivo, CIB1 binds to the chromatin region of the FT promoter, which only contains the non-canonical E-box sequences. Here, we show that CRY2 also interacts with at least CIB5, in response to blue light, but not in darkness or in response to other wavelengths of light. Our genetic analysis demonstrates that CIB1, CIB2, CIB4, and CIB5 act redundantly to activate the transcription of FT and that they are positive regulators of CRY2 mediated flowering. More importantly, CIB1 and other CIBs proteins form heterodimers, and some of the heterodimers have a higher binding affinity than the CIB homodimers to the non-canonical E-box in the in vitro DNA-binding assays. This result explains why in vitro CIB1 and other CIBs bind to the canonical E-box (G-box) with a higher affinity, whereas they are all associated with the non-canonical E-boxes at the FT promoter in vivo. Consistent with the hypothesis that different CIB proteins play similar roles in the CRY2-midiated blue light signaling, the expression of CIB proteins is regulated specifically by blue light. Our study demonstrates that CIBs function redundantly in regulating CRY2-dependent flowering, and that different CIBs form heterodimers to interact with the non-canonical E-box DNA in vivo.
Coral sand has individual characteristics that differ from silica sand, such as creep behavior that is always attributed to particle crushing under high stress states. To understand the creep ...behavior of coral sand under general stress levels, three series of comparative triaxial tests relevant to the deviator stress, confining pressure, and relative density were performed on coral sand and silica sand creeping for more than 5 days. The volumetric, axial, and shear creeps of coral sand are considerably larger than those of silica sand, particularly under a relatively high confining pressure. The volumetric creep strain of coral sand was found to be contractive, but that of silica sand appeared dilative according to the creep time. This difference is not mainly governed by particle crushing in coral sand because the grain-size distribution prior to and after creep is similar. The grain skeletons were observed using a scanning electron microscope, finding that, independent of the grain size and shape, the coral grains include large amounts of cavities. The creep of coral sand under general stress conditions is mainly caused by particle interlocking, i.e., the angular regions of some particles interlock into the cavities of other particles due to particle rotation. This structuration is induced by breakage of asperities and voids during creep such as the local instability near cavities.
This study investigated the effect of protocatechuic aldehyde (PCA) on
Vibrio parahaemolyticus
biofilm formation and its effects on gene expression. Crystal violet assay, metabolic activity assay, ...and fluorescence experiments were used to evaluate the antibiofilm activities of PCA and to reveal its possible antibiofilm mechanisms using transcriptomic analysis. The results indicated that the minimum antibacterial concentration of PCA against
V. parahaemolyticus
was 300 μg/mL. PCA (9.375 μg/mL) inhibited biofilm generation and adhesion of the mature biofilm. PCA (75 μg/mL) significantly reduced the metabolic viability of
V. parahaemolyticus
, reduced polysaccharide production, and inhibited cell surface flagella-mediated swimming and aggregation phenotypes. Meanwhile, transcriptome analysis showed that the key genes of
V. parahaemolyticus
expressed under PCA (75 μg/mL) inhibition were mainly related to biofilm formation (
pfkA
,
galE
,
narL
, and
oppA
), polysaccharide production and adhesion (
IF
,
fbpA
, and
yxeM
), and motility (
cheY
,
flrC
, and
fliA
). By regulating these key genes, PCA reduced biofilm formation, suppressed polysaccharide production and transport, and prevented the adhesion of
V. parahaemolyticus
, thereby reducing the virulence of
V. parahaemolyticus
. This study demonstrated that protocatechuic aldehyde can be used to control
V. parahaemolyticus
biofilm to ensure food safety.
•A hybrid DBD plasma-catalysis system is developed for reforming various model tars.•Ni/ZSM-5 shows higher performance than Ni/SiO2 prepared by thermal fusion method.•Single-ring aromatic ...hydrocarbons and oxygenates exhibit higher reactivity than PAHs.•Performances of catalysis-alone, plasma-alone and in plasma-catalysis are compared.•Obvious synergy of plasma and catalyst is observed in plasma-catalysis system.
Tar formation during biomass gasification is undesirable due to the decreased energy efficiency and increased costs for maintaining downstream equipment. The hybrid non-thermal plasma-catalysis method is considered to be a promising alternative, since it overcomes the disadvantages arising from both catalyst deactivation during catalytic reforming and the formation of undesirable liquid by-products in plasma reforming. SiO2- and ZSM-5-supported Ni-based catalysts with different Ni loadings (0.5, 1, 3, and 5 wt%) were prepared by thermal fusion and applied to the steam reforming of toluene. Different characterizations of fresh and spent catalysts including XRD, H2-TPR, N2 adsorption-desorption, SEM, TEM, XPS and TGA were conducted to show the properties of catalysts. The results indicated that Ni/ZSM-5 exhibited better performance than Ni/SiO2, due to the increased dispersion of Ni particles and the stronger metal-support interaction of Ni/ZSM-5, which was confirmed by the TEM and H2-TPR results. In addition, the performances of the catalysis-only (CatO), plasma-only (PlO), and in-plasma-catalysis (IPC) systems in steam reforming of different model tar compounds including benzene, toluene, furfural, naphthalene, fluorene and pyrene were compared using Ni(5 wt%)/ZSM-5. Obvious synergistic effects between DBD plasma and Ni(5 wt%)/ZSM-5 was observed for syngas production in the IPC system.
Metabolic syndrome (MS) comprises a set of conditions that are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Numerous epidemiological studies on MS have been conducted, but there has not ...been a systematic analysis of the prevalence of MS in the Chinese population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the pooled prevalence of MS among subjects in Mainland China.
We performed a systematic review by searching both English and Chinese literature databases. Random or fixed effects models were used to summarize the prevalence of MS according to statistical tests for heterogeneity. Subgroup, sensitivity, and meta-regression analyses were performed to address heterogeneity. Publication bias was evaluated using Egger's test.
Thirty-five papers were included in the meta-analysis, with a total population of 226,653 Chinese subjects. Among subjects aged 15 years and older, the pooled prevalence was 24.5% (95% CI: 22.0-26.9%). By sex, the prevalences were 19.2% (95% CI: 16.9-21.6%) in males and 27.0% (95% CI: 23.5-30.5%) in females. The pooled prevalence of MS increased with age (15-39 years: 13.9%; 40-59 years: 26.4%; and 60 years: 32.4%). Individuals living in urban areas (24.9%, 95% CI: 18.5-31.3%) were more likely to suffer from MS than those living in rural areas (19.2%, 95% CI: 14.8-23.7%). Hypertension was the most prevalent component of MS in males (52.8%), while the most prevalent component of MS for females was central obesity (46.1%).
Our systematic review suggested a high prevalence of MS among subjects in Mainland China, indicating that MS is a serious public health problem. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the prevention and control of MS.
Heavy metal ions are toxic, and their toxicities change with different valence states, charges, and radii. Among the methods used for heavy metal ion removal, adsorption is widely employed due to its ...low cost and simple operation. As natural anionic clays, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have drawn considerable attention for their use in the removal of anionic pollutants (such as heavy metal anions) due to their high removal efficiency and environmental friendliness. This article reviews the effects of the charge, type, and radius of the cations in the laminates of LDHs and the anions in the LDH interlayers, as well as the charge and radius of the heavy metals and the conditions (such as pH, coexisting ions, and temperature) on removing heavy metal ions with LDHs. The removal mechanisms have also been discussed. LDHs are hugely promising as an application for removing heavy metal ions that exist in different ionic forms by controlling the type and condition of LDHs.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Emerging evidence indicates that tumour cells release substantial amounts of RNA ...into the bloodstream, in which RNA strongly resists RNases and is present at sufficient levels for quantitative analyses. Our study aimed to discover blood‐based markers for the early detection of CRC and to ascertain their efficiency in discriminating healthy controls, patients with polyps and adenomas and cancer patients. We first analysed and screened ZFAS1, SNHG11, LINC00909 and LINC00654 in a bioinformatics database and then collected clinical plasma samples for preliminary small‐scale analysis and further large‐scale verification. We then explored the mechanism of dominant lncRNA SNHG11 expression in CRC by in vitro and in vivo assays. The combination of ZFAS1, SNHG11, LINC00909 and LINC00654 showed high diagnostic performance for CRC (AUC: 0.937), especially early‐stage disease (AUC: 0.935). Plasma levels of the four candidate lncRNAs were significantly reduced in postoperative samples compared to preoperative samples. A panel including these four lncRNAs performed well in distinguishing patient groups with different stages of colon disease, and SNHG11 exhibited the greatest diagnostic ability to identify precancerous lesions and early‐stage tumour formation. Mechanistically, high SNHG11 expression promotes proliferation and metastasis by targeting the Hippo pathway. Taken together, the data indicate that SNHG11 may be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of CRC and a potential biomarker for the early detection of CRC.
What's new?
Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) released by tumour cells can enter the human circulatory system to form stable circulating entities. Here, the authors systematically assessed the diagnostic value of serum ZFAS1, SNHG11, LINC00909, and LINC00654 levels in healthy controls and patients with precancerous lesions or colorectal cancer and found dramatically decreased levels after surgical resection. The four lncRNA‐panel performed well in distinguishing patient groups with different stages of colon disease, with SNHG11 exhibiting the greatest diagnostic ability to identify precancerous lesions and early‐stage tumour formation. These lncRNAs, especially SNHG11, may serve as non‐invasive biomarkers for the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer.
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