We experimentally demonstrated and quantitatively evaluated a non-contact nanometer-displacement measurement using phase-diversity optical digital coherent detection implemented by a 90 ° optical ...hybrid and a narrow-linewidth probe laser without fine-tuning of optical path length difference (OPD). Combined with a comb filter, the system exhibits 99.99% linearity detection with a scale and resolution of approximately 7 nm and 2 nm respectively, as well as a wideband vibration of 5.85 MHz. We also experimentally analyzed the effect of noise arising from the OPD and demonstrated the detection of displacement down to 85 nm with a resolution of 24 nm at an OPD of 342 cm.
Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) receive extensive interest, owing to their structure predictability, recognition specificity, and application universality as well as robustness, simplicity, and ...inexpensiveness. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is regarded as an ideal optical detection candidate for its unique features of fingerprint recognition, nondestructive property, high sensitivity, and rapidity. Accordingly, MIP based SERS (MIP-SERS) sensors have attracted significant research interest for versatile applications especially in the field of chemo- and bioanalysis, showing excellent identification and detection performances. Herein, we comprehensively review the recent advances in MIP-SERS sensors construction and applications, including sensing principles and signal enhancement mechanisms, focusing on novel construction strategies and representative applications. First, the basic structure of the MIP-SERS sensors is briefly outlined. Second, novel imprinting strategies are highlighted, mainly including multifunctional monomer imprinting, dummy template imprinting, living/controlled radical polymerization, and stimuli-responsive imprinting. Third, typical application of MIP-SERS sensors in chemo/bioanalysis is summarized from both small and macromolecular aspects. Lastly, the challenges and perspectives of the MIP-SERS sensors are proposed, orienting sensitivity improvement and application expanding.
PD-L1 and PD-L2 are ligands for the PD-1 immune inhibiting checkpoint that can be induced in tumors by interferon exposure, leading to immune evasion. This process is important for immunotherapy ...based on PD-1 blockade. We examined the specific molecules involved in interferon-induced signaling that regulates PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression in melanoma cells. These studies revealed that the interferon-gamma-JAK1/JAK2-STAT1/STAT2/STAT3-IRF1 axis primarily regulates PD-L1 expression, with IRF1 binding to its promoter. PD-L2 responded equally to interferon beta and gamma and is regulated through both IRF1 and STAT3, which bind to the PD-L2 promoter. Analysis of biopsy specimens from patients with melanoma confirmed interferon signature enrichment and upregulation of gene targets for STAT1/STAT2/STAT3 and IRF1 in anti-PD-1-responding tumors. Therefore, these studies map the signaling pathway of interferon-gamma-inducible PD-1 ligand expression.
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•PD-L1 is primarily regulated by interferon gamma signaling in melanoma cells•PD-L2 is regulated by both interferon beta and gamma signaling•Regulation of PD-1 ligands works mainly through the JAK1/2-STAT1/3-IRF1 axis
Garcia-Diaz et al. performed a small hairpin RNA screen and genetic and functional studies to map the signaling pathways that result in reactive PD-L1 and PD-L2 on melanoma cells upon interferon gamma exposure. The authors highlight the importance of the JAK1/JAK2-STAT1/STAT2/STAT3-IRF1 axis for clinical responses to PD-1 blockade therapy.
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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a malignant tumor with a high incidence and death rate in the world. Molecular interactions inside cells or tissues during tumor occurrence, development, ...and drug resistance are important for disease prevention and treatment. The long non-coding RNA SNHG14 has been proven to exert its oncogenic function in multiple cancers. However, there is no study regarding the role of SNHG14 in CRC research. In the present study, we applied RT-qPCR and western blot to determine the gene expression levels. MTT and TUNEL assays were used to detect cell proliferation and apoptosis rate. Cell migration and invasion abilities were determined by wound healing and transwell assays, respectively. StarBase was used to predict the potential binding sites and luciferase reporter assay was applied to confirm the direct interactions. Besides, we conducted a xenograft experiment to detect tumor growth rate in vivo. Our results showed that SNHG14 and ATG14 were both significantly higher in CRC tumor tissues than the normal ones, while miR-186 was decreased. The similar results were also observed in CRC cell lines. We confirmed that SNHG14 could directly interact with miR-186 and inhibited its expression. Meanwhile, miR-186 could directly bind ATG14 to inhibit its expression level. In vitro experiments showed that higher expression of SNHG14 led to higher cell proliferation, migration and invasion, while miR-186 significantly inhibited these tumor phenotypes. Furthermore, overexpression of ATG14 could strongly recover the CRC phenotypes attenuated by shSNHG14 or miR-186 mimics. Interestingly, we constructed cisplatin-resistant CRC cells and found that overexpression of ATG14 significantly enhanced the cell proliferation rate and inhibited cell apoptosis. Our research indicated that the novel axis of SNHG14/miR-186/ATG14 could play a vital role in regulating CRC cell progression. Moreover, this axis showed its clinical potential in regulating cisplatin resistance during CRC treatment.
Group recommendation plays a significant role in today's social media systems, where users form social groups to receive multimedia content together and interact with each other, instead of consuming ...the online content individually. Limitations of traditional group recommendation approaches are as follows. First, they usually infer group members' preferences by their historical behaviors, failing to capture inactive users' preferences from the sparse historical data. Second, relationships between group members are not studied by these approaches, which fail to capture the inherent personality of members in a group. To address these issues, we propose a social-aware group recommendation framework that jointly utilizes both social relationships and social behaviors to not only infer a group's preference, but also model the tolerance and altruism characteristics of group members. Based on the observation that the following relationship in the online social network reflects common interests of users, we propose a group preference model based on external experts of group members. Furthermore, we model users' tolerance (willingness to receive content not preferred) and altruism (willingness to receive content preferred by friends). Finally, based on the group preference model, we design recommendation algorithms for users under different social contexts. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, which significantly improves the recommendation accuracy against traditional approaches, especially in the cases of inactive group members.
Photocatalytic hydrogen production by using solar energy has attracted great interest around the world. The main challenges are the high costs of the photocatalysts and the low efficiency of ...photocatalytic hydrogen production. Co‐catalysts, as crucial components of photocatalysts, are usually used to stimulate photoexcited electron transfer from the light absorber to the surface, and they also catalyze the proton‐reduction reaction to form H2 in water. However, most co‐catalysts used in photocatalytic hydrogen production are noble metals, which are expensive and contradict the low‐costs demanded by industry. Therefore, the development of earth‐abundant and cheap co‐catalysts to replace noble metals is necessary for photocatalytic H2 production. This account highlights the performance and roles of molybdenum‐based non‐noble metal co‐catalysts in photocatalytic hydrogen production. We developed a series of inexpensive and efficient molybdenum‐based co‐catalysts. We demonstrated that more H2 could be produced by loading Mo‐based co‐catalysts on CdS by using the co‐precipitation method than by using traditional Pt/CdS same under the same photocatalytic conditions. The molybdenum‐based co‐catalysts were able to form heterojunctions, which served as bridges to facilitate the transport and separation of photogenerated charges; moreover, the molybdenum‐based co‐catalysts were able to accept and store photoexcited electrons owing to their large specific capacitance. The stored photoelectrons could then be released according to proton‐reduction processes to form H2. Furthermore, the molybdenum‐based co‐catalysts were found to have metastable state structures and multiple valence states, which provided more active sites and effectively catalyzed the production of H2 and inhibited the reverse reaction. The discovery of Mo‐based co‐catalysts with superior properties will provide guidance for the design of new co‐catalysts.
Mo than you asked for: Photocatalytic hydrogen production by using solar energy is important, but many photocatalysts suffer from high costs and low efficiency. Noble metals are often used as co‐catalysts to increase the efficiency of hydrogen production catalysts, but they costly. Herein, the use of co‐catalysts based on Mo, which is earth abundant and cheap, to increase photocatalytic hydrogen production is summarized.
Pregnant women infected with HCV should be given attention due to their special physiological stage and the effect on offspring health. To examine the prevalence of HCV infection among pregnant women ...in part of China and explore relevant factors during pregnancy, a cross-sectional study was conducted in four maternal and children health care institutions (MCHC) in Guangdong, Hunan and Chongqing. Pregnant women who were delivered, induced or spontaneous abortion were included and relevant information was collected through the Hospital Information System. Results showed that the prevalence of HCV among pregnant women in four MCHCs was 0.11% (95% CI 0.09-0.13%). Age, occupations, regions, syphilis-infection, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), and placenta previa were significant factors (all P < 0.05). Age and syphilis-infection were positively correlated with HCV infection (Z = 3.41, P = 0.0006; OR = 18.16, 95% CI 9.34-35.29). HCV and HBV infection were risk factors of ICP (OR = 4.18, 95% CI 2.18-8.04; OR = 2.59, 95% CI 2.31-2.89). Our study indicates that the prevalence of HCV among pregnant women in the three provinces(city) was low compared with the general population in China. Older age and syphilis-infection increased the risk of HCV infection during pregnancy. HCV infection was a risk factor of ICP. Generally, we need keep a watchful eye on HCV infection and relevant factors mentioned above during pregnancy in clinic, especially those also infected with syphilis. HCV testing based on risk factors is recommended in antenatal care and obstetrics.
Abstract Statement of problem How tooth preparation and material type affect the stress distribution of endodontically treated teeth restored with endocrowns remains unclear. Purpose The purpose of ...this finite element (FE) study was to determine the influence of the quantity of remaining dental tissues and material type on stress distribution in endodontically treated maxillary premolars using 3-dimensional FE analysis. Material and methods Five 3-dimensional FE models were constructed on the basis of the restorative methods used and the quantity of preserved tooth tissues: a sound maxillary premolar, an endodontically treated maxillary premolar restored with composite resin, and endodontically treated maxillary premolars restored with endocrowns with thicknesses of 1.0 mm, 2.0 mm, and 3.0 mm. The following endocrown materials were used: Paradigm MZ100, IPS Empress, IPS e.max CAD, and In-Ceram Zirconia. Stress distributions were analyzed under vertical and oblique loads. Results As the quantity of preserved dental tissues increased, the von Mises stress in dentin decreased, and the peak von Mises strain value of the cement layer increased. When the elastic modulus of the endocrown material increased, the von Mises stress in endocrown and dentin increased, and the peak von Mises strain value of the cement layer decreased. Conclusions Although the conservative preparation of teeth for endocrowns is likely to protect the residual tooth structure, it may cause future cohesive bonding failure. An increase in the elastic modulus of the material may benefit the durability of bonding between the endocrown and the abutment tooth; however, it may cause fracture of the residual tooth structure.
Health is an important topic for everyone and essential to high-quality economic and social development. Recently, some researchers have suggested that older adults' internet use may have a health ...effect.
This study specifically aims to clarify the relationship between internet use and the mental health of older adults, for which other surveys present contradictory results.
Data were obtained from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey conducted in 2018. A total of 6648 participants were included. Mental health was assessed by the 12-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Ordinary least squares regression was adopted to explore the relationship between internet use (independent variable) and the mental health of older adults. Robustness analysis, sensitivity analysis, and heterogeneity analysis were conducted in detail to verify the empirical result. A mediating effect analysis was further conducted to discover the effect mechanism between the dependent and independent variables.
It was found that internet use and smartphone use can significantly improve the mental health of older adults (ordinary least squares, β=.075; P<.001). After endogenous and robustness tests were conducted, the aforementioned conclusion remained robust. In particular, participation in voluntary activities played a mediating role in the relationship between internet use and the mental health of older adults. In addition, younger subjective age enhanced the positive effect of internet use on the mental health of older adults.
Internet users showed higher levels of mental health among Chinese older adults. To improve the mental health of older adults, the government should not only cultivate the ability to use the internet but also encourage greater participation in voluntary activities among older adults.
Abstract
This study sought to investigate the association between microRNA-29a (miR-29a) and cardiomyocyte apoptosis in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). DCM rat model was established by treating rats ...with streptozotocin (STZ), followed by injection of NC or miR-29a-3p mimics into the myocardium of rats. High glucose (HG)-treated H9c2 cells were transfected with NC and miR-29a-3p mimics. DCM rats presented elevated levels of blood glucose, HbA1c, blood pressure, urine output, decreased body weight and cardiac contractile function after modeling. MiR-29a was lowly expressed in STZ-treated rats and HG-treated H9c2 cells. Upregulation of miR-29a improved cardiac structure and function and attenuated, alleviated myocardial histological abnormalities and fibrosis and lowered cardiomyocyte apoptosis in DCM rats. Meanwhile, HG promoted H9c2 cell apoptosis, while miR-29a overexpression attenuated the function of HG. Compared with control group, the protein expression of Bax, cleaved-caspase3 and Bak1 in DCM and HG groups were significantly upregulated, and the expression of Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 was downregulated, while miR-29a overexpression exerted opposite effect. Bioinformatics prediction method and western blot revealed that miR-29a directly targeted Bak1 and downregulated Bak1 expression. Overall, miR-29a regulated STZ- and HG-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis by targeting Bak1, providing a novel understanding of the pathogenesis of DCM.
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