As a result of globalization, countries are collaborating more and sharing more information. People’s perspectives now encompass both domestic and international news. In English as a Second Language ...(ESL) classes, the appropriate use of rich and vibrant online English news resources gives second language learners (L2 learners) direct access to first-hand, authentic English knowledge through independent reading and digestion, as well as peer-assisted classroom activities. Through weekly peer-assisted sharing of online English news, the goal of this study is to improve L2 learners’ literacy, global competence, and appreciation of cultural diversity. This study examines the participants’ perceptions and feedback using both quantitative and qualitative methods to confirm the efficacy of this pedagogy. After the semester-long experiment, significant differences were found in the English proficiency test. Particularly, the experimental class’s reading and writing scores were significantly higher (
p
< 0.05) than the control class’s, indicating that this pedagogy can effectively improve the literacy of ESL learners. The semi-structured interview revealed that participants were pleased with this instruction and perceived improvements in their language skills. ESL students’ core English literacy has significantly improved by expanding their comprehension of news articles and cultivating a sense of social responsibility.
Lightweight, robust, and thin aerogel films with multifunctionality are highly desirable to meet the technological demands of current society. However, fabrication and application of these ...multifunctional aerogel films are still significantly underdeveloped. Herein, we demonstrate a multifunctional aerogel film composed of strong aramid nanofibers (ANFs), conductive carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and hydrophobic fluorocarbon (FC) resin. The obtained hybrid aerogel film exhibits large specific surface area (232.8 m2·g–1), high electrical conductivity (230 S·m–1), and excellent hydrophobicity (contact angle of up to 137.0°) with exceptional Joule heating performance and supreme electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding efficiency. The FC coating renders the hydrophilic ANF/CNT aerogel films hydrophobic, resulting in an excellent self-cleaning performance. The high electrical conductivity enables a low-voltage-driven Joule heating property and an EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of 54.4 dB in the X-band at a thickness of 568 μm. The specific EMI SE is up to 33528.3 dB·cm2·g–1, which is among the highest values of typical metal-, conducting-polymer-, or carbon-based composites. This multifunctional aerogel film holds great promise for smart garments, electromagnetic wave shielding, and personal thermal management systems.
Thiacalix4arenes as a family of promising ligands have been widely used to construct polynuclear metal clusters, but scarcely employed in silver nanoclusters. Herein, an anion-templated Ag
...nanocluster (SD/Ag88a) built from p-tert-butylthiacalix4arene (H
TC4A) is reported. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that C
-symmetric SD/Ag88a resembles a metal-organic super calix comprised of eight TC4A
as walls and 88 silver atoms as base, which can be deconstructed to eight CrO
@Ag
(TC4A)(EtS)
(OAc) secondary building units arranged in an annulus encircling a CrO
in the center. Local and global anion template effects from chromates are individually manifested in SD/Ag88a. The solution stability and hierarchical assembly mechanism of SD/Ag88a are studied by using electrospray mass spectrometry. The Ag
nanocluster represents the highest nuclearity metal cluster capped by TC4A
. This work not only exemplify the specific macrocyclic effects of TC4A
in the construction of silver nanocluster but also realize the shape heredity of TC4A
to overall silver super calix.
Background
N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent methylation modification of eukaryotic RNA, and methyltransferase‐like 3 (METTL3) plays a vital role in multiple cell functions. This study ...aimed to investigate the role of m6A methylase METTL3 in slow transit constipation (STC).
Material and Method
The expression of METTL3 and DGCR8 was measured in STC tissues and glutamic acid‐induced interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs). The effects of METTL3, miR‐30b‐5p, and DGCR8 on the biological characteristics of ICCs were investigated on the basis of loss‐of‐function analyses. Luciferase reporter assay was used to identify the direct binding sites of miR‐30b‐5p with PIK3R2.
Results
The results showed that the METTL3, DGCR8, miR‐30b‐5p, and the methylation level of m6A were significantly increased in STC tissues and glutamic acid‐induced ICCs. Silencing of METTL3 and miR‐30b‐5p inhibited apoptosis, autophagy, and pyroptosis of glutamic acid‐induced ICCs. Moreover, overexpression of miR‐30b‐5p reversed the cytoprotection of METTL3 knockdown in glutamic acid‐induced ICCs. Besides, DGCR8 knockdown could facilitate cell growth and decrease apoptotic glutamic acid‐induced ICCs. Mechanically, we illustrated that METTL3 in glutamic acid‐induced ICCs significantly accelerated the maturation of pri‐miR‐30b‐5p by m6A methylation modification, resulting in the reduction of PIK3R2, which results in the inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and ultimately leads to the cell death of STC.
Conclusions
Collectively, these data demonstrated that METTL3 promoted the apoptosis, autophagy, and pyroptosis of glutamic acid‐induced ICCs by interacting with the DGCR8 and successively modulating the miR‐30b‐5p/PIK3R2 axis in an m6A‐dependent manner, and METTL3 may be a potential therapeutic target for STC.
Precisely introducing topological defects is an important strategy in nanographene crystal engineering because defects can tune π‐electronic structures and control molecular assemblies. The ...synergistic control of the synthesis and assembly of nanographenes by embedding the topological defects to afford two‐dimensional (2D) crystals on surfaces is still a great challenge. By in‐situ embedding ladder bipyrazinylene (LBPy) into acene, the narrowest nanographene with zigzag edges, we have achieved the precise preparation of 2D nonbenzenoid heteroacene crystals on Au(111). Through intramolecular electrocyclization of o‐diisocyanides and Au adatom‐directed 2+2 cycloaddition, the nonbenzenoid heteroacene products are produced with high chemoselectivity, and lead to the molecular 2D assembly via LBPy‐derived interlocking hydrogen bonds. Using bond‐resolved scanning tunneling microscopy, we determined the atomic structures of the nonbenzenoid heteroacene product and diverse organometallic intermediates. The tunneling spectroscopy measurements revealed the electronic structure of the nonbenzenoid heteroacene, which is supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The observed distinct organometallic intermediates during progression annealing combined with DFT calculations demonstrated that LBPy formation proceeds via electrocyclization of o‐diisocyanides, trapping of heteroarynes by Au adatoms, and stepwise elimination of Au adatoms.
Two‐dimensional (2D) nonbenzenoid heteroacene crystals are synthesized via the in‐situ embedding of ladder bipyrazinylenes (LBPys) on Au(111). Through the intramolecular electrocyclization of o‐diisocyanides and Au adatom‐directed 2+2 cycloaddition, the nonbenzenoid heteroacene products are produced with high chemoselectivity, and give rise to the molecular 2D assembly via LBPy‐derived interlocking hydrogen bonds.
Depression is a heterogeneous disorder, with the exact neuronal mechanisms causing the disease yet to be discovered. Recent work suggests it is accompanied by neuro-inflammation, characterized, in ...particular, by microglial activation. However, microglial activation and its involvement in neuro-inflammation and stress-related depressive disorders are far from understood.
We utilized multiple detection methods to detect the neuro-inflammation in the hippocampus of rats after exposure to chronic mild stress (CMS). Male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were subjected to chronic mild stressors for 12 weeks. Microglial activation and hippocampal neuro-inflammation were detected by using a combinatory approach of in vivo 18F DPA-714 positron emission computed tomography (PET) imaging, ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 and translocator protein (TSPO) immunohistochemistry, and detection of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome and some inflammatory mediators. Then, the rats were treated with minocycline during the last 4 weeks to observe its effect on hippocampal neuro-inflammation and depressive-like behavior induced by chronic mild stress.
The results show that 12 weeks of chronic mild stress induced remarkable depressive- and anxiety-like behavior, simultaneously causing hippocampal microglial activation detected by PET, immunofluorescence staining, and western blotting. Likewise, activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and upregulation of inflammatory mediators, such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and IL-18, were also observed in the hippocampus after exposure to chronic stress. Interestingly, the anti-inflammatory mediators, such as IL-4 and IL-10, were also increased in the hippocampus following chronic mild stress, which may hint that chronic stress activates different types of microglia, which produce pro-inflammatory cytokines or anti-inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, chronic minocycline treatment alleviated the depressive-like behavior induced by chronic stress and significantly inhibited microglial activation. Similarly, the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and the increase of inflammatory mediators were not exhibited or significantly less marked in the minocycline treatment group.
These results together indicate that microglial activation mediates the chronic mild stress-induced depressive- and anxiety-like behavior and hippocampal neuro-inflammation.
In this study, the temperature evolution, microstructure, and mechanical properties of friction stir welded 80-mm super-thick plate 6082 aluminum alloy were investigated. Combined with numerical ...simulation and actual measurement, the thermal cycle curve during welding is obtained, and the accuracy of numerical calculation is verified. The numerical model calculating data shows that the peak temperature difference is up to 109 °C along the thickness direction of the weld in weld nugget zone (WNZ). Different degrees of dynamic recrystallization occur in WNZ, resulting in different grain sizes along the thickness direction of the weld. Each zone is subject to different heat cycle temperatures, so the type, number, and size of the precipitated phases are different. The microhardness curves of each layer of welded joints are all W-shaped, and the microhardness distribution between advancing side and retreating side has significant asymmetry. The fracture location of each layer of weld is located in the heat affected zone on the side of thermomechanical affected zone (HAZ
TMAZ
). The surface of the joint has the highest mechanical properties. Fractures in all tensile specimens were ductile fracture.
Compared with mechanism-based modeling methods, data-driven modeling based on big data has become a popular research field in recent years because of its applicability. However, it is not always ...better to have more data when building a forecasting model in practical areas. Due to the noise and conflict, redundancy, and inconsistency of big time-series data, the forecasting accuracy may reduce on the contrary. This paper proposes a deep network by selecting and understanding data to improve performance. Firstly, a data self-screening layer (DSSL) with a maximal information distance coefficient (MIDC) is designed to filter input data with high correlation and low redundancy; then, a variational Bayesian gated recurrent unit (VBGRU) is used to improve the anti-noise ability and robustness of the model. Beijing's air quality and meteorological data are conducted in a verification experiment of 24 h PM2.5 concentration forecasting, proving that the proposed model is superior to other models in accuracy.
Prediction based on time series has a wide range of applications. Due to the complex nonlinear and random distribution of time series data, the performance of learning prediction models can be ...reduced by the modeling bias or overfitting. This paper proposes a novel planar flow-based variational auto-encoder prediction model (PFVAE), which uses the long- and short-term memory network (LSTM) as the auto-encoder and designs the variational auto-encoder (VAE) as a time series data predictor to overcome the noise effects. In addition, the internal structure of VAE is transformed using planar flow, which enables it to learn and fit the nonlinearity of time series data and improve the dynamic adaptability of the network. The prediction experiments verify that the proposed model is superior to other models regarding prediction accuracy and proves it is effective for predicting time series data.
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