Traditional community support, prevention from disasters, and mitigation depend on the top-down mode of management regulated by the government. This study aims to analyze the association between ...social networks and its structure on the decision of households’ participation in community. A households survey was conducted in Yanliang district of Shaanxi province of China and 393 households were targeted. An ordered multi classification logistic regression model was utilized to empirically analyze the association between the variables. The results showed that social networks have a significant positive impact on the households’ participation in cooperatives/communities. Among other variables, network interaction, network learning, network trust, and households’ participation in green energy technologies and cooperatives/community showed significant and positive correlation, but the variable network reciprocity was found to be negatively correlated to the adoption of green energy technologies. Study findings further revealed that, there is an interaction effect in the participation of households’ behavioral decision-making and joining cooperatives. Furthermore, the social experience of the head of the household and the source of income of the family showed a significant positive association with households’ participation in cooperatives/communities. Based on the study findings, it is suggested that the utilization and cultivation of households’ social network, service level of cooperatives need to be improved.
As a multi-target drug to treat ischemic stroke, N-butylphthalide (NBP) is extremely water-insoluble and exhibits limited oral bioavailability, impeding its wide oral application. Effective treatment ...of ischemic stroke by NBP requires timely and efficient drug exposure, necessitating the development of new oral formulations. Herein, liposomes containing biosurfactant sodium cholate (CA-liposomes) were systemically investigated as an oral NBP delivery platform because of its high biocompatibility and great potential for clinical applications. The optimized liposomes have a uniform hydrodynamic size of 104.30 ± 1.60 nm and excellent encapsulation efficiency (93.91 ± 1.10%). Intriguingly, NBP-loaded CA-liposomes produced rapid drug release and the cumulative release was up to 88.09 ± 4.04% during 12 h while that for NBP group was only 6.79 ± 0.99%. Caco-2 cell monolayer assay demonstrated the superior cell uptake and transport efficiency of NBP-loaded CA-liposomes than free NBP, which was mediated by passive diffusion via transcellular and paracellular routes. After oral administration to rats, NBP-loaded CA-liposomes exhibited rapid and almost complete drug absorption, with a t
max
of 0.70 ± 0.14 h and an absolute bioavailability of 92.65% while NBP suspension demonstrated relatively low bioavailability (21.7%). Meanwhile, NBP-loaded CA-liposomes produced 18.30-fold drug concentration in the brain at 5 min compared with NBP suspension, and the brain bioavailability increased by 2.48-fold. As expected, NBP-loaded CA-liposomes demonstrated significant therapeutic efficacy in a middle cerebral artery occlusion rat model. Our study provides new insights for engineering oral formulations of NBP with fast and sufficient drug exposure against ischemic stroke in the clinic.
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent type of OA, and Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) may lead to the pathogenesis of OA. Recently, X-linked TLR7 polymorphism has been confirmed to be associated ...with arthritis. However, there is a lack of studies on TLR7 gene polymorphism associated with knee OA susceptibility. The current study aimed to determine whether TLR7 gene polymorphism is associated with the risk of knee OA. Genotyping of two polymorphic sites (rs3853839 and rs179010) in the TLR7 gene was performed in 252 OA patients, and 265 healthy controls using the SNaPshot sequencing technique. Data were analyzed statistically by Chi-square tests and logistic regression. Rs3853839-C allele showed frequencies of 28% and 27% in the healthy control and female knee OA groups, respectively. The differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The rs3853839-CG genotype frequency was significantly lower in the female knee OA group as compared to the healthy control group (OR 0.60; 95%CI 0.36-0.99; P = 0.044). In the male hemizygote population, the rs3853839-CC showed significantly lower frequencies in the male knee OA group as compared to the healthy control group (OR 0.35; 95%CI 0.17-0.71; P = 0.0025). Regarding rs179010, there were no differences in the genotype distribution and allele frequencies between OA patients and healthy subjects under any models (P > 0.05). Stratified analysis showed that the frequency of the rs3853839-CG genotypes was lower in high Kellgren-Lawrence grades (KLG) (OR 0.48; 95%CI 0.21-1.08; P = 0.066), and significantly lower in OA patients with effusion synovitis (OR 0.38; 95%CI 0.17-0.88; P = 0.013). TLR7 rs3853839 polymorphism may play a role in the susceptibility of knee OA in the Chinese Han Population and may be associated with OA severity and the risk of effusion synovitis in Knee OA.
Enhancing wear resistance is the core factor that prolonged the life of the Cr12MoV mold and elevates the quality of the components produced. Hence, Cr12MoV mold steel was shocked by scanning ...electron beam (SEB) to improve wear resistance. Results revealed that the segregation eutectic carbides in the surface structure of Cr12MoV steel were dissolved during the shock process of various beam electron beams, and the small particles of carbides produced are helpful in reducing wear. With an energy density of 20 J/mm2, surface roughness of Cr12MoV steel decreases from 2.9 μm to 1.2 μm, the friction coefficient decreases from 0.85 to 0.52. Additionally, the wear capacity also decreases from 0.036 mm3 to 0.011 mm3, and surface wear resistance increases by over 3 times. Grain refinement-induced surface hardening is the primary cause underlying performance improvement. This study provides ideas for improving the surface quality of Cr12MoV steel.
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•Through the utilization of SEB to shock the Cr12MoV steel, the surface quality was enhanced.•The segregation of tissue structure was improved by SEB strengthening.•Surface wear resistance of Cr12MoV steel were significantly improved via SEB shock.•The SEB shock changes the wear mechanism of Cr12MoV steel from adhesive wear to abrasive wear.
The Meishan deposit (338 Mt at 39 % Fe) comprises massive ores in the main orebody and stockwork and disseminated ores along the main orebody. Four stages of mineralization and related alteration ...have been identified. The second stage of mineralization, which was the main stage of iron mineralization, formed stringer, disseminated iron ores, as well as the main Meishan orebody. The fourth stage formed small pyrite and/or gold orebodies above or alongside the main magnetite orebody. Stage 2 apatites have homogenization temperatures of 257–485 °C and salinities of 7.3–11 wt% NaCl
eq
. Calculated δ
18
O
fluid
values of magnetite and apatite from the disseminated ores vary between 7.7 and 14.9 ‰, which is similar to values observed in the massive ores (8.1–12.9 ‰). The high-
18
O fluids at Meishan have been interpreted as being of magmatic–hydrothermal origin. These fluids are indicative of the boiling of ore-forming fluids. Quartz, occurring as cavity fillings, gives homogenization temperatures from 202 to 344 °C, with most values lying between 250 and 330 °C. Corresponding salinities are ∼5 wt% NaCl
eq
. Calculated δ
18
O
fluid
values are +6.4 to +6.8 ‰. These values indicate that the lower-temperature (250–330 °C) quartz was deposited from a cooling magmatic–hydrothermal fluid. Stage 3 siderites contain fluid inclusions that homogenized between 190 and 310 °C, mainly between 210 and 290 °C. Corresponding salinities are 4–8 wt% NaCl
eq
. Stage 4 quartz–carbonate veinlets contain fluid inclusions that homogenized at moderate to low temperatures (150–230 °C) and exhibit low salinities (2–10 wt% NaCl eq). δ
18
O
fluid
values of the mineralizing fluids for the quartz and calcite can be calculated to vary from −0.7 to +5.6 ‰ and +6.3 to +10.2 ‰, respectively. While there is some overlap, the δ
18
O values of the fluids are generally lower than those observed in the massive and disseminated magnetite ores. δD values for the quartz and calcite vary between −154 and −123 ‰ and −123 and −111 ‰, respectively. These values suggest late-stage input of a shallow-sourced, isotopically light meteoric fluid at the temperature of pyrite and gold deposition. The fluid inclusion and stable isotope data indicate a cooling magmatic–hydrothermal system that progressed from isotopically heavy to isotopically depleted fluids as it cooled. Such fluid evolution is comparable with those of other Kiruna-type deposits worldwide.
Immune systems play a critical role in the regulation of bone formation and homeostasis, which arouses a growing interest in the development of biomaterials that can modulate both immune response and ...osteogenesis. In this study, biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) ceramics were modified with different whiskered surface, and their effects on macrophage polarization and functional status were investigated. The results showed that compared to BCP-W ceramics with long and solid whiskers, BCP-HW ceramics with short and hollow whiskers surface were conducive to protein adsorption and macrophage elongation. Furthermore, BCP-HW ceramics down-regulated the expression of M1 macrophage markers (II1β, Tnfα, and iNos), promoted the expression of M2 macrophage markers (Il10 and Arg) and growth factors (Tgfβl and Bmp2), which might be attributed to the differential integrin expression regulated by different whisker structures. The conditioned medium derived from the supernatant of macrophage/whiskered ceramic co-culture was further used to culture MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts to evaluate the effects of whiskered ceramic-mediated macrophage secretion on osteogenesis
in vitro.
Compared with BCP-W ones, the secretion pattern induced by BCP-HW ceramics could promote the expression of bone markers in pre-osteoblasts, which might due to the activation of intracellular signaling cascades like BMP/Smad and TGF-β/Smad signaling pathways. A murine intramuscular implantation model suggested that after implantation for 1, 2, and 3 weeks, BCP-HW ceramics drove the switch of macrophages to ARG
+
wound-healing M2 phenotype, while BCP-W ceramics increased the proportion of iNOS
+
M1 inflammatory macrophages. At 2 months, only BCP-HW could induce ectopic bone formation. Taken together, these results indicated that BCP ceramics with hollow whiskers were capable of creating a proper inflammatory microenvironment to induce bone formation. These whiskered BCP ceramics with good osteo-immunomodulatory capacity hold promise in serving as bone grafts to achieve desired bone repair and regeneration.
In the screening of cervical cancer cells, accurate identification and segmentation of nucleus in cell images is a key part in the early diagnosis of cervical cancer. Overlapping, uneven staining, ...poor contrast, and other reasons present challenges to cervical nucleus segmentation. We propose a segmentation method for cervical nuclei based on a multi-scale fuzzy clustering algorithm, which segments cervical cell clump images at different scales. We adopt a novel interesting degree based on area prior to measure the interesting degree of the node. The application of these two methods not only solves the problem of selecting the categories number of the clustering algorithm but also greatly improves the nucleus recognition performance. The method is evaluated by the IBSI2014 and IBSI2015 public datasets. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm has greater advantages than the state-of-the-art cervical nucleus segmentation algorithms and accomplishes high accuracy nucleus segmentation results.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a collection of inflammatory conditions of colon and small intestine which affect millions of individuals worldwide and the prevalence amount is on the rise. The ...organ failure as well as loss of tissue function is because of the inflammatory reaction which is the major contributor of tissue healing leading to lifelong debilitation. To stop the tough consequences of inflammation every patient pursues alternative therapy to relieve symptoms. Green tea polyphenols (GTPs) play significant roles in down regulating signaling pathways because GTPs exert effective antioxidant properties and regulate Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression via certain receptor, inhibited endotoxin-mediated tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) production by blocking transcription nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) activation and upstream of mediated I kappa B kinase complex pathway activities, as well as intrusion with the flow of cytokines and synthesis of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). This article highlights the green approach regarding the defensive effects of GTP review-related studies concerning the contrary effects and the key therapeutic targets application of GTPs in biomedical field to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its complications.
Graphical abstract
.
In the preparation of nanomaterials, the kinetics and thermodynamics in the reaction can significantly affect the structures and phases of nanocrystals. Therefore, people are keen to adopt various ...synthetic strategies to accurately assemble the target nanocrystals, and reveal the underlying mechanism of the formation of specific structures. In this work, the total reaction time is adjusted to let the prepared MnCo Prussian blue analogous (MnCoPBA) crystals show four evolving morphological changes at different stages with the assistance of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Furthermore, it is clearly observed that the epitaxial growth along the (100) plane on the shell of MnCoPBA nanocrystals is favored, and the thermodynamics and kinetics in the morphology change process are analyzed in detail. Through the simple pyrolysis, MnCoPBA crystals can be successfully converted into the corresponding carbon composites, of which Mn2Co2C nanoparticles are evenly distributed in highly graphitized carbon matrix. Among them, PBA‐III‐700 performs good oxygen reduction reaction performance in alkaline solution with the half‐wave potential of 0.801 V and diffusion‐limited current density of 5.36 mA cm−2, and its zinc‐air battery exhibits the peak power density of 103.4 mW cm−2 competitive with commercial Pt/C.
A surfactant‐mediated one‐pot hydrothermal method is developed to prepare MnCoPBA crystals, which exhibit morphological changes at five growth stages. As the reaction time goes, the shell of the MnCoPBA crystal grows epitaxially along the (100) plane and the core is etched along the (111) plane.
CuInS2 quantum dots (CIS QDs) are considered to be promising alternatives for Cd-based QDs in the fields of biology and medicine. However, high-quality hydrophobic CIS QDs are difficult to be ...transferred to water due to their 1-dodecylmercaptan (DDT) ligands. Therefore, the fluorescence and stability of the prepared aqueous CIS QDs is not enough to meet the requirement for sensitive detection. Here, as large as 13 nm CuInZnS/ZnS QDs with DDT ligands were first synthesized, and then, CuInZnS/ZnS microbeads (QBs) containing thousands of QDs were successfully fabricated by a two-step approach of emulsion–solvent evaporation and surfactant substitution. Through emulsion–solvent evaporation, the CuInZnS/ZnS QDs formed microbeads in the microemulsion with dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), and the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) has been effectively overcome. Then, CO-520 was introduced to substitute DTAB to improve the stability and water solubility. Lastly, the microbeads were coated with a SiO2 shell and carboxylated. Subsequently, the constructed QBs (∼210 nm) were used as labels in a fluorescence immunosorbent assay (FLISA) for quantitative detection of heart type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP), and the limit of detection was 0.48 ng mL–1, which indicated a greatly improved detection sensitivity compared to that of the Cd-free QDs. The highly fluorescent and stable CuInZnS/ZnS QBs will have great application prospects in many biological fields.
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