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The popularity and widespread of electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) have warranted a necessity for monitoring different populations directly or indirectly exposed to particulate matter (PM) from ECIGs. To accurately estimate exposure to aerosols from ECIGs, it is important to correctly measure the concentration of aerosols. Real-time aerosol monitors are usually based on optics that provides biased measurements that are adjusted using filter correction factors. In addition, low-cost aerosol sensors have become popular that allow widespread of these sensors and can estimate ECIG aerosol exposure after calibration. Therefore, this study determined the filter correction factors for three aerosol monitors (MiniWRAS, pDR, and SidePak) based on exposure to six ECIG brands and two particle sizes (PM1 and PM2.5). In addition, the GeoAir2 low-cost monitor was evaluated compared to filter corrected MiniWRAS measurements for these exposures. The study also evaluated the real-time measurements and mass median diameter (MMD) for each ECIG brand. The correction factors varied between aerosol monitors, ECIG brands and particle sizes, with ranges for PM2.5 that span between 1.85 and 2.42 (MiniWRAS), 0.50 and 0.58 (pDR), and 0.24 and 0.28 (SidePak). The GeoAir2 underestimated the reference measurements but had a high correlation (r ¼ 0.90 0.94), showing that the monitor can be effectively calibrated to provide good estimates. The real-time average PM2.5 measurements differed between aerosol instruments with concentrations that ranged between 1398 and 3706 lg/m³ (MiniWRAS), 5479 and 16,825 lg/m³ (pDR), and 9783 and 29,808 lg/m³ (SidePak). Finally, the MMD values spanned between 0.45 and 0.80 lm based on the MiniWRAS measurements. The differences between the raw real-time measurements for the aerosol monitors show the necessity for developing filter correction factors to accurately measure ECIG exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds: The role of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT)-induced O-linked N-acetylglucosaminylation (O-GlcNAcylation) has been reported in multiple human diseases. however, its specific functions in osteoarthritis (OA) progression remain undetermined. Objective: This study focused on the target proteins of OGT-induced O-GlcNAcylation in OA and the specific functional mechanism. Methods: the levels of total O-GlcNAc and OGT were measured in both in vitro and in vivo OA models using western blot. the effects of OGT knockout on OA progression were detected through safranin O staining, immunohistochemical staining and OARSI score evaluation. the effects of OGT silencing on LPS-induced chondrocyte injury were assessed by performing loss-of function assays. Co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) was conducted to verify the effect of OGT-induced O-GlcNAcylation on the interaction between NEK7 and NLRP3. The role of OGT in modulating the O-GlcNAcylation and phosphorylation levels of NEK7 was analysed using western blot. Results: the OGT-indued O-GlcNAcylation level was increased in both in vitro and in vivo OA models. Knockout of OGT mitigated Oa progression in model mice. additionally, silencing of OGT suppressed LPS-induced chondrocyte pyroptosis. Moreover, silencing of OGt inhibited the O-GlcNAcylation and enhanced the phosphorylation of NEK7 at S260 site, thereby blocking the binding of NEK7 with NLRP3. Conclusion: OGT-induced NEK7 O-GlcNacylation promotes Oa progression by promoting chondrocyte pyroptosis via the suppressing interaction between NEK7 and NLRP3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dysregulated circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in osteoarthritis (OA) progression. Objective: We aimed to explore the effect of hsa_circ_0044719 (circTRIM25) on the ferroptosis of chondrocytes. Methods: Chondrocytes were treated with interleukin (IL)-1β to generate cell model. Cellular behaviours were measured using cell counting kit-8, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, relevant kits, propidium iodide staining, and immunofluorescence assay. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to examine the expression of circTRIM25, miR-138-5p, and cAMP responsive element binding protein 1 (CREB1), and their interactions were assessed using luciferase reporter analysis and RNA pull-down assay. Results: CircTRIM25 was upregulated in OA tissues and IL-1β-stimulated chondrocytes. Knockdown of circTRIM25 facilitated the viability and suppressed ferroptosis and inflammation of IL-1β-induced cells. CircTRIM25 served as a sponge of miR-138-5p, which directly targets CREB1. Downregulation of miR-138-5p abrogated the effect induced by knockdown of circTRIM25. Furthermore, enforced CREB1 reversed the miR-138-5p induced effect. Moreover, knockdown of circTRIM25 attenuated cartilage injury in vivo. Conclusion: Silencing of circTRIM25 inhibited ferroptosis of chondrocytes via the miR-138-5p/CREB axis and thus attenuated OA progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the effect of agricultural data collection and transmission, based on the technology adopted by the mainstream agricultural environmental information monitoring system on the market, this paper uses game theory to innovatively improve the algorithm mechanism of wireless sensor nodes, optimise the clustering structure and routing method of wireless sensor networks, design a remote monitoring platform for field farm information and finally build a complete agricultural information monitoring system. Moreover, taking the temperature and humidity sensor as an example, this paper improves the parameters on the basis of testing the various performance of the sensor, and develops the software of the main chip on the basis of the improved node, and completes the driver design of the sensor. In addition, this paper constructs a wireless sensor network data transmission model based on game theory, and combines simulation experiments to conduct experimental research on the system model constructed in this paper. From the test results, it can be seen that the model constructed in this paper has a better effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the expression and significance of N-terminal molecular fragments of osteocalcin (N-MID), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and RNA-binding motif 5 (RBM5) in brain metastases of lung cancer. Totally, 156 patients with lung cancer were enrolled as the research objects, of which 120 patients without brain metastases were allocated to group A, and 36 patients with brain metastases were allocated to group B. N-MID, PAI-1, and RBM5 expressions were compared between the two groups, and their predictive value in the occurrence of brain metastasis of lung cancer was analyzed. Factors influencing the development of brain metastasis of lung cancer were explored. NMID and PAI-1 expression in group B was higher than that in group A, and RBM5 expression in group B was lower than that in group A. Following treatment, expression patterns of all three genes were significantly reversed (all P < 0.05). N-MID and PAI-1 were independent risk factors but RBM5 was an independent protective factor for brain metastasis of lung cancer (P < 0.05). N-MID and PAI-1 were highly expressed but RBM5 was poorly expressed in patients with brain metastases of lung cancer. All three could effectively predict the occurrence of brain metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved Y and Mn alternately doped Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 (BST) films have been prepared by sol-gel method at preheating temperature of 550°C, and the structures and dielectric properties of the films have been studied. The doped concentration of Y keeps at 1% mol ratio, while that of Mn has three different doped concentrations (2%, 3% and 4%). X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals that all films show polycrystalline cubic AB03 perovskite structures with entrances into A sites of Y3+ ions and B sites of Mn2+ ions. It can be found that the substitution effect of Y3+ ions are stronger than Mn2+ ions and the average grain size of all the films is smaller than that of the pure BST film. The dielectric properties of these films are significantly optimized by this improved method, in particular the tunable capability (tunability) is significantly improved with values of larger than 35% in addition to low dielectric loss of less than 1.5% form -10V to 10V at 1MHz. These excellent tunable dielectric properties which can meet the needs in microwave application are ascribed to the improved Y and Mn alternate doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerium (Ce) doped barium strontium titanate (Ce-BST) powder was prepared by sol-gel method, and the effect of Ce doped concentration on growing modes of grains of the Ce-BST powder was studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals that all Ce-BST powders show cubic perovskite structures. It can be found that increasing Ce doped concentration corresponds to decreasing lattice parameter until the doped concentration increases to 3% mol ratio, and then the continuingly increasing doped concentration corresponds to increasing lattice parameter. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) exhibits that all powders are composed of nano-grains, but the growing modes of the grains strongly depend on the doped concentration. When doped concentration is not more than 1% mol ratio, the grains show globular growth; when the doped concentration is not less than 3% mol ratio, the grains show layered growth; when the doped concentration ranges from 1% mol ratio to 3% mol ratio, columnar grains appear in the globular powders. Also, the dielectric properties of the powders are presented and the related mechanisms are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multilayer thin films with sandwich structures of BST/ST/BST and ST/BST/ST were designed and prepared by sol-gel method on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates, and their structures and dielectric properties have been studied. Pure BST and ST films were also studied for comparison. X-ray diffraction reveals that all films grow along (110) orientation and show polycrystalline cubic perovskite structures. SEM shows that the BST/ST/BST film exhibits smaller grain size and better uniformity than the pure BST film. BST/ST/BST and ST/BST/ST films almost keep significantly high tunable capabilities of 40-50% at low applied voltage of ±10 V like the pure BST film, but show lower dielectric losses, resulting in higher figure of merit (FOM). Related mechanisms on such dielectric properties are analyzed by resistor-capacitor (RC) equivalent circuit models. Such sandwich structure design is a novel route for BST films to fulfill the tunable microwave application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The globus pallidus (GP) is a central component of basal ganglia whose malfunctions cause a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders as well as cognitive impairments in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. Here we report that the protocadherin gene Celsr3 is regulated by the insulator CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) and the repressor neuron-restrictive silencer factor (NRSF, also known as REST) and is required for the development and connectivity of GP. Specifically, CTCF/cohesin and NRSF inhibit the expression of Celsr3 through specific binding to its promoter. In addition, we found that the Celsr3 promoter interacts with CTCF/cohesin-occupied neighboring promoters. In Celsr3 knockout mice, we found that the ventral GP is occupied by aberrant calbindin-positive cholinergic neurons ectopic from the nucleus basalis of Meynert. Furthermore, the guidepost cells for thalamocortical axonal development are missing in the caudal GP. Finally, axonal connections of GP with striatum, subthalamic nucleus, substantia nigra, and raphe are compromised. These data reveal the essential role of Celsr3 in GP development in the basal forebrain and shed light on the mechanisms of the axonal defects caused by the Celsr3 deletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trapa bispinosa Roxb. is an annual aquatic herb with great significance of medicinal, edible and economic value. Here, we reported the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Trapa bispinosa and conducted preliminary investigation of its phylogenetic relationship with other related species. As the result showed, the whole chloroplast genome size was 155,556 bp consisting of four adjoining regions, i.e., a large/small single copy (LSC, 88,506 bp/SSC, 18,274 bp) region and two inverted repeat (IRs, 24,388 bp) regions. Among 112 identified unique genes were 78 protein coding genes, 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and four ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. Trapa spp. were precisely clustered as a monophyly, and simultaneously, the closest relation between Trapa bispinosa and Trapa natans were strongly supported in the maximum likelihood analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) - as negative regulators of target genes - are associated with various human diseases, but their precise role(s) in diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to elucidate the involvement of miRNAs in early DR using in silico analysis to explore their gene expression patterns. Methods: We used the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat to investigate the roles of miRNAs in early DR. Retinal miRNA expression profiles from diabetic versus healthy control rats were examined by miRNA array analysis. Based on several bioinformatic systems, specifically, gene ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, we identified signatures of the potential pathological processes, gene functions, and signaling pathways that are influenced by dysregulated miRNAs. We used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to validate six (i.e. those with significant changes in expression levels) of the 17 miRNAs that were detected in the miRNA array. We also describe the significant role of the miRNA-gene network, which is based on the interactions between miRNAs and target genes. Results: GO analysis of the 17 miRNAs detected in the miRNA array analysis revealed the most prevalent miRNAs to be those related to biological processes, olfactory bulb development and axonogenesis. These miRNAs also exert significant influence on additional pathways, including the mitogen-activated protein and calcium signaling pathways. Six of the seventeen miRNAs were chosen for qRT-PCR validation. With the exception of a slight difference in miRNA-350, our results are in close agreement with the differential expressions detected by array analysis. Conclusions: This study, which describes miRNA expression during the early developmental phases of DR, revealed extensive miRNA interactions. Based on both their target genes and signaling pathways, we suggest that miRNAs perform critical regulatory functions during the early stages of DR evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is of great significance both as a fruit tree and an ornamental plant. Hereon, we sequenced and characterized the complete chloroplast genome of Punica granatum 'Nana' and performed phylogenetic analysis concerning related species. It turned out that the length of chloroplast genome sequence reached 158,639 bp and exhibited a four-conjoined structure, i.e., a large single copy region (LSC, 89,022 bp), a small single copy region (SSC, 18,685 bp) and twain inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb, 25,466 bp). 112 unique genes were identified, consisting of 78 protein-coding genes, four ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. The result of phylogenetic analysis based on Neighbor-joining (NJ) method was consistent with that of Bayesian inference (BI), which strongly supported that Punica granatum 'Nana' was close to its original species Punica granatum and they together had a close relationship with Heimia myrtifolia within Lythraceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article further discusses the problem of output-feedback regulation for more general stochastic nonlinear systems with stochastic integral input-to-state stable inverse dynamics, and focuses on solving the important and unsolved problem proposed in Yu and Xie (Yu, X., and Xie, X.J. (2010), 'Output Feedback Regulation of Stochastic Nonlinear Systems with Stochastic iISS Inverse Dynamics', IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 55, 304-320): How to weaken the conditions on nonlinearities in drift and diffusion vector fields? Under the weaker conditions, how to make full use of the known information of stochastic nonlinear systems to design an adaptive output-feedback controller such that all the closed-loop signals are almost surely bounded and the output is driven to zero almost surely? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: sFlt-1, a soluble secreted variant of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor-1 that possesses only its extracellular domain, is a specific endogenous inhibitor of VEGF, which is involved in retinal vasculogenesis. Our objective was to determine the effects of various sFlt-1 gene fragments on retinal neovascularization in vivo using a murine oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy (OIR) model. Methods: Lentiviral expression plasmids carrying the sFlt-1 gene fragments containing Ig-like domains 2nd-3rd and 2nd-4th were constructed. Retinal neovascularization was induced by exposing neonatal mice to hyperoxia (75% O2) on post-natal day 7 (P7) and then returning them to normoxia (21% O2) on P12. After sFlt-1 gene fragment transfer, retinal neovascularization was examined via fluorescein angiography and hematoxylin-eosin staining. In addition, changes in the expression of VEGF and its functional receptor KDR/Flk-1 were examined via Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Results: Lenti.sFlt-1(2-3) and lenti.sFlt-1(2-4) both significantly inhibited neovascularization in OIR mice. Retinas from mice treated with lenti.sFlt-1(2-3) demonstrated a more marked reduction in neovascular cell nuclei compared with mice treated with lenti.sFlt-1(2-4), and these results were confirmed by fluorescence angiography. Gene transfer showed a very weak effect on VEGF protein expression, whereas KDR/Flk-1 protein expression was strongly inhibited, particularly in mice treated with lenti.sFlt-1(2-3). Conclusions: Lentivirus-mediated sFlt-1 gene transfer significantly inhibits retinal neovascularization in OIR. Thus, sFlt-1 gene transfer may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for preventing retinal neovascularization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of aryl sulfides were synthesized by aryl bromides with thiols, with PEG400 and nickel as catalysts under basic conditions in the absence of solvents. This article reported an easy and convenient method for formation of aryl-sulfur bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absorption spectra of trans and cis isomers of mercury dithizonate in a doped poly(methyl methacrylate) film are measured, and the optical properties of the two isomers are analysed. The properties indicate that different isomers of mercury dithizonate can convert into each other when irradiated by light of appropriate wavelength. With the Z -scan method, the nonlinear optical properties of mercury dithizonate are investigated, and experimental data on the nonlinear refractive index and the change in refractive index are obtained. The changes in refractive index as a function of wavelength are obtained by the Kramers-Kronig transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estrogen tightly regulates the levels of circulating gonadotropins, but a direct effect of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) on the mammalian LHβ gene has remained poorly defined. We demonstrate here that ERα can associate with the LHβ promoter through interactions with Sf-1 and Pitx1 without requiring an estrogen response element (ERE). We show that gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) promotes ERα ubiquitylation and also degradation while stimulating expression of ubc4. GnRH also increases the association and lengthens the cycling time of ER on the LHβ promoter. The ERα association and transactivation of the LHβ gene, as well as ERα degradation, are increased following ubc4 overexpression, while the effects of GnRH are abated following ubc4 knockdown. Our results indicate that ER αubiquitylation and subsequent transactivation of the LHβ gene can be induced by increasing the levels of the E2 enzyme as a result of signaling by an extracellular hormone, thus providing a new form of cross talk in hormonally stimulated regulation of gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]